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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytesting[Android] Arkanoid + Acids = Blocus - A lot of particles that have a real physic
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Author Topic: [Android] Arkanoid + Acids = Blocus - A lot of particles that have a real physic  (Read 2646 times)
Julien
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« on: September 01, 2014, 07:57:16 AM »

Hi all !

I'm back once again to present you my latest game, an Arkanoid-like game, called Blocus



It's available on the store at : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=be.julien.blocus

Here is what it looks like :







What is worth noting in this game and that you can't get from the screenshots / vid :

- An endless game with a constantly increasing difficulty
- The paddle is divided in three part (left, that send the ball to the left, middle and right). When a ball hits the paddle, it becomes warmer. If you can get it warm enough, the paddle will shoot very powerful projectiles.
- You can upgrade your paddle (It improves the projectiles)
- When you clear a column, the ball becomes more powerful and quicker
- The particles will collided with the paddle or the walls

I hope you'll enjoy it Smiley
« Last Edit: October 07, 2014, 09:15:06 AM by Julien » Logged

Julien
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« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2014, 06:17:56 AM »

Ok, maybe I need to make more interesting topics ! Beer! So how about a little insight on how the game is made ? Smiley

Well that's in Java, using libGDX, and as you can see it uses a huge number of particles :D.
I've used simple tricks to make them performant (I don't use the one included in libGDX, I wanted more flexibility) and to make the game more "alive" :
- One class per particles. That's tedious, but it allows me to make them as light as possible
- Almost everything happens only one frame out of two. One out of four or once per second when it's possible.
- You can see that it is very colorful, and every color evolve over time. Well that's all just based on 7 arrays of roughly 40 float, the only thing that evolve for the particles, blocs, paddle or balls is the current index.
- Some indexes are actually floats, for the blocs mainly, that allows me to make them evolve on a sinusoidal curve (I hope that's the right word, English isn't my native language).
- More broadly, I've tried to make everything as smooth as possible. Another example is when a ball hit something it grows, and then shrinks quickly cause it's sized is multiplied by 0.95f. Same logic is applied for the screenshake, the particles, the blur shader, the mini blocs that forms a full bloc... everything
- The number of particles adapt in real time to the fps. It's really simple : On one hand, particles are often generated each frame, so less frames mean less particles. On the other hand I generate a number of particles proportional to the number of fps. Sometimes with a minimum if that's a key element like the balls.
- The physic of the particles is about as simple as possible, but it works quite well : The only collide with the paddle and with three walls. I don't even bother to test the exact collision point, the center is enough, they are either too quick or too small for it to be noticeable anyway.

Well.. That's all I can think of for the moment Smiley
Funny detail, beside the background and the tutorial button, the game uses only 1 1x1 texture and 1 32x32 textures (a circle)
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Julien
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« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2014, 10:42:58 PM »

Hi all !

There has been an update introducing procedurally generated levels with a coherent pattern Smiley

You can see some examples here :



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bombjack
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« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2014, 11:09:35 PM »

Hi, often adding picture in the thread gives a lot of result.
For me, the youtube video teased my curiosity.
Currently donwloading the game... I'll test it when I'll have more time and I'll get back to you.
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Julien
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« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2014, 05:20:41 AM »

Thanks, I hope you'll like it ! Smiley
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bombjack
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« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2014, 06:01:21 AM »

Hi, here are my thoughts.

First, the thinks I like:
- having a brick-breaker with particle seems to be a good idea
- the way the particles creates the different levels is purely amaizing  Kiss
- after a few tries, I noticed that keeping the finger pressed slows down everything; it's a very fun feature but I was tempted to press it nearly all the time which renders the game quite boring.

Now, the less funny stuff.
I found the game really hard to read.
The blue 'ball' on the black background doesn't stand out and it makes it very difficult to follow what's happening on screen.
Moreover the huge amount of bright particles add even more to this clarity issue.
The game also tend to get very slow when there are lots of particles on screen.

Hope it helps.
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Julien
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« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2014, 11:33:50 PM »

First, the thinks I like:
- having a brick-breaker with particle seems to be a good idea
- the way the particles creates the different levels is purely amaizing  Kiss
- after a few tries, I noticed that keeping the finger pressed slows down everything; it's a very fun feature but I was tempted to press it nearly all the time which renders the game quite boring.

Now, the less funny stuff.
I found the game really hard to read.
The blue 'ball' on the black background doesn't stand out and it makes it very difficult to follow what's happening on screen.
Moreover the huge amount of bright particles add even more to this clarity issue.
The game also tend to get very slow when there are lots of particles on screen.

Hope it helps.

- I also love the way the blocs appear :D
- Yes, the slow motion feature can be abused, a quite frankly it has to be abused if you want to score. I'm still searching for an elegant solution. I don't want to just add a stupid timer
- I only have one device to test, my S3, with an amoled screen, so it's possible that it comes out differently on a TN screen. I'm trying to solve this problem by adding dynamic lighting Smiley.
- About the low fps, could you tell me more about your device ? What's the model ? Smiley

Thanks a lot for your feedback !!
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bombjack
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« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2014, 11:42:32 PM »

I've tested it on a Huawei Ascend P6 that performs generaly well.
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Julien
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« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2014, 11:30:05 PM »

Ok that's weird, I'll look into it Smiley

About the visibility, I'm working with lights right now, it still requires some works but here is how it looks for the moment :



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Julien
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« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2014, 05:08:01 AM »

My level editor :D

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Julien
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« Reply #10 on: September 16, 2014, 09:30:36 AM »

Hi guys !

