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[TrialByFun]

Hello all,

I've just started making a new game called WarBall [ Working title ] which i'm hoping to release on ios devices but probably as PC / Mac download too.

It's grown as an idea literally over the last week so its in the very, very early stages.
I'm still pinning down the major gameplay elements so this thread should be good at plotting how it evolves over the next month.

Story
Bad things happen to your home, you help build a Warball (a wooden ball made from old barrels), and venture out into the enemy territory rolling over all who stand in your way.

Gameplay
To sum up the gameplay i'd say its Mini-golf / Monkeyball with a Zelda vibe. Puzzles, challenges, characters, hub world with side gameplay areas.
The Warball can also be upgraded with new abilities which allows you to reach different areas of the world map.

Vibe
Despite the story premise, its meant to be a silly fun game, not a serious one. Colourful. Over the top. Very Game-ey.

Controls
Touching anywhere on the screen rolls the Warball towards that spot and gives you the best accuracy.
Taping and dragging on the Warball allows you to launch it at great speed in a direction. This is used for smashing things and killing enemies.
(i'll upload a web demo so you can test it out at some point)


So that's what I have right now, and to start things off here is a mockup screenshot I've been working on today. (i'm using it to work out my tile-sets )



everything is WIP.
Comments, feedback as always appreciated.

[Jeltron]

Looks fun!  I was surprised at the controls though.  Have you thought about making it a tilt-sensitive game?  Seems like it would make a good one.  At least having that option would be cool.  All of the tilt-ball type games have you navigating a maze.  It would be sweet to roll and destroy instead.

[Apostle]

Think the touch control makes sense, gives the fine control required and the ability to support pc. Interested to hear more about scale of levels and what you'll do with the enemies.

[TrialByFun]

Jeltron
I hear you on the tilt controls, I've avoided that because I think that tilting the screen might interfere physically with asking the user to touch specific points on the screen.

To give you a better idea of where i'm coming from i've uploaded a test controls build to...
http://www.trialbyfun.com/Projects/WarBall/TestControls/

There is no decent user feedback, and a couple of little bugs in there,
but it gives you an idea what i'm up to.

Touch anywhere on the screen and the ball will follow.
Touch and drag away from the ball to launch it in the opposite direction (like flinging it).

Let me know what you think.

Apostle
Yeah, not relying on accelerometers also means PC and iOS match more closely and its easier to tune that way. Nothing to report yet on scale and enemies i'll be working on that next week, so i'll get back to you.

Feedback welcomed.

[superflat]

I love the idea, and the visuals are charming.  Great name too.

I'm not totally in love with the trees & foliage, but realise it's wip.  Looking forward to it man.

[Jeltron]

I was thinking that the reason you weren't using tilt was probably the fact that there were other actions that didn't mesh well with it, so I'm not surprised that's the case.  You're right that it translates much better to browser controls this way.  I tried the test build and it seems pretty fun.  It'll be way better when there's stuff to run over!