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[larrylateleaf]

These past few weeks were dedicated to touching up a night version of the "Core" map, and making it spooky for Halloween:



Really wanted to add some graveyards and skeletons around instead of the standard farm buildings but I wasn't able to get a suitable solution in time.

Also been doing lots of testing and prepping for two live events coming up:

• This weekend: Gameacon @ Atlantic City, NJ
• Next weekend: Playcrafting Halloween Expo @ New York, NY

During testing, I actually came across some bug related to my (mis)use of Unity's Physics.OverlapSphereNonAlloc. I was using it in the code for blowing up pieces of debris in the soft blocks, but I ended up optimizing it a bit and not needing to use it at all, so that was a minor victory

Another thing was that we're using four non-standard controllers for our live demos. While we personally use first-party wireless Xbox 360 controllers at home for gaming, we felt that wired was better for events. For example, you never have to worry about swapping out batteries, and it's a lot easier to keep track of where they are at any given time. Also, I personally play Bomber Barn with the d-pad and I really don't like the 360's d-pad.

So we opted for some third-party wired PS3 controllers. Unfortunately, Unity's Rewired plugin doesn't contain controller definitions for it, so I quickly whipped up my own earlier this month. But up until a few days ago, I never noticed that I had to invert the Y-axis in the controller definition so good thing I caught it in time!

I think we'll have a lot to absorb and process after these two demo events -- afterward, some more match customization, more maps and game modes will likely be the top priority. Again, the broader goal is to have a really solid Battle mode so people can play endlessly. Then, in the meantime, we can develop the Story mode.

P.S. Bomber Barn also has a GameJolt page now!

[larrylateleaf]

Wow! The two events were absolutely amazing. I really didn't know what to expect but so far the reception has been great and I love the energy of talking to people who are playing/watching the game. The main takeaway from all this so far is...

#TurtleOP

Here's one photo we took from Atlantic City (more on our website):

Now that we have some breathing room, plus lots of very valuable feedback, it's time to re-focus on Battle mode.

As of this afternoon, I've already added one new map called Gauntlet:

It is very similar to Duel; while Gauntlet is a touch smaller, it takes a bit longer to "break out" into danger (i.e. other players). The philosophy behind this was that Duel was really meant for flexible 1v1s, while Gauntlet is one step closer to the traditional four-player 13x11 arena with plenty of soft blocks to break past (for all you item hoarders out there).

This week:

• Graphics: Slightly brighten the Core (Spooky) map
• Gameplay: Fix a bug where a bomb exploding directly on top of an item will not destroy it
• Gameplay: Tweak/reduce the overall flame duration to speed up the game
• Gameplay: Rework Timid Turtle's abilities
• Gameplay: Add two maps total
• UI: Add colored player markers at the start of the round, so it's more clear who/where you are

[larrylateleaf]

Gameplay: Rework Timid Turtle's abilities
Big Turtle nerf, sorry everyone! Timid Turtle is no longer immune to its own flames. I think that this type of immunity would fly in the face of the "DNA" of the core gameplay, which revolves around skillfully avoiding all flames and outmaneuvering opponents. Being able to withdraw into the shell is already a huge lifesaver, which by itself arguably upends the DNA as well, because no one else ever gets a second chance.

In addition, Quick Cat got a small buff. The Sniping Sprint now lasts only 3 seconds (instead of 4), and its cooldown was reduced. This means more dashing around, more often.

Gameplay: Add two maps total
Added a new map called Campfire which revolves around four campfires around the map. They are the only source of light on the map, so if they all die down, then you're playing in the dark. You can re-light any fire by hitting one with your flames. I think it's an interesting mini-game of sorts, because a player who's confident in memorizing the map state can use the darkness to their advantage, bullying the disoriented opponents who are constantly scrambling to re-light the fires.

(Little game design tidbit: the round starts with the fires dimmed, with a few pre-placed bombs exploding to showcase the mechanic.)

It's a bit hard to illustrate with just a still image, so I'll put up a gif/video soon.





