Book Image

Monkey Game Development: Beginner's Guide

By : Michael Hartlef
Book Image

Monkey Game Development: Beginner's Guide

By: Michael Hartlef

Overview of this book

Monkey is a programming language and toolset that allows its user to develop modern 2D games easily for mobile and other platforms like iOS, Android, HTML5, FLASH, OSX, Windows and XNA. With Monkey you can create best selling games in a matter of weeks, instead of months.Monkey Game Development Beginner's Guide provides easy-to-follow step by step instructions on how to create eight different 2D games and how to deploy them to various platforms and markets. Learning about the structure of Monkey and how everything works together you will quickly create eight classical games and publish them to the modern app markets. Throughout the book you will learn important game development techniques like collision detection, handling player input with mouse, keyboard or touch events and creating challenging computer AI. The author explains how to emit particle effects, play sound and music files, use sprite sheets, load or save high-score tables and handle different device resolutions. Finally you will learn how to monetize your games so you can generate revenue.

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Monkey Game Development: Beginner's Guide
Michael Hartlef
Apr, 2012 | 402 pages
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Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Monkey Game Development
Monkey Game Development
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Monkey—Huh?
Monkey—Huh?
Game development for the rest of us
Cross-platform development
Compiler or translator?
The Monkey toolbox
Time for action — installing Monkey
Let's have a little playtime
Time for action — playing Pirate TriPeaks
Time for action — playing Surviball
So let's go for something big? No!
Time for action — read the manual
Summary
2
Getting to Know your Monkey—a Trip to the Zoo
Getting to Know your Monkey—a Trip to the Zoo
Call the Monk and start praying—the Monkey IDE
Time for action — opening a sample script
Where is my navi?
Time for action — navigating to the Main() function
Save... save... save!
Time for action — saving a script
Projects—bringing in some organization
Time for action — creating a project
The Monkey programming language
Time for action — Monkey's Hello World
Running your first script in a browser
Our first little game... PONGO
Time for action — the basic structure of your game
Pongo's data structure
Time for action — adding some data fields
Time for action — rendering the game field
Time for action — drawing the ball and the paddles
Time for action — player paddle movement
Time for action — moving the enemy paddles
Time for action — moving the ball
Time for action — controlling the ball with the player's paddle
Time for action — letting the enemy paddles fight back
Time for action — acting on the different game modes
Exporting your game as an HTML5 website
One more thing... comment your code!
Summary
3
Game #2, Rocket Commander
Game #2, Rocket Commander
The game objects
The basic file structure
Time for action — building the basic file structure of the game
Hold that data—RocketCommander's data structure
Time for action — creating the general data structure of the game
Detailing the Update process
Time for action — detailing the Update process
Detailing the Render process
Time for action — detailing the Render event
Enhancing the OnCreate event
Time for action — detailing the OnCreate process
Let's build some cities
Time for action — building some cities
Time for action — changing the gameClasses file
Time for action — spawning some cities in the game
Time for action — rendering the cities
Get the launchers ready!
Time for action — implementing the rocket launchers
Time for action — changing the gameClasses file again
Time for action — creating some launchers in the game
Time for action — updating the launchers
Time for action — modifying the menu update process
Time for action — rendering the launchers
Fire! Blast them to pieces!
Time for action — implementing some rockets
Time for action — modifying the gameClasses file
Time for action — modifying the launcher class
Time for action — updating the rockets
Time for action — rendering the rockets
And it goes BOOM!... Explosions
Time for action — implementing explosions
Time for action — modifying the gameClasses file
Time for action — modifying the rocket class
Time for action — updating the explosions
Time for action — rendering the explosions
Don't fear the enemy—bombs
Time for action — creating the bomb class
Time for action — modifying the gameClasses file
Time for action — updating the bombs
Time for action — rendering the bombs
Time for action — modifying the UpdateGame method
Displaying the game score
Time for action — displaying the game score
Summary
4
Game #3, CometCrusher
Game #3, CometCrusher
Using a game framework—the fantomEngine
Game resources
The game objects
The basic file structure
Time for action — create the main source file and its folders
Open the storage please—the data structure of CometCrusher
Time for action — creating the data structure
First changes to the OnCreate method
Time for action — modifying the OnCreate method
Detailing the Render process
Time for action — detailing the OnRender method
This is a setup—creating the game objects
Time for action — creating some layers
Time for action — implementing some stars
Time for action — setting up the player ship
Time for action — creating a method to load sounds
Time for action — creating some game info text objects
