Chapter 6. Controlling the Game with Virtual Pads

One of the most important things to consider when making a cross-platform game is the way the player will control the main character. Most of the devices your game will be running on won't have a keyboard or a mouse, and although more and more portable devices now support pads, your game must also be playable without pads.

In this chapter, I will show you three of the most popular ways to create virtual pads on any device. Among other things, you will learn how to:

• Scroll big images to give an idea of an endless background
• Schedule events
• Control the frame rate
• Check collision between sprites
• Create a simple particle system
• Move sprites manually or using actions

So, the first thing to do is take a look at how successful games allow players to interact with them using virtual pads.