Post-Mortem Game 1

What went right:

Very little seemed to go smoothly for me. Javascript was an easy language to learn, and codeheart was a good database for some basic functions, but overall it was a struggle with the most simple things.

What went wrong:

Collision Detection: This took up about 1/4 of my time and is still very buggy. I have two canvases, one visible and one invisible. This system was not synchronous and it took me a very very long time to figure out why. I wish that you could get the pixel from an onscreen coordinate, but you cannot.

Coordinate System: This was where the most confusing bugs came up. I had a map to display, a collision map to keep track of, and a player and enemy running around who must be trackable and consistent on both maps and the screen. The solution took me forever because I really had no idea what was displayed where and how.

Graphics: As you saw, my game is ugly. I would like to learn more about animation and sprites, but I think that I may just avoid it altogether and go for a more simple and clean looking game.

Gameplay: I was not able to add in features to make the game more fun. Getting necessities done rather than creative things was a disappointing reality, hopefully the next game will be better in that respect.

If I knew what I know now:

My game would not take long to code, maybe 5 hours. Embarrassing. 

What I would like to know:

I need to learn how to create a nice user interface. As well as a more pleasing game to look at. 

Also, if I am to have more compelling games I think that the enemy must be smarter. So pathfinding will be necessary. 

Next Game:

I have a few ideas for the next game. Regardless of which I choose I will need to stick to a written plan, as well as follow a few rules: 

No Maps. Cohesive coordinate systems did not work out in my first game. 

No Art. Outside of a nice user interface, I would like to focus more on gameplay.

A potential idea: The Williams Hunger Games.

Same rules, concept, and strategy ( except maybe alliances ) as the books/movies. Instead of players chosen from districts, they are chosen from the different majors Williams offers. Also, the games would most likely be shorter and more attack rather than survival intensive. 

I would like to focus on creating a player. Meaning giving your character specific stats. Say, choosing the distribution of 100 points throughout 10 skills. The skills act as multipliers for things like: 

attack effectiveness with certain weapons, health, stamina, likelihood for an alliance( maybe )

I will try to streamline the game to feel more complete. It will use the same mechanics as my first game, but that is about it.