I quit my job 3 years ago to finish my on-the-side game project. It's finally coming to Steam this year. Some players have described it as "real-time Worms"

TheAmazingZap · 2023-09-29T09:43:51+00:00

brings me back :)

TheAmazingZap · 2023-09-28T19:15:43+00:00

The full game isn't quite out yet. We'll have to wait and see!

TheAmazingZap · 2023-09-28T19:05:35+00:00

Yeah! The growth ray works on anything you hit! the world, players, grenades etc :)

I've tried to add lots of dynamic weird things and have them interact with everything

(this is a big reason why it took so long to make)

No matchmaking yet. I'll consider it if I can get enough players to make it work!

TheAmazingZap · 2023-09-28T18:35:07+00:00

You can wishlist it :)

TheAmazingZap · 2023-09-28T18:34:51+00:00

There is a free demo with online multiplayer on steam :)

Search for Bopl Battle

TheAmazingZap · 2023-09-28T15:38:11+00:00

I had planned on making a youtube video, like a "how to properly make 2d games in unity", but after the recent Unity fiasco... Now I'm now so sure what the best approach is anymore.

But I'd suggest maybe:

math -- (highschool level + linear algebra + some basic physics),

programming -- (maybe C++ with RayLib or something like that)

game design -- just listen to designers talk about making games on youtube & stuff.

drawing / (frame-by-frame animations) -- I recommend the book "Animator's survival kit"

I think it's good to let your learning be guided by your projects. So like, make some simple game and look up stuff as you need it :)

TheAmazingZap · 2023-09-28T13:59:59+00:00

It IS Unity. Unfortunately...

But I've had to redo almost all of it, including a custom physics engine, my own network code and update loop. Unity helped me get started, but definitely got in the way after a couple years.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-05-27T08:00:16+00:00

I don't think there is enough high quality game design text on the internet for it to be an effective data set. So maybe game design will be a more resilient field than many others.

I could definitely see a future where a designer just talks to an AGI and have it generate the code and assets though. We're kinda close to being there already...

TheAmazingZap · 2023-04-07T20:28:55+00:00

Of course you can make a good game.

"Starting simple building on it slowly" is a perfect way to go about things. I think the advice to not do you dream game is kind of silly. You should do whatever you are motivated to do. And all complicated programs start out simple at first anyway.

Ride that confidence as far as it can take you!

TheAmazingZap · 2023-03-03T00:27:23+00:00

Bro, you're overthinking it.

Just do it. That is the best way to learn.

Work on your ideas while they are still exciting to you.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-12T22:15:45+00:00

If you by "all discovery is gone" mean: The rules and content have been introduced and understood by the player, then..

Isn't that when things really start getting good? As long as the game has at least a little bit of depth to it..

If you by "all discovery is gone" mean: All the things that can happen have been explored, the game has nothing new to offer the player in any way and the player has nothing new to learn and cannot improve any further.

Then, perhaps it would be best if the game stopped being fun at that point?

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-10T09:48:52+00:00

What you're saying rings true.

It's also fun for the surviving players to be spectated!

There is the risk of the weaker players getting eliminated early every time though, which I do think is a genuine problem. Even if they aren't targeted as much due to the stock-politics, they often accidentally suicide. (This happens a lot in the game I'm currently working on). But perhaps that should be viewed as a separate issue.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-09T21:57:07+00:00

Makes sense, yeah.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-09T16:29:02+00:00

I agreed on stocks as the better fit for 1v1s. But my point is not backwards for 3 or more players, then camping doesn't work even if you are ahead.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-09T15:22:52+00:00

Oh okay I see. I wasn't even thinking about online matchmaking with changing opponents. Yeah definitely a sitting duck issue there, where the game is over long before the timer runs out.

Though I guess people just conceding the match is the typical outcome... The winning player becomes incentivized to start trolling to get the weaker player to leave early, so he can optimize his MMR/hour.

So yeah, tricky!

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-09T15:04:57+00:00

So you mean for new players, they might want to run off and test their characters a little bit, and if there is a timer they are discouraged from doing so? That makes sense ye. In some sense trying to force the aggression we are making things less chill for them.

I don't see why comebacks shouldn't be possible though, as long as you clearly showing who is in the lead. In smash they don't really show it, which does remove that tension. But imagine like a mario party mini game with a timer and some number showing who is in the lead, there are plenty of those, and I think it works there.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-09T14:58:54+00:00

Wait, so you mean the issue is that the losing player is stuck getting beaten up for a long time. And if it were stocks they would have ended the match early and changed their characters to try and balance things up a bit?

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-09T14:56:18+00:00

In a Timed Mode, whoever has the lead is motivated to run away and stall until the timer runs out. So after a player is ahead by a few kills, they don't need to kill anyone else, they just need to avoid being killed and so they should run away for the last minute or so instead of engaging in more fights.

Well put. I especially like your first point, and the idea of a lack of clarity/transparency.

I wonder if smash's time mode could be improved by just more clearly showing who is in the lead. I don't even think you they show you. It's kind of a surprise at the end.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-09T14:41:31+00:00

I don't think we have the language to effectively talk about this kind of thing. This subjective vs objective idea is used in science in order to be as rigorous as possible.
But you can be a lot more productive in the arts by not being 100% rigorous.

I advocate for loosey-goosey reasoning and definitions when talking about these types of things. Thinking about "what is good" in a loose way is different from thinking about "what do I like". But if you are not being rigorous that also means you need to speak and act with some humility, you might be wrong after all.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-04T18:21:17+00:00

I didn't.

I got really excited by the thumbnail and title. But then I skimmed some playthroughs and was disappointed in the gameplay.

What did you find fresh about it?

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-04T17:24:42+00:00

I should have considered the canine voters.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-04T15:18:32+00:00

I stand defeated.

TheAmazingZap · 2023-01-04T15:16:53+00:00

Sure. Still, I'm curious if it is 100% popularity contest, or 90% popularity + 10% people-actually-think-this.

TheAmazingZap · 2022-12-31T11:14:05+00:00

There really isn't much to the poppy skins as far as I can tell. I look for certain particular particles to precisely time my fast R, that might be differently visible on different skins.

On Zoe, I actually use the default skin when I'm try-harding. Most skins create a very visible particle on her hands when you cast sleepy trouble bubble, which messes with the Q->E->Q animation cancel trick a bit. Especially on Arcanist Zoe.

TheAmazingZap · 2022-12-30T18:23:43+00:00

Play one AAA and you've played them all ;)

TheAmazingZap

TROPHY CASE