If you thought writing 2,000 words about opening Photoshop or taking four weeks to start coding in Xcode were frustratingly slow, then this week’s post might make you want to set fire to your computer.
As I continue to build a jigsaw puzzle game in ridiculous detail, I want to spend the next 1,500 words getting the game to look and function exactly the same as it does right now.
Before you reach for the matches, let me explain.
Three posts in to this series and so far all I’ve done it set up Photoshop (I warned you that this was going to be excruciatingly detailed).
Finally, it is time to open up Xcode and do something with all these assets I’ve created.
Now that I’ve got Photoshop all set up, it’s time to make some (auto)magic!
This is part 2 of my attempt to document the process of creating a simple jigsaw puzzle game in excruciating detail.
To create the puzzle images, I want to be able to take a Photoshop document, slice it up using the selection tools, then export those sliced-up layers. I also want to use a script to automatically generate the final, correct locations for all of the pieces and write them to a JSON file that will work on all devices.
I was recently playing The Black Mirror and one of the earlier challenges is a jigsaw puzzle where you have to reconstruct a torn up photograph.
The player clicks on a piece to activate it, then they can move it around using the mouse or right-click on it to rotate it to one of four preset rotations. They click again to release it. When a piece has the correct rotation and is near the correct position, it snaps into place, which works as visual feedback that it has been placed correctly.
It was an enjoyable break from the exploring and it got me thinking about how I might add it as an optional mini-game type in my adventure game engine.
When Guybrush Threepwood declares himself to be a mighty pirate, we all get to laugh at his naïveté—as if the simple act of declaring himself to be one is all it takes for him to be feared and respected—before he is roundly beaten into submission under a torrent of verbal abuse.
Having decided that simply making a living on the App Store by whatever means necessary is not enough, I am embarking on an adventure into games, both figuratively and literally.
My modest aim is to create something as beloved and impactful as The Secret of Monkey Island.
By myself.