Comments on: Petunk Week 1: Finding a game idea

By: Petunk Week 3: Putting it all together | Another Early Morning

Petunk Week 3: Putting it all together | Another Early Morning — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:23:20 +0000

[...] you can see how this has evolved from my original prototype. I’d really appreciate your feedback on this. [...]

By: Alex Schearer

Alex Schearer — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:31:59 +0000

Hi Ty, thanks for your kind words. I have thought some more about how a typical level would play. I think the game will focus on a player’s skill. The player will have four balls to fire each level. Each ball can only be fired once. The goal will be to get at least three of the four onto the target — anywhere is fine. If there’s time I would like to reward the player more for getting all four balls on the target or for getting the balls closer to the center of the target. Since the focus will be on skill each level should add new elements which make the player “better” at firing, aiming, etc and where the player feels like he accomplished something at the end. What do you think?

By: Ty Taylor

Ty Taylor — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:11:45 +0000

I like what you have right now, and I think it would be interesting to see different types of stages to play on. Have you thought about how the rules to the game would work? Would it be like putt-putt golf where you try to get all four on the target in as few moves as possible, or would you only have four shots, with a score being the best distance from the goal?

By: Alex Schearer

Alex Schearer — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:07:19 +0000

Yes, I'm using Box2D. Part of why I picked this idea was because I knew about this library and that it would speed up my development time. My only complaint about Box2D is that it is sometimes poorly documented and that the API is not very well designed. That said it gets the job done and I'm starting to see that I'm just scratching the surface for what it can do.

By: treser

treser — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:49:30 +0000

are you using a 3rd party Physics engine? if so which?

By: twood

twood — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:22:14 +0000

Physics is aways fun. For some reason I expected to drag in the opposite direction from where the ball would go--maybe from thinking about it as a pool game where I would pull back the cue? Your approach probably makes aiming easier compared to pulling backwards.

good luck!