Nifflas' Support Forum
Released Games => Knytt Underground => Pre-release topics => Topic started by: Nifflas on November 11, 2010, 23:38:03
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I've not decided for sure if I'll do ball materials, but in case I do, I could use ideas :D What ball materials would you like to see?
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Maybe reuse some ball materials from WaDF2? That way they would actually get into a proper game, like the electric ball, magnetic ball and hover ball?
I suppose a glass ball would be anyone's thrill...
If you're looking for new materials, then I would aim for certain abilities, like:
- floatation on water surfaces;
- helium filled that will be unable to move in downwards direction, so once you select this, you will rise and rise... like a balloon;
- momentum ball - has little movement abilities, but once you hit jump or perhaps even the slow button, it will not respond to your controls. instead it will continue moving into whichever direction it moves until you release the button, or perhaps to give it an element of gameplay, once you hit a wall it also stops.
- ball(s) that becomes solid to certain lightbeams, but anything else goes through it. This could be a great puzzle element like in Utopioca (http://niffpage.greywool.com/files/Maps/WithinADeepForest/Utopioca%20(Yoga).png)
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It'd be really cool to see a cornstarch and water ball. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU&feature=related)
Cornstarch mixed with water (a non-newtonian fluid) acts like a liquid when sitting still but becomes firm when pressure is applied to it. This would be pretty cool in some situations, like jumping around and then sitting still on a conveyor-belt so the ball melts and slips under a low wall. Or, the ball could rest on top of a narrow crack, become a liquid and pour down through it, then continue out on the other side.
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I think threre could be something like magnetic ball in mobile game called Magnetic Joe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQxWw3S-pXI).
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I'm pretty sure the magnetic ball from Operator Status will be back, that's one of the ones I liked most, though that one was more similar to a typical grappling hook!
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Many of the balls from WaDF 2 offered plenty of gameplay possibilities. That "jetpack" ball and both magnetic ones were extremely interesting.
Another possibility would perhaps be a Gish-like ball, unable to jump but with the ability to stick to walls and travel on ceilings. This might overlap a bit with the Knytt character, though...
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?Pathetic Ball?
As in a ball that's a really bad ball...until a certain requirement is fulfilled! :O
Also, I'm thinking that the Jetpack ball couldn't really be like the flying ball in WaDF1, but more like the Booster 0.5/2.0 in Cave Story. Just putting that out there ;)
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?Pathetic Ball?
As in a ball that's a really bad ball...until a certain requirement is fulfilled! :O
There was one of those in WaDF. I hated it. :<
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?Pathetic Ball?
As in a ball that's a really bad ball...until a certain requirement is fulfilled! :O
There was one of those in WaDF. I hated it. :<
As far as my knowledge is, the pathetic ball in WaDF never became good. It became USEFUL, but never GOOD. I'm talking about that same ball that becomes good later.
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I just had a sort of crazy idea: Instead of having two magnetic balls, have only one ball that changes its charge with every bounce. I can see this being used in specific challenges, where crumbling platforms would force you to perfect a series of repel and attract maneuvers.
If not applied to the charge, I still think that this ball material shifting between two properties, sort of like a yin-yang ball can have a potential for some interesting challenges.
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Reversed gravity ball, perhaps?
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I'm seeing the gravity-shifting mechanic more as applied to levers and switches, in a #mas2 fashion.
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Ah, sorry, I won't be doing that.
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Some sort of ball that can hover or glide in some way.
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I just had a sort of crazy idea: Instead of having two magnetic balls, have only one ball that changes its charge with every bounce. I can see this being used in specific challenges, where crumbling platforms would force you to perfect a series of repel and attract maneuvers.
If not applied to the charge, I still think that this ball material shifting between two properties, sort of like a yin-yang ball can have a potential for some interesting challenges.
I've got a great name for it too.
Nightmare Ball. :C
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Hmm.. A different kind of Glass Ball, which bends lasers?
Could be useful for puzzles?
Also, Water Ball? Becomes a liquid when in other liquids, allowing for swimming?
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I like that glass ball idea. Add laser-sensitive switches and you've got loads of puzzle possibilities.
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A mirror ball sounds great to me, but how would you position it precisely with all the bouncing?
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Nice question... S key stops the ball?
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Probably the same as in WaDF? Just hold A or something?
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My mistake, that's what I meant. x)
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Thanks for your suggestions :) The ball and knytt powers are determined now!
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What about a kind of "mini" ball? Just in case it is not too much work to change the size of the ball from the programming point of view. Well, a ball that is able to pass narrow areas. Or enemies which are not able to recognize this ball type.
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Actually, I better tell you so nobody gets disappointed later; I ended up choosing not to use ball materials. It worked very nicely from a puzzle point of view in WaDF, but it doesn't work that well in a more "open" game world like this. Basically, a game have something of a will on it's own, and sometime I need to go a different direction that I originally planned because the game needs it. I decided that instead of achieving complexity through the ability to change between powers, I wanted complexity by a single movement type with more depth. If the hook in WaDF were the ball materials, the hook in this game is how you can make a certain move where you chain uses of both characters to get the right momentum to reach a specific place. It's probably a little bit harder to learn, but it is very satisfying when you get the hang of it.
In either case, even though you get a ball movement, don't expect everything from WaDF, this is still a new game that plays very differently. What you can expect for sure is a huge non-linear world with a lot of variation and atmosphere, and more exploration than in any of my previous games.
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I loved the ball materials in WaDF, but what you're saying about the needs of the game makes a lot of sense. If combining the movements of the two characters is a major element, then those movements changing due to different materials would make things feel inconsistent and haphazard.
Also, more exploration than previous games? Is that even possible? :D