[SHOW] Bounce (JIG entry)

[Viza]

I thought the day would never come, but they’ve just uploaded my first ever completed game (that’s right, I actually finished a game!) to the bundle of other JIG game competition entries (btw, it’s great to see such well produced games from some FK lads up there) at jayisgames.com.

Now, I know that many of you are in disbelief that I’ve actually finished a game, but don’t get your hopes up too high; Though it’s finished in terms of a competition entry, in my eyes this is an unfinished game: Many features and ideas I wished to add to the game were thrown out the window in my mad dash to finish the game before the deadline. Some of the most noticeable absentees are music/sfx (which is the biggest blow, imo), better gfx (mainly menu, instructions page, death screen), high score system (at least offline), and the option of difficulty settings.

With that said, if I get enough motivation, interest, or extra ideas expect a sequal that should meet the standards that I’m happy with.

Enough of the ranting from me. Enjoy the game, and I’m all ears to any comments, critiques, praise, or opinions you have to offer.

Viza.

P.S. There seems to be a bad problem when clicking the "Play" button too soon (balls will spawn when they're not supposed to), so please wait a second or two after loading to click the play button... Unfortunately this will have to be fixed when I'm back from school (7 hours or so).

[alillm]

Yea unfortunately I got caught by the bug the first time I played it and didn't even realise at first so I couldn't work out how to play, after I gave it a second try and realised how it was supposed to be though I really enjoyed it.

I think it’s a good concept and a nice little time wasting game. You could probably take the idea further to make the game even better (I don't have any specific ideas, but I'm sure there are quite a few directions you could take it), I think that’s what you mean when you say it’s not finished.

Anyway, good job visa, and congrats on completing your first game .

Ali

[Frag]

I didn't notice a link in your post so here it is for everyone else:

http://jayisgames.com/archives/2007/10/cgdc4_bounce.php

I got the same bug where there was 2 of everything and nothing was working, refreshed the page and it was fine. I like the concept and you could add a lot more to the game overall with polished graphics/sounds, but I guess that's not always possible with these competitions.

[ImprisonedPride]

I finally got to play your game! I actually really like it. It was a bit hard to understand the physic-esque controls of the game but once I learned it, it was pretty fun and I lost track of time, so I guess that's a plus. Like everyone said, it could use the things you didn't get around to, and a little lovin', but I think you did a great job. Oh and my offer still stands for the game if you change your mind (think to our conversation on MSN). :P Good job buddy.

[Viza]

Ok I'm going to make sure I get around to everyone that leaves a comment so here goes:

Alilm: Yeah, that bug is a real pain inn the ***, but I'm pretty sure I know why it's happening- unfortunately it looks like it's already spoiled too many peoples game .

Thanks a lot, for your very kind comments here and also on the JIG commenting page. Since I cant make any drastic additions to the current game (competition rules) I was looking at making a sequel, adding any suggestions I get here as well as my own ideas, however the comments thus far on the JIG page has really spoiled my enthusiasm (they're actually really constructive-criticism- nothing hurtful, but I have other ideas which I feel would be given a warmer reception). What you guys here have said atm is very cheering though, so you never know .

Btw, if any one has some suggestions on what could be added to the game play, I'm more than happy to hear them.

Frag:
Yeah there's a lot which is missing from the game (HINT: the version number on the main menu = .8,rather than 1.0 or greater). After working on this game, I'v realised that I'll probably need to find a partnering artist if I want to be taken a bit more seriously on any future projects, and the music/sound absence is a result of poor time management (which also affected every other aspect)

Thanks for the link as well, I was meaning put it in but I was in a bit of a hurry so I forgot (could a mod please add the link to my original post).

IP:
Thanks a lot! It''s really pleasing to get nice feedback. Whenever I've got some free time then sure, I'll accept your offer

Viza.

[ImprisonedPride]

Getting an artist to help you for free is a b'itch. It's why I do everything with filters and the dAPI.

Oh and I'll be ready when you are.

[Viza]

Most likely nobody cares, but I thought I'd post an update on bug fixing progress.

FIXED:
-No more 'Play' button bug. -this one was really driving me nuts
-Fixed 'Slow-mo' bug.
-Tweaked gameplay elements
-Added "You died..." message to the game over screen. -this one drove other people nuts
-Added main menu intro/animations.
-Made life loss animation a little more noticable.

YET TO BE ADDED:
-Music/sound FX
-Offline highscores
-Difficulty selection (easy, medium, hard). -does anyone think this is needed (suprisingly, I've had no complaints so far)
-Better instructions page

Again, if anyone has any comments at all; even if it's a quick 2 seconds comment about why you hated it, it will help me get the most out of this game. Thanks.

