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[Petey]

Here's a look at our second boss battle. You must build up your base and fight a giant flying airship armed with shields and lasers and cannons!

[hidingspot]

This looks like a blast.  Could you share the general concept of how the destructible environment is implemented with regard to the physics?  I'm curious.

[eigenbom]

sweet!

[Petey]

This looks like a blast.  Could you share the general concept of how the destructible environment is implemented with regard to the physics?  I'm curious.

Thanks! As far as gameplay the destructible terrain means that if you blast the land out from under a building, the building will drop and take fall damage. Units that walk also can be stopped by digging holes too deep for them to walk up. We have a building that can create land, so you can 'build bridges' back over those holes.

On the tech side, I'm storing the environment as an image and I render holes into it when you shoot it. Everything raycasts against the image to determine if they are supported or about to hit the terrain. For anything that needs to bounce off I wrote a function that can return an averaged normal for a given location on the ground by casting a bunch of rays.

I want to write a big giant tutorial on how to do the destructible terrain once I get some time...

[hidingspot]

Sounds interesting.  I'd definitely love to read your detailed writeup.  Keep up the good work!

[Toby]

Looks great! How long do matches last? Looks fast-paced enough that it'd be great fun playing against a friend on a big TV.

[cubertron]

great graphics! I am always a fan of these worm like shooting games

[Petey]

Looks great! How long do matches last? Looks fast-paced enough that it'd be great fun playing against a friend on a big TV.

Thanks! And yep, it's pretty fast paced - a typical match is about 5-10 minutes.

[Petey]

I took a break from programming, and tried a new mockup of the king today. He's based on the first version What do you guys think?

All feedback appreciated, I'm still very new to the art side of things

[Petey]

Here's a new screenshot to commemorate...



our recently released a playable alpha build. You can try it out here:

Download Alpha (0.9)

I'd love your guys' feedback, especially on our story/characters. Get them cannons brawlin!

[Seiseki]

Cool, I'll be sure to check it out and give feedback!
(can't download it, says no mirrors are available :/)

Edit:

I tried it and it was awesome! Really addictive gameplay.

I was afraid that it was going to be a bit fast paced and too much multitasking.
But I think the pace is really good, it puts most of the focus on the strategy.
The controls were quick and effective.

The main issue I found was that the towers felt a bit too easy to use.
Mostly due to the long and precise trajectories shown. At the same time, it needs to be easy for the game to keep up the pace and not get overly confusing.
But I still feel like it could require a bit more aiming skill.

Another thing I thought was lacking is the character design.
The princess for example have great shading and detail, but the pose looks really awkward, stiff and uninteresting.
The rest have a completely different style, but the same poses so I assume they're old ones.

The graphics are quite juicy with lots of effects, but I think more focus on readability could improve the look.
Like thicker outlines and more contrast between foreground and background, using larger details over smaller ones to avoid it looking cluttered, oversize stuff!

[Petey]

Thanks! Glad you like it!

The main issue I found was that the towers felt a bit too easy to use.
Mostly due to the long and precise trajectories shown. At the same time, it needs to be easy for the game to keep up the pace and not get overly confusing.

Interesting, we do have some towers you unlock in the future that require more skill for optimal results. Overall I've been trying to make the towers easy to use, but require some extra skill to get the maximum damage output. For example with the cannon if you can aim just slightly in front of the target the shot will do damage AND drop the target causing fall damage, but perhaps this is too subtle an effect right now...

Another thing I thought was lacking is the character design.
The princess for example have great shading and detail, but the pose looks really awkward, stiff and uninteresting.
The rest have a completely different style, but the same poses so I assume they're old ones.

I agree, and actually all our characters are placeholder right now. We're going to take a new pass on them soon, we'll probably make them to look older as well.

The graphics are quite juicy with lots of effects, but I think more focus on readability could improve the look.
Like thicker outlines and more contrast between foreground and background, using larger details over smaller ones to avoid it looking cluttered, oversize stuff!

I'm glad you hit on this and I completely agree, the backgrounds and foregrounds tend to compete for your attention. Just today I set up some code that blurs the backgrounds and makes the foregrounds read much better (this'll be in a future build).

Thanks again for the feedback!

[TGoCoGames]

Love the concept and the art style of this game.  Looks really well put together.

I'll be giving it a try ASAP.

[Petey]

Love the concept and the art style of this game.  Looks really well put together.

I'll be giving it a try ASAP.

Awesome, let me know what you think!

[Connor]

looks like worms. I WANT THIS SO BAD :OOOOOOO

[yadurajiv]

You guys are news on Gamasutra today - http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/188531/How_trial_and_error_helps_and_hinders_in_video_game_design.php

[Petey]

Haha, I saw that. I feel like a real game developer now!

[Petey]

I'm excited to announce a completely new direction for Cannon Brawl! And it all begins with a new name: Cannon Brawl Ville.

Cannon Brawl Ville will be the best free online social combat game on facebook. Immerse yourself in a vibrant 3D battlefield, meet a cast of silly characters with enormous heads relative to their bodies, and play with your friends on an epic grind to win!

For those of you who played the alpha, you might be wondering “how can Cannon Brawl work as a social game on facebook?” To answer that question, we’ve planned some giant improvements:
- Simplification of all previous skill based elements down to single clicks!
- Invite your friends to send you ammunition, buildings, and decorations for the battle!
- Populate the battlefield with your friends, shoot them out of cannons!
- Free to play, but pay to win!

We want to put the ‘social’ back in action strategy!

Let us know your thoughts and get 1,500 free Cannon Brawl Ville Coins when Cannon Brawl Ville launches (virtual currency for use in our upcoming Cannon Brawl Battlefield Decorations in-game store).

[Whiteclaws]

I don't like that Facebook decision , maybe finish the game first and then make the Facebook version ?

[Landshark RAWR]

oh make i hope you implement an energy system