I agree with the previous comments, but my biggest nit to pick is that the game is hard because I feel like it is fighting me. If your goal was to create an experience where the player feels at the whim of systems beyond their control that they just have to get perfectly right through trial and error, then you succeeded. But I'm guessing that that *wasn't* the exact goal? Here's a video showing some gameplay that explains why I find it frustrating: https://d.pr/v/vCG4qC/qp2Rj6mUr8
You've got RigidBody-physics-dependent control for the ball but very strange, arbitrary-feeling movement for the rotating paddles (the "flat" paddles make physical sense because they "push" in one direction). The rotating paddles, as you can see in the video, are totally unpredictable. I got it *just right* in the end, but then could not slow down enough to avoid having to do the section again. So the "pain" part of the name makes sense. But do you want pain because the game doesn't make sense? Or because it's just really hard?
I'm not saying that it's easy to get the rotating paddles to work, but you should take a look at Ana's project to see an example of hinge/spring joints for that.
Plus side - well-organized project and scripts, cool level design, detailed code comments and good use of methods, private and public variables, etc.
Try using the a and d keys to move the ball left and right. Maybe that should’ve been more clear in instructions. Otherwise the hinge/joint function looks really useful and I’d like to try that out in the future and maybe I can return to make the rotating paddles more predictable.
I did try, but the movement was super slow and not enough to reverse the direction at the last part of the video. After reading your screenshot Saturday posts I gathered that it was intentional - am I wrong? It was interesting enough for me to keep trying, but I definitely did eventually get tired and give up ;)
I definitely wanted the movement to be slow, but not as slow as shown in the video. In my version the player can move the ball with a lot more speed and would be able to stop relatively quickly with the momentum in the video. I realized looking through the code I was controlling a few scripts including player movement in the Update function which may make the speed differ depending on framerate, even if it is just adding one force. I think handling this in FixedUpdate might fix that if I understand correctly? Looking back on some of the other games I played, speed differing from when the developers played it on their system to when I tried it on my own seemed like it was probably a lot different. It makes me realize how important it is to understand how a Unity project runs behind the scenes, and that maybe I should do some more digging/research there. Pretty awesome I could get that feedback and realize what was happening to fix it for future projects, so thank you! And I'm definitely gonna play around with the hinges!
The title screen explaining the controls is a great addition, along with the timer. With some polish, I could see this getting traction fairly easily. The obvious things to point out are the basic textures and lack of sound, but the base of a really cool game is there. One thing I'd like to see is the ball being a bit weightier and less floaty, so you have to use inertia to our advantage more. Otherwise, this is extremely solid and I'd pay like $5 for a finished title like this.
I'm glad you added the title screen because your games controls are kind of complex. That being said, I didn't find it unintuitive at all. This game is frustrating but a lot of fun to play. To improve your game I would definitely add more visual elements. The game lacks a visual theme. Your level design is really good I was impressed. I had a lot of fun trying to master each section. It has a lot of re-playability. The timer was a great idea. I'm going to challenge some people and see who can beat it faster. I'm pretty sure I'm good at the game so I can win for sure.
I really like this game and I'd like to see more levels in the future. Definitely with music and textures and sound effects. It would add a lot to the experience.
Comments
I agree with the previous comments, but my biggest nit to pick is that the game is hard because I feel like it is fighting me. If your goal was to create an experience where the player feels at the whim of systems beyond their control that they just have to get perfectly right through trial and error, then you succeeded. But I'm guessing that that *wasn't* the exact goal? Here's a video showing some gameplay that explains why I find it frustrating: https://d.pr/v/vCG4qC/qp2Rj6mUr8
You've got RigidBody-physics-dependent control for the ball but very strange, arbitrary-feeling movement for the rotating paddles (the "flat" paddles make physical sense because they "push" in one direction). The rotating paddles, as you can see in the video, are totally unpredictable. I got it *just right* in the end, but then could not slow down enough to avoid having to do the section again. So the "pain" part of the name makes sense. But do you want pain because the game doesn't make sense? Or because it's just really hard?
I'm not saying that it's easy to get the rotating paddles to work, but you should take a look at Ana's project to see an example of hinge/spring joints for that.
Plus side - well-organized project and scripts, cool level design, detailed code comments and good use of methods, private and public variables, etc.
Try using the a and d keys to move the ball left and right. Maybe that should’ve been more clear in instructions. Otherwise the hinge/joint function looks really useful and I’d like to try that out in the future and maybe I can return to make the rotating paddles more predictable.
I did try, but the movement was super slow and not enough to reverse the direction at the last part of the video. After reading your screenshot Saturday posts I gathered that it was intentional - am I wrong? It was interesting enough for me to keep trying, but I definitely did eventually get tired and give up ;)
I definitely wanted the movement to be slow, but not as slow as shown in the video. In my version the player can move the ball with a lot more speed and would be able to stop relatively quickly with the momentum in the video. I realized looking through the code I was controlling a few scripts including player movement in the Update function which may make the speed differ depending on framerate, even if it is just adding one force. I think handling this in FixedUpdate might fix that if I understand correctly? Looking back on some of the other games I played, speed differing from when the developers played it on their system to when I tried it on my own seemed like it was probably a lot different. It makes me realize how important it is to understand how a Unity project runs behind the scenes, and that maybe I should do some more digging/research there. Pretty awesome I could get that feedback and realize what was happening to fix it for future projects, so thank you! And I'm definitely gonna play around with the hinges!
The title screen explaining the controls is a great addition, along with the timer. With some polish, I could see this getting traction fairly easily. The obvious things to point out are the basic textures and lack of sound, but the base of a really cool game is there. One thing I'd like to see is the ball being a bit weightier and less floaty, so you have to use inertia to our advantage more. Otherwise, this is extremely solid and I'd pay like $5 for a finished title like this.
Having a title screen is very cool, dude.
I'm glad you added the title screen because your games controls are kind of complex. That being said, I didn't find it unintuitive at all. This game is frustrating but a lot of fun to play. To improve your game I would definitely add more visual elements. The game lacks a visual theme. Your level design is really good I was impressed. I had a lot of fun trying to master each section. It has a lot of re-playability. The timer was a great idea. I'm going to challenge some people and see who can beat it faster. I'm pretty sure I'm good at the game so I can win for sure.
I really like this game and I'd like to see more levels in the future. Definitely with music and textures and sound effects. It would add a lot to the experience.