Time for action — adding a title screen
Time for action — setting up the high score list
Time for action — create a comet
Time for action — creating some comets
Time for action — finalizing the OnCreate method
We need help—more methods for the Update process
Time for action — loading a high score list
Time for action — showing the high score list
Time for action — the ActivateShield method
Time for action — determine the time delta
Time for action — updating the info text
Time for action — creating a StartNewGame method
Time for action — spawning some engine particle FX
Time for action — creating some explosions
Time for action — spawning some shots
Time for action — saving the high score list
Finalizing the OnUpdate method
Time for action — finalizing the OnUpdate method
Bring in the action—shaping the engine class
Time for action — detailing the collision detection
Time for action — detailing the OnObjectTimer method
Time for action — detailing the OnObjectUpdate method
Time for action — detailing the OnLayerUpdate method
One last thing—creating a FLASH game
Summary
5
Game #4, Chain Reaction
Game #4, Chain Reaction
Modifying the HTML5 canvas size
Time for action — modifying canvas size
Some development basics
Game resources
Game objects
The basic app structure
Time for action — creating the main source file and its folders
The data storage
Time for action — creating the data structure
First changes to the OnCreate event
Time for action — first changes to the OnCreate method
Detailing the OnRender event
Time for action — detailing the OnRender method
Setting up the game objects
Time for action — loading the game sound effects
Time for action — creating layers for the game
Game screen
Time for action — creating buttons
Time for action — creating info text objects
Time for action — composing the game screen
Time for action — creating the title screen
Finalizing the OnCreate event
Time for action — finalizing the OnCreate method
Helper functions for the update process
Time for action — creating collision circles
Time for action — creating the atom elements
Time for action — creating a StartNewGame method
Time for action — implementing the GetDeltaTime method
Time for action — creating a method to update the text information
Detailing the OnUpdate event
Time for action — finalizing the OnUpdate method
Introducing the OnSuspend event
Time for action — modifying the OnSuspend event
Introducing the OnResume event
Time for action — updating the OnResume method
The heart of the game - the engine class
Time for action — enhancing the OnObjectTouch method
Time for action — detailing the OnObjectTransition method
Time for action — acting on timer events
Time for action — detailing the collision detection
Creating an Android app
Summary
6
Game #5, Balls Out!
Game #5, Balls Out!
Which frameworks and modules are used?
Game resources
Our lovely game objects
The basic app structure
Time for action — creating the basic file structure
Modifying the HTML5 canvas size for testing
Time for action — modifying the HTML5 output
The data storage
Time for action — creating the data structure
First changes to the OnCreate event
Time for action — first changes to the OnCreate method
Detailing the OnRender event
Time for action — detailing the OnRender method
Setting up the game objects
Time for action — loading the game sound effects
Time for action — creating layers for the game
Time for action — creating text buttons
Time for action — composing the game screen
Time for action — creating the title screen
Finalizing the OnCreate event
Time for action — finalizing the OnCreate method
Helper methods for the update process
Time for action — creating the tiles
Time for action — creating the ball
The bad guys—our beloved enemies
Time for action — creating the enemy class
More helper functions
Time for action — spawning an enemy
Time for action — creating a StartNewGame method
Bring me up-to-date—detailing the OnUpdate event
Time for action — detailing the OnUpdate method
Eye candy—particle effects
Time for action — creating the particle emitter class
Time for action — spawning a particle emitter
The heart of the game—the engine class
Time for action — enhancing the OnObjectTouch method
Time for action — acting on object update events
Time for action — acting on layer update events
Time for action — detailing the OnObjectTransition method
Time for action — detailing the collision detection
Creating an iOS app
Summary
7
Game #6, At The Docks
Game #6, At The Docks
Frameworks and modules used
Game resources
The game objects
The basic app structure
Time for action — creating the basic file structure
Modifying the HTML5 canvas size for testing
Time for action — modifying the HTML5 output
The storage for our data
Time for action — creating the data structure
Setting up the game objects
Time for action — creating layers for the game
Time for action — creating the title screen
Detailing the OnCreate event
Time for action — finalizing the OnCreate method
Some flexible methods for the update process
Time for action — creating the player
Time for action — loading the level tiles
Time for action — creating a StartNewGame method
Bring me up-to-date—detailing the OnUpdate event
Time for action — detailing the OnUpdate method
And action!—the engine class
Time for action — updating each object
Time for action — detailing collision detection
Time for action — detailing the OnLayerTransition method
Creating a XNA app
Summary
8
Game #7, Air Dogs 1942
Game #7, Air Dogs 1942
Frameworks and modules used
No silver, no gold, but… our game resources!
The game objects
