Aaaagh! They're everywhere! (What went very, very wrong)

As some may be aware, the original version of OA was overrun with bugs. It was suggested that this was due to the scope of the game but, alas, I knew better… The attention that I paid to the game mechanics wasn't duplicated when it came to the code. Code was unplanned and hacked out at the spur of the moment with the sole aim of getting the game to function as I had initially designed it, and with a complete disregard for any future modifications.

Well, the game did work, until I tried to change it! A good example was how the code for all the turrets was lumped into a single object, something that would give any self-respecting programmer a seizure. The code ended up being so convoluted that adding a single new weapon or turret to the mix was an exercise in misery and frustration, and resulted in some truly game-obliterating bugs due to the single-object structure of the turrets. Eventually I was so lost in my own code that I considered trashing the whole lot and starting from scratch, but with a competition deadline looming it would be certain suicide. So I cleaned up what I could and submitted it with bated breath.

OA ended up winning second place in the comp due to its concept and balancing, but it became a shallow victory when the judges mentioned the bugs. My own lazy coding practices had killed a potentially great game.

Redemption is nigh!

Fortunately, Competition 13 came along, and I resolved to turn OA into something I could be proud of. The aim of Competition 13 was, quite conveniently, to polish an existing game to the point that it could be sold. Out came the pen and paper: OA's code was ripped apart and, where necessary, rewritten. Turrets were given a fully Object Oriented makeover, which in itself killed about half the game's bugs in one fell swoop and made the game much easier to modify. The code that handled timing and player turns was refined, the graphics were spruced up, and sloppy design was rectified. In short, the game was rebuilt to play the way it should have. The code still isn't stellar, but compared to the original version it is much improved, and the game finally plays as beautifully as I intended.

In the end, OA turned out a game that I could be proud of, and ended up winning Comp 13, which was as gratifying as it was surprising. I also learned why a game's code structure needs to be designed solidly from the outset, a lesson that I'd like to shove down the throats of all the other newbie game devvers reading this. As for OA, it's a concept I'd like to expand on sometime in the future. It was mentioned that the game could do with a graphical overhaul, and I'm looking into that.