Bricky Part 2

Here is the continuation of the description and thoughts of the gameplay in my game called Bricky. We've seen the first 4 test levels, and today I will only cover one level, as the concept of the boulders is quite complicated. That will make an end (for now at least) to this game.

Overview

Test Level 5 includes boulders, these grey balls that can be moved, just like boulders in a puzzle game can be pushed by the player. I'm actually playing Zelda Phantom Hourglass so I guess this is where my idea came from, even if it is a common feature in a lot of puzzle games.

Gameplay


Gameplay of Test Level 5

First, let's see the electric fields. They are simply electric lines coming out from the grey + object in the middle. The ball is destroyed if it touches one of it. The only way to pass through it is to use a boulder.

The boulders are "complicated" movable objects. To move one boulder, the ball has to touch it. If the ball touches from the left, then the ball will get "inside" the boulder, the boulder will move one position left, and finally the ball will get out of the boulder to the left. They can be placed on holes, which will make them appear out of the other corresponding hole (boulders placed on Hole A will move to Hole B, and those on Hole B will move to Hole A).

What seems to be something quite simple gets more complicated. First, if the boulder is close to a wall, and the ball is going in the boulder facing the wall, then the ball is going to get thrown into the wall. This is logical with our idea, yet it makes the level design really hard. For example, you can't bring a boulder close to the level borders, as you would be thrown in the border by doing so. A small trick needs to be done, which can be seen in the video, and it is actually a real pain to include this every time.

Then, to pass through an electric field, the boulder has to be located either under the electric line, or right next to it. Like we've just seen, this causes a problem has it is quite hard to move a boulder next to an object that will destroy the ball, like the electric field.

When multiple boulders are next to another, the ball will get inside every of them and only the last one in the series will move. This adds an interesting part to the game, yet it is hard to design and make use of it.


Level 5

Reflexions

The electric field is quite boring in my opinion, but I was just trying to make the start of a series of them (which I did in my childhood). For example, I wanted to make a line that is vertical and turns to be horizontal when a switch is pressed (and vice-versa). This could lead to an interesting level design, as many switches can be placed and you can progress from one zone to another.

After some thought, boulders are an interesting idea but I didn't manage to make it fun. Yet a simple solution would be to make the ball bounce when pushing a block. That way, the border/wall problem would be solved. It would make it much easier for the level design too, as you don't need two blocks to move a boulder, but only one (as you'll be bounced back on it). This idea won't allow multiple boulders lined up, or at least there won't be anything interesting with it (or maybe it could make move all of them, or only the last one?)

Yet these boulders are quite boring in my opinion. Their only use is to pass through electric fields. Maybe if there were some enemies it could block them (but again, what for?) I could also use the boulders to block the electric field, and let the player pass next to it, and this seems to work better with my new idea of the ball bouncing on the boulders than with my previous one shown in the video.

Future Additions

In addition to the modifications previously noted, a lot of new objects could be added to this game.

Enemies: Numerous enemies can be added, such as one that bounces from left to right and another one from top to bottom. Then we could have one that moves close to a wall and always circles around it (always turns right or always left). Something could be throwing "arrows", that could be stopped by the boulders.

Electric fields: As mentioned before, these could come in different forms and come with switches that would turn them.

Moving Robot: There could be some kind of machine (robot) that when the ball is in, it stays in and then you control the robot. So instead of throwing the ball with the four directions, it would move the robot from one position. To get out of the robot, simply walk on a block, the robot will stay where it is (as the robot can't move on blocks) and the ball will get inside the block.

Multiple balls: There could be some kind of object that separates the ball into two, and therefore make it two different balls. And both would be moved at the same time, so if you press up, then both balls are going to go up. For example, if one ball is already in a block and the other one is still moving, then you can quickly make the first one move and you don't have to wait for both. It makes both strategy and action at the same time, which is really good. The dividing object could only work when there is one ball (to allow a maximum of two), and to lose one it would only need to be thrown on a wall or something.

This is all that comes in my mind right now, yet I think it is pretty easy to find much more ideas. With too many new objects, one could decide which ones are the best suitable for a particular audience, throw away the other ones, and then make a game out of it. Because having too many objects makes it confusing for the player, he will stop playing after some time, which is not what a designer wants.

Conclusion

That's it for this game, I might go back to it if I have some interest, but for now I want to try creating a new one, more action oriented, that you will see quite soon!