UPDATE: The game is out on Google Play!!
You can check it out here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.LoneshipGames.Chounce

iOS port is on the way, it's only out for Android so far.

I also intend to update it with that extra set of levels. More may be coming, especially if the game starts drawing attention.

Alright, so this hasn't been updated in a WHILE. I am posting now as I am in the process of getting the game approved by the Goole Play store, and I'm getting into the Apple App Store for the first time so who knows when that will be ready.... But I feel the game is ready to release!

I found a great tool in Unity for making the game look nice, it's called SpriteShapes. I wound up using it because it allows me to draw shapes using bezier curves, and can fill them with a pattern. I didn't wind up using it's feature which places a sprite around the edge of those shapes, and instead wrote a script that matches up a LineRenderer to the outline. The SpriteShape generates edge colliders, and I'm using the points from those.

I've been hard at work making new levels for the game, and experimenting with some new mechanics, including bouncy walls and cannons which aren't actually in the game yet! I thought I might generate a bit of extra buzz by releasing packs of levels after the initial release, so that people who have the game will get notified of an update and I can make multiple announcements. The cannon-based levels are nearly done, and the bouncy levels which introduce some neat puzzles.

I have posted a "Release Trailer" on Youtube, although the app isn't up for download just yet. Getting it approved has been an impressive amount of busywork, I already got turned down once because of my privacy policy. Wish me luck!

Here's that trailer, by the way.

Thanks guys! MineRalph does look interesting...

SO today I reworked how Chounce detects surfaces. I was doing raycasts and taking an average to angle Chounce perpendicular to the surface Chounce is touching. I'm now using GetCollisions which doesn't result in the same noticeable errors. I had to work out an annoying bug but it's much better now.

For Unity programmers:
Today I learned that if you're using Unity's 2D rigidbodies, you should usually set the angle of the object by setting the rigidbody "rotation" property. DON'T set the rotation of the transform of the gameobject; it doesn't carry over to the Box2D rigidbody itself until the next Update or so. I was setting transform.eulerAngles and then trying to add a fixedJoint2D to lock Chounce to the new rotation, but the rigidbody.rotation wasn't updated yet so the character would LOOK rotated for a frame and then the fixedJoint2D would snap them back to the old rotation. Very frustrating. (I hope that made some amount of sense lol)

SCREENSHOT (New zero-g space themed area)

So I've been posting on Twitter, but I'll summarize here as well. For record keeping.
I'll link a couple videos.
https://twitter.com/Onronc/status/1123226174254018561
https://twitter.com/Onronc/status/1117326451559161856

Also posted a Beepbox song which are super fun because you can view it in browser (The URL contains all the data needed to play it):
Beepbox Song

I've been adding some simple physics driven objects to spice up gameplay. Chounce is just a rigidbody circle, so they inherit momentum when jumping off a moving object. This means that the trajectory you go on depends on the timing of your jumps.

Making levels for this game is interesting, because it's momentum based platforming. Long horizontal sections allow the player to build up momentum, but sharp direction changes kill your momentum, for instance a walljump. I've taken this into consideration and made a mostly horizontal level, but I broke it up into sections with little gates that flip you into the next section like a revolving door. They are sticky so you basically reset your momentum in each section. Speedrunning this is fun, but you can't build up ridiculous speeds because of the gates. This keeps the level from getting out of hand.

Here's a Unity editor overview of some of the levels I made the last couple days:

Love these designs! The smile/grin The Pilot is a bit uncanny. But the models are SO COOL

Log Date 4/9/2019

Fixed some bugs. Made some progress on level designs today. Still got some ideas I need to make for the early game (tutorial style/easy levels). Sometimes I'll work on one of those and it will turn into a harder level, which basically means I'll be making an easier one later.

The stairs level is weird, and not necessarily in the good way. I'm not quite satisfied with the solution.

I think levels that allow you to jump farther will be fun. I have some ideas for additional mechanics that could allow this (areas that have different gravity, powerups, cannons etc).

