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Geek Culture / Fat Ball - Anyone want to help Alpha test?

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Fallout
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Posted: 8th May 2011 18:16 Edited at: 8th May 2011 18:17
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I've stuck a build of my game Fat Ball online for some Alpha testing. Anyone here with an Android device interested in giving me some feedback? I know there is only a small Android community here, but I thought it worth an ask.

Fat Ball is basically an ice football game, where you control a wayward rotund guy in a chaotic attempt to score goals. Currently it's soundless, and only the core game is there with simple AI, but it's playable. I need feedback on how it displays/performs on different devices, and how you find the touch screen controls.

Download here: Fat Ball (1.6MB APK)

Controls are simple. Tap the screen to face that location. Hold down on the screen to start running. Score more goals than the stupid AI opponent.

An old screeny (ignore the broken timer. It now works):


Me demonstrating some stuff in the development blog:


For those who don't know, to install an APK:
(1) Plug in your phone and transfer it to the root of the SD Card
(2) Download a program like Easy Installer from the Android market.
(3) Run that bad boy and install the game.

Hit HOME to exit the game when time is up and restart.

Thanks in advance for anyone interested in giving me feedback.


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cmando
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Posted: 8th May 2011 18:30
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Looks great but I have an iPhone Sorry
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Quik
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Posted: 8th May 2011 18:55
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darn my android broke a while back =/ it was also a pretty old one so x)

looks like fun anyway


[Q]uik, Quiker than most
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RedneckRambo
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Posted: 8th May 2011 19:54
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It might get a little confusing with the players both being the exact same... Perhaps one should be wearing a blue jacket just avoid confusion.

My droid broke otherwise I would love to test it.

AKA Jenkins
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Fallout
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Posted: 8th May 2011 20:07
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Damn guys, stop breaking your phones!

Quote: "It might get a little confusing with the players both being the exact same... Perhaps one should be wearing a blue jacket just avoid confusion"


Yep, the finished game will have a whole host of characters to choose from, from Santa Claus to some fat old goblin. But there's only one in there at the moment, which I agree is a bit confusing.

Fix your droids!

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TheComet
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Posted: 8th May 2011 21:07
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In my opinion the game speed is a little too slow I don't have a droid, but an old Sony Ericsson w300i... I'm really old fashioned, I know

Pretty nice though, I'll keep an eye on this

TheComet

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DJ Almix
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Posted: 8th May 2011 21:15
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Quote: "In my opinion the game speed is a little too slow I don't have a droid, but an old Sony Ericsson w300i... I'm really old fashioned, I know

Pretty nice though, I'll keep an eye on this

TheComet"


I have to ask,

how is that possible?

The Sony Ericsson w300i is like a super cheap cellphone that doesn't even run Android?

Ill test this on my LG Ally soon

[center]
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SH4773R
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Posted: 8th May 2011 21:20
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I'v got a non-broken Droid 2, Looks like a great game DL'ing now...


My software never has bugs, it just develops random features.
C4: silly putty for men.
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Nickydude
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Posted: 9th May 2011 01:55
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I've also go a non-broken droid phone, I'll give it a test in the next couple of days.

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Grog Grueslayer
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Posted: 9th May 2011 09:24
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It plays good but I didn't hear any sound at all. I was so bad at playing (couldn't get any goals) that the computer made a goal for me so I wouldn't feel bad I guess.

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DJ Almix
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Posted: 9th May 2011 09:26
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It's slow

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Fallout
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Posted: 9th May 2011 09:42
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Thanks for checking it out guys.

Quote: "I'v got a non-broken Droid 2, Looks like a great game DL'ing now..."


Any luck Commico?

Quote: "I've also go a non-broken droid phone, I'll give it a test in the next couple of days. "


Cheers bud. That'd be most helpful.

Quote: "It plays good but I didn't hear any sound at all. I was so bad at playing (couldn't get any goals) that the computer made a goal for me so I wouldn't feel bad I guess."


Yep, there's no sound yet in this early alpha version. The sound will actually be key to making it fun. There will be lots of back chat from the players.

As for finding it hard, it is difficult, but if it's so difficult you didn't (a) enjoy it, or (b) feel yourself slowly improving, then I need to do something about it. Did you feel you were getting the hang of it?

