PixelForge

Inspiration

I find game design to be a fascinating meld of computer programming and the arts, two of my favorite subjects! I also enjoy playing various immersive games myself. However, even whilst having some knowledge of computer programming, game development can be a confusing and complicated process. Nevertheless developing games is a fun and engaging way to get familiar with programming and have lots of fun while doing so! I hope that this project will help many people with little experience gain an interest and deeper understanding for computer programming in a fun and engaging way.

What it does

To encourage more people to delve into the world of computer programming and game development, I have built this framework that makes game development very easy. I have separate classes for tiles in which users can upload images for different map tiles such as grass, path, and wall. I have also defined some variables where users can upload character images and adjust other variables such as character speed etc. Finally, using a text file containing an array of numbers each representing a game tile, users can create their own game map. Such features allow users to have fun establishing the basics of computer programming all while developing and customizing their own game!

How I built it

To build this framework I used a class-based structure to separate elements of my game such as Game Tiles, Maps, and Coins. The game is developed in Java using a JPanel to run the game and a Timer to run the game loop and redraw the images periodically. The graphics are displayed using Java’s Graphics2D class.

Challenges I ran into

A particular challenge I faced in creating my project was figuring out how to incorporate a scale factor into my display so that people could adjust the size of the game based on the electronic device they were using. After multiple attempts, I figured out how to make a general scale factor, and a separate scale factor specifically for the tiles.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Overall, I am really proud of the whole game framework and the sample games I made as well that are featured in the video. For both of these games, I used my framework and did all of the art myself and I hope this project will allow others to feel the same happiness when developing their own games.

What I learned

Through the development of this project I have come to appreciate the work of game developers and the amount of thought and complexity involved in designing a game. I have also gained a deeper appreciation for game development.

What's next for PixelForge

I would love to evolve PixelForge to include various additional features such as Sound, Screens (End and Start Screens), Enemy Characters, and Inventory. I also hope to be able to grow a user-base and community of games and creators based on the PixelForge framework. I encourage everyone to test out my code and view my demo!

Built With

• java