Boat Game
Language
Flash
Basic Description
In my freshman year I took an Introduction to Programming course. After I finished the regular curriculum, I began building this game using Flash. The user controls a boat and gets points by destroying barrels and other ships.
What I Learned
At first I stored various pieces of data about the enemies in a series of arrays, which made my code ugly and inefficient. I switched over to object-oriented programming and learned first-hand how powerful it can be in terms of keeping data organized. I also learned that I can work on a serious project and make a pretty amazing game.
Favorite Part
Although I never finished this game, it isn't too far from the popular games everyone plays. This game was my real first shot at game design as well as programming, and I am still happy with its quality. There are also a variety of easter eggs hidden in various names: my name gives the user a starting score of 9998 (for endgame testing purposes); when I was working on this game at home, my younger brother Owen was watching me instead of eating dinner, so using the name "Owen" sends the user to a page asking if they will eat their apples, etc.
Remaining Flaws
I never managed to ensure that the enemies wouldn't spawn right under the boat, which is probably the biggest programmatic flaw remaining. If I were to complete the game, it would include more enemies and levels.