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DS development > Hardball - status - very close to completion now.

#125915 - 3D_geek - Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:39 am

Check out my latest 'HARDBALL' executable:

http://www.sjbaker.org/tmp/hardball.nds

I'd appreciate any constructive comments you guys might have.

I'm starting a new job as a professional games programmer with Midway at the end of the month - and beyond that point, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to be doing much OpenSource games work - so I hope to get Hardball finished and OpenSource it sometime in the next 10 days. It's all a bit of a rush - but it's getting there!

Anyway - all that's left is sound effects/music - plus some special case collision detection (so you can actually score goals by shooting the ball into the 'crane buckets' and so the AI code knows where to aim for when it scores goals). There are also some final bits like scoring and some icons on the bottom screen to show who has the ball at the moment - plus 'game over' and restart code. (I've temporarily rigged the 'X' button to score a goal whenever you push it so I can test my 2D stuff - that'll get fixed in the next version). Right now you can play all four characters so I can check out the animation but eventually (of course) you'll only be able to play as one of the two guys on your team.

I hope to have time to try some multiplayer stuff with WiFi networking - but it's looking a bit tight on time - so maybe not.

#125929 - LiraNuna - Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:17 am

I don't quite get the game goal, air soccer?
I'm a sucker for airborn based games. Hope to see this one's completed, keep up the good work.
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#125949 - 3D_geek - Wed Apr 18, 2007 1:06 pm

Yeah - air soccer or air basketball - I'm not sure which!

I should sit down and write the back story and instructions:

--------------------------------------------------------------
This is set on a mining colony on Mars - we are in a crater that has been roofed over with a dome to create a place for the miners to process ore and where they can live when off-duty. Mars is a low gravity world where human-powered helicopters, jetpacks and such are used to get around - so naturally, when the miners are off-duty they need things to keep themselves amused. Using mining equipment and (for some un-explained reason) a giant mutant eagle - they play a game that's a cross between soccer and basketball in the living space under the dome. The "ball" is a harmless blue energy ball - often carried by the miners for lighting their way in mineshafts.

The rules are simple - follow the arrow in the top-left corner of the screen to find the ball - when you get close, grab it using the X key - when you release 'X', it'll shoot off in the direction you are flying. Your speed is a little limited when you have the ball. If someone else has grabbed the ball, you can tackle them by slamming into the other player with the X key held down - if you are going faster than him, you get the ball. The goals are the two large ore buckets dangling beneath the crane gantries. The arrow at the top-left switches from pointing to the bal lto pointing to the goal when you have the ball. You score one point for getting the ball into the right bucket. The first team to score 5 goals wins.

There are two players on each side - you can switch which one you are controlling with the Y key. Whichever player you aren't controlling will be played by the computer. If you don't touch any of the controls for about 10 seconds, the computer will control both players. (This is so that in multiplayer mode, the game doesn't end abruptly if one person stops playing - and it's better for demos and such).

On-screen help tells you what the buttons do. The touch screen isn't (yet) used.
------------------------------------------------------------
What doesn't work yet:
* Sound, music.
* The position of the ore buckets is hard to calculate because they are moving - right now, the AI doesn't know to fly towards them - so they head for (0,0,0) instead.
* There is no collision detection between players or the ball and dynamic parts of the scenery such as other players, mine karts and the crane gantries.
* As a consequence of there being no collision detection between ball and the ore bucket "goals" - you can't actually score a point yet!
* As debug, I have the X key automatically 'score' a point every time you press it so I can test the scoring system.
* The bottom screen will eventually show an icon for each of the four players with a ball icon next to whoever has the ball.
* The 3D arrow is supposed to change colour from blue when the ball is free to red when someone has posession to green when you have posession and it's pointing at your goal. Right now, it just flickers annoyingly!
* There is some Z-flimmering between the railroad track on the floor of the arena and the arena floor itself. I need to raise it up a bit more.
* The game doesn't end when you get 5 points.
* There is no cute intro screen, you can't pick which team you are on and there are no dificulty levels or anything. Eventually the skill of the enemy AI and the speed that the ore buckets move around will be variable.
* I want WiFi multiplayer...if I have time left.
* Right now, you can play as the enemy players as well as the two guys on your team so I can debug the animations and such. Eventually, you will only get to play the helicopter and the eagle...which is why the other two players are less cute to watch. Their long smoke trails will hopefully make them easier to recognise from a long way off - and easier to follow if they get off the edge of your screen by a little bit.
* Someone asked me if you could fly using the touch-screen - I can make that an option.

#126022 - Payk - Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:05 am

Hey cool Steve :D
Midway? I hope you don't develop a new mc :D
good luck

#126167 - Magicked - Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:49 pm

Did you take it down already? I was going to try it out.

#126180 - jester - Fri Apr 20, 2007 6:47 pm

Some ideas and the designs on the game i believe is taken from U.P.G.R.A.D.E the soccer/flying game from Nikefootball? Looks very similiar
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#126270 - 3D_geek - Sat Apr 21, 2007 3:57 pm

jester wrote:
Some ideas and the designs on the game i believe is taken from U.P.G.R.A.D.E the soccer/flying game from Nikefootball? Looks very similiar


I've never heard of that game - so any similarity is purely coincidental.

#126271 - 3D_geek - Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:01 pm

Magicked wrote:
Did you take it down already? I was going to try it out.


Sorry - because I'm going to be moving house soon, I had to switch from a web server running in my garage to a hosted server...and it's not going smoothely!

The file is there now - give it another try.

...sorry!