F: Protection

dINGLE

Build a defensive arrangement of cubes to protect the blue cylinders!

Any feedback welcome!





Controls:
Move mouse to position cube
Left click - place cube
Right click - remove cube
R - rotate cube

I put some effort into the sound so turn up your volume!

Windows standalone (9.4MB) -
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23088050/protection_v1.1.1.zip - latest
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23088050/protection_v1.1.zip -
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23088050/protection_v1.0.1.zip

Webplayer (not recommended) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23088050/protection_web/protection_web.html

SebastianS

Very challenging. I can imagine a 'real time' mode of play were you can place and remove boxes while the balls are falling, perhaps even as an 'endless faller' (not runner). Could be more fun like that.

dINGLE

@SebastianS thanks for giving it a try and giving suggestions

I have updated the OP download with a small bugfix (the quit button did not work)

FanieG

This is quite cool.

Some thoughts:
* Maybe have the ability to rotate cubes after you placed them. So that you could place some with a corner facing up for instance
* Have different coloured cubes, that work better against some of the coloured balls. I felt the black ball was way overpowered. If I had a black cube with a greater gravity to place somewhere I would feel less cheated.
* Be able to place a moving cube. Which could move diagonally or pivot around it's Y axis
* You could play around more with physics materials on the cubes. Some bouncy cubes/balls, or some with a lot/no friction.
* So basically, I think you could add some power-ups to the stages that would make it even more interesting and would add to the comp theme of building too.
* Also place the cylinders in different arrangements/shapes each level. instead of only in a single line

Enjoyed it. Nice

Gazza_N

DISCLAIMER: I haven't read any of the other comments, so that I can come in fresh and unbiased. Apologies if I'm just repeating everything. If I am, then that helps you too. :P

> It's a nice idea. A bit like defending tenpins at a bowling alley, yeah? Good thinking.
> I laugh every single time a pin gets knocked off the plane - those "nooooo" voice bites are hilarious.
> It's a bit distressing that I lose all agency once all my blocks are placed. I don't know what's coming initially, or in what pattern, so it's a bit unfair that I can't arrange my blocks with foreknowledge, or have the ability to rearrange my defense on the fly to compensate. In fact, being able to reposition blocks during the "ball assault" phase would probably make for a much more interesting game. If you have an initial countdown while you create a first-line defense, and then allow the player rearrange on the fly, it could be much more engaging. You could also try a set "build time" for blocks after they're placed, to introduce yet another timing aspect. Whatever works!

Regardless, it's a good start. Keen to see how it mutates as you go. :D

vintar

Just tried it and it is fun. Good Start! I do agree that the black ball is way overpowered, and being able to reposition blocks on the fly would make it real interesting and make me want to play more :)

EvanGreenwood

Good start! Agree with previous comments that just watching the balls in the defense stage isn't very engaging (I went to make tea during one of the assaults). It'd be sweeter if you could solve that.

Is there any carry over between stages? I feel like saving more blue pins should be rewarded somehow.

dINGLE

@FanieG @Gazza_N @vintar @BlackShipsFilltheSky Thanks for all the feedback!

I have challenged myself to make a game each week, but I will find time to try out some of the suggestions and put up another version

dINGLE

Update!

The game has changed quite a bit.
The cubes can now be placed and removed during an assault, and the game no longer resets between waves.
That means losing a cylinder is permanent for that session, and the game ends when all the cylinders are down (or if you manage to defend all the attacks).

There is also a points system where at the end of each wave you get points for each cylinder that survived.

Other changes
- black ball nerfed
- more sounds added
- cubes can be rotated before placing
- the difficulty curve should be smoother

I have updated the web player, but it doesn't handle the right clicking very well, so I recommend the windows standalone

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23088050/protection_v1.1.zip

It would be great if I can get some feedback on the changes :)

vintar

dINGLE said:

Update!

The game has changed quite a bit.
The cubes can now be placed and removed during an assault, and the game no longer resets between waves.
That means losing a cylinder is permanent for that session, and the game ends when all the cylinders are down (or if you manage to defend all the attacks).

There is also a points system where at the end of each wave you get points for each cylinder that survived.

Other changes
- black ball nerfed
- more sounds added
- cubes can be rotated before placing
- the difficulty curve should be smoother

I have updated the web player, but it doesn't handle the right clicking very well, so I recommend the windows standalone

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23088050/protection_v1.1.zip

It would be great if I can get some feedback on the changes :)

Great changes. Will give it a shot when I get a chance.

Bernard

I played it for the first time with the changes already applied, I love it!
Its really engaging and I love the voices! I love that you can quickly adapt to whats happening during the assault.
Really fun, well done!
During level 6 transition to 7 and beyond I could no longer place blocks anymore even after removing blocks.

vintar

Played it again and its great :)
Now that you can move the blocks around, you want to play more. You feel you have more of a chance and so want to continue saving the little cylinders :P

Gazza_N

Yeah, this is MUCH better. Wave survival suits the concept a lot better. Nicely done. :)

I had a bug, however, where I could no longer place blocks - I had blocks available, but the placement block was always red regardless of where I moved it. This was after I had previously moved it over some cylinders at the bottom of the screen that may have been knocked off. A flag not being unflagged, perhaps?

dINGLE

@Gazza_N thanks for playing.

Sorry if you experienced a bug, I can't seem to replicate it though.
Can you easily make it happen again? Were there more cubes on the "X cubes left" text on the right of the screen.
Maybe it could have been that a cube got pushed off the plane by a ball, and you only had 4 left?

Gazza_N

Sorry, struggling to repro. I definitely had blocks left according to the prompt. All I remember is that I had passed my cursor at the bottom, close to the cylinders, it was correctly registering that I couldn't place, there was some commotion where a few cylinders got knocked off, and after that I couldn't place anything anymore. I can't be more specific than that, unfortunately. :(

dINGLE

Bernard said:

...
During level 6 transition to 7 and beyond I could no longer place blocks anymore even after removing blocks.

@Bernard looks like you might be experiencing the same bug as @Gazza_N
I can't seem to reproduce it though :(

SebastianS

V1.1 is a fantastic improvement, the sound adds a lot to the experience. Thanks for implementing the 'realtime' block placement, it's a game changer!

dINGLE

@Gazza_N @Bernard I think I found the bug! :D

At the end of a wave if a ball is stuck on the plane it gets removed, but if the transparent placement cube happened to be colliding with that ball just before it was removed then you could no longer place cubes :(

In case anyone is interested, I am using a collider marked a "trigger" for the placement cube, and using the OnTriggerEnter() and OnTriggerExit() functions to know when it's ok to place a cube. But OnTriggerExit() is not called if you call Destroy() on the colliding object. I was handling this for placed cubes but not balls.

Here is an updated build
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23088050/protection_v1.1.1.zip

FanieG

@dINGLE new version is much better, I was able to survive until the end, but score was only 1700. Had a couple of pins that fell within the first to waves, but could then change strategy to keep the last few alive. Being able to rotate cubes and change them on the fly was a lot better. NICE!!!!