Weekend challenge: Sphere Fear

Challenge Complete!:
There are still some bugs (mainly due to platform issues) and some small stuff missing (sound fx). In the following days/weeks I will tidy up the game (bugs, textures,models,audio, spelling mistakes) to put it for free in the Google play store. I will keep the lite version 100% ad free since I hate ads and don't want to enforce them on you.

All in I've had a great challenge. I hope you will enjoy the game.

Download Sphere Fear Lite:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.GDJDeveloper.SphereFear



The original post:

So I like to challenge myself. I've decided to create a small minigame that I will bring out for free on android, pc, max, linux and web this weekend. The main aim is android.

Conditions rules:

• I've started 8 pm (GTM+1) and will keep on working till 11:59 pm the 1th of September and I will keep this thread updated regularly.
• I am willing to spend a maximum of 50 euro's on assets and others.
• Additional polishing of the game can be done once completed (better textures, models, camera effects, etc.). However the gameplay will stay as it is on the 1st of September.
• I will eat and sleep whenever I need to.

Important:

The Game:
Since I've started I've made up a story, goal, gameplay and other stuff:
(Temp) Name: Sphere Fear
Story:A group of mad aliens tries to destroy mini planets to scavenge them for resources. You need to stop them!
Goal: You are on a planet (3d sphere) and must prevent it from exploding. This can by done deactivating the bombs placed on the planet. The bombs are scattered on the planet and communicate remotely with each other. They can only be fully disabled if deactivated in the right order.

Skill elements:

• The planet is in a sphere shape making it hard to coordinate
• The planets are procedurally populated with props and the bombs
• You start with knowing the combination, later on you have to solve it yourself
• There is a time limit to disable the bombs
• There are more bombs while you progress
• Later on enemies will try to defend the bombs
• You get 3 lives and can get extra lives for solving (e.g 5) levels (Edit: Only in infinite mode)

Inspiration for planet view:






Budget spend so far: 11,70 Euro
Main character:https://kharma.unity3d.com/#/content/6467 (1,90 euro)
Enemies: https://kharma.unity3d.com/#/content/2880 (9,80 euro)


Any feedback is welcome. I am off to start programming!

 

Awesome idea! I'm really curious to see how it turns out.

 

Good luck with that!

What hardware are you targeting? It would be a perfect example of the visual importance of the Fresnel effect on water. I might help you out with that if you want

 

Thank you! I am targeting 100% smooth on a Samsung Galaxy S2. I also implemented a basic Fresnel effect of the entire planet, not sure if this is going to be definitive though.

Current status:
I have a planet + planet gravitation and a character (non-animated) that walks over the planet.

 

Character animations linked now (some).
Touchy music to help.
Planet of better size for starting levels.
3 buttons placed randomly on the planet.



Music attribution:
"Playing" by Tim Beek (http://www.timbeek.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Edit: Also going to sleep now and continue tomorrow.

 

Added an android mini test. The alien automatically runs on the generated planet. Tap the screen to jump:

If anyone that tests it can report the FPS and brand of phone you really help me out.

SGS2: constant 60 fps.

Also.. I forgot to go to sleep and kept on trying to get it working on android...

 

A new version of the web player. This version holds a test for an infinite mode. This is basically for testing the main mechanics of the game.

• Mini planet rotates
• Button order visible
• Buttons reset if pressed in wrong order
• New set of buttons spawned after you win
• Time ran out settings (no explosions yet, sorry)
• Lives counter
• Removes one second per completed round (up to minimum of 30 seconds)
• Button press success and false sounds

 

Nice!

I think flipped-sphere with stars(image) would look nicer as background,
also higher resolution sphere for the planet..?

Few times bombs spawned on top of each other.

 

Thank you! I've downloaded a star cubemap generator to create galaxies and will implement that later (polishing phase).
The sphere resolution (and other graphics) will change so that in the end stage of the game the game keeps running at minimal 30 fps at all time on a Samsung galaxy S2.

About the bombs spawning over each other: I haven't made a detection script yet to prevent this from happening but this will be implemented (especially when the planets get tiny trees, rocks, etc.).

 

A new version of the web player. This version holds a (i think the latest) test for an infinite mode.

• Spaceship marks where you start
• Buttons are now Icons
• Added some font items
• Random trees over the planet
• Explosions when you are too late (Doesn't always work on android, need to fix that.)
• Added android controls (left joystick = move, right bottom tap = jump)
• Added an option to actually close the android app (back button)
• Objects never get placed over each other now

 

A new version of the web player. The infinite version is no longer in here (it will come back later).
The easy and medium maps (5) are now in the game. On easy you get the combination. On medium you have to memorize it.
Hard will be with no given combination so you have to trail and error it(not yet there)
There are also going to be "challenging easy", "challenging medium" and "challenging hard" levels that have enemies (later on).
More props and planet gfx will be included later.
The infinite mode will also return for each difficulty.
I am also thinking of multiplayer, but that is beyond the scope of this weekend challenge.

• Main menu
• 5 easy levels (2-6 buttons with given order)
• 5 medium levels(2-6 buttons with memorized order)
• Better GUI
• Not fully balanced yet
• Lots of little things more... But I need a nap.

 

I've bought 2 assets:

For the main character:
https://kharma.unity3d.com/#/content/6467 (1,90 euro)

For the enemies in the hard, very hard, ultimate and infinite mode
https://kharma.unity3d.com/#/content/2880 (9,80 euro)

The difficulties will also change:

• Very Easy (current Easy)
• Easy (curren Medium)
• Medium
• Hard
• Very Hard

For each of these difficulties there is also going to be an infinite mode.

Also I have to build in a break from 18:00 tonight to 18:00 tomorrow due to some unforeseen circumstances. I still work the right amount of hours, it just extends over the weekend.

 

I got to try this kind of challenge myself Looking good, also new characters looks like a nice choice.

 

Thank you. The aliens look nice on the planet. I am now programming the Enemy behavior. I can really recommend these challenges for anyone that can spare a weekend. I am learning a lot of it and it is great fun to do.

 

Ok time is pretty much up. I've managed to add in all (gameplay) features I had in mind.

Added/fixed:

• 30 Normal levels
• You need to unlock the levels
• 6 Difficulty modes
• More planet variations
• More background variations
• More props on the planet
• More trees on the planet
• Instruction texts
• 6 infinite levels (once you completed all 30 levels)
• Enemies in the highest difficulties
• Tenso music when the game is almost done (15 seconds)
• Lots more little things...

There are still some bugs (mainly due to platform issues) and some small stuff missing (sound fx). In the following days/weeks I will tidy up the game (bugs, textures,models,audio, spelling mistakes) to put it for free in the Google play store. I will keep the lite version 100% ad free since I hate ads and don't want to enforce them on you.

All in I've had a great challenge. I hope you will enjoy the game.





If you find any bugs, please report them here so I can fix them.
Known bugs:

• Some audio Fx missing
• Character sometimes is temporarily unable to move
• Hitting the back button on android stops the game instead of going to the main menu
• Explosion FX on android won't always appear
• Some animations drift, will be tidied
• You MUST click to go to text planet or else it won't be saved to your progress.
• If you try again after you failed, the tenso music stays.

 

Well Done!!!

 

The game is now on google play:

Download Sphere Fear Lite:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.GDJDeveloper.SphereFear