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Advanced Lingo For Games
by Gary Rosenzweig

Chapter 12 Section 4

You can do a lot of little things to make this game different from your standard paddle bricks game. Some of these don't even involve any programming, while others require some rewriting.

Decreasing Paddle Size

There is no reason why each level needs to use the same paddle graphic. In fact, you could make the paddle a little smaller for each level, thus increasing the difficulty of the game. You could even make the ball smaller as well.

Just create paddle members that are different sizes and use the appropriate one on each level. The behavior will recognize the sprite's paddle width and use it.

Colorful Arrangements

Don't underestimate the idea of being able to use any image as a brick. You could have bricks that resemble objects. Or, you could just have bricks arranged in interesting patterns. You can have sounds to match the image or color as well. Another idea would be to have an image behind the bricks that is revealed as the bricks are removed.

Turn It on Its Side

By changing all the horizontal Lingo properties to vertical properties, and vice versa, you could make this a game that plays from left to right instead of up and down. This is one way to make your version stand out. You could even place a paddle on both sides of the screen with a little programming work.

Multiple Balls

Instead of just having one ball on the screen at a time, some higher levels can have two. You can do this with the code as it is by just placing two ball sprites on the screen at once. However, the ball behavior will reset both balls when only one is missed. With a little extra work, the behaviors can be altered to accommodate this.