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[braindigitalis]

Firework Factory is a casual puzzle game for windows and xbox 360 created in C# and XNA 4.0.



I have been working on this game for close to a year now, so i have decided it is about time to start a devlog, just to document my progress.

At present, most of the core gameplay mechanics are implemented, apart from any new stuff we seem to come up with every now and again.

There are three of us working on this project, myself (coding), nickproud (music) and miguelito (art).

Right now, nickproud is working on the fifth set of level music (the other four being very impressive!) and miguelito is working on the HUD graphics. Not all graphics have been redrawn from my crappy programmer art by miguelito yet, as proper good art takes time :-)

People say a picture says a thousand words, so i will start this devlog off with a link to my youtube channel which will serve as catchup of the game's progress up until now:

http://www.youtube.com/braindigitalis

Playable demos can be downloaded from the firework factory page: http://brainbox.cc/fireworkfactory

Next on my todo: More level content, more powerup types, and itegrate any art or music that gets sent my way :-)

I shall try and get the other team members to introduce themselves here too, to get an insight into what theyre up to whenever they get any free time to do it :-)

[nick.proud]

Hello!


About Me
I'm Nick Proud and I am the Composer working in the team for the upcoming puzzle game 'Firework Factory' for Windows and Xbox 360

My Role in the Team
It's my job to put the bleeps and bloops into a musical structure which creates an atmosphere for the player.

For the past month now I've been working with braindigitalis to provide an interesting and immersive soundtrack.

Progress so far
I've been producing the soundtrack in my studio using Ableton Live and Logic Pro 9. The main aim is produce tracks with an industrial feel, which at times stresses tension and urgency. At the same time, there have also been pieces which provide some 'mood relief' so as to provide some variety of style.

All the music is currently, like the game itself, in the 'Alpha Stages' so to speak. We're eager to have the game finished but are aware that it can't by any means be rushed.
For the most part, the four demo pieces which can be heard in the playable version are complete in terms of composition, but it now lies with me to commence the post-production process (audio mixing and mastering) once the other pieces of music have been written.

I'll be posting updates on my progress with the soundtrack, but in the meantime you can find a link to demo tracks below.

http://soundcloud.com/nick-proud/sets/firework-factory-soundtrack/

I hope you enjoy reading about the development of this game as much as I have enjoyed working on it!

All the best,

Nick Proud
Freelance Composer and Music Teacher
www.nicholasproudmusic.com
[email protected]
Twitter: @nickproud

[braindigitalis]

Tonight's work: Adding of a fourth level, and fixing up the aspect ratios of miguelito's lovely artwork so it doesnt look like a programmer put it in a vice (sorry!!! it was my fault it was all munged  ).

There is a video of how NOT to do level 4 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVm1nJkSJzM&hd=1

Ok, i lie, the video also shows you how to do the level, in case you get stuck  

The playable demo is updated with this new version...

[Sir Raptor]

That text size is disproportionately small to the word balloons.

[braindigitalis]

Yeah i agree, im still waiting on a nicer font  
... and finding a way to wrap text within an arbitrary shape...

[Miguelito]

Hiya,

 this is me, Miguelito, the graphics guy. My shoe size is 52, and my hobbies are goat herding and manipulating international politics.
 I've not done much so far - the main track elements, a tiny bit of GUI, and the boss character. Hi boss!

 For this project, there will be no pixel art, just digital paiting with the occasional help of vectors.
 And chunky, cuddly little crates!

     

 Wish us luck!
 I'll be doing my best to get the graphics to look really nice. Let's see how things will go!

[braindigitalis]

One of tonights projects was to add a new font for the boss's text.

As part of this i have decided that for now i am going to use the non-pointing boss sprite, until ive got a word wrapper that can wrap to an arbitrary shape.

[braindigitalis]

Tonight brings the new gauge sprites and cash sprites drawn by Miguelito into the alpha version

You can see both on the video here.

There is a set amount of jitter on the needle of the gauge, which increases as the gauge gets closer to the red region. When the gauge enters the yellow region, the whole gauge apparatus starts to shake, letting you know that something bad is about to happen!

New alpha includes these new graphical items in their current form

[braindigitalis]

Adding replay value

The problem
It has been in the back of my mind for some time that the replay value of the game may have been quite minimal. The reasons for this are because there are two things that may happen on any level, you may either finish it, or not finish it.

There is no in-between. Therefore, if you finish a level, you have no incentive to come back and improve, as you have finished it, there is nothing further to gain.

There are several subtle mechanics in the game that allow this style of play. When crates leave the level through an incorrect exit, or are destroyed, replacements are put into the queue and re-appear. This allows you to retry, but at the same time does not allow for improvement to their gameplay by the player to be properly recorded.

The solution
As a solution to this problem, i have taken a look at the way certain games such as angry birds and cut the rope encourage replay value of levels. By 'borrowing' the way they handle level replays i have hopefully increased the replay value of firework factory.

The solution as i see it is fourfold:

1) When creates are destroyed, don't automatically place new crates into the queue.
2) Treat the remaining money as a pot of bonus money to be given to the player at the end of the level - it is no longer a game over condition to run out, it is just not good for your ability to buy powerups.
3) When all crates are either destroyed or sent to the correct location, the level always ends. The percentage saved is calculated. Each level has a fixed percentage that is needed to be saved to advance to the next level. This is very rarely 100%, so there is always room for the player to go back and improve their efforts. As well as going back to improve their score, they may also go back to gather further coins to spend on power-ups, even on levels that they have previously aced.
4) Store the user's best score for each level and display them on the level selector.

On completion of the level, a different screen is presented to the user dependent upon failure or success, as shown below.





I am sure Miguelito will have ideas on how to improve the look of this basic screen and i am sure nickproud will have some ideas on music he will want to play on either occasion

Stay tuned for more updates!

[nick.proud]

All level tracks are finished now!

I'm starting to mix down and master the level tracks and then will be moving on to creating music for triggered events. eg: 'Game Over'

We're getting there! 

Nick
Composer

[braindigitalis]

Ok so in short, we are not dead and neither is the project
After spending a long time off the grid moving home i finally have my network all set up how i like it and can finally relax and spend a short amount of time adding some code to the game.

I have spent some time integrating nickproud's newest music and sound effects and have released a new demo of the game for your perusal at http://brainbox.cc/fireworkfactory -- Comments as always are welcome!

[braindigitalis]

Well well! After sitting down to take a look finally at how my game looks on xbox, it turns out there is a total mess of graphics in all sorts of odd places. Looks to be a scaling issue, i guess it's going to be a long night of fixing the problems

Slowly but surely, the project marches on, finding time between patches of non-gamedev family life ...

Game is still not dead, but not spending as much time on the game as i wish i had time for

[nick.proud]

Getting very excited about the developments on this game. I have finished a draft of the soundtrack but am still following it and ready to add more as the game progresses.

We'll get there!

[sabajt]

this look really fun guys - i can see a lot of people liking a casual game like this.  good luck with the rest of developement, don't let it die!