I think it'll add some variety to multiplayer battles, but more importantly, IMO it's a solid proof-of-concept that will definitely place this mechanic into the Story Mode. It could throw a wrench into boss fights, or levels with tight time limits that force you to be mindful of what blocks are around you, etc.

The other map is actually a replacement for Gauntlet, which I mentioned in my previous post. Gauntlet's purpose was to provide the classic four-player arena, but I figured it'd be a better idea to just outright replicate it. And that brings us to Classic (Random). The map is packed densely with soft blocks, and sticks to the 6x5 hard block arrangement, with slight randomization:




UI: Add colored player markers at the start of the round, so it's more clear who/where you are

You can already see some of the identifying colors in the screenshots above, but here's what it looks like during the pre-round countdown:

Animated: https://gfycat.com/inconsequentialuglyhypacrosaurus



The palettes are swappable because they're just ScriptableObjects, and we have a color-blind-friendly palette ready. They also are introduced when you set up the match:



In addition...

• On the pause menu, display which player paused the game
• Implement system to support floor tile buffs like mud, which slows you down
• Start the process for getting a developer account on Steam and Microsoft

What's next?
We've determined the next environment for upcoming maps! So now we'll be getting art assets up for it, and designing the new look. There's going to be much more than just the grass/stump/hay/barn thing.

Adding some sort of sudden death mechanic is also coming up soon. Having two players die early and seeing 1:40 on the clock between the two remaining players is kind of lame, especially when it culminates in a boring draw.

[larrylateleaf]

Woohoo! We are now doing a lot of backend/administrative stuff to gear up for our Steam page. We're polishing a few things now so that we can have a great first impression and offer one easy place for everyone to get the latest build updates. For example, the in-game cooldown meters have been juiced up a bit, and a bit of the particle effects are being reworked.

Until we get on Steam, version 0.3.0 has freshly been put up on Game Jolt and directly on our website

This weekend we will again be exhibiting Bomber Barn in our backyard at Gameacon NYC, so come by our booth if you're around! Can't wait to playtest the nerfed Turtle...

[larrylateleaf]

Minor mid-week update to v0.3.1:

To accommodate people who want to do 2 players on the keyboard, P2 can now use the keyboard as well. The keyboard controls are now:

Code:

Player 1
WSAD     Move
F        Drop Bomb (Submit in menus)
G        Active Ability (Cancel in menus)

Player 2
Arrows   Move
/        Drop Bomb (Submit in menus)
.        Active Ability (Cancel in menus)

Also fixed a weird thing where some maps were using the old hay bale models.

[larrylateleaf]

It's been quiet for these past few days in this devlog, but we've been tinkering a lot with the underlying systems that will need to be in place for our early access (or demo) build that will be the first official build on Steam.

For example, we (of course) will have some cosmetics in the game, and some of these will be unlocked upon earning X amount of XP/coins, while others just drop randomly whenever you level up. The more you play, the more you unlock, whether it's maps, ruleset modifiers, characters, cosmetics, or even game modes. So figuring out the data structures and workflow for determining what is/isn't unlocked takes a bit of thinking -- it's not something I want to refactor after just a few weeks.

For now, we ended up going with a generalized "UnlockableMetadata" ScriptableObject that simply contains the unlock conditions/requirements for any particular thing. This means each map, character, etc. will have its own UnlockableMetadata file, etc. That's a lot of UnlockableMetadata files that we'll end up with, but at least it's predictable, it's consistent, and it'll be easy to pinpoint any errors.

Anyway, the main focus in the immediate term is to build up some core systems for our demo. That way, you can download the demo, play just one match and instantly earn enough to unlock a new map, which "proves" that we have the unlock system in place. I wouldn't feel comfortable just having "Cosmetics and Unlocks" as mere bullet points on a vague "roadmap" text block.

I'm also super excited to show off some drafts of the next environment soon... 

[larrylateleaf]

We made a lot of progress these past two days on the unlock system! Naturally this also means we needed a simple save/load mechanism for figuring out what you've unlocked, and how many coins you have.

So now, after every match you complete, you get 5 coins. In the future, this will come with caveats, such as super long or super short matches (e.g. 1-round Last Alive, but someone bombed themselves in the first few seconds by accident) earning more or less, respectively.