I'm discovering more good sounding instruments in Beepbox, I wish you could copy-paste the instrument settings from one song into another... This song needs one or two more verses but it's coming along nicely so I'll post the WIP version.

https://www.beepbox.co/#6n41sbk7l00e0ft5m0a3g0fj7i0r2o21120T0w5f1d1c0h0v0T1d1c0A0F1B0V1Q2590Pf720E00ccT1d1c0A0F0B3V1Q2000Pf900E0221T1d1c0A0F9B4V1Q0000Pf860E0111T2w4d1v3b000h4h4i4h5M4zcPg500ly8zhkl5hkl50000018QllkPci8y8y8h4gp252FzO2k110Gc617ge07gcnceC1zsNMRC844McbcfL3rPcI0wpzH3XKxFBCxF3Y92ccwh1Ai4dtxHIcyg1HIdKxFBIkgQyAEyC4lcsxj3hOYAei1cKkRtbyltQ4CzwUb1rrHWEa3AqJJBqr5VjfId0o4d0tMq0QxE3jo2yRCR-3hcMRKjD35OXOXOXOXbQOWkMVZXajhQs-0wdlJaoqio_q345eTJZy6FFHIFFSTkQRRQQSrnSg4KCzwRkRt5cd2LpIFJvlcKGWqtO5FEv0E18wE0bc3X8kOgFAdcxFAdcxGsoBuCh5Z8GaquVx2Ci5cAap80

I might incorporate rigidbody objects into some levels, but I think scripted, predictable motions are better for the environmental objects in Chounce. It's meant to be a somewhat precise platformer, I don't need more chaos in there.

[SCREEN SHOTS]

Hey guys, Connorses here, with a dev long for the project I started this Tuesday. I've been putting off homework for this but it's coming along very nicely.

Chounce is an idea that was kicking around my head for a while. It's largely inspired by my game JellyBall, but it's a whole new physics game on it's own.

Chounce is the purple ball guy. He can launch himself off any surface he is touching. He also retains any momentum he had. He is slippery and non-bouncy. The result is a weird one-button platformer where you push off available surfaces to progress.

The gameplay was coded in a couple hours, and then refined the next day. The bulk of the programming was me building menus, saving/loading data and making sure it all works. There are way too many moving parts. This is why programming UI is a pain.

BUT I DID IT! The game keeps track of your best completion time for each level you play. Next on the To Do List is programming in a Par Time. (If you beat the Par Time of a level you get a star).

SCREEN SHOTS

https://connorses.itch.io/
 

Bump because this game is now available on PC!
Check it out at Itch.io!

[PC Version (itch.io)Android Version (Google Play)]

PC Version (itch.io)
Android Version (Google Play)

Slide drop has you sliding rows left and right to try to make all coins fall to the bottom. The trick is that you can only touch rows which contain a coin already.

This is a game I worked on in the last couple months of 2017. It came from a prototype which can actually be seen here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/puzzlescript/coin$20drop%7Csort:date/puzzlescript/LRsxFjpg4rk/mAgSnwltBQAJ I had wanted to make one of my Puzzlescript games into an app, and I chose this one because the controls work well on mobile.    I also find that the puzzles can be complex while only offering a few moves at any time; This means the player can easily play with the possible moves while considering the solution. I spent a lot of time making sure that my tutorial levels were clear, and I'm very happy with how it turned out as far as the difficulty curve.

The game was made using the brilliant tool www.puzzlescript.net which is fantastic for rapid prototyping of turn based grid-locked puzzle games. It's a very niche tool, but I have a lot of fun using it.

Well, I'm a Mac user, and I like puzzle games. Plus the graphics look gorgeous. So I'm certainly going to keep an eye on this.

[TL;DR: Generic platforming goodness made totally from scratch with the help of Processing. Pretty much all of the code is mine including the level file format.]

TL;DR: Generic platforming goodness made totally from scratch with the help of Processing. Pretty much all of the code is mine including the level file format.

I'm starting this thread because I recently picked up a project that was on hold for a while during school, it's a platform game with fun obstacles and puzzles and I want to get as much variety as I can, but here's an overview of my progress:

I made the collision engine myself and it is entirely based on the tile-grid, so, not super flexible, but it's the first one I've designed and I'm proud of it.

I feel like the controls are coming along very well. I took some tips from the designers of Super Meat Boy and added a feature that adds friction when you're pressing the opposite direction of where you're already going. This means you can stop and also change direction more easily even in mid-air. I also took some time to tweak how high he jumps while you hold the button versus just tapping it. This won't just feel like I just threw it together, it's gonna feel tight.

I'm still working on how it's gonna display graphics, I've been re-working a lot of my engine since when I first made it, I didn't originally make it very flexible. I'm adding a lot of functionality as I go.

