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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingHappy Happy Brick Catch (updated 2010-10-31)
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Author Topic: Happy Happy Brick Catch (updated 2010-10-31)  (Read 8658 times)
Draknek
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« on: October 20, 2010, 04:19:34 PM »



Happy Happy Brick Catch


Original post:

Made this in a few hours over this week. It is a fairly standard Breakout-with-a-twist game.

http://www.draknek.org/games/knock-em-down/

Not a lot of polish gone into it but I'm happy enough with the gameplay mechanic I wanted to try.

The current name is very temporary until I think of something better.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2010, 04:30:00 PM by Draknek » Logged

mankoon
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« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2010, 07:28:36 PM »

It should be called "The ball is a jerk".
Haha, that's certainly how I felt.
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deathtotheweird
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« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2010, 07:51:42 PM »

neat, it kept me entertained for a few minutes. i like experimental takes on breakout.
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KirbyKid
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« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2010, 08:43:46 PM »

I thoroughly enjoyed your game.

The basic idea behind the twist on the break-out mechanics is fine. I hope you fine tune some of the elements though. The speed of the ball and the looseness of the caught blocks were hard to manage. I wonder how the game would be if when you hold the blocks long enough, they slide around with more friction. At one point, I thought that the blocks would continue to collect on my paddle until I would be playing with a hodgepodge fortress as a paddle. But alas, it's too hard to keep the blocks on the paddle.

Neat ideas. Keep it up.
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flavio
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« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2010, 08:56:32 PM »

The idea is interesting! I think you could improve the game with the breakout "classic" rule: the angle of the bounce of the ball is determined by the angle of the hit and the position of the hit on the racket. In your case the computation isn't as expected (imho). However, congrats, this is going to be a fun game!
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ortoslon
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« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2010, 09:55:00 PM »

i like the game but play sessions are too long
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Draknek
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« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2010, 12:25:43 AM »

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

At one point, I thought that the blocks would continue to collect on my paddle until I would be playing with a hodgepodge fortress as a paddle.
This was the initial idea but I didn't have any success in tuning the physics to make this feasible. I might try some more at some point but it's hard when the paddle moves as quickly as it does.

I think you could improve the game with the breakout "classic" rule: the angle of the bounce of the ball is determined by the angle of the hit and the position of the hit on the racket. In your case the computation isn't as expected (imho).
I didn't add this because a) I didn't want to hack it into the physics and b) often the ball hits a brick on the paddle rather than the paddle itself and I wasn't sure how to handle that case. You have some control over the horizontal velocity by hitting the ball with the sides of the paddle but it's not very fine-tuned.

i like the game but play sessions are too long
I would probably agree but am not sure how to improve this.
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flavio
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« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2010, 12:56:35 AM »

often the ball hits a brick on the paddle rather than the paddle itself and I wasn't sure how to handle that case
Right, it's an interesting case: in this case I'm not sure about what kind of behaviour the user expect for.

You have some control over the horizontal velocity by hitting the ball with the sides of the paddle but it's not very fine-tuned.
Yes, I've seen, it's a nice idea, but I've observed it only after some minutes. If in future you'll develop a tutorial, you could insert this feature inside it.
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RichMakeGame!
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« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2010, 01:40:51 AM »

pretty fun! I didn't quite understand the 'bonus' score. I thought it related to the number of bricks in the paddle but sometimes I would shake them all out and the bonus remained high? how is bonus computed?

if you want to shorten play sessions, I would try:
- make it harder to drop bricks- increase their friction, mass, the size of the barriers at the sides of the paddle
- increase the player's lives quite a bit
- lose a life every time you drop a brick

that would be quite frantic- but you'll need to wrestle with that issue of the paddle moving too quick. you could try adding some inertia to it so at least the accelleration is never 0 to 60 in no seconds

edit: I also thought it would be cool if the bricks themselves could disloge new bricks, bein the same colour as the ball.. if you shake the whole lot and some fly upwards
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Draknek
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« Reply #9 on: October 21, 2010, 03:04:31 PM »

I didn't quite understand the 'bonus' score. I thought it related to the number of bricks in the paddle but sometimes I would shake them all out and the bonus remained high? how is bonus computed?

The bonus is the number of wakened bricks still in the play area, so it is mostly bricks caught in the paddle but also includes bricks which are lodged in place at the top.

