Oh Balls!
So, as of one week ago I hadn't touched blitz in about six months. My classes were hard, and I found it a lot more difficult to find time to code recreationally in university than I had in high school (so much socializing)! Anyway, I decided to start a project that I felt I might actually be able to finish given my limited amount of time. So, after a week or so of coding the product is Oh Balls!
The aim of the game is simple: kill all the balls on the screen without being killed yourself. The game progresses with levels. There are several kinds of baddies and upgrades:
Balls: The base kind of enemy. These guys split in two at random intervals. Balls also compose all other kind of enemy.
Big Circles: Made of lots of balls these just roam around. They're not that dangerous but will hurt if you get hit.
Stars: These enemies pulsate in and out and emit balls. You should try and kill them quickly or you might get overwhelmed.
Heat Seeking Ball: As its name suggests this bad boy will follow you around until one of you dies.
Small Circle: Very dangerous these are kind of like the bigger badder cousin of the big balls, except that they're smaller. They keep reproducing and can quickly kill you if you don't take them out right away. They're very hard to kill without an upgraded weapon.
Four Circles: This is like a gunship and it shoots bullets at you at quite a rapid rate. Unless you like dodging bullets for your life you should kill him quickly!
There are also some upgrades. These upgrades come in either green or red boxes. Be sure to grab them quickly or they'll disappear.
Green Box: Upgrades weapons.
Red Box: Gives you full life.
There are two game modes: levels, and phases. In level mode you are faced with a random assortment of enemies equal in number to the level number. I think this mode is more fun, but phase mode is nice to get an introduction to the game. In phase mode you basically face each type of enemy individually in increasing numbers.
The controls are pretty simple, you can use either w/a/s/d or the arrow keys to navigate and the mouse to aim the cursor and shoot.
In the menu screen use either w/s and up/down to move up and down the menu. You can edit the type of game by pressing left and right or a/d on the "level" option. You can edit the level number by using the same keys on the level: # option.
Here's a shot of the action:
One suggestion: start it easy to get a feel for the controls but then quickly begin at higher levels. They are much more fun.
*EDIT*Checking it out now some of the higher phase levels (4+) are pretty entertaining.*\EDIT*
Download:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=22YPOSVE
I don't feel like this game is finished but I don't really know where to take it. Any ideas, for example new guns or new enemies, would be greatly appreciated.
*EDIT*
New version uploaded!
Features:
1) The currently selected item in the menu is more visible due to more balls surrounding it, bigger balls, and more brightly colored balls.
2) All menus can now be controlled using the mouse. Left click to select or increment and item and right click to decrement.
3) I added a pause feature that can be activated by pressing 'p' and is automatically activated if the window is deselected. This makes things easier in that respect.
*/EDIT*
So, as of one week ago I hadn't touched blitz in about six months. My classes were hard, and I found it a lot more difficult to find time to code recreationally in university than I had in high school (so much socializing)! Anyway, I decided to start a project that I felt I might actually be able to finish given my limited amount of time. So, after a week or so of coding the product is Oh Balls!
The aim of the game is simple: kill all the balls on the screen without being killed yourself. The game progresses with levels. There are several kinds of baddies and upgrades:
Balls: The base kind of enemy. These guys split in two at random intervals. Balls also compose all other kind of enemy.
Big Circles: Made of lots of balls these just roam around. They're not that dangerous but will hurt if you get hit.
Stars: These enemies pulsate in and out and emit balls. You should try and kill them quickly or you might get overwhelmed.
Heat Seeking Ball: As its name suggests this bad boy will follow you around until one of you dies.
Small Circle: Very dangerous these are kind of like the bigger badder cousin of the big balls, except that they're smaller. They keep reproducing and can quickly kill you if you don't take them out right away. They're very hard to kill without an upgraded weapon.
Four Circles: This is like a gunship and it shoots bullets at you at quite a rapid rate. Unless you like dodging bullets for your life you should kill him quickly!
There are also some upgrades. These upgrades come in either green or red boxes. Be sure to grab them quickly or they'll disappear.
Green Box: Upgrades weapons.
Red Box: Gives you full life.
There are two game modes: levels, and phases. In level mode you are faced with a random assortment of enemies equal in number to the level number. I think this mode is more fun, but phase mode is nice to get an introduction to the game. In phase mode you basically face each type of enemy individually in increasing numbers.
The controls are pretty simple, you can use either w/a/s/d or the arrow keys to navigate and the mouse to aim the cursor and shoot.
In the menu screen use either w/s and up/down to move up and down the menu. You can edit the type of game by pressing left and right or a/d on the "level" option. You can edit the level number by using the same keys on the level: # option.
Here's a shot of the action:
One suggestion: start it easy to get a feel for the controls but then quickly begin at higher levels. They are much more fun.
*EDIT*Checking it out now some of the higher phase levels (4+) are pretty entertaining.*\EDIT*
Download:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=22YPOSVE
I don't feel like this game is finished but I don't really know where to take it. Any ideas, for example new guns or new enemies, would be greatly appreciated.
*EDIT*
New version uploaded!
Features:
1) The currently selected item in the menu is more visible due to more balls surrounding it, bigger balls, and more brightly colored balls.
2) All menus can now be controlled using the mouse. Left click to select or increment and item and right click to decrement.
3) I added a pause feature that can be activated by pressing 'p' and is automatically activated if the window is deselected. This makes things easier in that respect.
*/EDIT*