WW2: Technical stuff

The scrolling is done pretty much the same way as in Warp 1.5, except that I'm allowing for several different speeds (during take-off and landing). Figuring that most computers are a bit faster today than when I built the Warp games, I let the scrolling process take smaller steps but more often, which made the overall motion a little smoother.

Both Warp and Warp 1.5 had their backgrounds drawn at random, from a small selection of building blocks. I could have done that in WW2 as well, but then the landscapes would have been rather boring. Instead I opted for a larger set of blocks and having their arrangement specified by external data files. Each block is represented by one byte and a level background is 284 blocks long and 9 blocks wide, making the data files about 2.5 kilobytes in size. They load fairly quickly.

I needed a level editor, of course, so I had to build one. Here you can try out a slightly crippled version of it. The SAVE button and levels 4-8 have been disabled.

You use the arrow keys to move the cursor in the left half. That's the background map. The top right half holds the building blocks, which can be selected by pointing and clicking. To place a block in the map, press SPACE. There is also a shortcut for filling a whole horizontal line (practical when drawing roads). To do that, press w.

In case you are wondering what the "T" and "B" mean, those blocks mark the positions where tanks and boats may appear. When put on the left or right edge, the resulting tank or boat will enter sideways. Otherwise it goes downwards from the top of the screen.