All right, I started making the sliced sprites, but found they they do slow down the game noticeably. If you have enough objects on the screen, it actually interferes with key detection

So here's the question: Is the game all right as it is, or do I need to add something to the screen when a fruit gets sliced? Maybe I can use something simpler and smaller, like an 16x8 splatter image. (This wouldn't slow down the game much because it would use the engine already in place for the combo and drop graphics.)

Post a screenshot of the slicing ones. I want to see how much it slows down.

Post a screenshot of the slicing ones. I want to see how much it slows down.

A screenshot won't do because the slowdown isn't very visible (in fact, the fruits' motions are inflated by a tremendous amount, so the frame rate could decrease by 400% and graphics would still be as smooth as they are now).

The main problem is that the game would feel a lot less responsive. Using a swiping motion for control requires that key detection be really, really sensitive. A game that uses only the arrow pad for movement, for example, might feel perfectly fine taking five keypresses a second, but having that rate in this game would mean that a single swipe across a row must take at least one full second. (Just imagine swiping at that speed! The game as it is now runs at something more like 20 frames a second.)

I'm still not sure about those—I'm planning at least two of the original three modes (Classic for sure, and either Zen or Arcade or both). Zen mode is easier to make but not as much fun in my opinion, while Arcade mode involves a lot of extra features, like the pomegranate (it only appears in Arcade mode IIRC).

EDIT: I was wrong. It's in both Arcade and Classic mode.

I'm still not sure about those—I'm planning at least two of the original three modes (Classic for sure, and either Zen or Arcade or both). Zen mode is easier to make but not as much fun in my opinion, while Arcade mode involves a lot of extra features, like the pomegranate (it only appears in Arcade mode IIRC).

EDIT: I was wrong. It's in both Arcade and Classic mode.

You'd also have to get all the bananas and combo blitzes working oO

But unfortunately probably not possible

I think I'll stick to Classic and Zen mode.

After optimizing a bit, I found the lag not too bad at all. So it will have sliced fruit sprites, though not rotating.

And I got lazy on those, too, and decided to stick with the sprites I already have, but with each half drawn separately. It doesn't look as nice as if I were to create a whole new set of sprites, but the main benefit (besides saving me a couple weeks' worth of graphics work) is that it doesn't bloat the program with another 2,048 bytes of sprite data.

And I guess it doesn't look too bad, either (you can still download it from the original post):

And now I'm just about done Just need some high scores and a menu system.