With these new coins, you can unlock lots of stuff, including maps (which also now have description text). If you just press the button on a locked item, it'll play a low-pitched sound and the button will shake a bit. To unlock it with coins, you have to hold down the button, which hopefully cuts down on accidental purchases (especially because any player can do it!).

Of course, with cosmetics, you want to see what they look like before you put them on. While we don't have any yet, we finally have a live 3D preview!

Also, this was done a week or two ago, but we implemented a little visual polish detail: time-of-day during the course of a round. Here's a time-lapse:

Next, we're stirring up that brand new set of levels for the winter season... and fixing pesky bugs, of course, like some controller-related issues we've heard about.

[larrylateleaf]

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

A new update is up, only on Game Jolt for now.

Introducing a brand new map: Missiletoe

Every time you blow up a red gift box, a dangerous surprise may pop out!

This is v0.5.1, and the unlockables system is now complete. You can earn coins by completing matches, and spend them to unlock characters, maps, and... mix-ins! Mix-ins are small gameplay variations that you can choose to spice things up. Think of the "mutators" in the old Unreal Tournament games.

Please let us know what you think! Our Steam page is just about ready, once we piece together some more footage and choice screenshots.

[larrylateleaf]

You know what they say: better late than never. Our official demo is now out on itch.io and Game Jolt, which features all 4 main characters, 3 maps out of the box, and 2 Mix-Ins (ruleset variations) to change things up.

Not only that, but our Steam page is now up, so you can wishlist/follow on there!

Anyway, it's been quite a path to get here, and I'm really proud of what we've built so far.

This past week or so has been more hectic than expected, trying to juggle Steam backend stuff with testing and bug fixes and, of course, IRL family time . Some very recent bugs/refactoring work examples:

- fixed a silly bug where other players could use the Pause button (Start) to unpause the game even when someone else initiated the pause
- fixed a VERY embarrassing bug where using the analog stick in menus did not allow for up/down movement (only left/right)
- reworked the ruleset/"recipe" system to make it more like a mere shortcut to highlighting certain settings, rather than a special case
- switched to modifying Depth of Field settings at runtime for screen blur, because LWRP broke the old blur shader

It's a good time (especially at the convenient end of a calendar year) to reflect on the development process, and I surely have a lot of thoughts that I have yet to unpack.

But for now, I feel comfortable saying that, barring any nightmare bugs, I'm pretty sure the groundwork has been set now to drive forward with the meat and potatoes of the game (content! content! content! and marketing). The unlock system was probably the last bastion prior to this. We already have two new maps (with dynamic hazards/mechanics on them, not just a static level) underway, and a fifth character planned.

Thank you to everyone who's supported or even just popped into this thread here and there, or liked a WIP post on Twitter. It really means a lot and I hope more people get to add this to their couch multiplayer collection 

[larrylateleaf]

Speaking of adding new content...

Here's a teaser pic of a new winter map that's 95% done:

This one has a unique map mechanic that I'll explain soon enough. Hint: there are 3 igloos on the map that you can take shelter in...

Also, quick update, our demo has finally been approved on Steam!

Tomorrow I'll be adding another music track for these winter levels, and working on a promo trailer

[larrylateleaf]

Uh oh, forgot to post an update here in over a week

We ended up finishing the promo trailer, which you can find here:





The new winter map is all done, and ready to be played in the next version!

A list of updates since:

General

• Added a "How to Play" watch-and-learn segment that covers the game's basics, as well as each character

Gameplay/In-Game

• Improved Dojo Donkey's Hurricane Kick special ability (in terms of range and hit detection)
• Tied the walking animation speed to your actual movement speed; very noticeable on the new winter map!
• Fixed some scoring bugs with the Eliminations match format
• Matches in the Eliminations format can now end in a tie (no tiebreaker rule yet, but this may change)
• Music gets paused when paused; fixed some earlier pause-related bugs

UI

• Added input hints on most menu screens
• Rewrote a lot of text for clarity/brevity
• Reworked some UI elements to look much more consistent between 16:9 and 16:10

The last two tasks we can think of before gearing up for Early Access release are...