Viza.

[Viza]

I realise that this thread is rather old and I apologise for bumping it, but I had to get this out of my system:

First of all, I've updated the game with some polishing where needed. There are still a few things I plan on updating the game with (mainly music, and a more eye-friendly instructions page), but that will likely be the last update.

That brings me to my second point: Due to the very small amount of comments, and the many negative criticisms (albeit, some were constructive) I've received about the game, the next update will more than likely be the last if nothing changes. I'm just so disappointed about this, because this was something that I really didn't (and presently don't) want to just forget and throw away in the bin. Now, I realise that it's probably more of an engine than game, but that's what I was really seeking advice for when I posted it here. The game play feels like it has promise (and that's what people have been telling me), yet no one (not even here, which has been a huge shock) has offered many suggestions or even comments at all. I'm not asking someone to design this for me, I'm just seeking advice on what they feel is missing.

So if anyone has any final comments they would like to say, I would be more than happy to hear them.

Viza.

[ImprisonedPride]

Viza, I'm truly sorry that I haven't had more time to critique this, after all your constructive input towards my games in the past. First things first, after your latest updates, it doesn't even seem like the same game anymore! The menus and text effects (especially that very nice touch on the logo ) really fit for the game now. As far as game play is concerned, I don't have much experience with this branch of games, but I think that a power-up to allow you to fire multiple ropes should be in order. Kind of a multiple influence travel I think would be really unique in a game that just needs a bit of TLC. I was about to say something about sounds, but I'm sure you'll find some good ones that really fit the theme of the game.

Also, I found myself ignoring the instructions, but maybe add in an effect like the "You Died" message that tells a user they've leveled up. How about a smaller ball that you shouldn't hit after a few levels? You could alternate between removing a ball you have to hit, and adding a ball you shouldn't.

Last note, I found a potential bug in the physics that you may have over looked. If you're moving a fairly nice velocity and you fire a "rope" at an obtuse angle, like 90 degrees or perpendicular to the direction you're heading, the end of the rope moves at the same velocity as the player. I do believe in normal physics, the rope would continue towards the angle you fired at. The rope itself may get altered by the velocity of the player, but the end should always try to head towards where you first fired it. Or I might be too tired and my eyes are playing tricks on me. Either way, definately a fun game. Can't wait to play it with sounds included!

EDIT:

How about a "slow mo" power-up where all the balls move at half speed except for the player. Adding in some bitmap fading effects during slow-mo mode would be some nice eye-candy too.

[Viza]

Geez, fantastic post IP. That's more than what I had expected . Thank you very much for all of the nice comments; they almost seem too nice for the game, imho .

Those suggestions are definitely the kind of thing I want to hear. I don't really play these kind of games much either (high score based games) because many seem to have not that much content regarding game play (not very in-depth), and that's probably why I feel the game play is lacking (and hence, why I would love to hear some more suggestions).

- The multiple ropes suggestion is something that sounds like a great addition, but the more I think about it, the less practical it seems (un-attaching hooks would be confusing for players, and it probably wouldn’t be that handy - if anything it would possibly make things harder).
- The 'level up' message suggestion is a good one, which I will probably add as a discreet message 9in the BG rather than a big interfering pop-up (or is a pop-up message what you would prefer?).
- The balls to avoid is another good suggestion. I actually thought of something similar when making the initial designs: Instead of balls to avoid, there would be 'bad' power-ups such as 'add an extra ball', 'blackout' (all balls except for player ball are invisible for a temporary period), and 'speed++" (all balls increase speed for a temporary period). I will strongly consider this suggestion, though it feels like it may make the game too hard (and imo it's pretty hard atm).
- The bitmap effect suggestion on the slow-mo power up (there is currently a slow-mo power, is a goody which I have also considered. The only problem is that, doesn't the object being copy 'n pasted onto the screen need to be a bitmap, and hence I would need to cacheAsBitmap all balls? This means that I'll need to determine what's more important: either the current animation it has, or the bitmap effects (which may make it too hard to tell where the actual 'real' balls is, and whether it's activated or not) I've never even researched Bitmap effects, or even Bitmaps much in general so if I'm completely wrong, please tell me.
-About that physics bug, do you mean that the hook's direction should be effected by the player's velocity? If so, I'd personally find it frustrating to shoot because you'd constantly have to constantly estimate where you need to place your shot (making it even harder to shoot, because there is already an element of estimation when trying to hit a ball travelling fast), so I'm not sure about this one.

