Block Breaker is one of the games you build in this course. One challenge in the course was to do what they call “extreme tuning”, meaning tinker with the project and explore around what you’ve been learning.
However, I decided to go rogue with this concept, and produced the following version of Block Breaker, with lots of changes audible, visual, and of course, gameplay changes (see what I did there?) (:
Of course, I can make games like this for you too. If you’re interested, please get in touch with me by clicking here or e-mailing me directly at: cartrell@gameplaycoder.com.
Brickout is finally ready for first release! Yeah!!
Only thing is… I need to figure out how to add a portfolio that my current theme can use!! Or, maybe switch themes. Welp, let me figure that part out.
In the meantime, here is a video play through, although I didn’t get very far, haha!
On to the next game project! Thanks for staying with me!
Of course, I can make games like this for you too. If you’re interested, please get in touch with me by clicking here or e-mailing me directly at: cartrell@gameplaycoder.com.
Polish can easily be overlooked when developing a game. It’s that last 10 percent or so where you smooth out the rough edges, focus on the intricacies of mechanics or functionality, and sharpen up audio, visuals and feedback. Polish is what can turn a bad game into a good game, and a good one into a great one, all else being equal.
No, not that kind of polish.
A bit of progress has been made to add polish to Brickout. Let’s demonstrate what’s done so far.
Added particle effects to broken bricks.
Getting into Phaser’s particle system wasn’t too difficult. I created a simple graphic that represents a broken piece of the brick, and used that as the particle. Every brick has its particles that match its own color.
Extra Impact to Bomb Explosions
When a bomb explodes, it now produces a screen flash and tremor.
This one was a lot of fun to add. The flash made use of Phaser’s graphic primitive functionality. In this case, I used a colored rectangle that fills the entire screen.
The tremor was super-easy. Interestingly enough, there is a “shake” method on Phaser’s Camera object that you can call, and specify the intensity and duration of the tremor. In previous games I’ve made for clients, I’ve always had to do this manually, and I was expecting to do that here. Thankfully (or unfortunately, if you’re a crazy coder (: ), that’s a task I’m relieved of for this game. (:
There is also a “shattering” sound that is played if the bomb happens to clear any bricks within its blast area.
Saver Blocks Gradually Appear Instead of All at Once
When the saver bridge is forming itself, it now does so once brick at a time. So, you’re not out of the woods yet, and you can still lose a ball while the bridge is forming!
Also added particles to broken saver bricks as well.
Adding Labels to Identify the Item Collected
When you collect gems, an animated label will briefly appear. For some items, such as the bomb or saver bridge, this is not necessary.
The gameplay is pretty much done. Now it’s time to start polishing up the mechanics and effects. The next steps are:
– Adding particles to broken bricks (This means learning how to use Phaser’s particle system. Cool!)
– Adding a screen flash to bomb explosions. In addition to the a screen tremor, let’s add some impact to those bombs. (User of Phaser’s Graphics – draw primitives, specifically, the rectangle)
– Saver blocks appear gradually instead of all at once (Use of Phaser’s Timer system)
– Adding labels that say what power up item was just collected
– Adding particles to broken saver blocks
– When bricks are cleared with Color Match or Color Blast:
a) gradually destroy the blocks instead of all at once
b) add a screen tremor effect
c) add sound effect (different from the normal brick breaking)
– When serving the ball into play, give the player more control over where it goes. I plan on “sliding” the ball across the paddle, thus giving the player the opportunity to “aim” the ball. Check out this video:
– Adding game over when all lives (balls) are lost.
That should do it. After this, I’ll add a few more levels, and play around with balancing the items (rates of occurrence, duration and intensity of effects, and such [for game balance/feedback purposes]), do a bit more play-testing, then that should be it.
Almost there guys! Thanks for staying tuned, and comment if you’ve any questions on anything.
And for the record, yes, the game will be freely available to play on the site, as well as the source code being released.
Brickout now has the sound effects added! I also snuck some of my jazzy musicalskills into many of the sound effects.
A short video with the sounds is below. Things got a bit crazy around the 1:00 mark in the video! I think I’ma keep this aspect of the game design, though. Then it got really boring, trying to hit that LAST brick… dammit! >:D
But, I’m happy that with 41 sound effects added, most of them are done now. (:
Playing sounds using Phaser and its SoundManager class was easier than I thought! I still need to implement callback notifications when a sound has finished playing, because I will need that functionality a little later.
