Currencies, Smarter Bots, and Social Features

Hello, players! Ballland: World’s had a lot of fun new updates expanding the queue for people waiting for the next major release. It shant disappoint, as much of the core functionality needed in the mature version of the game has been added, especially for the multiplayer version, so much so that the next update is not just a “0.00.100.x”, but an entire 0.00.200.x, signifying that the game is over 2% complete. While realistically, the game is around 10% complete, there’s so much polishing that needs to get done and sectors of the game that need to be added, and so we’re letting the players know that this update is at least twice as complete as the previous one. The list of changes and improvements is over 40 items long.

For this devlog, we’ll focus only on the things we’ve worked on this weekend, starting with the main menu, then venturing into the online spaces and the server, the shop, and finally the field gameplay.

Main Menu Changes

Perhaps the most evident feature for the main menu is the animated logo. I think prior to this, there was the old logo as a static image, which wasn’t all-too exciting. We now have a more colorful, dynamic, animating logo that presents itself to players when they enter the main menu. The BALLLAND letters are individually split up and have their own patterns of floating around, and the logo itself is surrounded by an aura of rainbow light, because this is a colorful game.

Once the player is shown the game mode buttons, a marquee appears at the top of the screen, where server information is routed to the player. For this, it’s an additional field to the online bulletin board, and is longform so that Server Hosters can discuss things with more space than the online bulletin board.

Take a look at the main menu:

For the online menu, we’ve turned the player listings into a seamless reloading experience. Remember when you looked at the leaderboard and every 15 seconds or so every player card disappeared then reappeared quickly? That’s gone now, so statuses update without having to flash away and back.

New Server Capabilities

For the brunt of the online section here, we’ve done a ton of server upgrades. So, in addition to the player chat functionality which was mentioned previously, server hosters now have the ability to export the state of their server, minus friend listings, in a text file. This was made due to the extra message on the title screen taking up space in the data file that pretty much ruined compatibility between old and new servers, an inherent issue with binary data-based storage. Now, if there’s an issue with the new version, such as a re-organized data file, Server Hosters ought to export their server state first, update the server, then run all the commands that were exported to get their players, clans, and messages back.

There’s a new server command as well that tracks player engagement, so that the hosters know how active their servers really are. A few weeks back, the Main Server crashed due to the logs filling up all the memory. As a result, the logs now clear after a period of inactivity, but hosters may want to know how many people came online since that inactivity. So, the “stats” function tells them how many players joined, and for how long they were online for, since the last time the command was ran. This is a great way to gage the overall activity in the online space of the game, and opens the gateway towards server-side analytics.

Alright, now to get to the part people were really waiting to hear more about: The economy system.

The Ballland: World Economy

In the Discord community, we discussed the economy system basics. There are eight currencies within the system, with each gem currency having a particular purpose of account. There is the framework of a shop system, where each item can be purchased for any one, or multiple of, these gems. For now, we’ve added all of the characters with the exception of Bluey and Pinky to the shop, for they’ll always be available. You can get every character for a certain amount of gold, which is earned in varying amounts based on performance after every match in multiplayer mode. (In single player mode, there are plans to support earning currency, however the stages will have to be certified to ensure they’re giving players the right amount of currencies in the level. This is why we created the certified stages forum on our discussion board to showcase all the certified stages. Server Hosters can declare a stage as an official stage. Currencies are not transferrable between servers.

The gold coin is a general coin. As one performs and engages more in Ballland Battles (and puzzles in the future), gold is awarded. Silver is a coin based on distance travelled. You’re generally going to get more silver than gold. Emerald is a gem that players earn based on time in the field. The opal is based on kills in battle. The higher the XP of the player you take off the board, the more opal is rewarded from that interaction.

The ruby is based on hits. Like the opal, the higher the XP of the person you stun, the more is rewarded. Sapphire is the mercy gem; as you’re hit and wiped off the board, your sapphire holding increases. Amethyst is the gem associated with item usage in battle. Using lethal items can increase your amethyst holding, as well as being hit by lethal items, even if you survive. The diamond is based on overall engagement. Logging on for multiple days in a streak gives you diamond, as well as participating in social features and playing online.

The groundwork is set for a trading and exchange system. This will allow players to send each other currencies, as well as trade currencies offline in a market. See these screenshots of currencies rewarded:

Finally, player profiles are now backwards compatible. From this new version onwards, under-the-hood processing will take place to keep player’s data from getting lost in the binary data file. Prior to this, upgrades ran the risk of losing all XP, resetting settings, and more. That risk is still possible for users upgrading TO this next version, so be careful.

Level Editor Boosts

The level editor has had many new improvements, much of which have already been mentioned such as the multiple layers of tiles, the flexible collision lengths, and toggling the in-game music. We’ve also added new tiles to the tileset, representing the windows of the Ballland buildings, trees, and flowers. See the images below:

The level editor is fully compatible with levels created in prior versions of the game. This means that you can open a level created in older versions, save them as newer versions, and update them with the new capabilities. We’re at the level of BBLegacy now with the level editor, however BBLegacy didn’t have a level editor as everything was done in-engine. Players are now able to create more dynamic worlds than ever, with flooring, skinny tiles, puzzle blocks, and more. In the coming updates, Single Player mode will start to get more love, as many things are planned.

For instance, Single Player story mode and Single Player Puzzle are going to be separated, to enable the online Single Player puzzle mode. This’ll allow for players to compete for time on single player puzzles, as well as give players the ability to play puzzles outside of the story mode.

New Character Dynamics

Back to the current version, though. We’ve given the character select screen a new look, showcasing all the playable characters and giving space for the future custom character set. Right now, players are able to purchase all the characters given they have enough gold coins. Each player has a story. For instance, Yelly, cousin of Bluey, is a science geek. Greeny’s been the cool kid of the crew since the quest to rescue pinky, playable from YoyoGames back in 2012. Selecting a player space that’s locked allows you to purchase the ability to play them in-game.

In the field, we’ve modified the performance of the bot players. Prior to this upgrade, they were biased towards a certain portion of the stage. Now, they’re given free reign over the bounds of the field. They also are far less likely to repeat their motions, such as moving back and forth.

When players aren’t themselves in a power mode (e.g. invincibility, meteor), other players that are give a sort of threat sound. This can let players know when someone powerful is nearby. This also allows someone nearby to jam with someone that’s flaming.

Download and Look Forward

The new version of Ballland World is on progress to be released during this month. Players will be able to watch gameplay videos on YouTube and Rumble until then, with short GIF animations on other platforms. When the update rolls out, your launcher will alert you and allow you to download the new version, as simply as one click.

Join us on the community site.