Happy Monday! Today, I wanted to zoom in on a system that drives the push and pull of our bullet hell, keeping things exciting: bullet spawning! ^_^
This bullet-spawning system took a month of on-and-off work designing and implementing it. The exact details of implementation are still subject to polish, BUT I think it would be cool to discuss the broad details of how it works! So without further ado:
Bullet Spawning
Bullet spawning is powered by four layers of objects, each of which spawns one or several instances of the next.
- The Bullet Hell Manager is the highest-level director of bullet hell segments. Creates a random Wave, destroys it after 10 seconds, and creates a new one. Mixing up the waves creates variety!
- Wave Objects represent different bullet patterns. They create Spawners with unique positions, rotations, and spawning behaviors.
- Spawner Objects spawn bullets in specific patterns. Some spawn multiple bullets at once, some spawn bullets in sequence, some spawn infinitely until their Wave is destroyed. :O
- Bullets move across the Field and interact with the player avatar, Ava. Different bullets move differently!
A wave and bullet-spawning in motion! Spawners are displayed as yellow orbs.
Wave Tour
Let’s take a brief look at a few Waves and how they work!
Free-for-All
The Free-for-All wave is a basic type where spawners place single bullets which travel straight towards Ava. This is the wave type that was present in the beta!
Free-for-All!
Trains-of-Thought: Columns and Rows
Trains-of-Thought are a class of wave types where bullets travel in groups called ‘trains’! Trains have target bullets in the center (the ‘cargo’), nontarget bullets on the outside (the ‘engine’ and ‘caboose’), and random bullets in between. In the Columns and Rows subtypes, trains move in straight lines, encouraging you to weave in between to capture target bullets without getting hit!
Column Trains (left) and Row Trains (right).
Trains-of-Thought: Zig-zags and Snakes
In these waves, instead of moving in straight lines, trains change directions! Getting targets and dodging nontargets becomes more of a challenge as you predict where the train will move next.
Zig-zag Trains (left) and Snaking Trains (right).
Trains-of-Thought: Fans
Fans is a wave type which builds off the principle that different bullets move at unique speeds. By spawning different types in short succession, each ‘round’ of bullets can overtake the others as they fan out across the field!
Fans!
Alright, that’s all for today! Take care everyone, and have a lovely week :3
Take care!
— xoxo Dylan, team Point Point ^_^