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[HernanZh]

Super Bunny Land comes out on May 7th on App Store and Google Play

Super Bunny Land is an endless-runner type of game I'm currently developing for mobile devices. It's developed in C++ using the Marmalade SDK. I got an indie license for my work on Ghost Puzzle, so theoretically it's not limited to iOS and Android.

Demo
Windows - Download zip file

Version notes
*The Windows version has the least features and the game wasn't designed for Windows (many on screen buttons). Besides, it doesn't make a lot of sense playing an auto-running game with a keyboard?
Anyway, the keyboard controls are:
Z - Fire
X - Jump
Left arrow - brake

What's it about
In one sentence: the game is a combination of Super Mario Bros & Endless runners. I went through several changes and iterations while developing, but always comes down to this: the game is sort of an endless speedrun of SMB.

Of course I took care of not shamelessly ripping off Mario, but there's no denying that the game takes a lot of elements directly from Mario. (Where do we draw the line of being a rip-off?)

I made sure the game is brutally difficult
The game is played using 3 buttons:
-Jump
-Fire (when you have a power-up)
-Brake

The game is an auto-runner, but you have full control of the speed (you can't run backwards though). It can be played using the Jump button only, but mastering the game involves using the Brake button delicately.

There are 5 power-ups which can be bought from the shop in the demo (they don't need any kind of unlocking yet). Please discover them in-game.


Screenshots & Movies





Gameplay trailers:







To do
-Most stuff is done now. It's mostly focus on working to create more content now.
-Also "Adventure mode" is still not implemented. My plan is to make the game free, while Adventure mode is the paid section of the game. It will feature short designed levels (not randomly generated) where you complete challenges.
Adventure mode is now "Challenge mode" and levels will be free to download.

Known bugs
-Sometimes objects at high velocity fall through the ground (no idea why, they are clearly touching the ground but the collisions aren't detected)
-On iOS it sometimes crashes (I think it's related to scoreloop, but i'm not sure)

[ananasblau]

What about double jump? You can't do a bunny game without.

[HernanZh]

I was thinking of implementing that as a power up though!

[poe]

If you're forced to run, how hard will mushrooms be to get from boxes?

[Majestic]

This sounds like a good game in the making. The artwork and graphics look good. The concept sounds like it will be fun also

[rdein]

godspeed

[HernanZh]

Thanks!

If you're forced to run, how hard will mushrooms be to get from boxes?

I will show you:
(this is an animated PNG, make sure your browser supports this)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3851720/bunny/carrot_animated.png
Power ups always drop in front of you. So picking them up is easy. (It's actually harder to open the box)

[poe]

Looks simple enough, the camera panning is very smooth!

[Eendhoorn]

I am also creating a "runner" game, and I find this a very interesting approach. Looking forward to see how this turns out 

[HernanZh]

Thanks Would love to see your runner game too

[Ashkin]

This looks nice! I hope you can get that smooth a framerate on an iDevice.

[HernanZh]

Yup, well it runs 60 fps on my iPhone 4. Though I implemented my own engine and there can be moments where frames are being dropped...

[Udderdude]

Looks like the in-game objects are pretty small for a mobile device.  I'd have to squint to see those graphics on my iPod Touch D:

[Conker534]

:D I like this.

[HernanZh]

This week I've been working on the main menu screen. Like I explained, you run around a world and pick an option. This screen also holds other information and subscreens like your global ranking etc. Most work is going into getting to connect to the leaderboards and stuff

Here's an animated gif to show you what it looks like:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3851720/bunny/menu_animated.gif
(alternatively, here's smoother apng: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3851720/bunny/menu_animated.png)

Most of the graphics are wip and I just randomly generated the backgrounds. I'll probably work on the graphics this week.
Though I still have a lot of subscreens to work on, bah! I hate working on menu screens... orz

[HernanZh]

I added a new enemy. I wanted to add something like the "piranha plant" form Super Mario.


Since I don't use pipes, they just wait for you out in the open and bite when you jump over them. They're not so difficult to jump over though.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3851720/bunny/plant_animated.gif

Something I may add is the ability to slip under them. In that case I'll have to randomize the bite so the player's reaction time is tested while judging which path is the safest. Though the problem is the timing in order for this to be fair... So, not sure if I'll add it, but it may be more fun?
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3851720/bunny/under_animated.gif

[i-kari]

I just wanted to pop in and say that I think this has great potential and endless runners seem to work well on mobile devices.

I added a new enemy. I wanted to add something like the "piranha plant" form Super Mario.


Since I don't use pipes, they just wait for you out in the open and bite when you jump over them. They're not so difficult to jump over though.

By not using pipes, do you mean that you are not using actual pipes or that you are not using hidden areas? If you'd like to include hidden areas in the game, using the Mario pipe example, you could just swipe down on a pipe to go down. Of course you may want to use some other object than pipe, that was just an example.

Something I may add is the ability to slip under them. In that case I'll have to randomize the bite so the player's reaction time is tested while judging which path is the safest. Though the problem is the timing in order for this to be fair... So, not sure if I'll add it, but it may be more fun?

I understand that you have only one choice: to either jump over or slide under the plant, depending on the plant's vertical position at the moment? Wrong choice and it's game over? I have a feeling that it may not be fair and will result in cheap deaths. You probably have to playtest it to see how it works out.

Good luck!

P.S. I hate designing menus too.

[HernanZh]

Thanks

By not using pipes, do you mean that you are not using actual pipes

Yes, I mean not having actual pipes. I considered using hollow trees, but wasn't sure how to draw it.

I understand that you have only one choice: to either jump over or slide under the plan

You can always jump over the plants, their reach isn't that far. Right now I have it so you can run under them as long as you're a small bunny.

P.S. I hate designing menus too.

I know right, it depresses me orz

In other news, I'm going to try to release a demo soon. I recently added the first powerup where you, unoriginally enough, shoot fireballs

Could be just me getting good at my own game, but I feel that once you get this powerup, the game becomes too easy. Who knows. Anyway, I'm trying to finish a few more features before releasing a demo.

[HernanZh]

Yo, I'm looking for some feedback.

I made a demo for Windows and Android:
Windows exe (10 MB)
Android APK (7 MB) <- recommended version to try

If you have an iOS device (espcially older models) and want to test, that would be really helpful. You'll have to send me your UDID and I'll do that ad hoc distribution thingy. (Currently trying to figure out how Testflight works)
Testflight link: http://tflig.ht/OLZf5P

This demo is still a pretty early build. Music/sounds are borrowed from other games (sorry!). I'd really like to know your thoughts and whether the game runs properly.

Controls
Touch right half of the screen to jump, left half of the screen to shoot
For Windows: Z is shoot, X is jump.

There is also an alternate control scheme: touch anywhere to jump, swipe to shoot.

Versions
The windows version doesn't connect to the leaderboards, so it will keep saying "Connecting to server..." on the bottom of the screen. Also keep in mind that most of the menus are touch orientated.

[HernanZh]

I've been struggling with random moments of stuttering and slowdowns for a long time. Finally managed to fix it today. I abused too many string maps, plus Marmalade doesn't handle strings well. Either way, I'm glad that's over so I can finally focus on redoing my graphics