🚀 I start the third day with my AliExpress whiteboard, designing five levels. My goal is to create a gradual difficulty curve by introducing new elements in each stage:

1️⃣ Level 1: Simple, just find the exit.
2️⃣ Level 2: Introduces a dead end and electric barriers ⚡.
3️⃣ Level 3: Another dead end, but now with meteors ☄️.
4️⃣ Level 4: Features cannons 🏹 and is longer.
5️⃣ Level 5: The most maze-like, with another dead end.

📏 Despite the differences, I keep all levels the same size. They could be larger, but I want the game to remain accessible. If time allows, I might add five bigger levels.

🎨 Aesthetic and Design Dilemmas

Since the entire level is a single sprite, I need a clear art direction to avoid unnecessary rework. I also need to finalize the cannon design before integrating them into the level.

🔧 Solution: Cannons will be independent objects. To make them stay fixed while the stage rotates, I had to learn some trigonometry with ChatGPT 📐. Now they track the player unless the angle is too wide. It works well, though it still needs some fine-tuning.

🖌️ Art Direction & Experimentation

During lunch, I brainstorm ideas for the game's visuals. Dynamic lighting is tempting but too complex and not what I’m aiming for. Instead, I go for a metallic pixel art style:

✨ I spend a lot of time drawing the spaceship in pixel art.
🪐 I texture the circular walls using a single tile in GIMP.
💡 I apply a gloom effect in Game Maker to enhance the space-like atmosphere.

To add more coherence, I replace the floating walls with a spaceship-like interior. I create a large circular background with a darker version of the wall texture and use GIMP brushes and masks to add lighting effects.

🎯 Day’s Summary

Today was more challenging than previous days due to design uncertainties and learning how to use GIMP masks. However, I made great progress:
✅ Improved my trigonometry skills while working on cannons.
✅ The first level is now playable.

Tomorrow, I’ll refine the mechanics and test how everything feels in motion. 🚀