Bottoms up! - Follow the development of a game

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Skomakar'n
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Bottoms up! - Follow the development of a game

Post by Skomakar'n »

Hello, everyone. I have whipped together a little game for New Year's Eve, and I had to sacrifice a lot of sleep to get it done by today, but it will have to have been worth it, because here it is, done and dandy.
My friend Erik made the music and all of the sound effects. At the moment, six levels are available, and we're planning on creating more of them during the upcoming weeks, since all there is to it, when it comes to getting new levels in there, is to drop the levels into the subfolder data/, and the game will automatically recognise that they're there, if you restart it.

Image

I uploaded a nine minute long preview of the demo of the game to YouTube, so that we also have something to show to people who might not feel like downloading the demo before seeing the game in motion.

Image

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzM39SAPIPQ

Download the demo: http://operaroyale.com/bottomsUp.html
Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bottoms-u ... 247?ref=ts
Twitter account: http://twitter.com/#!/BottomsUpDevlog

Windows: BottomsUpWindows.zip
OS X (Mac): BottomsUpMac.zip
Linux (64 bit): BottomsUpLinux64.zip
Linux (32 bit): BottomsUpLinux32.zip
It is New Year's Eve, and it is getting close to midnight. Charles did not know what he was getting himself into, when he bought the biggest bottle of champagne in town; even bigger than himself. In the wrong end of town, with a long way to drag this giant to reach his friend to ring in the new year and spread the champagne, he realises that he is out of luck, and that he will never be able to get there before the clock strikes twelve. Unless... He figures that it would be worth to let some of the fluid get spilled, were he only able to show up with some of it on time, and determines that he will use the pressure in the bottle to let the foam quickly take him all the way that he has to travel to get a happy, new year.
Since this all revolves around taking the bottle from one end of town to the other, it's all about shooting the bottle from A to B (in the form of yellow signs with red arrows, that are clearly marked with a big, bouncy, white arrow) through the levels, and along the way, there are things that can either help you, or make you miserable.

The player is given the opportunity to choose the strength and angle of the shots, as the bottle is launched away, but there are a few things that will cause some trouble, as there is a certain limit for each level, regarding the amount of shots that are allowed. Were one to just waste them all, one would of course run out of champagne, and Charles would neither reach his destination nor be able to hand his friends a drink, even if he did, and thus he has chosen to make sure to carefully pick when to launch the bottle, and think a little before he shoots away, so that he can arrive with as little spilled fluid as possible. Something else that is working against the player, is the midnight drawing nearer, and therefore every level has a time limit; were Charles to spend too much time in each part of town, he wouldn't be able to arrive on time. Thus, there are two main things to keep track of; time and amount.

If one were to fail the task of finishing a level, one simply starts over, in that very same level. One can fail either by using all of the shots without reaching the goal, or because of time running out, or by dying by falling into a chimney. There is also a button available to reset the level at any time desired.

Controls

The mouse is used to choose the direction of the shots (which is determined by the angle of the line between the mouse and the bottle, which is visible in the game as long as the left mouse button is held down). The force of the shot is determined by the distance between the mouse and the bottle (the length of the line between them).

The Escape key pauses the game and shows a few options.

The game automatically saves every new unlocked level, new records and all of the modified settings.
Last edited by Skomakar'n on Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:04 am, edited 4 times in total.
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by finlay »

Skomakar'n wrote:Hello, everyone. I have whipped together a little game for New Year's Eve, and I had to sacrifice a lot of sleep to get it done by today
You mean, a day late? :P

I might try it another time, seeing as you've done a mac version. I think I might try and go to bed for now though.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Soap »

It looks cute. What program did you use to make it? I've been interested in making small platform games for a while but none of the free engines I've found are that great and while I'd be willing to pay for a good one I want to make sure it really is the best choice before I do.
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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

finlay wrote:
Skomakar'n wrote:Hello, everyone. I have whipped together a little game for New Year's Eve, and I had to sacrifice a lot of sleep to get it done by today
You mean, a day late? :P
Yeah. We figured nobody would be around to play it on New Year's Eve anyway.
Soap wrote:It looks cute. What program did you use to make it? I've been interested in making small platform games for a while but none of the free engines I've found are that great and while I'd be willing to pay for a good one I want to make sure it really is the best choice before I do.
I would have been fine with just a terminal, but I've been using a couple of different programs to edit stuff. The graphics are made in GIMP. The game itself is all C++ and another system for the levels, and I've used Code::Blocks (my favourite IDE, but it's too buggy in OS X, so I only use it in Linux), Eclipse (when writing code on the Mac), Xcode (when compiling the final product for Mac; I've used the terminal a lot to compile for my own computer only), GCC (compiling for UNIX), MinGW (compiling for windows), gedit (editing levels) and the terminal to automate a few things for me.
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Soap »

Ah, not a game engine then, so it's definitely beyond my skill level for now. Thanks though.
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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Bristel »

Wow, I tried playing it, and it may just be me, but I found it challenging... I didn't even make it to the 3rd level...