As for the sound, well that has turned out to be a lot harder than what I initially thought it would. Maybe I'm just too picky, but nothing seems to be catering for that kind of 'abstract' kind of music I want. I promise it will be added eventually though.

Again, thanks for that great reply IP. Anyone else wanna give me some feedback??

Viza.

[ImprisonedPride]

Ahem. You're probably right about the multiple ropes things. I was thinking about it while at work today and I assumed that if you did implement it, it would be a first in -> first out type deal. Say you fire ropes a, b, and c. After c is fired, a would be the first rope to be attached, but I suppose if you wanted to leave it attached and detach b, things would be rather complicated indeed. I'm sorry for mentioning the slow-mo power-up, being unaware that there was one. It's rather hard to get the power-ups since you don't have any direct force on the ball, just outside influence, so I played until about level 9 but never got it.

As far as the fade effect, it's actually really simple. Create a bitmap the size of the stage that's in the background (underneath the balls) during gameplay. also create a ColorTransform object as:

cTrans = new ColorTransform(1, 1, 1, .98, 0, 0, 0, 0);

If you want to look at what each parameter does, check the help files and it's pretty straight forward. To answer your question no, objects pasted to the bitmap do not have to be bitmaps themselves to be drawn. You can use the bitmapData.draw(objectToBeDrawn) command. If you have slowmotion in effect, I'd simply run something like this each frame:

// in the root
import flash.display.BitmapData;
import flash.geom.*;
cTrans = new ColorTransform(1, 1, 1, .98, 0, 0, 0, 0);
myBitmap = new BitmapData(Stage.width, Stage.height, true, 0x00000000);
// your onEnter code
onEnterFrame = function() {
    for (var i =0; i< ballCount; i++) {
        var b = _root["ball"+i];
        myBitmap.draw(b);
    }
    myBitmap.colorTransform(myBitmap.rectangle, cTrans);
} 

basically, each frame all the balls get drawn the mc, and then after all the balls are drawn, the bitmap is faded by .98 (98%) of it's original alpha. the parameter myBitmap.rectangle is a rectangle defining only the area of the bitmap that has changed since the last frame. The idea is that we only want to refresh the area of the bitmap that the balls were drawn into. We'd only want to fade the entire bitmap if something were drawn at 0,0 of the bitmap and myBitmap._width, myBitmap._height. Hope that makes sense. Try it out and message me or post if you have any questions.

[Viza]

Cheers, IP.

I'll definately be fiddling with some Bitmap effects as soon as I get version 1.0 done. Speaking of which, I've almost finished adding sounds to the game (both bg music, and sound effects) so expect an update very soon.

Anymore suggestions anyone???

LINK TO GAME

Viza.

[ImprisonedPride]

Sounds like a definate plan, Vizzy. I'm on MSN btw. I see you've been looking for me...

[Viza]

Well, I'm rather late but as promised here's version 1.0: Bounce

Lots has been added, tweaked and fixed since the last update but some of the major additions include:
- Sound effects + background music (cost me an arm and a left testicle to find a good + free song - which I still had to partially compose and edit myself!)
- Difficulty option
- Code optimisations (should run a tad faster)
- Improved slow-mo enhancements (made the power-up more valuable)
- Nicer + more animations and menu transitions
- And many more that I can't remember atm...

Sorry to those that are annoyed about this bump, but I honestly wouldn't feel right if I just disowned and ignored my first game without reaching the point where I'm at the very least moderately happy with it - even if no one else likes it.

So if anyone want's to share their comments, or especially suggestions I'm all ears (...IP you're excluded, because you've already given me enough comments and suggestions to keep me busy for the next month

LINK TO GAME

Viza.

[Viza]

Just a quick question here for anyone: Can you hear any music/sound at all??? Because I can't, yet there's no reason for it to be absent .

Viza.

[tonypa]

Did not hear any sounds.

[UnknownGuy]

I did not hear any sounds.

But I do really enjoy the game!

Nice!

[Viza]

Wow. Thanks very much for the kind words UnknownGuy! I haven't heard much praise in a while now so it's really pleasing to hear that someone enjoyed the game.

As well as three other bugs that were starting to get on my nerve, the sound absence bug has now been fixed. It was a problem with the way the sound object was being instantiated (I forgot "this" in "new Sound()", because my .swf is loaded inside the main competition tween). Sometimes it's both relieving and frustrating to find that just 1 word can either make or break your code - I guess that's just the nature of coding .

From what I'm aware of, the game is now completely bug-free, so if you find any just post a comment to let me know. Of course, any other feedback at all is obviously gladly welcome as well.

Bounce

Viza.