hutchings90 2019-05-01 18:47
Lots of fun! Who'd a thunk controlling a block with a ball as it flies across the court would be so much fun?
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD44 → Ballhogs
By tddawson
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 353 | 3.14 | 26 | |
| Fun | 310 | 3.04 | 26 | |
| Innovation | 239 | 3.12 | 27 | |
| Theme | 477 | 2.30 | 25 | |
| Graphics | 303 | 3.18 | 26 |
Lots of fun! Who'd a thunk controlling a block with a ball as it flies across the court would be so much fun?
That was quite fun! The game is pretty straightforward and works. I liked your interpretation of the theme!
Lol I spent way longer playing this than I thought I would, it's actually a lot of fun. I hope you continue working on this because this is a game I can see myself getting addicted to. Nice game :)
Wow, this is very nice. Graphics are interesting and different, yet the form is just a simple cube. The mechanics take a bit to get to used to. Once you start robbing the enemy of threes with epic jumps, it starts to feel a lot better and get more fun. Nice pacing too, with the back and forth action of a typical basketball game. Great work, and bonus points for web build!
Thanks, everyone! I had a lot of fun making it and I'll have to put together a video of all the crazy bugs during the course of development (not to mention the ones that exist now).
@sundancekid That's the plan! I wanted this to have a heavy local multiplayer element, but that ended up getting cut from this version to make way for other features and because I figured most LD testers would just be doing quick solo games. I'll definitely keep working on it.
Was a simple fun game. Wish I could have played as a pig though! Could use some tunes/sound effects.
Great graphics. I think characters are moving too fast.
Nice! I'd need quite a bit of time to really get to grips with it I think but it's pretty smooth in all respects.
@trusty That was the plan! Unfortunately with my level of Blender knowledge, even sticking a few spheres and cylinders together would have taken time that I felt I needed to get the rest of the game where it is. But, someday, play as a pig you shall. Similar story with bg music and sfx unfortunately. I was really looking forward to recording some over-the-top color commentary but never got to it.
@appix Thanks for the feedback. The CPU players are faster than the human, a handicap I made to force the player to use the lunge/dive effectively and because the AI isn't currently smart enough to use jumps and dives. As for the overall speed of the game, that's something I'll continue to tweak to find the right balance of arcade-y action with feeling in control.
Very cool little game! I liked how you worked the theme in- that's a great interpretation and not really one I've seen thus far. I think the simple player model actually worked in your favor; it certainly didn't take anything away. The court and scores and everything too actually looked more polished than a lot of 3d games I see in the compo too.
Nice entry!
Nice concept, but the game is too fast. Once you get a hang of it it's quite cool. I've got a couple "Out of bounds" messages, not sure how exactly (maybe I've managed to jump out of the field?)
Really cool concept! It can get frustrating when your teammate starts with the ball and goes and scores before you can even catch up (it would help if there was a brief pause after a basket, since right now you kind of just continue the motion you're already doing). However, once you start to get the hang of it it's really satisfying to steal the ball and go score. I also really liked the lo-fi 3d graphics style.
I love premise of this game. The court size is just about perfect to keep the player constantly engaged. While I'm certain there was no time for it but some player character models, even very simple ones formed out of primitive shapes, would have been nice. I don't think anyone can fault those not being in though. The geometry and textures of the court, hoops, and confetti crowd were plenty in the graphics department. The user interface looks quite slick as well. That logo is awesome.
At most, I might have toned down the accuracy on shots from long range. It's a bit too easy to land full court shots. Speaking of shots, I love the exaggerated jump height and high arcing shots. It reminds me of "NBA Jam", a basketball game I used to love.
I don't know if you plan to continue with this project, but I'd say this game has 4 player party game written all over it. If it was ever to go so far as to have online multiplayer, I think this is a fantastic candidate for it. Throw in quarter breaks and apply bonuses for the team which is ahead, and also bonuses for the player on a team which is behind and you've got a formula for a sweet online party game. Who doesn't want to steal credit from a friend for an otherwise perfectly accurate shot with an unnecessary alley-oop? Just a thought that popped in my head while playing. I'm just spit-balling ideas here.
Great job! Super cool idea. Would love to see this one explored further. It's already fun as it stands.
I'm loving all this feedback!
DataGreed, the out of bounds logic is a little wacky right now, as it doesn't matter if you're in the air or not and my collider that determines OOB isn't even directly over the line. Once I fix those things it should behave correctly.
Dan, you're absolutely right about the resets between points and turnovers.
@vinay-rao Thanks so much! The accuracy algorithm definitely needs tweaking. I'm glad you appreciated some of the elements inspired by NBA Jam and the possibility for a fun party game. In the back of my mind I was trying to merge what I loved about the bball gameplay of NBA Jam with what I love about frantic local multiplayer games like Overcooked. I didn't get to the keybindings to do 4 player (or even 2) this release, but I've already got a good jump on that for post-release. I'll definitely look more into adding online functionality, though I feel like the strained relationship between co-op and competition would be especially fun with a group in the same room. Your rewards/bonus suggestion is something I hadn't thought of but could be a lot of fun to play around with. Thanks for the great feedback and suggestions!
The general idea of the game was so cool! I just had a hard time figuring out how that I could make a dunk lol. Nice job!
wow, made much more fun than I expected. Interesting use of the Theme. I found it a bit difficult to play. The AI is just perfect.
I love your interpretation of the theme. The graphics are also nice and the gameplay is really fun and engaging. The controls take a bit of getting used to, but after that, it's really fun. The AI is also great. Amazing work!
Nice game! I just wish they would inbound me the ball once in a while! Good work!
Reminds me of an old basketball game I used to play at my grandmas house, when I was a little kid. To be honest, it took some time to figure out what to I had to do. At first, I tought that I can't do anything at all, until I understood, that the player character is down right at the bottom. Once I understood that, I reloaded the game and had a lot of fun. I'm impressed by the AI, I did one for our last LD entry and I never want to do it again! :D Nice job!
Thanks, all! It sounds like I should definitely play around with the controls and some UI elements to help first-time players. I want the controls to be fun and easy to pick up even for non-gamers and still have depths of mastery to allow for some really cool blocks, steals, and shots.
And thanks for the comments on the AI! It's actually the first one I've done (besides just following a pre-set line on repeat) for a game. I learned a lot in the process and there's still a ways to go, but I'm glad it's working well for you. In my post-jam version, the in-bounds are random, but with this level of AI and the ease of making a full court shot, I decided to make the player earn it each possession for the LD version.
I'm not a hundred percent sure how to implement it, but I had a ~~illegal~~ solid defensive strategy of jumping on top of the rim and stealing the ball every time on defense. Definitely goaltending...
I love the idea of this one. :) Very funny concept!
I do feel though that some concessions were made for "realism." For instance, I don't really think an "out of bounds" penalty was really necessary. For a premise like this, an invisible wall would have been much less punishing and would have maintained the "silly" illusion as players started to learn the mechanics of your game.
Other than that, I had a great time intercepting my teammate's shots and dunking them myself. xP Awesome idea here!