It has been a while since I have posted an experiment and mostly because I have been quite busy and maybe the little project I started was a bit more than just an afternoon (as is usually the case…). I really wanted to write a simple 1980’s type of game, such as asteroids, but someone had already done that in silverlight. So I figured I’d try something else, like the 1980’s Moonlander arcade game. I know that writing a game is much more than just an experiment as it has much more to handle than just a single purpose. I have several times considered scrapping it altogether and starting on something else, but after many weeks on the back burner, I figured, I’d just get it over with and finish it. I have to say that the hardest part here was the collision detection and the gravity calculation. I was shockingly surprised that Silverlight 2.0 does not have an obvious built-in HitTest or collision detection method for individual objects and the known workaround is quite clever, but somewhat less than elegant nor efficient, especially when checking many objects at the same time. I haven’t really formed an opinion yet, since I may have overlooked features that are in the Silverlight 2.0 box and will post so, if I come across such feature. In any case, here is the game. It is functional, and not completely finished, but I want to move on to other projects…
You have to click on the game for the keys to function (it needs focus, the first time around) and then use left arrow, right arrow and the up arrow to maneuver your moon lander. Also, increase the difficulty by changing the variables at the bottom…
Clone and run MoonlanderTestPage.html (ensure you have a browser that can render Silverlight content)
