This is a design question... I'm sure this could be generalized more, but I'm having a hard time with it. I am wondering about design for game object interactions - here is my example (2D puzzle-platformer).
Say the player is trying to progress through a level. There are many lights that can be pointed in different directions. Here is an example of how these light objects might interact...
- One light projects a platform that allows the player to cross a gap
- One light decreases the friction coefficients of anything it touches, another increases it
- One light nulls the effects of all lights, which would make the platform disappear while that light is on and null the friction modifiers
- Etc...
What is the best way to approach this problem when using a component architecture? Components for each major object seem obvious, as well as a clean way to define their effects on the environment. A class to "resolve" interaction (seems like that could become a mess quickly)? Some usage of the decorator pattern to create combined objects for those that are interacting at a given time? A data structure that lends itself to this?
Also, connecting audio to these interactions? It seems like connecting audio to the system would be just like connecting any other property, like visibility or player movement/collision.
Obviously as more components are added it would be nice if there was a robust system that could handle new ones with little modification, but I am not familiar with how to go about designing this.
Other Information: The engine I am using is an XNA engine called IceCream.