A pretty small update in the scale of the game as a whole, but significant enough that I wanted to mention it here.
* The screen will now shake for about a half a second whenever you die in the game to give more impact to dying and your game being over.
* The screen will also shake, but much smaller less vigorous shakes whenever you get hit but are protected by shields you have picked up. This smaller shake definitely helps to make sure you know that having shields saved your butt! ..I think that adding the screen shake definitely helps add impact to the game, and I hope you like it as well when you play!
* 5 new Steam achievements have also been added in this update, making the total now 12. These achievements this time are all about gooping up the balls, so be sure you grab that goop when you see it!
Thanks for viewing!
Sincerely,
ZaxtorGameS ... (Solo Indie Game Developer)
UPDATE 1.03 - First 7 Steam Achievements!
Just a small update in Update 1.03...
I added the first 7 of many expected Steam achievements to the game. With that, I did decide to encrypt the saved file that contains your stats so that people couldn't just change the notepad file to give themselves super easy Steam achievements by changing their save file. With this, I had to reset everyones stats saved so far to the new encrypted save file system I used. So everyones stats will be reset as of today going forward, sorry for any inconvenience there.
I also doubled the number of caught ball reactions and changed the code so that you won't see any two reactions in a row be the same word(s) as the previous one. This should add a little more variety to what you see on the screen assuming you have reactions set to "on" in the game options.
That's it for this update. Expect more to come and I hope you are enjoying my budget mouse driven game!
Sincerely,
ZaxtorGameS .. (Solo Indie Game Developer)
UPDATE 1.02 - New Purple Chompers Are Hungry and In The Game Now!
"Chompers" are here... and after YOU!
Starting once you hit level 3, all new purple and hungry "chompers" will enter your game and try to get in your "personal space"!
They are in the game now, and I'm sure they will be changed just a little over the next couple of updates to balance and blend them perfectly into the game.
Yes! The ball goop will help slow them down, and YES, the sword will quickly slice them to pieces!
But they definitely add a little more challenge to the game once they have their hungry hearts set on you as a feast!
Enjoy!
Sincerely,
ZaxtorGameS .. (Solo Indie Game Developer)
UPDATE 1.01 - Small Fixes
Just a few tweaks in this update..
* After scoring far too many points in a game where I only got to level 7 (nearly 200,000 points), I reduced the point value of cut enemy calls while using the sword to 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500 for levels 1 through 9 respectively. The maximum points per cut enemy ball is now 2,500 points and that is maxed out at level 9 now. It's not that 200k total points was too many, it was just "too many points" for cutting balls at such a low level so I've deleted just my high score from that game and made this change.
* Made sure that the shurikens don't enter the screen right as the "Level Complete" is seen on the screen when there are no enemy balls in play
* The shields when picked up adds +50 to your shields level. The shields bar on the top left UI now shows your shield level from 0 to 100. The shields will be green if you have any shielding to protect you from shurikens and enemy balls and it will be orange if you have no shielding protection. (This previously only showed up to 50 shielding on the UI bar but you could have up to 150 shields which might have caused some confusion)
* Cutting enemy balls with the sword has been fine tuned and should be easier now with this update. Remember to keep your player still or moving at a slow speed for the sword mechanics to work best. (If you are moving too quickly by an enemy ball, the auto targeting and sword swinging mechanics will not have time to work)
* Enemy balls will now start at a faster speed every level you advance as in Update 1.0 but also the enemy balls will speed up just a little faster every new level you advance as well.
* You'll now only see reactions to catching blue balls (such as "kick ass" and "awesome" etc) on the screen if you catch a blue ball before it bounces off the edge or moves off the screen (assuming you have the reactions set to "on" in the game options as well)
* Fixed an issue that started the game at level 4 instead of level 1, an unintended testing variable setting when the changes in update 1.0 were being made.
* Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause the level not to advance if all of the enemy balls were destroyed on a level.
* Fixed the collision hit box on your player ball when shields were equipped that would cause balls to bounce off your star shield emblem rather then your actual ball outline.
That's it for this update!
Thanks for reading and playing my game!
Sincerely,
ZaxtorGameS ... (Solo Indie Game Developer)
UPDATE 1.0 - A Better Scoring System Is In.. And Here For Testing...
This update changes the scoring system to be much more dynamic..
Each level, once enough enemies (reddish balls) are killed (by either your sword or shurikens), catching the blue ball will be worth a minimal point value. The number of enemies remaining that changes this scoring system for catching blue balls will be a little different each level (randomly decided) to keep it more unpredictable. This is to keep players from exploiting the game and just catching blue balls with only one or two enemy balls left on the screen to score "easy" points with little risk.
In this update, the score you get for collecting each blue ball is now much more based on the speed of the blue ball you catch than yesterdays launch day version of the game.
Also, the more times the ball escapes or bounces off the edge, the less points it will be worth, approximately half every time you miss it before it escapes the screen or bounces off of the edge of the screen.
You'll also notice that your current level magnifies the score for catching blue balls significantly. So now the points you get is mostly based on your current level, how long it takes you to catch the each blue ball, and its current speed when you snag it.
The slicing enemy balls with your sword score has also been changed to reward you much more based on your current level. The slicing an enemy score on level 1 is worth 100 points and that doubles for each sequential level, up to a maximum of 5,000 points per enemy sliced at level 7 and up.
The goop scoring has been left unchanged and will still help slow the enemy balls down as well as scoring you a few extra points.
* Please note that because I haven't tested this game with many players as of this launch, the scoring system and this game may change at any time. I also reserve the right to clear insane high scores that may be a result of implementing these new scoring formulas. In a week or so, I should be confident enough in the scoring system where I will not need to advise that "more changes and possible high score resets could come". ..Thank you for understanding.
OTHER CHANGES:
- Some of the sound effects have been changed to give the game a better feel overall.
- The starting speed of all enemy balls increases slightly every level you advance.
- The high score and stats screen now has a "Play Again" button to allow you to immediately jump right back into another game quicker and easier.
..I hope you are enjoying this simple but challenging little game. =)
Sincerely,
ZaxtorGameS .. (Solo Indie Game Developer)
Balls Mania! ..Is Finally Live!
Balls Mania after sitting on my back burner for almost two full years has finally gotten the love it needs to be a game I'm happy to launch at only 99 cents (USD).
This was always intended to be a simple but challenging little 100% mouse driven game. It's a completely unique game as well that I think might be a little different than any other indie game you've ever played.
Because of its simplistic design and the desire to make a game that delivers an easy-to-understand and difficult to master quick play games, I full expect it to not be everybodys 'cup of tea'.
If you play this game and have any ideas on little ideas you think could make it a better game or more fun, please feel free to comment those thoughts below! ..Actually, please feel free and give me any thoughts you have about this game with a comment below! ..I'd love to know what you think!
I hope you enjoy the game and happy gaming gamers!
Sincerely,
ZaxtorGameS .. {Solo Indie Game Developer)
Balls Mania Launch Delayed.. Until It's "Ready"
As much as I hate to postpone the launch of my new 100% mouse controlled high action ball catching, ball smashing, and ball dodging game, I simply need more time.
I'm not happy with it plain and simple. I want to make sure that I deliver not only a game that 'works' but also a game that I, myself, find 'fun' to play. ...If I'm not happy with it, then how can I expect people who buy my game to love it?
I do hope to have "Balls Mania" in a state ready to launch in days rather than weeks, but in the end.. I want to make sure I'm delivering a game that I feel confident in and that I am happy with.
