TIER 3: SCROLLING & GAME LOGIC
Phase 0 - BASIC Gateway
Master smooth scrolling, advanced game loops, and complete game systems. These 16 lessons teach VIC-II scrolling, projectile systems, power-ups, and building full arcade experiences with state management and persistence.
What You'll Learn This Tier
Tier 3 brings arcade-quality scrolling and complex game systems. You'll learn:
- Camera systems - Paging viewports and smooth VIC-II hardware scrolling
- Tile-based level design - Data-driven maps with collision layers
- 2-axis physics - Velocity, thrust, and bounds for flight/hover control
- Advanced AI - Patrol/chase modes with weighted randomness
- Projectile systems - Launching, recycling, and cooldowns
- Power-up mechanics - Spawning, effects, and expiry
- Game balancing - Difficulty ramping without overwhelming players
- Persistence - High-score tables saved to disk
- Fixed-step timing - Jiffy clock-driven stable game loops
Prerequisites: Complete Tiers 1-2 (lessons 1-32). You'll build on sprites, collision, and state machines.
Lessons
Paging the Screen
Slide a viewing window across stored data like a camera pan
Level Design by DATA
Load tile maps from DATA tables and render them as readable tunnels
Smooth Scrolling
Use VIC-II fine scroll to glide text and tiles a pixel at a time
Verticality
Balance two-axis velocity, thrust, and bounds for hovercraft control
Simple AI
Switch patrols into chase mode with lightweight distance checks
Collision Layers
Separate walls, collectibles, and hazards with VIC-II collision flags
Game Loops Revisited
Stabilise action with fixed-step timing driven by the jiffy clock
Scroll Runner
Capstone mini-game combining scrolling, AI, collisions, and pacing
Finite State Fun
Drive title, play, and game-over screens with clean state logic
Random Opponents
Blend patrol and chase behaviours with weighted randomness
Shooting Stars
Launch, recycle, and pace projectiles with cooldowns
Hit Detection
React to sprite collisions with flashes, score bumps, and respawns
Power-Ups
Spawn buffs, trigger effects, and cleanly expire them
Balancing Act
Ramp speed and spawn timers without overwhelming the player
Saving Scores
Keep a high-score table in arrays and write it to disk
Cosmic Clash
Mini-game weaving states, AI, power-ups, and persistence together
Ready to Scroll?
You've conquered sprites and rooms. Now let's unlock smooth scrolling, advanced physics, and complete arcade game systems!
Start Lesson 33: Paging the Screen