Based on Balero, a cup and ball on a string game sometimes given as a party favor, my entry is like shuffleboard with a moving target. Charge your shot and time it to stop inside the target. If successful, your accuracy is measured, and the next level begins. If unsuccessful, the game restarts.
Keys:
LEFT - charge, next level F11 - fullscreen ESC - close
I ran out of time before I could add a high score list, sound and an ending. The current version resets to the beginning after level 30, so if that happens, you win!
Thank you Hegemege for making a windows version!
Notes:
- The distance between ball and cup in the game world varies between levels. Smaller balls are farther away and need more charge. - The fruit measure accuracy and are based on a color gradient from red to green. Greener fruits are closer to the center of the cup.
I don't have a way to test myself, but you could try running "python ball-cup" in the root of the package in terminal on Mac. The launch file is pure Python, just without the extension in the file name.
Really solid game, runs well on both my Windows and Ubuntu machines, much nicer to play on a 11" netbook than 21" monitor :P
Also worth noting I used the A key to charge, found it out just randomly.
I ran the game by renaming the ball-cup file to ball-cup.py in Windows and running that from cmd. On ubuntu I just chmod u+x'd the ball-cup file and ran it.
Really dig this, can get into quite a zen state of mind waiting for the right momment. I also really liked how you'd get a little strip of colour during very streak of doing well. Thanks!
Hegemege: I thought about how it would be unfair if somebody played this as an arcade game and immediately died without another chance, so I'm going to try adding 3 lives and see if it makes a better experience. It'll be interesting to see how concentration changes from from life 1 to 3.
CherryNukaCola: yay! :D I wanted to save the strips each time to make a high scores table. The color is based on how close you are to the center, so you can judge your performance by how red or green it is.
This game is rather interesting for being so simple. It is kind of difficult to predict tho since the ball behaves quite differently (and randomly) on each new level. I couldn't figure out any good way of applying skill to the game except for just playing it over and over again, which eventually got boring.
What's with the seemingly random fruit names "awarded" to you after each level btw?
I ran this on Linux, and it worked well. The only weird thing is that it displayed a copy of the game on each of my three monitors. Was this intentional?
This stuff is really innovative! The learning curve is great, and I love the way the rules (and the fruit-thingy) aren't explained, but you have to figure them out by yourself. Would love to see som scoreboards on this.
Jiddo: The ball's behavior is based on its size. The smaller it is, the slower it seems because it's farther from the target, as if the camera zoomed out, moving the ball backward. The fruit is based on a color gradient from red to green (apple to honeydew). The closer to the target, the greener the fruit reward. I will think of how to convey this!
lorancou: +1 for level numbers. I was thinking that myself yesterday. The level number is the length of the color strip but it's hard to tell what it is specifically. Either a scoreboard would clarify or a ghost strip of your current high score behind the current score.
Fnkee: yay! and ME TOO I thought because of how simple the game is it would be easy to add every feature in time but alas this was not the case. Scoreboards are first on my to-do list!
This is surprisingly fun for such a simple game. I love the use of fruits for... scores? levels? Either way, "plum" just sounds as disappointing as it is.
I liked the concept. The charge mechanic worked well. I think it would of been cool to have the box moving faster, to give the player more of a challenge, but it was challenging! Maybe add on a few obstacles like moving circles to go through. I didn't get too far, so I don't know if you added something like that. The theme is pretty minimal like it's suppose to be. I could see this being a fun app.
Very neat idea. I really liked it! I'm a bit puzzled by the odd decision to rate based on the color of fruits, though.
While the game is neat and addictive, I kind of wish the idea had been used in more of a puzzle game. I'm sure that some cool mechanics could have been introduces to expand the concept in later levels to add more variation and challenge. Maybe something to consider?
The fruit/colour based scoring is a stroke of genius. The game is surprisingly compulsive - would make a great mobile game with the addition of some sounds.
M
Monxcleyr Productions12 May 2013, 12:02
Fun and simple game. I really liked the use of fruits as a scoring system. That said, there could be a little more feedback and context. It wasn't entirely clear what 'level' I was on, and I never had a chance to try and better my score as I'd move onto the next despite how I performed. More variation in speed and distance would do a great deal as well. Great job though, I could see this being a lot of fun with only some minor additions and changes (and sound)!
For being just two black blocks on screen, there's a lot of creativity with the fruits and secondary colors used. Nice job. Game is a bit hard, though. As you mentioned before, adding lives would be great. I'd also add more redundant controls (besides "A" and "Left", use spacebar, mouse click, etc).
Very interesting. I think adding sound effects would have helped to make it more immersive, but the lack of them definitely doesn't take away from how addicting it is.
Comments30
Also worth noting I used the A key to charge, found it out just randomly.
I ran the game by renaming the ball-cup file to ball-cup.py in Windows and running that from cmd. On ubuntu I just chmod u+x'd the ball-cup file and ran it.
Funny game, but greatly punishing if you fail.
CherryNukaCola: yay! :D I wanted to save the strips each time to make a high scores table. The color is based on how close you are to the center, so you can judge your performance by how red or green it is.
What's with the seemingly random fruit names "awarded" to you after each level btw?
I ran this on Linux, and it worked well. The only weird thing is that it displayed a copy of the game on each of my three monitors. Was this intentional?
Great work!
lorancou: +1 for level numbers. I was thinking that myself yesterday. The level number is the length of the color strip but it's hard to tell what it is specifically. Either a scoreboard would clarify or a ghost strip of your current high score behind the current score.
Fnkee: yay! and ME TOO I thought because of how simple the game is it would be easy to add every feature in time but alas this was not the case. Scoreboards are first on my to-do list!
Frosnite: :( Windows exe or source?
While the game is neat and addictive, I kind of wish the idea had been used in more of a puzzle game. I'm sure that some cool mechanics could have been introduces to expand the concept in later levels to add more variation and challenge. Maybe something to consider?
Still, great job!
Game is a bit hard, though. As you mentioned before, adding lives would be great. I'd also add more redundant controls (besides "A" and "Left", use spacebar, mouse click, etc).