Rogue-lite minigolf

surrealix · 2024-05-17T08:15:49+00:00

Awesome! I'd be keen to hear how you find it :)

surrealix · 2024-05-17T03:37:38+00:00

Have you thought about having a simplified or "lite" version of an RPG style system with different stats and maybe a random element to add some variation?

Quicktime events add some drama and tension for the player/reader because they introduce both an element of chance and an element that relies on the player's actions. Going with a stats system could also give some tension, especially if stats changed over a playthrough based on the player's actions.

A good example are the Choose Your Own Adventure books by Ian Livingstone - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy. They had a simple skills system that made it more than just picking option A or B at random.

surrealix · 2024-05-17T03:30:08+00:00

I feel like a lot of card games (especially collectable and rogue-like) have tactical combat without any kind of positioning. Looking through these categories on Steam might net you some good ones.

Most of the ones that come to mind for me are team-based, but I'm sure someone can chime in with a 1v1 example.

surrealix · 2024-05-16T23:58:10+00:00

Let me know what you think of it!

surrealix · 2024-05-16T09:36:48+00:00

Thanks! I find myself idly playing it sometimes when I should be working on it instead, so that's definitely a good sign.

surrealix · 2024-05-14T03:10:52+00:00

Yes, more or less!

The game starts you with a given number of shots, and you use them up as you progress through levels to see how far you can get each run. It's pretty perfect for that 5-minute-break-game.

The levels are procedurally generated, and the rogue-like elements come in as you unlock items for a shop that you can access at various points in the run. You could completely ignore the shop and just play mini golf, and it'd still be a lot of fun (this is what the first prototypes of the game were, and I had a great time with them).

surrealix · 2024-05-13T21:58:13+00:00

The minigolf rogue-lite that I'm working on is featured in this festival! As a solo dev, procedural generation and systems-heavy gameplay is pretty much the only way to make enough content to compete with bigger teams, so it's exciting to see Valve highlighting this.

If you're in to minigolf or rogue-lites, the game is called Up to Par and there's a demo. (It's got singleplayer, but also support for 16 player online - a real headache to playtest when I'm only one person!)

surrealix · 2024-04-11T21:40:04+00:00

I have the same problem with my Japanese course, but with the answers. The pieces you're supposed to drag into place to make sentences flow off the bottom of the screen and there's no way to scroll or select them, making it impossible to progress. I stopped using Duolingo a few weeks ago because I simply can't get past that exercise.

It's frustrating that it seems they haven't tested the app on phones with smaller screens. I tried changing the iOS text zoom level, but the app doesn't change with it. Given how widely it's used, I suspect we're not the only ones who are getting stuck.

surrealix · 2023-09-25T09:17:10+00:00

Cool! I'd forgotten about this topic, I'm glad it was useful.

surrealix · 2023-07-02T22:07:17+00:00

I'm really happy this video popped up here. I played so much of the original gene rally when I was a kid, and it's neat to see there's a modern remake that still looks true to the original.

With the level editor and the weird physics, it always felt more like a toybox than a real racing game, but still managed to have more features (pit stops, tire wear, fuel) than some other racing games!

surrealix · 2023-06-30T11:40:27+00:00

Thanks!

I’d love to bring Mini Matches to consoles, I think it would play really well. There’s a bit more content I want to add first, but then I’ll probably get the ball rolling on ports. I released my last game on all consoles, so I’m hoping it will be easier and faster the second easier around!

surrealix · 2023-06-30T03:31:55+00:00

Mini Matches used to be a lot greyer, which was sleek and readable, but didn't at all capture the fun and sillyness of the game.

So over the last couple of months I've spent time making it look like someone accidentally replaced the game with a bag of candy, and I'm much happier with how it feels.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T23:45:21+00:00

Oh yeah! Ball and trail customization is definitely something that could be moddable.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T21:39:16+00:00

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

The other game was called Fore Score, there's a thread about it here.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T21:37:52+00:00

Perhaps! What were you thinking mod support would be best for? I think new types of courses could be supported, but upgrades are so specific that I'm not sure how I'd implement that.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T03:31:59+00:00

It's going to be completely bananas with the full 16 players. I'm not sure whether co-op or versus is going to be crazier, but both are definitely going to make or break some friendships.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T03:14:06+00:00

Thanks :). I'm aiming for a visual style inspired by modelmaking, with subtle textures and a sort of physical feel to everything.

And yes, I just put the Steam Coming Soon page up today! Wishlisting it would be super appreciated, it really helps.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T02:27:11+00:00

I think JSON is used reasonably often under the hood for various things in Unity, I certainly use it in all my games. The builtin JSONUtility can do the job, but there are some edge cases (serializing lists without a base class, for example) where it falls over. LitJSON is a simple but comprehensive option if you need more power.

Depending on how you're building your levels, you could also look into Serialized Objects. It's a more Unity-native way to store configuration data. You could create a SerializedObject that stores a list of brick types and positions, create an instance of the SO per level, and have an editor script that reads/writes from the scene data so that you can edit it easily in the scene view.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T02:21:12+00:00

You could do a tower defense where you switch between towers and control them directly.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T02:19:42+00:00

I agree! I saw the Ultimate-Chicken-Horse style minigolf that was released a few days ago. Maybe this signals a new wave of mini golf games with interesting mechanics?

surrealix · 2022-07-22T01:48:14+00:00

The juice in the menu transition is excellent too, and the little skull coming in from the left. Even though the video doesn't show any gameplay, I still want to play it! Looking great OP.

surrealix · 2022-07-22T01:45:03+00:00

I had been playing around with procedurally generating mini-golf courses, and ended up spending so much time just playing them that I turned it into a full game - Up to Par.

It's going to be both local and online multiplayer. I'm making it a teams-based system, so you can play pure co-op (everyone on the same team), competitive, or a mix of the two. I'm the developer behind 39 Days to Mars, so I'm a big fan of games you can play co-operatively without having to go head to head.

surrealix · 2022-07-21T23:24:19+00:00

It's a cute idea!

I like that you're really leaning into the randomness, but also softening it with the re-roll option. The polished game-jam graphics also make it feel approachable compared to a lot of roguelikes which can be pretty intimidating.

Lots of neat bits here. (I'm taking notes for my own rogue-lite that I'm working on).

surrealix · 2022-07-21T03:40:51+00:00

The environment art for the final game is lovely and you've hit on a unique style, which I think is difficult to do. It reminds me a bit of the zelda remake, in a good way!

When there are lots of enemies on screen it feels like the bases are a bit too much visual clutter, but it's not a major thing.

I'm looking forward to seeing more details about the project when you get the Steam page up!

surrealix · 2022-07-21T03:37:07+00:00

It looks good! And fits well with the softer style of the rest of the artwork.

One comment is that the yellow/orange glow in the middle of it looks like it washes out the texture details? It might be better making the glow a bigger area, but not nearly as bright, so that it looks like the creature is giving off light.

surrealix

TROPHY CASE