Torches
Description
Torches is a 2D Flash platformer in which the player assumes the role of a fire-breathing creature who traverses a fanciful land of silhouettes to defeat shadowy monsters by lighting mystical torches.
Inspiration
The main inspiration for the look of the game comes from silhouette animation. The most influential of these animations would be the film The Adventures of Prince Achmed by Lotte Reiniger, created by filming cutouts under a camera one frame at a time. Torches attempts to display a unique visual style not often seen in games through the use of bold silhouettes and splashes of color.
Development
Torches was created over two semesters and required a great deal of research into game programming. The game was written in ActionScript 2 and the graphics were created using Adobe Flash and Photoshop. Implementing the following key elements was the main focus during making the game:
- Parallax scrolling
- Fluid character movement and sprite animation
- Tile-based collision detection
- Enemy AI
- Scoring system
- Player interaction with torches and doorways
- Multiple areas to explore
Concepts
