Foreground fun

The foreground object in The 2D Shooter Game Creator is a powerful tool - especially when used as a 32-bit png. This tutorial is here to help you use the foreground to its maximum effect - for example as a foggy overlay.

Fog

Fog can happen anywhere in the universe - a blizzard, a sandstorm, a factory gas leak... This technique has been used in popular arcade shooters such as "Ninja Assualt", hiding enemies from the player's vision slightly and so making the game more challenging.

This fog overlay was quickly made by using transparent grey colours and a foggy paintbrush shape. The layer was also turned into a seamless wraparound so it could me used in multiple scenes.

Here is the fog in work in a game - an easy addition to a slightly plain scene.

Target tracker

This technique is useful for making games that look like you are in a robotic suit or something as such. What it basically encompasses is creating a foreground with graphics that you want overlayed on your scene, that may provide information to the user, or just look cool/futuristic.

This is the foreground that was made for the tutorial. You can see there are multiple levels of transparency here as the standard checkboard shows through. Now to export as 32 bit PNG and load into the level editor...

Tadaa! The target and text is overlayed on the scene and is aimed at the enemy!

Crates

The crate is the all-games generic item. You can add a crate into the 2D Shooter Game Creator for your enemies to hide behind by adding in a special foreground!

This crate has a transparent shadow underneath to make it look like it is resting on the terrain.

Now it is added into a level, you can see how it looks for the enemy to hide behind. The enemy can also be positioned so that it will jump out from behind the crate and will be invisible when behind there!

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