The Game Map:

Here are "previews" of the first two areas/maps which will be added into the game. As of now, I haven't setup a system for changing screens or loading new maps, but I have a good idea of how I want to implement it, but it relies on how I eventually implement enemies into the game, so I'll save that for an article on programming specifically.

As you may be able to tell from the images, the grey building is identical to the area where you fight "Running Man" in Metal Gear 2. This is the first area I've added into the game, and will likely be removed from the final game. It currently only exists to test movement between screens/maps.

The jungle area will be the first actual area of the game. I essentially made it by splicing together pieces of the Metal Gear 2 jungle map into something different. Being the first stage of the game, it will largely be devoid of enemies in the first couple screens to get players acquainted with the game's controls and handling, just in case they have no experience with the 2D MG titles. I do plan on implementing multiple difficulties though, so maybe on the harder settings there will be additional enemies.

Splicing together pieces of the MG2 map keeps the game map's art-style identical to MG2, and saves quite a bit of time. Despite simply putting pieces together, there are many instances requiring me to "fill in" some small spots. It can get quite tedious. The overall look is supposed to emulate MG2 though, and I think I did and can do a sufficient job of doing that.

Moving on:

Next post should be on programming the actual system for equipping and using weapons, and on the equipment select screen... Unless that article ends up being too long, in which case I'll separate the two.