Buckball game (WIP)

[Feather Data 131]

Sure, I would like a buckball game

[Time Shield 402]

I know I haven't posted to this in a while, but I have completed a playable test version of the game.  There still aren't any graphics, just the placeholders as I had before, but I'd like to get some feedback as to the game and the controls.  You can use keyboard and controller, or two controllers (this is the preferable way to play).  After the controller select screen, it plays a normal game of Buckball (first team to 6 points wins).  The download link is here:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/msehr4m6lkg74y2/buckball_test.zip?dl=0

 

Feedback appreciated!  I'm also still looking for someone to do graphics for it.  Please let me know if you're able to help me with it.  Thanks!

[Time Shield 402]

Has anyone had a chance to try it yet?  I'd really appreciate some feedback.

[Time Shield 402]

I just updated the test build with an AI that plays pretty decently.  It's still meant to be played as a 2-player game, but it can be tested single-player now.  Feedback appreciated.

*EDIT*  Made some more tweaks to the AI and the way the pegasi hit the balls back to the earth ponies.  Seems to be better now.  Still hoping I can get some feedback though.

*EDIT EDIT*  The latest version allows you to set your teammates (the pegasus and unicorn) to be controlled by the AI instead of controlled by you directly, allowing you to focus on controlling just the earth pony.  This makes it easier to practice the earth pony's controls, but the AI is not that great.  Once you've got the earth pony's movements mastered, it's a good idea to turn this off so that you can have full control over your team.  I also fixed it so that when the game is over (one team reaches 6 points), it immediately goes back to the menu screen now.  Before, it would stop during the final replay and wait for you to hit escape, which was kind of confusing.  Anyway, same download link.  Feedback appreciated!

Edited February 20, 2017 by Time Shield

[Time Shield 402]

I was trying to see if I could get online play to work, but I'm having difficulty with it.  I might have to forget about it for now.

 

I could really use some feedback on the current version though...

[Time Shield 402]

Made a video showing the gameplay in the current test build:

 

 

The first post was updated with both the video and the link to download the test build.  Feedback appreciated!

[Time Shield 402]

Still looking for feedback, and especially looking for help with graphics!

[Dsiak 4]

I tried to play with by brother (p1 and p2) but the commands configurations didn't allow (more on that later) so I went single player at first.
 
(Played for about 40m)
 
Overall I found it difficult to control all 3 at once, but I can see myself doing it after a little practice (I'm used to micro management)
 
I had a high miss rate with the jump buck
    moderate hit with the heavy buck
    light buck landed most if not all the time
whoever I believe most of those misses are due to the lack of a good depth perception rather than faulty collision.
 
The speed the ball is going was ideal for me, it was slow enough so I could switch my focus but not so slow to make it boring, same goes for the speed of the players.
 
Then I had my brother play for around 15 minutes
 
He could not control 3 at once at all (he is not used to micro management)
    high miss rate with jump buck and heavy buck
    most of his light bucks landed
He felt as if the players where moving too slow, and the ball was going out to much because of that
 
And then, finally, we played together in the same keyboard (2 rounds) in the same team, I was controlling the defender and the assistant and he was controlling the attacker, it was really fun! Because of that I really think you should implement optimized support for 2 players on the same team, possibly even 3! I bet having a 3 vs 3 will be really fun! controlling then individually is quite simple so anyone can pick up and play.
 
About being unable to play p1 vs p2 was due to the fact you can't select keyboard for both teams and we don't have a joystick. I think that's worth fixing, this game will really shine in multilayer so gotta have all crazy ways to bind keys

[Time Shield 402]

On 3/21/2017 at 10:10 AM, Dsiak said:

I tried to play with by brother (p1 and p2) but the commands configurations didn't allow (more on that later) so I went single player at first.
 
(Played for about 40m)
 
Overall I found it difficult to control all 3 at once, but I can see myself doing it after a little practice (I'm used to micro management)
 
I had a high miss rate with the jump buck
    moderate hit with the heavy buck
    light buck landed most if not all the time
whoever I believe most of those misses are due to the lack of a good depth perception rather than faulty collision.
 
The speed the ball is going was ideal for me, it was slow enough so I could switch my focus but not so slow to make it boring, same goes for the speed of the players.
 
Then I had my brother play for around 15 minutes
 
He could not control 3 at once at all (he is not used to micro management)
    high miss rate with jump buck and heavy buck
    most of his light bucks landed
He felt as if the players where moving too slow, and the ball was going out to much because of that
 
And then, finally, we played together in the same keyboard (2 rounds) in the same team, I was controlling the defender and the assistant and he was controlling the attacker, it was really fun! Because of that I really think you should implement optimized support for 2 players on the same team, possibly even 3! I bet having a 3 vs 3 will be really fun! controlling then individually is quite simple so anyone can pick up and play.
 
About being unable to play p1 vs p2 was due to the fact you can't select keyboard for both teams and we don't have a joystick. I think that's worth fixing, this game will really shine in multilayer so gotta have all crazy ways to bind keys

Great feedback!  Having people crowded around the same keyboard gets pretty difficult, but if I can get online play to work, I would definitely look into 2v2 or 3v3.

If it helps, the shadow shows the actual location of the ball and each pony.  If you pay close attention to them, it will be much easier to line up shots and blocks.

[Pestylense 5]

One thing I think to make it better in the future once the graphics are figured out would be two things.

• Different characters - Stats and Such to create a variety of play styles.
• Controller Capability - Many people just love their USB controllers.

Not sure what language you are using but these are things to consider for future versions as well.

[Time Shield 402]

1 hour ago, Pestylense said:

One thing I think to make it better in the future once the graphics are figured out would be two things.

• Different characters - Stats and Such to create a variety of play styles.
• Controller Capability - Many people just love their USB controllers.

Not sure what language you are using but these are things to consider for future versions as well.

I still don't have anyone to help me with graphics.  I do plan to have multiple characters and/or customizable ones with different stats.

Controller support is already in the game though; just try out the demo to see.

[PacificGreen 1,163]

This is cool! Great to see you've made progress on it!