After watching the video, share your opinions in the comments below. I’m curious to know. Thanks!
After completing the Android Course and earning a Nanodegree, I resumed a course that I had started earlier. Actually, since I haven’t made any progress on the course in a long time, and much of its material was revamped, I decided to start the course over.
This is an amazing course that teaches you how to build several genres of games using Unity (version 2018 as of this writing).
One of the projects in the course is a Breakout type game (* gasp! *), and there is a reference to a design document about the Breakout genre on Gamasutra.
This. Document. Is. Fuckin’ Incredible! It contains tons of juicy pieces of information from level design and power-ups, to visuals, and even some history.
The power-up items intrigued me most. The items I added are either ones that I’ve seen somewhere else, or they were a coincidence (the bombs was a big one).
No update on Brickout this week. Still, this design doc definitely has some good inspiration for anyone wanting to make their own Breakout game engine – or if you’re lookin’ to hire someone to help you build your own – hint hint 😉
Paddle Buff: Represented by the blue gem, this item will extend the length of your paddle. This makes it easier for you to hit the ball. However, this effect is only temporary, because it only lasts for so many ball hits.
Paddle Nerf: This “item” you might wanna watch out and avoid. Masquerading as the magenta gem, it reduces the size of your paddle, making it harder to hit balls! But don’t worry; it’s effect is also only temporary. Hopefully, you can last long enough for it to wear off!
But I was thinking, maybe there can be some sort of other benefit while this effect is in active. Since it does create an extra challenge, you will gain bonus points for breaking bricks when your paddle is nerfed. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
So that should be it for the items. I don’t plan on adding any more, but if have anything good, let me know, and I’ll consider it.
So next are the oh so important sound effects. Time to give this game some personality!
I’ve been busy working on a bunch more effects to add to Brickout, and got the functionality for six more of them in the engine. Without further ado…
Saver
This item is represented by the blue crystal. When you collect it, a bridge of blocks will form underneath you. These bricks can save you by keeping you from losing a ball. But! (there’s always a “but”)… each brick can only be used once, and the bridge only lasts a short time.
Blitz Ball
Powered by the red crystal, this increases the size of your ball, allowing it to pummel straight through blocks! It only lasts a short time though, but you can do some serious damage with this. I can’t wait to polish up this son of a gun later on!
Bonus Points
What would an action game be without having a way to gain some bonus points? The cyan-colored crystal allows you to do just that. When you collect the first one, you earn an additional 500 points. With each successive crystal you earn, you’ll get an additional 500 added onto it. So 500, 1000, 1500, etc. It caps at 5000, and if you lose a life, it starts over at 500. I plan on allowing you to be able gain an extra life when you earn so many points on your score, so there’s an extra incentive to get lots of points!
Color Match
Similar to the Color Blast item, this one, powered by the light-blue crystal, allows yo to clear may bricks at once. However, this gem works a little differently. When collected, it affects the next ball that you hit. When that ball hits a brick, it clears all the bricks on the board of the same color. The effect can only be used once per gem.
Extra Ball (Life)
Another classic feature of most action games is the ability to gain extra lives. I already hinted there will be a way to do so by scoring points, but with this orange crystal, you gain an extra life immediately when you collect it.
New Ball
Last but definitely not least, is this purple gem. When you collect this, it introduces a new ball into play. Now you’ve got zany task of juggling two (or more) balls! If you miss one of them, you won’t lose any lives until you’ve lost all of them. If you’re good at this (as you can see, I suck at this shit), you can clear boards quickly. I might also add extra points functions here too, where the more balls you can juggle, the more points you get.
So that’s it for now. I’m almost done with the items; I have two or three more to add. Once they’re all in, I’ll start working on additional levels, adding sound effects, UI and polish. Takes a lot to make a fully-functional, polished game.
A new item has been added to Brickout. This item is called the “Color Blast”, and to get it you need to collect the purple gem.
What this item does it it will remove the bricks with the most common color. For example, in the demo video below, when the Color Blast gem is collected, it removes all the green bricks, because there are more green bricks than any other color of brick on the board.
This item was fairly easy to implement using the current code engine I’ve already built.
