First I'm getting the basics of displaying the "ice playing field" right before worrying too much about the speed issues. So far I've got a little way into displaying it correctly, but I'll wait until I'm finished before posting a screenshot.
Gameplay-wise I'm still undecided about exactly what I'm going to do. The dilema is about whether I stick to my original plan - having a simple ice maze that the player has to navigate through, where clicking a direction key makes the player avatar slide from their position until they hit a wall - this was based on a mini-puzzle I remember from both one of the Ultima Underworlds (I forget which one) and Tales of Symphonia. Given I've had so much trouble sticking with an idea I decided to just go with this come what may - but that was before I realised that John Hattan's Duck Tiles is based on the same premise. I'd already sketched down a gameplay listing before I had played Duck Tiles so there are some significant differences (most notably I doubt I'll lovingly handcraft several hundred levels for my game [smile]) but I'd feel a bit more comfortable if I could distinguish Ice Slider a bit more from Duck Tiles.
From remembering the games that use that minigame(there are a few), although it has a similar premise to Duck Tiles, I think it's quite different. That's just my opinion, though.
I'll be reading with interest, by the way[smile]