JUN
20
Bonesaw: The Game
Game Features:
I’m going to attempt to go through all the features that I can think of that really make the game what it is. Although, you’ll notice that a lot of these features are heavily inspired from the Kirby platform games.
Complete Custom Platform Engine
When developing some of my older projects which still need to be finished, I made platform engines that relied on fast loops to move the player. While this made for a solid platform engine for the player, enemies and other objects could not use the same engine. I needed a way to make an engine that could be applied to a group of objects, and when I wanted an object to be a part of the platform engine all I would have to do is add it to the specified group. I ended up making an engine that uses fake fast loops and is able to move all the objects based on an array of values for each object.
This all may sound pretty boring if you don’t know about MMF and other ClickTeam products, but this allows for a really good feeling game. One of the best things to come out of this is the ability to now push objects around in the game, while keeping them bound to the platform engine rules. For example, when you punch an enemy or uppercut an enemy, you actually apply a force to that enemy, and they’ll go flying in the air or flying back depending on how you hit them. This is a feat that not many MMF platformers can achieve.
Puzzle Elements
The levels need to be interesting to keep the player playing the game, and more importantly to keep me wanting to make more. I added in a number of puzzle elements to the levels to try and keep things interesting and challenging to the player.
First is the whole switches and doors element. I noticed that in Kirby that they use a lot of puzzles that involve the player hitting a switch, and either finding the door they opened, or having to rush to a door near by to get under it before it closes. They also do some clever things like put switches in odd locations so that you have to use a certain power up to hit them to make it to the corresponding door fast enough. I wanted to do something like this in the Bonesaw game, so expect to find some levels with some switches and door puzzles.
The next would be bomb chain blocks. If you played Kirby, you should know what I’m talking about. Bomb chain blocks are a series of seemingly normal obstacles that are connected, and somewhere in that chain is a block that has a little bomb icon on it. When the player strikes the bomb block, a series of explosions runs through the chain of bomb blocks, affecting them in some way. Some blocks are invisible, and stay invisible, and only serve the purpose of connecting sets of other bomb blocks. Other bomb blocks start out as obstacles and are destroyed as a result of the explosion, and other blocks are invisible and are created as a result of the explosions.
So imagine if you had an area you needed to reach but the jump was too far away. There may be a set of bomb chain blocks that you could activate that would either knock down a wall, or create a set of platforms for you to use. This really adds to the level of interactivity that a player feels when playing through the level. The level is sort of changing in front of them, and they have to adjust to these changes.
The third would be a puzzle element that I came up with on accident. With my newfound awesome platform engine, I thought it would be cool just to make a bouncing ball that I could knock around. I ended up creating this ball, and just bouncing it through the test engine level for awhile, and it was a lot more fun than I thought. I was spending more time seeing if I could carry the ball from one end of the level to the other, than I was testing the game. I decided that this would end up being a pretty good puzzle element.
The basic ball puzzle would work in a pretty simple way. The player would be presented with a bouncing ball, and they would have to carry it to a pedestal by punching it, kicking it, or hitting it with a weapon. It sounds pretty simple, but imagine if you had to take the ball across a large level filled with tall cliffs, high jumps, and enemies galore. Now it sounds like a challenge.
All of these elements add a lot to the game, and I think it’s something that has been lacking in my previous attempts at making a video game. Puzzle elements add a level of interactivity to each stage of the game and make the player think more, rather than just have them hold right and occasionally press attack every now and then. If a level in a game is just static with no interactivity, then it becomes boring pretty quick, not only for the player but also for the developer.
I’m going to attempt to go through all the features that I can think of that really make the game what it is. Although, you’ll notice that a lot of these features are heavily inspired from the Kirby platform games.
Complete Custom Platform Engine
When developing some of my older projects which still need to be finished, I made platform engines that relied on fast loops to move the player. While this made for a solid platform engine for the player, enemies and other objects could not use the same engine. I needed a way to make an engine that could be applied to a group of objects, and when I wanted an object to be a part of the platform engine all I would have to do is add it to the specified group. I ended up making an engine that uses fake fast loops and is able to move all the objects based on an array of values for each object.
This all may sound pretty boring if you don’t know about MMF and other ClickTeam products, but this allows for a really good feeling game. One of the best things to come out of this is the ability to now push objects around in the game, while keeping them bound to the platform engine rules. For example, when you punch an enemy or uppercut an enemy, you actually apply a force to that enemy, and they’ll go flying in the air or flying back depending on how you hit them. This is a feat that not many MMF platformers can achieve.
Puzzle Elements
The levels need to be interesting to keep the player playing the game, and more importantly to keep me wanting to make more. I added in a number of puzzle elements to the levels to try and keep things interesting and challenging to the player.
First is the whole switches and doors element. I noticed that in Kirby that they use a lot of puzzles that involve the player hitting a switch, and either finding the door they opened, or having to rush to a door near by to get under it before it closes. They also do some clever things like put switches in odd locations so that you have to use a certain power up to hit them to make it to the corresponding door fast enough. I wanted to do something like this in the Bonesaw game, so expect to find some levels with some switches and door puzzles.
The next would be bomb chain blocks. If you played Kirby, you should know what I’m talking about. Bomb chain blocks are a series of seemingly normal obstacles that are connected, and somewhere in that chain is a block that has a little bomb icon on it. When the player strikes the bomb block, a series of explosions runs through the chain of bomb blocks, affecting them in some way. Some blocks are invisible, and stay invisible, and only serve the purpose of connecting sets of other bomb blocks. Other bomb blocks start out as obstacles and are destroyed as a result of the explosion, and other blocks are invisible and are created as a result of the explosions.
So imagine if you had an area you needed to reach but the jump was too far away. There may be a set of bomb chain blocks that you could activate that would either knock down a wall, or create a set of platforms for you to use. This really adds to the level of interactivity that a player feels when playing through the level. The level is sort of changing in front of them, and they have to adjust to these changes.
The third would be a puzzle element that I came up with on accident. With my newfound awesome platform engine, I thought it would be cool just to make a bouncing ball that I could knock around. I ended up creating this ball, and just bouncing it through the test engine level for awhile, and it was a lot more fun than I thought. I was spending more time seeing if I could carry the ball from one end of the level to the other, than I was testing the game. I decided that this would end up being a pretty good puzzle element.
The basic ball puzzle would work in a pretty simple way. The player would be presented with a bouncing ball, and they would have to carry it to a pedestal by punching it, kicking it, or hitting it with a weapon. It sounds pretty simple, but imagine if you had to take the ball across a large level filled with tall cliffs, high jumps, and enemies galore. Now it sounds like a challenge.
All of these elements add a lot to the game, and I think it’s something that has been lacking in my previous attempts at making a video game. Puzzle elements add a level of interactivity to each stage of the game and make the player think more, rather than just have them hold right and occasionally press attack every now and then. If a level in a game is just static with no interactivity, then it becomes boring pretty quick, not only for the player but also for the developer.
