Great Engine! Questions before beginning!

Hman_USA

Hi everyone! This app and forum appear to be dead but this app is exactly what I need as a beginner. I know exactly what I want to make and it appears that I should be able to do it in hyperpad, but I need to know a couple things before I commit. And yes, I’m reading and watching everything to learn.

My project will utilize Hyperpad for the engine, Pixquare for the art, and GarageBand for audio since I will be doing all work from my iPad.

I will be making a top-down/isometric twin-stick shooting game using pixel art. I want it to feel like Renegade Ops or the old Strike games. As such, I want the “player” to be able to go from a ground unit to a flying unit that can land too.

I want the “player” unit to be the main source of light. Minimal light will persist in the environment until the “player” gets near and shines its own light, seeing both the environment and the enemies for the first time.

So my questions are:

Light and shadows: do I need to incorporate shadows into my pixel art images or will the hyperpad do it for me? I found a project that someone made with a light source being moved around and the shadows changing dynamically, so I’m hoping I don’t need to create my own shadows.

This kind of goes with the previous question. How do I make the flying units appear to be flying? I know that collision will be a big part of it, but visually do I create it “taller” with the unit, open space, and then finally a shadow at the bottom? Then I can just put collision on the unit itself and not the shadow?

To make it appear to land would I remove the space between the shadows and unit as the unit comes down and gets closer to the shadow until it matches up to what ground units are like?

Thanks to all 3 of you for taking the time to read/answer me?! :D

This engine appears to be something special so I am approaching everything with cautious optimism.

RobinsonX

@Hman_USA Hello! Here are some answers to your questions:

You don't need to incorporate shadows into your pixel art images if you're trying to do dynamic lighting. However, it is good to note that hyperPad doesn't actually support lighting. This feature is built from the ground up by the user. In the future, we hope to make lighting a built-in thing.
You can have the shadow act as where the unit is flying above, and make sure the unit is visually above the shadow. The greater the distance, the greater the elevation. Adding collisions to the unit might interfere with physical objects on the ground, unless you tell hyperPad when the unit should and should not have collisions.
To make the unit land, you can move it towards the shadow (effectively closing the distance between the unit and the shadow).