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[eyeliner]

Ok, here's my take on game making.

I've been going off at this for the last six months, with frustration in the middle, a complete loos of data for some odd reason. It's the game I wanted to make for as long as I can remember, so I collected the tools and got to work.

Tools used:

• Modeling: Hexagon 2.5 and Blender (though I'm about to discard Hexagon)
• Texturing: Paint.NET
• IDE: DXStudio 3.2.77

It's a marble game, in the style of Marble Blast/Ballance, with the usual collecting mechanic in these types of games. Collect all stars to activate the exit. It's a game to be played calmly, the challenges are mostly the paths taken. I plan on adding collapsible tiles, wind, and other predicaments, though.

All crap on the screen is done by yours truly, it is rudimentary, clumsy, but for the moment, it serves its purpose and that is leaving me well enough alone to code the rest of the game. At this point, I'm figuring out where to take the scoring system.

This game relies heavily on physics, the ball moves with torque, impeding the movement when on the air, though you can roll.

I'm still debating the art direction, though I'm basing this on azulejos, because the floor is tiled. In order to make stuff happen, I made a single tile and created the whole level based on it, so not much in the way of variety. This can change, though.

Not implemented yet:

• slopes
• sound
• music
• scoring
• better art

What's there:

• Gameplay is where I wanted it to be.
• Amateurish Skybox
• Cool transparent sphere
• Adaptive script that makes adding levels a breeze

A bit of a demo: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60029808/ballin-16-07-12.rar
Here are some outdated pictures that I'll update when I get home and get back to work:

[eyeliner]

Moar pics:

[Quarry]

This is pretty baller

[eyeliner]

Hey, a comment! Quite unexpected, and witty to boot!

[eyeliner]

Added:

• Gamepad support (though there's no support for configuration yet)
• Highscores (using a local database to store the data)
• Level select screen now shows the levels completed with a marker
• Best times are displayed when mouse hovers over a level selector

To do:

• More hazards (wind, ice, etc)
• Sound and music
• Possibility of configuring controls
• Better looking art
• More levels

[Majestic]

So far so good. Keep up the good work

[ninja]

Looking good for a game that is 0% done and only been on here for 5 days!  Keep up the good work eyeliner!

[Udderdude]

This game should be named "Balls in your face".  And make the ball fall into the camera when you lose.

Kidding aside, it looks cool.  I hope you can come up with some game elements which are outside the norm for games like this.

[eyeliner]

Hey, wasn't expecting more replies.

Build in first post.

What's in it:
Six levels, bland as they come, but should give a decent insight on how the gameplay works. I'd like input, if you care to look.
Database access, which keeps your score and levels completed.
Joystick: Use your joystick, pressing your "1" button on it to jump. Looking to improve this.
Keys, if you are deprived of joystick: WASD + Space for jumping.

@Udderdude
Sure as hell, I'll try. If you want, shoot some ideas.

[Udderdude]

Ok, so I tried out the demo.  I know part of the difficulty of these sort of games is to make the marble hard to control, but goddamn that is a slippery son of a bitch.

If you want to add more game elements, you're going to have to make it a bit easier to control.  Right now I think adding anything more, in combination with the current controls, would make it more frustrating than fun.

As for ideas for stuff, I think the Mastery game I'm working on may have some relevant ideas. http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=27088.0

[eyeliner]

Thank you for trying the demo!

Ok, so I tried out the demo.  I know part of the difficulty of these sort of games is to make the marble hard to control, but goddamn that is a slippery son of a bitch.

that's part of the challenge, but I agree, needs more friction to keep it less slippery. I'll tone it down a little.

If you want to add more game elements, you're going to have to make it a bit easier to control.  Right now I think adding anything more, in combination with the current controls, would make it more frustrating than fun.

I agree. I'd like to keep controls simple, with the movement and jumping only, but the ball can be hard to control. Relates to above point, note taken.

As for ideas for stuff, I think the Mastery game I'm working on may have some relevant ideas. http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=27088.0

Checking it.

Thanks!

[eyeliner]

Adding menus, cleaning code where possible.

All with art that would make a two year old rage at it's ridiculousness. (My art skills stopped developing at about 1.5 years of age).

After having this semi-completed, I'll return to the ball physics and level design, adding the much needed scenery and elements.

Thank you.

[eigenbom]

One of my favourite games as a kid was Bounder, and I remember Marble Madness fondly too. Good luck!

[eyeliner]

Thanks. I'm messing with database stuff, to allow player profiles and saving of settings. This is cool.

[eyeliner]

Still more work on the menu screens. I draw the ideas on paper, but find them too cluttered, so I keep redoing stuff over and over.

I wish to keep stuff simple with big, clear buttons to navigate, using gamepad/keyboard/mouse.

Options shall be mostly on/off buttons to keep them gamepad-friendly.

The problem is saving the definitions for each player. I plan on adding profiles, and that is proving troublesome, because there's a fair share of data to be loaded and I'm having some issues with it updating on profile change. It's just cosmetic, though.

More news shall be posted if justified.