There. MUCH better.

In The Future, space jets come with their own air-to-space rockets, and consume less liquid fuel. They might need to drop the rocket fuel tank, but at least it's not a giant cylinder. It's a big wedge instead.

As mentioned before, I've got a little variable called ScrewIt for testing purposes.

At the end of the level, we'll see this wall, followed by a sequence leading up to the level's boss.

...IIIIIN SPAAAAAACE!

Well, I was looking through some old files, and found some cool stuff.

Strangely enough, of all the games I've made .exes of, this is the one that STILL works on my current computer. And sometimes, I realize I made some poor decisions in game design with this one.

Okay, so maybe looking up how NASA does shuttle launches isn't the best solution, but it's at least less '50s than a Flash Gordon-style rocketship.

I never said perspective was my strong suit, but I'll try, anyway.

Concept art time!

Early on, Tiel had a backpack because in the fic she was originally created for, she was going on an adventure along with Rick. That's why I was kinda attached to her.

Apparently, there are only three time zones between Brazil and the UK.

So, I might as well add some clouds and rain.

This is how I know Game Maker's random() function isn't very random:

I put in the Kid Pix "Draw Me" prompt into my game, and the phrase "I am Commander Salamander with a magic cookie jar, and I live in your bathtub" is consistently the first thing I see.

You know what? I think I'm almost done with this level. All I need to do now is put a cap to it, then a transition to the boss fight.

Thankfully, it'll be the ONLY sequence like this.

...and here's the wind-up frame.

It only appears for four frames, and each animation state has its own proprietary wind-up setup, so the animation continues to flow.

Also, now I have incentive for guns, but probably need a fourth button for punches only.