I've made my first promotional video and I need some feedback.

Here is what it looks like, could you give me your opinion ?



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Julien
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« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2014, 11:56:21 PM »

So, I've finally completed the dynamic lights mode !

You can see the definitive result here :



And of course get the game here  : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=be.julien.blocus

Hope you'll enjoy it Smiley
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Julien
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« Reply #12 on: September 23, 2014, 12:55:41 AM »

Hi all !

I've updated Blocus, it's a small modification on the sprites but it really makes the game a lot easier to understand


Few examples :



And.. The trailer is already outdated :/
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Julien
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« Reply #13 on: October 02, 2014, 01:03:42 AM »

New update available !

I've mainly focused on performances. The graphics are improved too Smiley

The paddle behave slightly differently, taking into account the angle of the ball.

And also, the game have exploded on the market Shocked 25 times more downloads in 2 days... Without doing anything particular. That's frustrating, I've spent hours on marketing with almost no gains  Yawn
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Julien
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« Reply #14 on: October 06, 2014, 04:01:11 AM »

Oy !

So, the new update is online, a frankly, it's awesome ! :D

I've fixed a few bugs, but the main focus was on graphics, here is what it looks like :






So, I've made new sprites for the blocs and ball. There are also animations that you can't see on the screenshot :
- The balls emits lightnings
- The blocks have a "sweeping" effect on them.
- When a blocks gets it and it's not destroy, the tiles flip before displaying the new color

I hope I'll enjoy it, I'm really proud of this one Smiley
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Julien
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« Reply #15 on: October 08, 2014, 11:38:30 PM »

Hello !

So, the last update has been published today ! With :

- A lot of new levels, I abandoned all the "procedural" thingy for the levels. I've added a selection menu, I've still have a work to do on this one, but it's better than nothing.
- The ball is bigger et the sprite has changed. In fact that's the same sprite used 3 times with different colors and a rotation clock wise or conter clock wise. It looks good and it's easier to see the ball even with a ton of particles ! We're getting close to a solution on that !! Smiley
- And, the collider of the ball is now a circle, not a point.
- The paddle emits some particles. And as we all know, the more particles the better :D

Just to remind you, the game is available here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=be.julien.blocus
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Julien
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« Reply #16 on: October 12, 2014, 12:47:52 AM »

New update online, not much honestly, but a very important update for the endless mode !
- The number of blocks in a column has been largely improved, it was too easy and boring before Wink
- There are particles around the paddle
- When the ball hits something, there are a lot more particles emitted and lightning

An example :
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8Points
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« Reply #17 on: October 16, 2014, 07:28:20 PM »

Hi! I've been playing for a couple weeks now and I'm really enjoying it! Its the game I always whip out when I got a few minutes.

I think the "warm" paddle mechanic (system?) is a nice solution to the brick-breaker problem of having 1 brick left that you can't quite get your ball to hit. Though I feel it is so effective at higher paddle levels that the balls become little more than opportunities to warm my paddle. I only care about leveling up the balls because with their faster speeds, it means I can warm my paddle that much more often.

This doesn't make the game worse or anything, I just want to point out that the game is more about trying to catch your balls with the same segment of the paddle rather than directing your balls in specific angles.

I also really enjoy the slow motion. It seems to be a building trend in fast paced real time games to add some sort of time stopping/slowing feature to give people more time to think. It works really well here, though I agree with bombjack that its tempting to leave it in slow no for as long as possible. I've actually been trying to see how long I can last without putting it in slow mo, but the frame rate drops too much when there's a lot of stuff exploding to the point where balls are bouncing off a block and then next time they're drawn they're already below the paddle.

Worse than that, my game *always* crashes in endless mode, usually once I got 4 or 5 leveled up balls going at once. Its never happened in a level - of which I have completed over 200, usually with just as many balls going at once.

I'm on a droid razr m that chugs on candy crush sometimes, so it may just be my phone.

Anyway, really enjoying it! And the colors never stop dazzling me :3
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Julien
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« Reply #18 on: October 21, 2014, 06:56:19 AM »

Thanks a lot for the feedback !

You're right about the paddle, in the next update it will be less powerful. sometimes it looks like a shmup :D
And the collision will be way better, it will also help to make the brick breaker side of the game more present.

About the slow motion, yes, it can be abused, especially to catch more balls. I still have to figure out a way to balance that.

The crashes are weird, especially because there isn't anything more happening in the endless mode beside the fact that the blocks repop. I'll into that and check if the pool is functioning correctly.

Thanks a lot ! Smiley

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Julien
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« Reply #19 on: October 25, 2014, 01:47:33 AM »

Hi guys !

It's been awhile, in this new version, I've worked once again on improving the visibility of the ball in the normal mode. The particles are now emitted with a random offset.

I've replaced xp by diamonds, it doesn't change much but apparently it's easier to understand. And yes there are more of them :p

box2D, libGDX and other libraries have been updated.

and finally the collisions are improved Smiley

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