#design documentation

[ultyso]

Found these slides on Twitter for GDC: https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/img/gmw/docs/1113/275/html/fif_00_o.jpg.html Thought it was really cool and also they referred to Prom as a puppy. It’s official. My puppy baby xD Also interesting what words they use to define Prommie ♥️

[marble-blast-go]

So the other day I was watching the gmtk video about the game jam and the winner was a 2d platformer whose main mechanic was that the marble could “expand” on command. This exerts a force on the blocks around it and you can do work, but you can also jump. Which is key.

I think that this game needs to be able to shift its volume. Like, I don’t want a “static” jump. And giving the player access to direct translational motion feels wrong. Basically, it has nothing that interacts with rotation.

The thing is. If the marble jumps by quickly growing then that will necessarily include rotation. If a marble has rotational work done on it, then changing the radius of the marble also changes the total work done. If you increase the radius, you also increase the torque. If you decrease the radius so do you the radius.

My addition the idea posed in the game jam is to include a way to shrink the marble as well. You can grow the marble <space> and you can shrink the marble [shift].

[marble-blast-go]

I’ve struggled to handle how the boost, also makes the marble sink, and I think that one way to do that is that one of the mobility options needs to be a teleport that presurves the translational momentum and uses the rotational momentum parallel to the way that you’re going.

[marble-blast-go]

Ok, what exactly is the Magnus effect and how do I describe it computationally? I know what it is, kind of. But It’s not very clear what exactly it is through the math.

[marble-blast-go]

0.0.0.0 - 5.1 - Mines

Mines are what’s on the tin. If you touch them then they explode pushing the ball outward. What makes mines unique is that they focus on translation. There are two types of mines. Only one of them can change the ball’s rotation and that if the player wants it to. Mines can be turned on/remotely detonated using switches found on levels.

Im still considering using different mine strengths but I also worry about readability and the why? Like I feel i need to justify the added complexity. Ideally I would use one mine strength for everything I need.

Two mechanics I would like to introduce is the “bunny hop” and the “rabbit dash”(something something Pokemon). If you press [SPACE] right when the ball hits the mine then the ball goes way higher up than just hitting the mine while slowing down your horizontal movement. This is a bunny hop. Pressing [SHIFT] allows you to go much further at a much higher speed. But it doesn’t allow you to go much higher than a jump. This is a a rabbit run.

Sea mines

Named after their shape, Sea mines are mines that explode outward pushing the ball outward without changing its rotation at all. The direction the ball moves is determined by where they hit the mine. If you hit the top/middle of a mine you are pushed upwards. If you hit the side you are pushed more outwards or sideways than up. This compounds with the movement tech established.

Uses:

Sea mines, should be placed in places that make them a hazard

Land mines

Named after the anti-personnel mines from Halo and gears of war, this mine pushes the ball upward from all points, but affects the spin of the ball the farther out the ball hits the mine. The spin is always anti-parallel from the ball to the center. This spin is much faster if you use a rabbit dash.

[marble-blast-go]

0.0.0.0 - 5.0 - hazards: Introduction

I think the biggest missed opportunity, MBG had was its lack of player-hazard interaction. The most obvious cases were the mines and bumpers. They were at face value the same with little use other than to be obnoxious. Not only do I want to avoid that - hazards were truly obnoxious - but I also want the player to see a hazard and wonder if it could be used in a short cut.

There are a few parts all hazards need to have. I want the player to consider them as a tool. I want them to interact with parts of the world and potentially unlock parts of the level the player didn’t have access to before.

While I think that power ups are nice, I feel like they should be true power ups. I think that these tools can actually be a great training tool for people who need help with the game, but I really would like there to be more world/platform interaction with the ball so that mechanics build out from each other.

Intractability

Interactabllity comes in three forms. Direct - when the ball directly interacts with the hazard ie jumping on it or touching it. Indirect - when the ball interacts with the world and changes something about the hazard. Situational - how the player deals with a level when a hazard is there. This is particularly important when the fastest route requires the player to avoid a hazard in their way or use a hazard outside of the main

Direct interactions

Hazards that push or pull the ball should be utilized to allow the ball to navigate large jumps. Hazards that can give the ball hight (tornado/magnet) should be used to give the ball more vertical access by allowing the ball to traverse upwards and downwards.

Indirect interactions

I think allowing the player to change the hazards introduce a lot of cool mechanics. What happens when you can change the hazards or take a route to reduce them? What if you can position them in a slightly more advantageous position

Situational interactions

This is the part where hazards may not make sense over all. For all players, because I think it’s boring if hazards are blatantly put in front of the player. Especially if this hazard is placed in the most straight forward path. I think placing hazards that boost new players while also adding a challenge to vets and vis versa is critical. I also thing it would be cool for new players to see a mine in a place that only makes sense if you understand the speed techs.

[marble-blast-go]

0.0.0.0 - 4 - Surfaces

The interaction a ball has with each surface should be tight and impactful. The ball has several interactions with the ground that I want to build into the physics engine. Likewise the two important components to capture these effects are friction and elasticity.

Friction

Friction is how much traction the ball has on the surfaces. This effects how quickly the ball can build or change momentum on that surface, but it also impacts how much the spin of the ball changes the ball’s momentum on impact and how much colliding with the ball impacts the spin of the ball.

For instance a surface with a high grip will convert most or all of the balls spin into translational motion while a surface with a low friction will convert less of the balls spin to translational motion.

Elasticity

The surface will also have an elasticity that determinants how much the ball will bounce. Upon impact.

Some considerations

Mass: you’ve seen platformers where the protagonist can be launched by a moving platform, but have you considered that the protagonist can impart momentum on a platform?