[LD35] Boomerang Pong

FanieG

WebGL build:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/187819585/Boomerang%20Pong/index.html

So this was my first LD. Knowing that I would not have the entire weekend to work on it, I decided to keep the idea really small. This is the result of about 5 hours jam time. I have a game loop, but spent absolutely no time on juice or sound.

As the name suggests. It's pong with a boomerang. Every time you hit the boomerang, your paddle changes shape (lame attempt to stick to the theme). Unlike pong, it is basically impossible to get the ball to go where you want. The goal is more to just keep it out of your goal. So the goal is more on defence than attack.

Had a lot of ideas that did not make it in due to time contstaints.

As always any feedback would be appreciated.

Zaphire

I would say maybe change the boomerang to a ball. Then the shapes will be awesome if it affects the way that the ball gets bounced off (angle it hits the shape).

The movement definitely needs to be more responsive as at the moment it feels delayed.

Don't have much time to respond as my brain is fried building our own LD35 project and still working on it at the moment :D

FanieG

I would say maybe change the boomerang to a ball. Then the shapes will be awesome if it affects the way that the ball gets bounced off (angle it hits the shape).

@Zaphire - thanks for trying. That is how I had it initially, but it was SOOOO pong cloney, that I felt I needed to mix it up some more - hence the boomerang. The game is best enjoyed as a 2 player experience though, which makes for some good laughs if the thing you just hit, circles around back to your own goal. Very much doubt that I will be spending any more time on this. Did learn a few things from the experience, which is always a plus.

Can't wait to try everyone's entries

Fengol

What's the URL to your LD entry?

Ross

Haha I love the Game plan! I thought of doing something similar for my game and now I'm regretting it after seeing how much it helped in yours. It's always so challenging trying to find a way to communicate the game rules...
Fengol I found it here

Fengol

Thanks @Ross, finally got to vote for it

SUGBOERIE

Had a quick playthrough with a friend. It's an interesting concept. I can see it make for some quirky fun moments. The controls aren't as responsive as they should be for this type of game. I didn't feel like the collision shapes were the same as the shape you were. Made it a bit finicky to "try" aim shots. The boomerang has a circle collider, right? And it's rotating is purely aesthetic?

FanieG

@SUGBOERIE no it has a box collider (stretched to be a rectangle) and it is really rotating. The shapes have colliders that represent the shape, but I truly can't figure out why they all behave the same way (making it seem that the shape does not really matter). It could be the way I am playing with the boomerangs physics. There are triggers around the field, that changes the direction of the rotation and mess around with the velocity and direction on the boomerang. I have no plans to take the game any further. It was just a fun mess around. It was my first LD and I wanted to make something really simple, as I knew I would not have the entire weekend to work on it. Thanks for trying though. Much appreciated.

francoisvn

Interesting idea. The fact that it's basically impossible to predict the boomerang's movement does make it a bit random, but you could maybe offset that by adding a trail, so you get a better idea of the typical range of movement.

I'd like to see if you could bring the shape of the player more into the mechanic somehow. Can't think of a good way right now tho.

Fengol