Shoot 'Em Up Kit User Guide

Menus

Main Menu

The Shoot 'Em Up Kit opens on the Main Menu page when it is launched. From here you can choose to play an existing game, or to create or continue to build a new one.

Project Menu

The Project Menu is displayed when a new project is created or an existing one opened. It has links to all the Editors and Settings used to build a game.

Tool Bar

The toolbar appears on every editor page and provides access to many of the features and shortcuts to the other editors.

Editors

These are accessed from the Project Menu or the Tool Bar .

The Level Editor is used to place Entities into the map, as well as placing other objects such as triggers, sounds and checkpoints and setting up backgrounds, music and ambient lighting. The objectives for the level can also be set so that, for instance, the level will be complete when a timer has expired.

Particle Editor

The particle editor enables you to build eye-catching particle effects out of sprites or models. You can set the number of particles which will be emitted, the speed and direction of travel, their colour and number of other parameters. Particles can also contain physical and collision properties so that they interact with the environment.

Entity Editor

The Entity Editor enables you to make game entities out of sprites or models. You can choose which shaders to use, select how collisions will be detected, set the physical properties of the entity, and set tags to identify important positions on the model or sprite such as a gun or thruster position.

Sprite Editor

If you create your own 2D graphics then the Sprite Editor enables you to tell the Shoot ‘Em Up Kit where each sprite is on the texture – if there are more than one. You can also combine multiple images to create an animated sprite. Collision masks can also be defined for each sprite, allowing the sprite to collide in a different way from its appearance.

Sound Editor

The Sound Editor is used to tell the Shoot ‘Em Up Kit about any sound effects or music you create. This could include whether it is a stereo or 3D sound, whether it should be looped – meaning it would be played continuously - and whether any subtitles should be displayed. Individual sounds can be grouped to form a Sound Cue which, when played, selects a random sound from the group. This avoids repetition and phasing effects.

HUD Editor

The heads-up display (HUD) is the in-game information, such as score, lives and health, which is overlaid on the display for the player to see. In the HUD Editor text and graphics can be added to the HUD, and these can be linked to data so that, for example, the player’s score or number of lives is displayed.

Front-End Editor

The Front End Editor is used to create all the screens which the player sees before, in-between and after the main game is played. Examples include the title page, the pause menu, and the high-score table. Text, graphics and sound can all be added to each page.

Behaviour Editor

The Behaviour Editor enables you to create custom behaviours for the game. Example behaviours could include giving a bonus life when 10,000 points have been reached, or triggering a sound effect during the last few seconds of a timer. Properties for any of the Entities or game objects can be modified using behaviour instructions