I even invented my own level format. It uses ASCII characters. I know, flippin' brilliant. I also made a home-made level editor to go with it. If this goes as well as I had hoped, I think I will release the editor and add a "load custom level" feature. It will remain a separate program though.

EPIC SCREENSHOT!



TO-DO LIST:
 • Re-do drawing code in general to allow scrolling levels and to have it make more sense.
 • Rework level loading function and also add functions to add objects in levels like level goals, moving obstacles, enemies, coins...
 • Level Select Menu
 • Pause Menu
 • HATS.

Special thanks to:
Gan for helping program
Zoo for helping test stuff
Everybody at the GameMakersGarage.com forum for being awesome.

Made this with the browser based tool http://www.beepbox.co/
It's a work in progrefs.

GreenGuy [WIP]

I might actually have to go for this deal, the average price is just 1.40 at the moment.

[DISCLAIMER: I did not make this tool, it is a free program made by user Gan of the Game Maker's Garage forums. He integrated it into that website so you need a forum account to save projects online. If you have a question about using the tool, or a bug report, please bring it to him. Thanks.]

DISCLAIMER: I did not make this tool, it is a free program made by user Gan of the Game Maker's Garage forums. He integrated it into that website so you need a forum account to save projects online. If you have a question about using the tool, or a bug report, please bring it to him. Thanks.

The HTML5GM (I know it's a brilliant name) is a browser game making tool designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind. I really wanted to get the word out about this program because my friend Gan put a lot of time into it and it has potential as a useful tool for beginners as well as more experienced programmers. The whole thing is browser based and has it's own syntax and useful built-in functions and you can add graphics and sound you've uploaded onto the web. You can also send people links to your compiled game. It's even got Box2D integration available for physics in your game.

If you want to try it out, just make an account on http://www.gamemakersgarage.com/forum/ and then visit the HTML5GM link at the top of the page.
There's a tutorial link on the HTML5GM page and feel free to post on the GMG forum if you need help with it! Remember, it's still rough around the edges to all feedback is greatly appreciated! I believe Gan is also taking feature requests...

You can in fact integrate javascript into you code if you want to, or you can directly edit the source code for the game, so there's added flexibility for people familiar with the language.

Screenshots!

Some of the interface:



This is a physics game I'm working on:

beepbox.co is a really neat tool because it's got enough features to make interesting compositions and the data is saved in the URL.

http://www.beepbox.co/#3sbkbl0egt3a7g0fj7i1r1w12111111f00000000d11111111c00000000h26000000v00000000o3210bE01arABB01iiin_A0000000498iiig00p24bRsusvF2Cf0q0Q1E3g5cY5GLHIJFGHraqGXbHUpjsf4ZGKKKK2HCa3x8eGkwUiBNo4aoZgldwqGEiKgIFFIKkPVL3i6Qc460sKKOGOK-YdBErrr0yCUvwehhhhpjhhhjjhjjhgFDMytmkCrmkwtelJ0bdM-I0mo_kC186oAiD82wFxwhIlN84x8WWJA6_Ndtvv70SbOgd0a09yhA0PYU2os0Wzu1g3ycw7nZCwScw3A1wgQxFF3hi6Ad8mhGEEGFEEEGFEGFEE00

It's still kind of a WIP, I have no clue where I would use this particular song but it's so fun to play with.

You are a skilled theif, and in your attempt to liberate a powerful magical artifact from a stronghold, you wind up having to use it to escape!

The artifact is a set of metal gloves. When you wear them they become gigantic and you are virtually invincible. The challenge is that you have to get out  before they run out of charge, so it's a race against time but you can't die before the time is up. You would play the game many times until you figured out how to beat it fast enough. Lots of secret tricks to find.

Super Meat Boy is one of my favorite games and you have enough control in the air to make hairpin turns and climb walls which allows for some intense levels requiring precision movements. You also change direction fairly abruptly when you let go of jump to control your height. But yeah, I always thought a game focusing specifically on the idea that you can't change direction in mid-air  would be interesting. I even had a little project in the works...

I sort of like the idea. A game intentionally designed so that programmers can make a client for it. It just has to be complex enough that people would be interested in the challenge. If it's like Travian then people would have to make automated systems to be the most efficient.

I guess this qualifies as I don't believe it to be "pixel art".
Or much of a mock-up even though there is a HUD

I like sharpies for doodling because there is no going back.
Which makes you learn long flowing lines.

This is way cool Do I see a Gish?