With some additional feedback put in and a touch of bug fixing, Phalanx3D was ready for another round of playtesting at about noon today. That meant I had time to work on an attract mode–the sequence that plays while an arcade game is waiting for coins.

Traditionally attract modes have featured the game being played comically poorly. Fighting games show off combats in which the martial artists don’t seem able to touch each other; shmups neglect the unique mechanics that make high scores possible. At times one wonders how these displays ever manage to attract anyone. 😉

Originally I set out to replicate that cheerfully terrible play, if only as a matter of historical interest. Attract modes are always like that, after all. Shouldn’t I nod to illustrious arcade forebears?

I couldn’t reconcile myself to the obvious design weaknesses of that approach, though, and I’m now thinking that using the attract mode to teach the game properly is a better bet. That will mean pre-recording solid games that can be used to demonstrate key aspects of play. My expectation is that that will be done by the weekend.

We’re still on pace for a start-of-school release. Further news as events warrant . . . .