Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!scea!peter_alau@playstation.sony.com
From: shade@dragonshadow.com (Scott Cartier)
Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.programming.2d_graphics
Subject: Re: Bored? No! Why not have a go at this anyway....
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 16:42:51 GMT
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I can tell you how I have the levels in my game coded.  Maybe that'll
be of some use.

I use two separate arrays for the levels.  Each level has an entry in
each of the two arrays.  They are arranged sequentially so the fifth
level corresponds to the fifth element in both arrays (that's a good
movie btw).

The first array dictates the layout of the levels.  I have a branching
structure so I needed some way to tell what levels lead to what.  This
array is also where I tell what the time limit for the level is as
well as how fast the player has to complete it to get the time bonus.

The second array stores the level objects themselves.  Each object has
a TYPE, SUBTYPE, SUBTYPE2, SCALE, X, and Y components.  Naturally, not
all object types need every one of those components.  Enemies for
example don't need a SCALE since they don't change size.  In that case
I can reuse the SCALE parameter to be hold whatever information I
want.  For enemy turrets I use it to store the angle they face at the
beginning of the level.

For your game I would probably separate out the background information
from the enemy/powerup locations.  For one thing, since the background
info will probably be a huge structure, it would make dealing with the
enemy info much easier.  However, if the enemies are tightly coupled
with the background that would make things a bit more difficult.

As for collision detection, I would make that its own function (or set
of functions).  Make it general enough to handle anything.  That way
when you get to cranking out hundreds of levels (heh) you don't need
to worry about getting the collision correct for each one.  Your
general function will handle them all.

Scott