Game design practical.. Part 1

 What is this?

This is a direct followup to my previous blog here.
I'll try to show you a practical example based on the theoretical  concept introduced previously.
My vision on this blog is to introduce some new or "cool" theoretical game design ideas at first and follow them up with an example game. This follow-up game will highlight as many of those ideas as possible..

Just as a info: 

Most of these  games will be made using Gamemaker 8... It's probably needless to say that i'm a great fan of this software and would recommend anyone to try the free version (though you may want to buy a full version to unleash the actual power)... In spite of all this, I'm highly  dissatisfied with their Gamemaker:HTML5, they've increased the prices many fold just to give you a piece of buggy crap.. I thought that I'll add browser games as example but unfortunately even this example won't run flawlessly in the HTML5 version (thanks to Yoyogames, the maker of Gamemaker:HTMl5).. So, there will be two versions of the examples:  

1.fully editable .GM8 file (smaller in size, but only for those who have full-version of the gamemaker, as it uses the pro-only functions) 

2.EXE version (larger in size, standalone version, for anyone to see the final product).

Recap from previous blog:

The previous blog offered some theoretical  concept on how to improve the looks and feels of a game.

My concept was to make the background dark and introduce a "grunge" feel...

Some discussions were also made on how to utilize shadows wisely. If you haven't read it, you may like to read it here.

Original post starts here:

For those jumping to see the final product, here's the link:

1. .GM8 (Same as .gmk ) link
2. .EXE link
All the controls and instructions can be seen by pressing F1.
Check it out for a secret!!
Special note: Run and jump for a higher jump. You'll need it!!

Screenshot:

Note (about the game):

Few things should be noticed in the game:

1.How to implement the spotlight

 The orange lines from the top-left spotlight to the player is willingly left there to be shown.. It is to prove that the spotlight works correctly.. 

As it is quite difficult to make real 2-D light-shadow dynamics.. I've left the complex part aside to show its use.. Frankly speaking, it is a unrealistic light which you can easily understand when you try out the game..

The stripped version of the spotlight physics that I've used follows the following rules correctly:

A. Light originates as a pencil beam (intense bunch of light) and it doesn't spread. 

B.But the object(s) on which it falls spreads the light in a short range to illuminate other objects nearby..

So, when the line joining the spotlight and the player is obstructed by some object, that object is illuminated most brightly and the other objects nearby are illuminated partially depending on its distance from the aforesaid illuminated object.

If you have a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it...

2.The bright arrow

Look at the screenshot.. Can you see a bright arrow.. It is used to implement  this theoretical concept.
Beware.. flashy things can be misleading..