It seems like it takes a lot of planning to play each level.
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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

Bristel wrote:Wow, I tried playing it, and it may just be me, but I found it challenging... I didn't even make it to the 3rd level...

It seems like it takes a lot of planning to play each level.
I'm surprised so many had trouble with the second level...

It takes three shot to make it. Or use them all or four of them to get to the hidden easter egg goal with a bronze or silver medal, if you just want to unlock the third level. If you can find it (the level is really small, so just shoot away in different directions to explore it, and you will probably find it)~
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Zapcon »

Great game Sko! its pretty difficult but i made it through most of the levels... keep up the good work
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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

Zapcon wrote:Great game Sko! its pretty difficult but i made it through most of the levels... keep up the good work
Ευχαριστώ!
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Zapcon »

Παρακαλώ!! haha and i dont know much Greek, im trying to get my friend to teach me more and stuff, but i know some!
Legion wrote:[triangular slavery] > [african polyrythms] + [western folk music] (+ (sometimes) [western art music]) = [biggest explosion in diversity since the Cambrian]

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

Zapcon wrote:Παρακαλώ!! haha and i dont know much Greek, im trying to get my friend to teach me more and stuff, but i know some!
Me neither. I haven't had that much time to study lately either, partly because of this project.

I'd love for more of you to play this and give me your opinions.

Oh, and we've gotten ourselves a Facebook fan page now as well:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bottoms-u ... 247?ref=ts
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Zapcon »

ill tell some kids around school to go play it so you might have more people playing it. and ill tell them to give me feed back so i can post it on here for you!
Legion wrote:[triangular slavery] > [african polyrythms] + [western folk music] (+ (sometimes) [western art music]) = [biggest explosion in diversity since the Cambrian]

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

Zapcon wrote:ill tell some kids around school to go play it so you might have more people playing it. and ill tell them to give me feed back so i can post it on here for you!
I'd appreciate this a lot! Thank you!
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by finlay »

aw, cunt, you wrote an intel only program or something.

this is why i hate apple

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

finlay wrote:aw, cunt, you wrote an intel only program or something.

this is why i hate apple
I'll see if I can compile a different version.
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

There we go. See if you can run this:

http://www.operaroyale.com/BottomsUp/Bo ... Global.zip
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Chuma »

Very nice! I totally fail at it, but it's a fun idea.

I used to make a lot of little games like that with some game creator I had for Windows, but now I have a mac, and there's no mac version of it. I know a bit of Java, but I don't know any modules that would be useful, and I don't know if I can be bothered with Java anyway. I usually code in Perl, but for some reason my computer refuses to install any modules for that, so I can't do graphics. So then I'm stuck in CGI hell, and my internet provider doesn't want to give me a static IP address, so I can't even let anyone else play the games I make. Bleh.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

Chuma wrote:Very nice! I totally fail at it, but it's a fun idea.

I used to make a lot of little games like that with some game creator I had for Windows, but now I have a mac, and there's no mac version of it. I know a bit of Java, but I don't know any modules that would be useful, and I don't know if I can be bothered with Java anyway. I usually code in Perl, but for some reason my computer refuses to install any modules for that, so I can't do graphics. So then I'm stuck in CGI hell, and my internet provider doesn't want to give me a static IP address, so I can't even let anyone else play the games I make. Bleh.
Thank you!

I guess options for Java could be things like the standard AWT, or something like JOGL.
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

Hello! I have a bunch of new announcements to make, for anybody interested in reading them.

Facebook group.
Twitter for small updates more often.

Fun with the level editor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEcRTTCF3FM


The last few months have been devoted to making the level editor, which is a crucial tool for Erik to help me build levels, and for me to be able to do so without a lot of time and tears wasted. I don't want to find out that a level design doesn't work out after I've spent several hours carefully placing everything by hand-written numbers in the level files. Using the editor, which is almost at version 1.0 now, and definitely usable, we can have our concepts up and running within minutes.

