Options

1. An if statement that checks the name, or ID number, of a pattern and generates the asteroids according to the name

   • The if statement would end up very big, as more patterns are implemented
   • Need a check for where in the pattern it is, like if it needs to spawn the asteroids in bar 1, 2 or 3 etc, and then check the pattern ID again to determine where to spawn the asteroids
   • It would become very messy

2. A data structure, like using a class, that stores all of the information about the asteroid pattern in neat containers. Control of the spawning is then passed over to this class

   • Eg.

   // a 2- dimensional array that stores the y coordinates of the asteroids. 
   // It is 2D because it allows for a separation between left and right asteroids
   bar_1_asteroids_array = [ [2, 8], [5] ]; 
   // There will be an array for each bar
   bar_2_asteroids_array = [ [-3], [1, -8] ];
   

   • Can a class be easily implemented and called in Unity?
   • This would probably work well as just a data structure when combined with solution 3 (See 3)

3. Store the information for the current pattern in arrays inside the original asteroidSpawner script. This way, the code can just spawn asteroids in the array, without needing to ask what pattern it is in. Whenever it reaches the end of the pattern, and needs a new one, it just calls for a new one and refills the arrays accordingly.

   • When calling for a new pattern, the code requests the information from an object which would be a version of a pattern class. The pattern class would contain the following data:

   string patternName;
   int[][] bar_1_asteroids_array;
   int[][] bar_2_asteroids_array;
   int[][] bar_3_asteroids_array;
   int[][] bar_4_asteroids_array;
   int[][] bar_5_asteroids_array;