Updated build and new name: http://www.draknek.org/games/happy-brick-catch/

I hope to have improved on most of the issues people have mentioned, let me know what you think. Smiley
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tesselode
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« Reply #10 on: October 21, 2010, 04:12:02 PM »

It's pretty chaotic. It's quite fun to watch. And play. Which is pretty interesting since it's a Breakout clone. Usually I hate Breakout.
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mankoon
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« Reply #11 on: October 21, 2010, 08:01:04 PM »

I really enjoyed the game. It's pretty addictive. It's really hilarious to watch the cup-like paddle hold many bricks and then a panic happens and all the bricks fly off. It's like slapstick comedy. This is what attracted some of my coworkers that were looking over my shoulder to ask for the link.
I'll try to provide some helpful feedback-
I guess the one thing that seems to always happens in breakout games is that if you manage to stay still you can fling the ball back up straight and this seems to be the easy way to win. Whats good about your game is that the placement of your bricks will angle the ball away again. It still happens but not as much.
It seems like you adjusted a lot in the new build to make it easier. I liked the challenge the first build provided. I'm not sure why you made the paddle so huge but I don't actually have to move it as much any more. Maybe you wanted the bricks to stay in longer or have more of an emphasis in building structures?  If thats the reason I think theres other ways to do this. Something occurred to me while playing your game. What if in the brick wall at the top there are  specially marked bricks.  These special bricks act like normal bricks except they  stick to your paddle in what ever angle it made contact. That way players want to aim at the area where these special bricks are and they start making decisions on where and how they'd want that special brick to hit their paddle.

Very fun game!! Keep at it :3

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deathtotheweird
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« Reply #12 on: October 21, 2010, 08:32:19 PM »

It's pretty chaotic. It's quite fun to watch. And play. Which is pretty interesting since it's a Breakout clone. Usually I hate Breakout.

hmm I agree. this and ribbonoid is the only breakout clones I've really enjoyed.

new version is pretty cool, works much better with the way you have the paddle now than before
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JaJ
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« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2010, 04:01:35 AM »

Very interesting. I agree that the caught blocks fall from the paddle too easily. It would be cool if you could build stuff with on top of your paddle, and it would also be cool if there were different shaped blocks, for example triangles. There are a lot of ways to add interesting strategies to a classic game with this. At one point, for example I had this situation on my paddle (simplified):

[][]()[][]
[][][][][]

[]=brick
()=ball

Which allowed me to aim the ball precisely upward whenever the ball landed there.

I see possibillities Smiley


Also: I like the title
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Draknek
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« Reply #14 on: October 28, 2010, 03:20:28 PM »

Updated the graphics tonight: got rid of the Box2D debug shapes and now the bricks can be happy happy.

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RichMakeGame!
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« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2010, 03:52:24 PM »

huge improvement! keeps the attention much longer Smiley this thing is *crying out* for some sound effects man, those bricks need to be shouting stuff like 'whee!' 'yippee!' in high pitch voices as they fly all over the screen Smiley

can I suggest something? i think itd be fun if you got points for flipping bricks in the air and catching them again. Maybe even clicking mouse sends them flying upwards

you'd need some way of knowing if the bricks are currently in your paddle or in the air, but tbh I think you need that anyway, as gaining bonus points for lodged bricks doesnt make sense to me.

awesome progress man, keep it up!
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Alistair Aitcheson
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« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2010, 04:02:32 PM »

Loving the smiley faces - they inject a whole lot of personality to the proceedings. Also, sound effects would add a lot to the feel of the game. I could see this getting very bouncy-looking! :D

It's pretty fun, and I'm not sure what to add. I'm not usually a fan of breakout clones, but this has an extra something which I enjoy a lot Smiley I like what KirbyKid suggested, and I think that could be really fun if you get it to work.

I also agree that the play sessions are too long. I reckon you could speed up proceedings by making the ball faster and gravity stronger, maybe having fewer blocks but in a more interesting shape. The current wall is a bit square and homogeneous, and maybe if it had a more interesting shape to it it would be more fun to smash up. Or perhaps if some of the blocks had magic powers, so the player could try to smash up particular areas, giving a bit more focus.

Liking how it's looking and I'd love to see where you could take the idea beyond here Wink
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dangerousday
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« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2010, 07:59:52 PM »

Oh my gosh this is adorable! I was smiling and laughing all throughout playing this. I think you've got a really solid core gameplay. The main thing I enjoyed was how zany and frenetic it was, with bricks flying everywhere. I imagined them yelling "Wheeee!" and laughing too as they zoomed around. I think it can be improved by making it a little more frenetic. Maybe a bunch of stuff that isn't necessary to keep track of, but provides a huge bonus if you do, like combining colors of bricks, juggling and catching bricks that fly out, multiple balls... This is going to be so awesome Kiss
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Draknek
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« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2010, 04:32:11 PM »



More graphics improvements (they appear as you play).

Also tweaked the gameplay a bit: the ball is now faster and the paddle is now smaller.

Thanks to everyone who has commented, it is really helpful. Smiley

I have asked a friend to work on some sound effects, but I don't know when/if he'll have anything.
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jotapeh
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« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2010, 04:37:08 PM »

Okay, I gotta say, I laughed out loud pretty hard when the sun popped up. He is goofy and awesome.

Really feel like this could use some sounds now, especially bricks yelling 'wheee!' and such.  Grin
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