This week was just a matter of implementing a few minor aspects required from effectively presenting the game during the show. One step involved converting the current prototype for the Stock Mode options to the simple Arcade Mode format. The next step allowed me to examine how the game would provide gameplay on a computer, and I built a system that would properly box the game application when in full screen. Other than that, I merely polished a few visual aspects, included available banner art, and added some sound effects where applicable.
Based on the design document, implementing the Arcade Mode was relatively straightforward. The previous Stock Mode provided all the details for testing, where the Arcade Mode would consolidate player options into Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulties. This was primarily a matter of creating a button to hold and submit gameplay information for the various difficulties, and applying a selection hint on the current player option. When started, the game then submits the current selected button's gameplay information, therefore generating the desired difficulty.
This actually wound up being simpler than expected. Without the ability to consistently provide iPhones for displaying the build, the game would need a computer version for ease of access. While never a problem on the actual mobile device, the actual game window cannot dynamically swap between portrait and landscape modes. If the game application is extended horizontally, these game modes are playable, but some content that is normally off-screen becomes visible. As a solution, there is now a cover that applies outside of the game area, ensuring that the non-game space, regardless of orientation, is hidden.
Overall, this was a pretty short sprint cycle for work, which is good since it means that the programming team is not enduring crunch time for features. At this point it's just a matter of remaining on stand-by for final art assets, design adjustments, and minor bug fixing.