Between the Bubbles - a game concept

Hello,


I was thinking some time about non-violent concept for thinBASIC game, and I was also tempted to make game which is controlled via single button (changed in V2).

I have made spaceships killing each other, robots killing each other and many more, but I wanted to create something more "meditative" - more slow paced, with no destruction or shooting involved.

I also wanted to try approach, when the core gameplay will be prepared before any media (graphics or sound) will be integrated.

Simply to see, if it has some potential.


So - I started working on new game called "Between the Bubbles".

The current form is really a very early work :D

Playful aspects
The bubbles are source of energy, but also a source of direction change - what you need more at the moment, energy, or current orientation?

The bubbles can also be used as "taxi" - high energy bubbles move faster and can get you from one place to another.

Player can burst the bubles in case he is not careful enough.

How to try the game?
Simply download the BetweenTheBubblesV5 ZIP archive, extract and run BetweenTheBubbles.tBasic.

The player is represented by the bug, and the bubbles by the circles.

Currently, you may explore the movement, how to survive longest, how to collect most energy. Otherwise, you cannot "win" the game yet.

Development
The game is developed on GitHub:
https://github.com/petrSchreiber/BetweenTheBubbles-tb

...but the builds, discussion about the design and technical topics stays safely here, at thinBasic forum.

DirectuX kindly joined the development :drink:

Have fun and let me know, if it runs okay on your PCs :)
Petr

Attachment 10026Attachment 10023Attachment 10024Attachment 10025

Petr, this is excellent!
I like the idea, it makes me think of a mix between drift (1993) Attachment 10022 and Osmos.

It runs okay on my PC. :)

Thank you very much for trying :) I think it will be fun!

Coding something in TBGL after longer time helped me to open eyes and see how inconsistent the design is :p I need to clean it up a bit...


Petr

Thank you Petr
the 2D games and demos have appealing . i have spent countless hours before many many years trying to solve the Dos game called ssa or ancient empires https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN_Ces6y1pg .
after a while i saw a kid reached the final stage in which the bonus price is to fly over the pyramids (i think so). that was with the computer XT with CPU 8088 . the same situation with prince of persia version 1 for Dos and even i still remember the cheat "princemegahit" to have super power.
now i'm too old.

Wow Petr great concept!
And quite complicated to go on, not easy at all.

My mind started to think about improvements :D:D
First of all timing to count time you are able to resist. Even though game concept is random ... timing will challenge to resist more.

Source code if fully using OOP concepts :wizard:

Added 4 images to your first post.
I cannot stop playing :)
...and thinking

Imagine also the game in 3D with bubbles being planets and triangle a space ship trusting in 3D with zooming on the path.
Stop stop stop :)

Experimented with more than 100 bubbles sized up to 250 of energy
Attachment 10028

:)

This is fun read, thanks all!

Eros - your idea with goal is intersecting with my evil plans.

I have the following goal scenarios in my mind:
- "try to survive at least X seconds" - quite good to master the basic principle
- "try to reach X level of energy" - ho ho hoo, things get complicated!
- "try to survive AND catch a golden fish, moving through the scene" - now you need to care both about you and object in scene
- "try to survive AND catch a golden fish, while avoiding enemies!" - this is the toughest I could come up with

I will try to work on these next week and once ready, at least something, I will update the first post.


Petr

Hi,
as it comes to ideas, here's my (little) contribution :
playability may benefit from

• an in-situ visual feedback of the energy stock
• use of easing instead of infinite acceleration / deceleration
• variability in the rotation (it's always counter-clockwise and slow , it's a bit frustrating)

and gameplay from perks to collect by example for a laser pointer effect, an harpoon to catch bubbles, a bubble-magnet :p ...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ErosOlmi

My mind started to think about improvements :D:D
First of all timing to count time you are able to resist. Even though game concept is random ... timing will challenge to resist more.

---

timing... and an hall of fame :evil5:

DirectuX,

thanks a lot for the ideas, I like them all.

Currently, the triangle becomes green once it has 100% energy, but the red-green shift is very subtle and unobservable.

I have some ideas I will try to implement.

Could you please explain more about the "easing"? I am not sure I follow/understand precisely.


Petr

Hi,

"easing" as here : https://easings.net/

In (real) life, changes are progressive, thereby, games implementing this behaviour are easier on the eye.

Examples : full speed is attained after acceleration, stop is preceded by deceleration (unless you hit a wall...:shock31:).
One can extend this to bubble drainage (can speed up quickly) or power consumption (can slow down at the very end), you can stick and bounce a little when touching the bubble, and so forth.

for 100% power, it can also be a flare burst, a little flashing, and a sound, but I meant something more granular, especially toward the low end of the gauge :shock26:
maybe a flagella that shorten ?