Mostly there... Well, for those basics...

Its pretty amazing just how fast things go when you're on a roll.  Since the last post (just a couple of days ago) the game now has player interaction, a new NES-style (ok, so its kinda NES-like) look to the graphics, visible character timer bar (to show how long they will be in play), some basic score and time limit.  Overall a majority of the basic game system seems to operate as expected.

Its nowhere done and dusted, of course...  There's more game logic needed.  There needs to be an aim to the game itself.  In general its a collect coins and progress to the next level thing, which needs more then just a simple time limit.   That means more challenges to make it less 'collect coins for a limited time' and more 'collect coins, but watch out for...'

Never fear of course - I have a whole document load of stuff still to implement!

More graphical variation

In its current state, all the characters and arcade machines look the same.

Its fine for this proof-of-concept stage, but there's definitely going to need to be more variations in everything.  Different looking characters, variations in arcade game colours, etc.

Definitely more animated elements will be needed too.  While proof-of-concept is not necessarily about making sexy looking graphics then it is the game play, nobody ever got excited by generic looking imagery - especially important once I'm ready to let other people loose on it for testing and feedback.

Character functionality

I'm looking at some of the additional functionality of characters, as well as the introduction of 'bad guys' (those characters you don't want in your arcade).  Each character will need more attributes to really add some challenge to the game.  This will also tie in with getting some more variation into the character imagery.

Bonus levels

A bonus level or two never goes amiss in any game.  The chance to cash in and earn more points.  Definitely doable and fairly easily as well.

Obstacles

As mentioned - bad guys are one challenge I want to add into the game.  Other obstacles based on character functionality are another...  Angry at no machines free or interaction with one of these 'bad guys' I previously mentioned, games that are too hard to play or too old, etc. Limitations of various kinds, things that lower the coin spending generally and make it harder for the player to reach the goal.

So...

Still plenty to do, but overall progress is ripping along.  I'll post up some more stuff soon (and like the original post, reveal more about the game as I have something to show (and actually talk about)).