Xeda112358 raises hand
For the water animation, it looks like you are using the cellular automata rule where it moves down if it can, otherwise it tries left or right. I posted a topic somewhere about the effects of adding one more rule. If it cannot move in any of those directions, try to move up. This looks more like it is boiling water and while it still doesn't have the real physics you might desire, it has the neat trait of capillary action. This means if you create a tube, the liquid will defy gravity by going up it (if it is thin enough). It might add another element to the game play.

By the way, it looks absolutely awesome!
EDIT: Er, to clarify, "it" == the game.

That's a neat effect, but I don't think it would work with my setup. Water isn't treated as individual "drops" (pixels) but as 6x6 tiles, which are then broken down into six horizontal segments of six pixels each. Since each of these segments must move together, it might look a bit odd to have whole layers of water floating upwards. (A complete description of the water algorithm is in this post.)

Working on some title screen mockups:



The border around START is the selection and will be animated, moving in a box.

EDIT: Clearer picture.

Wow, that is a really neat way of handling water!

@Deep: To clarify myself, I meant will a single level be able to span multiple screens either through scrolling or a Zelda-style screen shift.

Oh, I see. I don't think that would be possible without a lot of rewriting because the engine is a mixture of tile-based and pixel-based physics.

The biggest problem is probably the water engine, which assumes that the level is composed of a certain number of tiles that covers the screen.

The max size of each level might pose a limit on how creative levels can get, though...

Wow, that is a really neat way of handling water!

Thanks!

It's perfect here because it's tile-based, so I don't even have to have a separate loop for it—I just handle water effects with the tile above it. That means it's insanely fast (actually takes less time than rendering the animated coins, believe it or not), and doesn't slow down at all with more water.

And since it moves by segments of six, it's much smoother than single-pixel automata. Only problem is that it tends to fill up a column of air too fast (like in this screenshot), but I can mostly avoid the column by staying away from single columns of air.

Ha, that mockup is looking great, i like it! Will the snake then slither around the currently selected menu item?
EDIT: sorry, i'm too stupid to read, you already said that >.<
Maybe you could make that it finishes the round and slithers to the next box when you hit left/right?

It's actually more of a fast and blurry highlight than a line moving around the selection. (Think sparks zipping around in a box instead of snakes crawling.) I want it to look tech-y, so it'll be fast and jump from one to the next.

EDIT: @Xeda, the water engine is also unique in that water always moves sideways and then as far down as possible, and never actually drops straight down.

Might pose a problem with some situations...

@Deep: I see. You could make it so multi-screen levels didn't use water. Just a thought.

Surprise, project is not dead, as of three days ago

I've implemented the menu pretty much how I described it above. Nothing terribly exciting except that it works (and that it's the first code I've written for the calculator in earnest in a year!).

What's more important is that I've decided to split off level packs from the program entirely. Depending on whether the final game is small enough to fit in the 8-kB limit (it's by far the heaviest game I've made, at least in Axe), I may include a single level pack with the game so people can play it out-of-the-box.

In any case, the game will rely on level packs as appvars. As you saw in the earlier screenshot, it'll be stupidly easy to make new levels. To encourage people to make more levels, the level editor/publishing tool will be baked into the program.

Some screenshots are coming soon (my computer is in for repairs so it's not as easy to get online). Maybe a playable demo too, at least of the level mechanics

EDIT: In the meantime, some stats on the project.

Source programs: 39 (and counting)
Source size: 8 kilobytes
Compiled programs: Currently three (gameplay test, level editor, and main menu), which should be consolidated as the features mature
Compiled size: Unknown (because of the fragmentation); probably around 7 kilobytes

Wait, it's not dead?
Can't wait for epic stuff

Nice to see this up and running again. I think I'd be a bit surprised if the level editor and the program fit in the 8k limit. :O

You're right, the program currently stands at 7.5 kB without the level editor, though most of the resources used by the level editor are also in the main program so it might not add all that much weight. My goal is to put the program around 10 kB and somehow keep the code section within the 8 kB limit.

Anyway, demo time!   (Finally.) There's no change in terms of the level mechanics, and as you can see water still behaves a bit ... strangely, but let's just call it "slime" or something.



EDIT: Whoops, forgot demo link. http://www.omnimaga.org/maximum-security/demos-and-bug-reports-21366/?topicseen#msg390157