Concept/Design
For my midterm, I wanted to create a escape room type of game, where the players have to like find objects around the room to be able to escape. In terms of design, I want to structure it so that the players must find five objects for example within a room and answer a series of questions to unlock the next clue. So, the game might begin with an introductory hint that guides the player to find the first object. Once they find it, they are either provided with another hint or asked a question. Answering the question correctly would then lead them to the next clue or object, however anwering it wrong may either let them retry or offer an extra hint. As the player progresses, they will uncover more objects, until they have all the objects needed to escape. I will probably have the game feature different rooms for the player to choose from, and each room will present a unique set of clues, objects, and questions to solve.
Challenging Code/Uncertainty
For this project I think the most complex part of the it is like an ordered clicking type of mechanism. For this game specifically, I think this is needed because I want the players to interact with objects in a specific order, whether it’s pressing buttons or flipping swithces , I want them to do it in a specific order. By adding this system in my code, where objects must be clicked in the correct order, it will make sure that players engage with the puzzle thoughtfully rather than just clicking randomly and finding the key the first try.
To minimize this uncertainty, I tried to write the code to keep track of which shapes the player has clicked by using variables like rectClicked, triClicked, and circClicked. These start as false, meaning the player hasn’t clicked them yet. Then, in the mousePressed() function, I set rules so that the shapes can only be clicked in the correct order. For example, the player has to click the rectangle first, then the triangle, and finally the circle. If the player tries to click them out of order, the game won’t move forward. This helps make sure the game flow stays smooth and clear for the player. below is this code:
function mousePressed() {
if (!rectClicked && mouseX > 50 && mouseX < 130 && mouseY > 100 && mouseY < 150) { //first rectangle is clicked
rectClicked = true;
} else if (rectClicked && !triClicked && mouseX > 170 && mouseX < 230 && mouseY > 100 && mouseY < 150) { //triangle clicked true if rectangle clicked first
triClicked = true;
} else if (rectClicked && triClicked && !circClicked && dist(mouseX, mouseY, 320, 125) < 25) {//circle clicked true if rectangle and triangle clicked before
circClicked = true;
escape = true; //clicking circle = players escapes
}
}