immortalpong - Tumblr blog

[immortalpong]

A game where you gradually surround your character with layers of offices full of bureaucrats and goons, which forms a shield around you. It is quiet inside this cocoon of offices and hallways. When the layer gets thinner, the noise leaks in.

[immortalpong]

A game where the goal is slowly repairing a temple.

[immortalpong]

Start thinking about how you want to see these characters rendered...are they hand drawn, colored, scanned? Drawn on the computer? Hi res, 8 bit?

I should also say, all demos should operate smoothly on even a modestly spec'd PC, let me know if there are any problems on your machine.

[immortalpong]

I should say, if the X speed goes below two the ball dies...this was to prevent it from just bouncing basically forever between the floor and the ceiling.

I think one play structure is just that whenever a ball hits the wall behind you, the opponent gets a point. The ball simply bounces and play continues. This means if there is some kind of crazy multi-ball, you get tons of points and when the ball is really moving (we could gradually raise the max speed) points would rack up quick. So basically, not like tennis. Or, it could work in the reverse, you both start with 1000 hitpoints and various things colliding with your backstop damages your health.

So, for instance: There is only one main ball and it does 10 points damage. Multi-ball events could be clouds of smaller balls that do less damage and disappear when they collide with either backstop. So fun! Other things can do damage or prevent it. There could be health, too!

[immortalpong]

We need to iron out a way for me to share demos. If dropbox works for you, the folder can be the drop point: I'm shooting you the invite. In the folder is one file. You grab it and delete it from the folder. So, if I see the file is gone, I will know you grabbed it. And if you see a file in there, you'll know it's new and you haven't seen it. This way we don't have to keep track of which version we're on until it matters, much later. The first demo manifests a few things...one thing is, in technical terms a restitution above 1. What that means is when the ball bounces off something, it actual gets more energy, and it speeds up a tiny bit. I think this is a cool mechanic in pong. Another thing is if the speed goes above 25 pixels per second, linear dampening kicks in and slows the ball down. Not immediately, but quickly. So the ball can exceed a speed of 25 but not for long.Another thing is, when the ball hits the paddle, it "directs" the ball based on where it hits on the paddle, instead of a simple angle of reflection. It's based on how far away from the center of the paddle the ball impacts. In other words, if a ball comes straight and perpendicular at the paddle and hits dead center, it will travel straight away from it. However, if the ball is off center, it will travel slightly off perpendicular depending on which side it hits and how far from the center. It's the only way to add more skill and control to the game in my opinion. Let me know what you think.Lastly, I added some random objects floating around for the ball to interact with. Also, if the speed of the ball goes below 2 or so, it will respawn with more speed. And you can hit space to reset the demo. Esc quits.

A and Z controls the paddle!

[immortalpong]

Huh, never played Atari tennis, it looks good for 2600. Was that controlled with joysticks I take it?

[immortalpong]

Yeah, that’s probably your “Ken”.

[immortalpong]

Gonna feel right to include some human kid characters too I think. Yeah? In my mind that way the game has a more relatable Goonies/Gremlins/New Mutants quality to it. The writers of Stranger Things know what they're doing right?

[immortalpong]

There it is!

[immortalpong]

“Information pong”

[immortalpong]

Never played this but I remember the cover art.

[immortalpong]

Possible powerups...

Upon activation a slow moving, paddle like projectile is launched, bisecting the playing field, or a momentary force field. Deployed correctly it would reflect the ball back to the other opponent.

 For a period of time, a “laser guide” that shows the projected path of the ball when it is travelling in the direction of the player who activated the power up.

upon activation the ball slows and travels perpendicular to the paddles, i.e. straight toward player. 

Ball is just reflected back at the opponent

Ball is accelerated

Paddle is enlarged

Secondary paddle is spawned, closer to midline of playing field. Perhaps it matches player movements, perhaps it mirrors them.

Magnetic paddle

[immortalpong]

Make some shitty sketches of the playing field and take a picture of them for me-the basics. Is there a HUD at the bottom, a scoreboard, a jumbotron? Are there walls? 

What, in your opinion, is the best pong game ever (so far) in terms of gameplay? I want to play it. I’m playing around with controls and feel and I have a hard time getting an interface that feels as easy and intuitive as moving my hand to catch a ball...it’s always a bit frustrating. I don’t want to get into unique physical controls, but I feel like the original atari arcade paddles might be the best ever. What is second best? Right now I am using two buttons, up and down. It’s not bad, I think mostly I need just get a good balance of speed and control. Right now (in the demo or proof of concept) the paddle moves based on “forces”, so there is some inertia- if it is moving down and I hit the up button, I am applying force upwards and it doesn’t immediately go the other way but “skids” a bit, then accelerates upward. When no buttons are pressed it stops quickly but not immediately. Pretty much the way Mario runs back and forth.

Oh by the way by “wallmount” I meant mounting that arcade cabinet on the wall- so the same cabinet could be bartop or attached to a wall. The display will be definitely built into the cabinet.

[immortalpong]

Yeah, I’m liking this...I’ve been fucking around with the library of physics engine commands and it’s perfect for this kind of game.

[immortalpong]

Using the physics library opens up all kinds of stuff like angular momentum (spin) and joints (fixtures on objects that allow them to move but be attached at a single point or points- think chains, that sort of thing.)

[immortalpong]

I think we’re going to use a physics engine to do this game...meaning a library of tools and functions that do certain kinds of math real fast for us. I have coded with it before. There are certain constraints, namely you can’t use non-engine based methods of moving shit around. I think it will be great tho. I will throw together a demo.

[immortalpong]

Maybe there should be other tasks besides returning the ball...maybe the ball is going so slow at the beginning that you can do other shit. Maybe just making trips back and forth, or collecting zenny or whatever. Maybe you can take your paddle into a little hut and gas it up. Maybe you can make your paddle wider if all the animals in the forest are happy.

Although, that sounds like more of a console game...arcade games need to be more immediate? Who cares.