1. Make the "Match Over" screen actually display the right map in the background
2. Add an option to vote for a random map

Look out for the first non-demo release on Steam very, very soon!!!

[larrylateleaf]

Ahhh! Bugs galore! Good thing we had a good ol' playtesting session earlier this afternoon...

• Fixed up some Main Menu visuals
• Fixed bug where pausing and then unpausing the game during the pregame countdown allowed you to prematurely start the round
• Reworked buff system slightly to correctly handle expiring buffs (I kinda wanna post about this separately another time)
• Corrected some P3/P4 swapped spawn positions on winter maps
• Hid the corner portraits during MatchOver summary
• Rephrased "goal: X rounds survived" to emphasize being the last one alive

I'm ~99% sure we are about ready to push our build for final review on Steam... meaning Bomber Barn will be releasing on Early Access within the next week or so!!!!

[larrylateleaf]

Bomber Barn is on track to come out on Steam Early Access very soon!!!

The demo has been updated on Steam, so check it out. This is pretty much the last free version we'll be putting out. What's new:

Random map vote
Note that it's possible that you'll roll a map that is locked! Reminds me of picking random in Gunbound and getting the dragon...

Tutorial
While it's not interactive (yet), it's a brief 2-minute overview of how the game works.

Match Complete screen fixed
"MatchOver" is no longer its own scene rather, the camera just changes angles by coming down close to the battlefield, and the scoreboard is updated.

Pause menu fixes
Nothing exciting here, but still.

Input hints on menus
It's looking more polished now...

General UI/text changes
Some minor stuff for 16:9 vs 16:10, rephrasing a bit for clarity, etc.

[larrylateleaf]

Bomber Barn is out on Early Access via Steam and itch.io!!!

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/982840/Bomber_Barn/

itch.io: https://lateleafgames.itch.io/bomber-barn

Remember, there's a 100% FREE playable demo on both stores, so for those of you hesitating, check out the demo! There are no time limits or "two players only" or anything like that. It's just missing a few maps and mix-ins.

I'm quite excited to add more to Bomber Barn; the general approach is to have a loose road map first, and then to have the fans help prioritize specifics (maybe we work on adding a new highly-requested map first, etc.).

[larrylateleaf]

So we have a few launch issues on Steam and otherwise... at the same time, we've added:

- "Rematch" button when a match is over, with better camera-work




- Toggle music/sound in pause menu




- Yep, that's right... a system for hats!




- ... and a system for skins!

Next is to squash those launch bugs and implement the super important "sudden death" mechanic...

[larrylateleaf]

Wow, it's been a while! So sorry for the radio silence during all of March. Rest assured, we are back in business!

We just pushed a long-overdue Steam update (v0.6.5) last night. I'm posting it here now in text, but I'll come back and edit this with some visuals later:

Gameplay

• Sudden Death (thanks, riku.petteri!)
  When time runs out, Sudden Death will now automatically turn on. When it starts, all bombers will be forced to drop bombs every few seconds, ramping up in frequency over time. After a while, everyone will be constantly leaving behind a trail of bombs, causing mayhem everywhere!
  
  

• Feline Finesse (thanks, lcd_screen!)
  Quick Cat's Passive ability is now named Feline Finesse (formerly simply "Agility"). In addition to having a faster starting move speed, as the Quick Cat, you can now always move through your own bombs! This opens up your mobility options a lot and should be a significant buff, especially when playing with certain mix-ins that make everyone speedy to begin with.
  
  

UI

• Elimination Indicators
  During Eliminations mode, it can be sometimes be confusing to figure out who bombed who. Now, whenever someone scores an elimination, a "+1" icon will pop up for a few moments in their corner portrait, indicating a point.
  
  

• Keyboard Controls Modal
  On the Title Screen, if no controllers are plugged in, some brief intro text will appear, showing the keyboard controls for P1 and P2. This way, it's up front, without requiring players to look up readmes, etc.
  
  

Bug Fixes & Optimizations

• Fixed bug that did not correctly register bots as players in the match (thanks, MILKMAN and Dexter Monster!)
  
• Slightly optimized the clouds coming out of Dojo Donkey's kicks