When I was starting a new project to take my 4K game and turn it into a 32K monster yesterday, I noticed something odd. My code would not compile. On further inspection, I had forgotten to include a custom class in my new project. A custom class, that is, that was totally unecessary. By removing that class reference, I gained by 800 bytes!
Suddenly, my “finished game” was not finished at all, and could be enhanced even further. Using my new coding mind-set, I was able to gain the folloing with those 800 bytes (with 20 still left over):
- A new sound.
- Expanded text instructions
- Expanded text messages
- Glow filters on most text
- The ability to [Pause] the game
- The ability to earn extra lives
- A new feature: Shooting and the abilty to collect shots.
- Various game balancing fixes
- Bonus: I also fixed a major new-found bug and added code to prevent some odd behavior.
If you told me two weeks ago that I could fit all that into 800 bytes as an after thought to an already finished game, I would have directed you towards a decent looney bin.