Copter Commander

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Copter Commander Andrew Ho, Designer
Heather Pritchard, Producer
Andrew Trusty, Programmer
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Game Design
Gameplay The player assumes control of a
helicopter, with the objective of trying to
navigate through a side-scrolling playfield
without colliding with the top or bottom of the
playfield. The player must 'hover' successfully
by pressing the space bar repeatedly. The player
only has the ability to move upward. Graphics On
e player sprite with a side-scrolling playfield
that is randomly-generated as the player sprite
moves through. Upon crashing the helicopter, both
the playfield and the player sprite turn
different colors.
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Sprite Design
Top and tail rotors are animated every five frames
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Game Design
Playfield The playfield resembles a crooked
tunnel, with portions sticking out from the top
and bottom as obstacles for the player to
navigate through. The playfield constantly
scrolls to the left. The spacing between the top
and the bottom of the cave gets smaller as higher
distances are reached. The game becomes more
difficult at each 300 meter increment. After
three increments, the spacing stays constant but
the interpolation (minimum length of crags in
the tunnel) gets larger.
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Playfield Design
Screenshot of Game
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Game Design
Winning/Losing Conditions There is no specific
winning condition, as the purpose of the game is
to travel as far as possible within the tunnel.
The players score increases as the player sprite
continues to move without colliding with the
playfield. The score is indicated at the bottom
as the distance that has been traveled. Losing
occurs when the player collides with the
playfield. Upon crashing the helicopter, both the
playfield and the player sprite turn different
colors and flash repeatedly until restarting the
game. The game can be restarted by pressing the
right button (moving the joystick to the right).