Balls! by Codexus
"Balls!" is a 3d physics-based puzzle/platform game. Its minimalistic gameplay: just push the balls into the goals!
There are 8 levels and I hope you will enjoy playing them all. It was made solo in 72h. Unity webplayer required for the web versions, be patient the game is 24MB.
Controls: WASD, Mouse, Spacebar
Tips:
- Jumping on top of the ball is a good way to move it away from walls
- I took care to make sure you shouldn't get stuck anywhere but if necessary or just to save time you can reset a level by pressing ESC and selecting the option in the menu.
If you have a slow machine select the low quality version, without the image effects and stuff... T__T
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Timelapse video: http://youtu.be/ZBgcY7k5tXU
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Since this is a jam entry I think it's only fair to let you know about my creation process so that you can rate accordingly. I mostly created all the assets and code during the jam but I used content generators a lot to speed up the process.
Code: created during the jam, copy/paste limited to a few lines at a time from the documentation and my past entries.
Models: Entirely made during the jam, the character is sculpted in ZBrush , textured by hand, and animated in Blender. The rest is modeled in Modo. The only exception is the tree that was generated with Unity's Tree Generator (using default settings)
Textures: made with texture generators, some from scratch other using presets. Additionally two textures from a textures site (grass and butterfly). Skybox generated in Vue.
Music: Midi file procedurally generated with Band-in-a-Box, then taken into Reason where I arranged it a bit to make it sound better. The sound effects were made in Reason using various instruments.
Misc: I used an explosion effect that comes with Unity for the exploding ball.
I think that covers it all.
There are 8 levels and I hope you will enjoy playing them all. It was made solo in 72h. Unity webplayer required for the web versions, be patient the game is 24MB.
Controls: WASD, Mouse, Spacebar
Tips:
- Jumping on top of the ball is a good way to move it away from walls
- I took care to make sure you shouldn't get stuck anywhere but if necessary or just to save time you can reset a level by pressing ESC and selecting the option in the menu.
If you have a slow machine select the low quality version, without the image effects and stuff... T__T
---
Timelapse video: http://youtu.be/ZBgcY7k5tXU
---
Since this is a jam entry I think it's only fair to let you know about my creation process so that you can rate accordingly. I mostly created all the assets and code during the jam but I used content generators a lot to speed up the process.
Code: created during the jam, copy/paste limited to a few lines at a time from the documentation and my past entries.
Models: Entirely made during the jam, the character is sculpted in ZBrush , textured by hand, and animated in Blender. The rest is modeled in Modo. The only exception is the tree that was generated with Unity's Tree Generator (using default settings)
Textures: made with texture generators, some from scratch other using presets. Additionally two textures from a textures site (grass and butterfly). Skybox generated in Vue.
Music: Midi file procedurally generated with Band-in-a-Box, then taken into Reason where I arranged it a bit to make it sound better. The sound effects were made in Reason using various instruments.
Misc: I used an explosion effect that comes with Unity for the exploding ball.
I think that covers it all.
| Windows | http://www.codexus.com/misc/ld26/balls/balls_win32.zip |
| OS/X | http://www.codexus.com/misc/ld26/balls/balls_osx.zip |
| Linux | http://www.codexus.com/misc/ld26/balls/balls_linux.zip |
| Unity Web (High quality) | http://www.codexus.com/misc/ld26/balls/balls.html |
| Unity Web (Low quality) | http://www.codexus.com/misc/ld26/balls/balls_lofi.html |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=187 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 59% | 3 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.67 | 75 |
| Audio(Jam) | 3.88 | 40 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.06 | 208 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 4.60 | 8 |
| Humor(Jam) | 1.94 | 325 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 2.58 | 390 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.69 | 66 |
| Theme(Jam) | 2.68 | 454 |
Got stuck at the level with the switch. Never had enough time to go back before the bridge goes down :/
PS: sorry gave you bad rating for the theme...
I had so much problem controlling the character and also if you push the ball on a slope you have the tendancy of walking over it. Pretty frustrating.
But! I finished the game anyway (:
So, to conclude this wall of text :), really nice work on the graphics and sounds, great mood! The gameplay is promising but could do with some tweaking. Awesome work!
Loved the button/elevator level and the final downhill level the most :-)
It looks gorgeous, has neat puzzles and very soothing music.
Its such a nice atmosphere, I love all the assets and the particle celebration on the end of the level. Really awesome, well done.
Just one thing to improve for me : the camera moves too fast with my computer, have you think to make it speed independant from framerates?
The audio track is lovely. Good sound effects as well.
Overall mood and atmosphere are really good. Good job on there.
The level where you have to press the yellow button is interesting. I like the level design. On the same 'yellow-button' level I had some trouble jumping on blocks. Had to do several tries since I kept falling due to unresponsive controls. Maybe a bit of input lag on my end, I don't know.
On the next level it was tricky to get the explosion thing but I managed to beat it after 4 tries or so.
... the difficulty ramps up a bit each new level and after quite a while I managed to beat the game. Pretty fun.
One last note: controls are quite OK. Only if you stand by the ramp the character slowly moves. She doesn't stand in place.
Handling the ball was sometimes a pain though.
Spent ages on the level with the switch trying to roll the ball at the bridge then pressing the button, before I realised you can jump.
it's a very simple concept but executed in a great way - I enjoyed it
Make the character put out her (his?) hands to guide the ball (and actually do provide somewhat more control) and I'd probably like this a lot better.
Nice work! Love the level-design. It loops optically interesting, and the ramping-up of the difficulty is well done.
The target-particle-effect is also quite nice.
Besides that bug it was the best 3D Ludum Game I've played so far, by a long shot!
This game has an awesome mood and the level cleared effect + audio makes completing a level very satisfying.
I liked the idea, though there was very little minimalism. I think you can add more levels with this mechanics.