Image

The initial interface, as seen in the image above, that one is faced with as soon as the editor is booted up, is the one where tools can be selected for the current level, and settings can be changed. There are also buttons for the creation, playtesting and saving of levels, and clicking Load/organise leads to a different subscreen, where the order of the levels can be changed, and saved levels can be loaded or deleted.

Image

The image above is the actual editing mode, which can be entered by pressing tab from the tool selection screen. Everything is easily placed using the mouse, and operations available include selecting objects, moving them around, deleting them, copying and pasting them, and a lot more. To the left, there is a toolbar containing buttons, all with tooltips, for most of the vital actions, which all also have hotkeys on the keyboard. To the right, there is a scrolling listbox containing every object in the level.

Image

Above, we can see one of the newest, and greatest, additions to the program; zooming. Being able to zoom out in order to uncover more of the level and getting a better overview of it, is extremely handy, and makes it a lot easier to work with big obstacles, like houses or scaffoldings.

Image

The above image is one of two little sketches I made while staying the weekend in a cabin in the woods just outside of Oslo in Norway. It's a concept for the level selection screen for the iPhone/iPod Touch (and thus possibly Android) version of the game, where one can flip between the levels using a finger.

Image

Finally, the character as seen in the demo does not look the way we imagined him when we set out to make the game, but we didn't have the time to draw and animate any sprite for the final character by the time the demo was supposed to be released, so we created the little, pink placeholder one that can be seen in the demo, and the screenshot in the main post of this thread. Above is a quick and dirty sketch of the Charles we really imagined when we first started working on the game.

Image

Last night, I actually had a go at creating the sprite for the real Charles, and this is what I ended up with. I am pleased with it myself, but it seems some people still want the pink blob to stay. I'd love to get some feedback as to which one you'd like to see in the final game. We are definitely planning on putting the demo Charles in the game as some kind of Easter egg no matter what, though, and as a suggestion not completely unserious, I even made this:

Image

Would this work out?

Any replies would make me happy!
Last edited by Skomakar'n on Tue May 03, 2011 4:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by finlay »

Finally tried your 6 levels. Quite fun. :)

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

finlay wrote:Finally tried your 6 levels. Quite fun. :)
Oh, you unlocked them all. Well done, and thanks!
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by finlay »

Definitely needs more, though, and maybe a bit more of an explanation of what the hell to do. At the moment it feels like a demo.

Are you going to release a sort of fuller version in time for 2012? ;) (I mean, I assume so after all the talk about level editors, lol)

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

finlay wrote:Definitely needs more, though, and maybe a bit more of an explanation of what the hell to do. At the moment it feels like a demo.
That's because it is a demo, haha. We are indeed going to put some kind of explanation or tutorial in there before we release the final version.
finlay wrote:Are you going to release a sort of fuller version in time for 2012? ;) (I mean, I assume so after all the talk about level editors, lol)
We're aiming for a release some time this summer.
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by finlay »

Skomakar'n wrote:
finlay wrote:Definitely needs more, though, and maybe a bit more of an explanation of what the hell to do. At the moment it feels like a demo.
That's because it is a demo, haha. We are indeed going to put some kind of explanation or tutorial in there before we release the final version.
finlay wrote:Are you going to release a sort of fuller version in time for 2012? ;) (I mean, I assume so after all the talk about level editors, lol)
We're aiming for a release some time this summer.
But isn't it a game for New year time?

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Re: Bottoms up! - We made a computer game for New Year's Eve

Post by Skomakar'n »

finlay wrote:
Skomakar'n wrote:
finlay wrote:Definitely needs more, though, and maybe a bit more of an explanation of what the hell to do. At the moment it feels like a demo.
That's because it is a demo, haha. We are indeed going to put some kind of explanation or tutorial in there before we release the final version.
finlay wrote:Are you going to release a sort of fuller version in time for 2012? ;) (I mean, I assume so after all the talk about level editors, lol)
We're aiming for a release some time this summer.
But isn't it a game for New year time?
That's the theme, but we obviously want sales any time of the year, heh.
Online dictionary for my conlang Vanga: http://royalrailway.com/tungumaalMiin/Vanga/

#undef FEMALE

I'd love for you to try my game out! Here's the forum thread about it:
http://zbb.spinnwebe.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36688

Of an Ernst'ian one.

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