Quote: "It's slow"


Do you mean gameplay speed, or frame rate?

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SH4773R
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Posted: 9th May 2011 10:12
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It stops responding after the coach head dissapears for me :/


My software never has bugs, it just develops random features.
C4: silly putty for men.
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Fallout
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Posted: 9th May 2011 10:54 Edited at: 9th May 2011 12:04
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Quote: "It stops responding after the coach head dissapears for me :/"


That's not good. Thanks for trying. Does it hang, crash or does the touch screen just not work? And what phone/OS version do you have?

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Nickydude
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Posted: 9th May 2011 17:05
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I've had a go and here are my thoughts:

The graphics fit the game very well, can't fault them.

I found the control quite difficult, I seemed to be whizzing around not really getting near to the ball. The only time I scored is when the computer player knocked it into his own goal.

To me it seems that by the time the player has enough speed to move towards the ball, the ball is somewhere else and it's an effort to then slow down and head in the right direction (by which time the ball has moved somewhere else!)

Overall, although I did like the game I just ended up sliding about not really getting near the ball. Perhaps with practice I'd get the hang of it but be careful you don't put players off right at the beginning. May be tighten up the acceleration / friction for the first few games, making it more slippy after the player has got the hang of it.

I did like it though, honest.

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Grog Grueslayer
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Posted: 9th May 2011 18:32
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Quote: "As for finding it hard, it is difficult, but if it's so difficult you didn't (a) enjoy it, or (b) feel yourself slowly improving, then I need to do something about it. Did you feel you were getting the hang of it?"


It's about the same as Nickydude posted. It took me too long to get to the ball and the computer seems to be on ice skates because it goes so fast compared to the user.

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Fallout
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Posted: 9th May 2011 19:38
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Ok, thanks for that guys. When you get the hang of it, you can start getting some good control in, and the computer player is exactly the same (uses the same movement code, but just with an AI control layer on top).

If it's tricky, I'll add a beginner mode then, with reduced sliding (more friction) and some other tweaks. I think that's a good idea. I could even change the pitch graphic to a concrete court vs an ice court.

Thanks chaps. Any feedback from anyone else would be appreciated to!

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Jimmy
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Posted: 10th May 2011 13:13
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Runs like a dream on my Droid. Love the graphicals, too.

In regards to the controller, I find that my thumb gets in the way sometimes, particularly when the ball goes into a corner. One solution could be to offset the camera a little more as the ball approaches the corners, so the player's thumb can rest more easily outside the playing surface. Also, have you considered using an on-screen analog stick? I'm not sure if it would be better, but I'd be interested in seeing if it makes a difference with playability.

Other than that, the only thing I found is that after the post-goal replay (which is nicely done, I might add) the clock ticks down about 15 seconds in the blink of an eye. The same thing happens when the game first starts, too, about 4 seconds. It may not seem like much, but we all know every second counts in Fat Ball


May 10th / Jerico2day-OBese87 / VOTE
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Fallout
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Posted: 10th May 2011 17:14 Edited at: 10th May 2011 17:17
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Thanks Jimmy. Yep, I'd spotted that timer bug. That'd really suck if you had 10 seconds left to equalize but when you kicked off again, you were out of time! So it's on the fix list.

I think you're right about both controller issues too. I can offset the camera scroll as far as I want, but I'll just have to enlarge the off pitch graphics so it doesn't scroll into blackness.

As for the idea about the analogue stick, that was my first approach, but Van B (I think, could've been Benjamin) made a good point that using analogue sticks on a touch screen is counter intuitive. What's the point of using a simulated keypad when you can use a more natural method. However, I think for this game it may actually make more sense to have a d-pad, or analogue movement.

I might provide 3 different control mechanisms for people to play with.
- Run to where you touch
- Multi-direction analogue (Run in the direction you press on the analogue stick)
- Up, left, right d-pad, to turn left and right and run forwards.

Then the user can use whatever the hell he wants!

Thanks for your feedback mate. Very helpful.

Edit:
Directions to take from the helpful feedback of you guys ...
- Implement "Simple" and "Expert" modes. Expert is what you see now and simple has less slide, and quicker response to input.
- Implement more control mechanisms so people can use what suits them best.

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