Gruso said:
Cool! Are you looking to keep the gameplay 100% original (notwithstanding your modern feature list)? Or would you be willing to add silly modes with other stuff happening on the screen? Things like a set of tenpins in the middle, some Space Invaders style aliens etc.
I know that's a mortal sin to some, just wondering what kind of suggestions you're taking.
My main goal was to allow the game to act like classic pong, but have tools to allow the player to redesign the rules with as much freedom as possible while still maintaining a simple interface. Basically, allowing the player to relive an old favorite, but also giving them low level control over the rules with which they play. I feel that this will allow the game to act in the capacity of satisfying social and competetive play, as well as emerging into other roles that may arise.
I definitely like the ideas of both obstacle/goals in the field, and active obstructions, such as enemies. A space invaders/brickout combination could be entertaining indeed...
B-ZaR said:
How about arkanoid-style powerups? Different levels (walls blocking the ball, magnets affecting its path etc)?
It would be fun to make a pong game with a story mode of some kind, or at least a single player with levels presenting challenges unique to the single player experience (read: horribly unbalanced situations with which the player must cope).
dflemstr said:
Ever heard of Plasma Pong (they got a CaD not long ago so you won't find them online any longer)?
They basically combined fluid dynamics with Pong, very interesting.
Video where a player owns the AI
So:
1. Why not implement some gimmick like that to make the game play more non-linear?
2. Why not rename your game so that you don't get a CaD too?
First off, that plasma pong business looks amazing. I could only wish that I had the time or graphics programming ability to make a game that looks that good. I will certainly attempt to add various physics sets that the game could utilize. If you or anyone else has any ideas for various rulesets that the simulation could follow (i.e. magnets in the field as per B-ZaR, a flowmap directing the ball's motion, etc.), please let me know.
On the note of receiving a CaD order, I will certainly name the game in such a way that it is not infringing upon anyone's trademarks. Possible pongless names that I have thought of or have been suggested to me by my roommate are:
- Battle Paddles
- Ping (this one is particularly satisfying due to the reference to net play)
suggestions are more than welcome for additional names.
B-ZaR said:
Wow, that (Plasma Pong) is a nice one! Somehow I've missed it completely.
I have an idea. How about combining my and dflemsters ideas and making some powerups affect the balls path? Like a wind cannon, which would work kinda like the spray in plasma pong, attractive/repulsive magnet cannons, spatial/temporal distortion tools and so on. I think powerups could appear on the play area between the palyers and wold be collected by hitting them with the ball. Some powerups could also affect the ball itself, like speed it up, add spin etc
If I may alter your idea slightly to better fit the principles of the project, I think it would be interesting to allow the players to choose a particular powerup at the beginning of the game that they can use freely, or with specific limitations, within the game. This would be much like choosing a character in a fighting game. The player could select an ability that most suits their playstyle. I like this idea so much in fact, that I have a list of possible abilities for starters(half of these are just your powerups B-ZaR, so, good stuff):
- magnet abilities that allow the player to bend the path of the ball slightly as it travels.
- a wind gun that pushes the ball away from the player, speeding it up on offense while slowing it for defense.
- a slam ability that allows the player to return the ball viciously with proper timing.
- an ability to pause the ball mid transit for a fraction of a second, on a short cooldown, to be used for mindgames.
- an ability to hold the ball for a period of time, as if the paddle were "sticky".
- a smaller AI Helper paddle, that assists the player.
Any suggestions in this area would be particularly cool.
On another note, does anyone know of a good library for creating simple UI elements such as slider bars and checkboxes for setting all of these options? I've been reading them in from a config file thus far, but I obviously would like more user friendly method of entry, especially considering that I would like for the game to be contained in a .pnd and I guess a directory for graphics skins.
