I decided to re-release an older game I made, World War II Wings. I've always thought it needed to have a proper release, and that it needed a true proper graphics upgrade. After commissioner and amazing artist from itch, the graphics are ready, but a little tweaking is necessary prior to the release.

One of the 'little tweaks' is enemy spawning, and creation of 'formations' that real pilots usually fly in. Doing this in an isometric perspective has been a seemingly never-ending hill to climb. I feel that I have spent over 80 hours on formations alone, and proper enemy spawning. Unlike top-down or side-scrolling shooters, you have a dead-space in the screen that although is actual screen space, would be pointless to have an enemy fly into. An enemy can come from that area, but if it spends the majority of its' time there, it just is considered a waste.

In addition to the dead space, you have to consider the X AND Y variations of where the enemy is spawning off-screen. In addition, the best practice is to add in a random range that the enemy can spawn in, making the game more dynamic. Attempting to combine this random x or y spawn point into a formation is when things get really dicey. I have always picked the center-most or end point enemy and applied the random coordinate to that, then spawn the rest of the formation based on that initial enemy. 

I really love the look of this game, and I would love to have it become more in-depth, exciting, and robust, but I am looking forward to moving away from dealing with the isometric perspective; for me this project will be done  soon, as I wish to move on to labor of love that are closer to my heart.