For our last major section of this chapter, we are going to look at using easing equations to move our actors around in interesting ways. Easing functions use easing equations to calculate position as a function of time. Just about every animation you've seen on the web, your mobile device, or in the movies uses easing at some point in time. We are going to add three new actors to our game that move according to three different easing functions: linear, exponential, and sinusoidal.
Power-ups are an excellent way to add new challenges and balance player skill. Power-ups provide players with momentary boosts in speed, power, health, or some other game-related skill. They often appear randomly and might not be in the most convenient location, so they require players to make fast, real-time decisions where they have to weigh the risk of moving to the power-up versus its beneficial effects.
Similarly, we can create randomly appearing game objects that negatively...