So this release has some touch ups
So time for a new feature! Roving Snatchers are lil guys who guard sections of a level. Get to close and they will chase you while they are in their area. If they get you they will do just what a stationary Snatcher will do and eat your last ball and consume some time. Watch out!
My aim with the Rovers was to prevent you from getting stationary near a cannon. Hit me up with some feedback if you think these guys help round out the Space Ballz mechanics.
I'm downloading this right now (via Amazon's awesome MP3 service)
IT OPENS WITH A LIVE VERSION OF THE FLASH THEME! ZOMG!
So there are a few cool things coming up on the horizon for me. I may be getting involved in as much as 2 projects with other people over the netz. As a result, work on Space Ballz may have to slow down a bit but I am going to try and stick on it. I like the game and with the recent changes to the core mechanics I really feel like its coming together. One new feature I started working on this weekend very lightly was a 'Roving Snatcher.' This guy will chase you and do what stationary snatchers do. I need to implement a raycasting through a uniform grid function tonight and then I should be set to show him off - now that I think about it there is a little more involved so maybe tomorrow night. The Roving Snatcher should make the game a bit more exciting seeing as there will be no more safe spots.
On top of that, I need to finish Dragon Age. I am at the ending act and its pretty damn exciting.
So this is a non-side project related all gaming nerd rant. Be warned!
Over this last week I've been getting back into L4D2, more specifically its Survival Mode feature. The new maps in L4d2 provide some pretty amazing set pieces for fights. The biggest feature to all of these maps is encouraging run'n'gun tactics which in several interviews with the designers for L4D2 seemed to be their goal - they were getting tired of players constantly lining up against a wall and basically clicking 'easy.' That wall of bullet tactics was completely valid in L4D - even if it was incredibly boring. L4D2 has made several changes to counter this. Reload times are longer, zombies are slightly harder to kill, spitters can knock the whole team out if they are jammed in a corner, etc. So if this is the case, why do players online believe that taking all the gas tanks, jamming them into a 2x2 room and holding their ground is a good idea? Does this look like a good idea?
No. Its not a good idea. The moment one of you hesitates, you are screwed. Now let look at some sage wisdom from the solid sea monster movie Deep Rising:
"I once saw a guy put a fish in a bottle. He corked it, sealed it tight, and threw it to a baby octopus. Now the octopus, he felt his way all around that bottle. In less than two minutes, he got the cork off, slid inside, and ate the fish. "
Now let me do a L4D2 re-write:
"I once saw a guy put [Survivors] in a bottle. He corked it, sealed it tight, and threw it to [Tank]. Now the [Tank], he felt his way all around that bottle. In less than two minutes, he got the cork off, slid inside, and ate the [Survivors]. "
Good night and good luck.
So I just finished the fifth and final (as of now) Percy Jackson book. I had never heard of the series until I saw the teaser for the movie. My initial thoughts were "damn that's a long title." So flash forward to the movies release and some co-worker were going to go see it. I mentioned that I had some passing interest in reading the book, especially cause I was being bogged down with overly 'adult' sci-fi that has lost almost all sense of adventure and fun - instead it would all amount to two men sitting in a room while one adjusts books...slightly to the left. So my friend bummed me the first one and I found it pretty entertaining. For those not in the know, Percy Jackson works almost exactly like Darksiders - you look at it and you think 'this is really cheesy and bad' then you find that you can't stop playing. The series moves an breakneck pace with just enough exposition being mixed with lots of insane action. I find myself wondering why some adventure games don't have a better flow like this.
Anyhoos, I highly recommend it. Put down the book about moving books slightly to the left. Instead read about a kid slashing through hundreds of ancient monsters - cause you know...that pretty fucking cool.
Not a slew of new features in this build but enough to warrant + 0.01
Ladies and gents! Step right up to try a new proto that may shock and awe you...or leave you frustrated! You tell me!
Check it people!
While I prefer some genre's to others and I do enjoy certain settings more then others, I find that my interests at the moment are constantly cycling as a game player. Here is a good example: I bought Dragon Age in January thirsting for an Tactical RPG - something I hadn't really played in awhile. DA was a great success in my mind and I was seeing the rest of my games fall to the wayside. I became increasingly excited by DA:Awakening that was coming in March. It seemed that this game would just never stop going for me. To top it off, Dawn of War 2's expansion pack was coming at the same time I was going to be overflowing in awesome tactical combat games but what I always fail to predict is that by the release of both expansions, my interest in tactical games was getting lower and lower. So now, even though Dawn of War 2 : Chaos Rising and DA:Awakening just released, I opted to buy Bioshock 2 (downloading right now) to do something a little different. I'm very much craving a fast paced shooter and I know that if I try to keep playing DA and DoW2, I'll just kick em aside for way to long.
Also waiting to get some feedback on Space Ballz before I get back on the horse there. So until then, send all messages to Rapture.
This is a small update to a degree:
There was a nasty little bug in 1.2 that had your ballz auto drop off when the timer ran out. That sort of broke the new mechanic so I just removed it in 1.21.
Enclosed in the newest release you will find the nature of Ballz in Space (also known as Space Ballz) has been changed. Please give the tutorial a proper look-see!
This build mostly has clean up issues
Bless the wife for she puts up with my addiction to work on the ballz filled game! So I can't talk to much right now but I did a total 180 on the hud and redesigned it. Take a look and tell me if you can spot the differences!
Because I have way to much fun doing it, I added another effect. Whenever you get an increment of 5 on your chain (5,10,15..) you are rewarded with a little flashing text that pops and poops stars all over the damn place. Oh and turn up your speakers and you'll get the title of the post :)
Cause that's the way I like it like it!
Some kind of bolt has struck my Space Ballz brain and I'm now driven to working on the game again full steam. This update contains the long overdue tutorial slide show. Its simple now but I'm hoping to improve it.
Mike Balz threw down some great points on what makes a good Space Ballz level and I'm going to take his advice to heart and tweak the hell out of some of the existing levels. This build contains a preview of that tweaking with the revised first level (still called "Level 2"). Whats new? MORE BALLZ! Mike made a great point that having a lot of objects to avoid is what makes the game exciting - so while only 1 level has been tweaked in this direction..more will come. MORE BALLZ!
