Shields Up+GRADE!

Objective:

In today’s article we’ll build upon the existing player shields by adding a health system to them and providing visual feedback to indicate damage taken.

Approach & Implementation:

1. Health System: The player’s lives are managed through the _playerLives variable, which is initialized to 3. The Damage() method is responsible for handling shield hits and updating the player's lives. We’ll simply add a health variable to our shield called _shieldHitsand give it a value of 3. We’ll add some logic to our Damage() method so that when the player takes a hit when shields are active the _shieldHitswill reduce by 1 until they reach 0 and then set _shieldActiveto false.
2. Shield Activation and Color Management: The ShieldsUp() method activates the player's shields by setting the _shieldActive variable to true. It also initializes the shield hits and sets the initial color of the shield to cyan using the _shieldHitColor variable.

3. Handling Player/Shield Damage: The Damage() method handles shield hits and player lives. If the shield is active, it reduces the shield hits and updates the shield color based on the remaining hits. If the shield is not active, it decreases the player's lives as before and updates the UI accordingly.

Results:

The implementation of the shield health system and visual feedback enhances the overall player experience in the 2D space shooter game. Players can now monitor their shield status through the shield colors and manage their lives strategically. The dynamic visual effects contribute to more immersive player experience with common sci-fi tropes with shield strength.

Conclusion:

Adding a health system and visual feedback to a 2D space shooter game improves the gameplay experience by offering players a more engaging and interactive environment. Developers can leverage these techniques to create a more dynamic and challenging experience that keeps players invested in the game.