Bouncy Balls & Crystals

zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
Hello Stencylers!

So, I've been working on a new casual game for mobile - The journey is an interested one, this game is a bit different for me in that, I'm taking the time to add multiple levels, items and ratings.

I've been Tweeting my progress but figured I should start posting here as well :) I'd love to hear your comments, thoughts and suggestions as I progress.

To get the ball rolling - Here's a video demoing the "3D" effect I've been working on, what do you think?

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPFKmCstzUXp6fyG5KRvNPkSPzP8o2SLLHshprM1-3MdxnKaMSBw-4wDUMxIGL58Q/photo/AF1QipN816EZedZAv_Pp9BsucTOcdKd7-gwPG42Um6cr?key=NUhZM3BTeDdSQ19Nck5wNnctbVFUbmFkZU9NaGVB




zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
BTW - the 3d part really comes to life when I pick up the phone :)

Fayabella

  • Posts: 239
Ooh, this is looking great!

merrak

  • *
  • Posts: 2738
The 3D effect is really clever! Would be nice to know a bit more about the game play itself.

zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
The 3D effect is really clever! Would be nice to know a bit more about the game play itself.

So, originally the gameplay was a mixture of Arkanoid and Bricks & Balls, but it didn't feel right when I prototyped it. I've been playing with the core mechanics for a while now and starting to settle on a casual, puzzler that requires the player to clear the screen to progress.

It's not clear in the video, but to progress to the next level, you need to get a least a 2-star rating, this causes the big gem to drop, once the big gem leaves the screen the score for that level is calculated.

Yesterday, however, I did some playtesting and we discussed the ending of a level - we both felt it needed tightening up as it's not obvious, it's also a little abrupt.

I'm thinking now about something like "ridiculous fishing" whereby collecting the little gems get used in some manner to end the level.

TLDR - The gameplay is still work in progress, the foundations are there I've just got to figure out a mechanic that ends the level.

zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
Ooh, this is looking great!
Thank you! I'm not ashamed to say that I'm really proud of the progress so far :)

zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
The beginning of the end, this messy diagram was figuring out how the level should end.
Now  I'm thinking to take a Ridiculous  Fishing approach whereby the gems collected will be blown to high heaven, the player will then be challenged to collect them :) or something like that

zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
Looking to improve the 3d effect, I addressed the depth of feild by blurring the background.  It a small change that makes a big difference

zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
I've been working on a Ridiculous Fishing ending to my levels - it turned out to be a bit tougher than I thought to implement. The idea is all the gems you collect at the top of the game fall to the bottom. Then at the end of the level - a bomb explodes (which isn't visible yet) that forces all the gems to fly up, the player then has to tap them to collect them.

If you look closely at the logic of the camera you'll notice that it chases the lowest Gem and follows it until it's collected - there are physics in the world so after time the gems start to fall back down, if you don't collect them, then they won't count towards your final score. Anyway, hopefully, this video gives a better idea.

It still needs some work, but I feel like it's "getting there"

zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
I've been working on a big old refactor and I've now fully implemented the "ridiculous fishing" element - I got to put scoring back into place and then I'm working on the gem shooting element (there's a new angle I want to try out).

I'd be interested to hear what people think of the mechanics of the game?

Video of mechanics in action: https://twitter.com/i/status/1103769245173846016



zerosimms

  • Posts: 710
Cluck Cluck!

You probably don't want to shoot these little guys!