The basic app structure
Time for action — setting up the basic file structure
Storing data
Time for action — creating the data structure
First changes to the OnCreate event
Time for action — first changes to the OnCreate method
Setting up the game objects
Time for action — loading the game sound effects
Time for action — creating layers for the game
Time for action — composing the background screen
Time for action — creating the clouds
Time for action — creating info text objects
Time for action — creating the title screen
Finalizing the OnCreate event
Time for action — finalizing the OnCreate method
Methods for the update process
Time for action — spawning the player plane
Time for action — spawning an enemy plane
Time for action — creating a StartNewGame method
Detailing the OnUpdate event
Time for action — detailing the OnUpdate method
Making it look nicer—some particle effects
Time for action — emitting the smoke
Time for action — creating the explosion
Time for action — spawning a shot
The brain—Computer AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Time for action — following the player
The heart of the game—the engine class
Time for action — enhancing the OnObjectTimer method
Time for action — detailing the OnObjectTransition method
Time for action — acting on object update events
Time for action — detailing the collision response
Time for action — acting of layer update events
Creating a GLFW app
Summary
9
Game #8, Treasure Chest
Game #8, Treasure Chest
Frameworks and modules used
Reusing code
The parts of the game... resources
And here they are… the game objects!
Preparation… the basic app and project structure
Time for action — creating the basic file structure
Creating 2D arrays
Time for action — creating 2D arrays
Storing information… the data storage
Time for action — creating the data structure
First changes to the OnCreate event
Time for action — first changes to the OnCreate method
About the OnRender event
Setting up the game objects
Time for action — loading the game sound effects
Time for action — creating layers for the game
Time for action — composing the background screen
Time for action — creating the title screen
Time for action — creating the "game over" screen
The menu please… creating the menu screen
Time for action — creating text buttons
Time for action — creating the menu screen
Time for action — creating the score screen
Time for action — creating the activate layer method
Finalizing the OnCreate event
Time for action — finalizing the OnCreate method
Dealing with the high-score list
Time for action — loading and saving the high-score list
Time for action — showing the high-score list
Managing the tile map
Time for action — getting tile slot IDs
Time for action — setting a tile slot ID
Check/mark the neighboring tiles
Time for action — checking neighboring horizontal tiles
Time for action — check neighboring vertical tiles
Time for action — clearing the tile map
Time for action — counting matching tiles
Time for action — creating a gem
Time for action — refilling the tile map
Methods for the update process
Time for action — creating a StartNewGame method
Time for action — updating the text info
Time for action — showing the "game over" screen
Time for action — showing the menu
Bring me up-to-date—detailing the OnUpdate event
Time for action — detailing the OnUpdate method
Vroom… vroom—the engine class
Eye candy—particle effects
Time for action — spawning an explosion
Time for action — acting on object timer events
Time for action — enhancing the OnObjectTouch method
Time for action — detailing the OnObjectTransition method
Time for action — acting on layer update events
Summary
10
Make Some Money for Bananas
Make Some Money for Bananas
Which markets exist for your game?
Existing methods of making money
Implementing advertising in your app
Implementing MobFox in iOS
Time for action — creating a new MobFox app ID
Time for action — adding the MobFox framework to the XCODE project
Time for action — modifying the code to display ads
Implementing MobFox in Android
Time for action — creating a new MobFox app ID
Time for action — modifying the project to display ads in Android
Time for action — creating an app ID in InMobi
Time for action — add a backfill in MobFox
Publishing in the Android market
Publishing in Apple's App Store
Time for action — adding an icon to the Xcode project
Time for action — setting the product name in the target settings
Time for action — setting the distribution code signing profile
Time for action — creating the app package
Summary

Time for action — creating layers for the game

We will create these layers inside their own CreateLayers method. Follow these steps:

  1. 1. Insert a new method called CreateLayers inside the game class.

    Method CreateLayers:Int()

  2. 2. Now, create a new layer for the background, the game itself, and the title screen.

    layerBackGround = eng.CreateLayer()
layerGame = eng.CreateLayer()
layerTitle = eng.CreateLayer()

  3. 3. Close the method.

    Return 0
End

What just happened?

We have added a method to create new layers. These layers help us with updating and rendering the game in an organized fashion.

Our beloved play field—the background screen

This time, we will compose the background layer. It will be drawn as the background for the actual gameplay.

Buttons—I need more text buttons!

To create text buttons, we will add our own method for it. It will automatically set up a text object that is able to be hit-tested against touches and/or mouse clicks.

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