Progress is on target!

I've fixed the shooting routines; now there's no doubt they're all targeting the Solvalou!

Those Derotas are on target!

The "bullet-hell" I was seeing had me concerned; it's not as if the firing frequency logic was all in one routine - every object has its own logic, even if it is essentially the same sequence of instructions. But how can that be wrong for every object?

Fortunately it wasn't a mystery for very long at all. The firing frequency for each of the ground-based objects is encoded within the map data, so that as you progress through the map, certain objects fire more frequently to make it harder.

Now I have a build option that lets me specify the starting level, so I can quickly test specific areas of the game. But when I start at a later level, the firing frequency parameters of some/all of the objects haven't been set (as those areas of the map have been skipped) and all hell breaks loose! If I start at level 1, the problem disappears.

I'll now continue with the next ground-based object in Area 5.

Fun fact: encoded within the map data is a parameter that determines at which row on the screen the ground-based objects will stop shooting. This is obviously another variable to temper the difficulty of the game as you progress through the areas.

The Garu Derota (large octogon) is the only grond-based object I've completed thus far that ignores this variable and does NOT stop shooting at the Solvalou until it scrolls off the screen!