My blogging has been rather slow for the last few weeks. I have a number of small posts lined up for publishing but haven't had the time to finish any of them. Thankfully it hasn't just been laziness - I have actually been doing something.
I've been making a game in Adobe Flash.
The Reason
I decided to make the game when I saw a game development competition over on Jayisgames.com. I've read the site for the last couple of years and have seen all of the dev competitions they have held. Unfortunately the themes didn't interest me and the deadlines were too short - however this time they had a cool theme (ball physics) and 2 months to make the game in. I decided to try out.
The prize for the competition is a full version of Flash CS3 and $2500, but there were other reasons for entering. I have wanted to create a flash game for Binary Sun for some time now, and having the competition as well meant an extra impetus to push me on to actually finishing something. I also wanted to try promoting a flash game - and now have one to promote. I haven't started the promotion yet as I am still tweaking things but hopefully I will make a start in the next week or two.
The Game
Trying to come up with a concept was quite a challenge. Playing the other games in the competition I am amazed at the creativity on show. A lot of the entries take ball physics in directions I never would have considered. Being the literal person I am, I decided to approach the concept head on and go for a traditional approach.
To me the obvious game for ball physics was pool or snooker, this would have plenty of ball interaction and bouncey goodness - however it wouldn't be particularly original, so I tried to think of things that would evolve the game. In the end I came up with a concept that involves removing (dropping down pits/ popping) red balls from irregularly shaped arenas. Add in some areas that affect the physics of the ball (conveyor belts and ice) and you have the potential for some reasonably creative gameplay.
It took me all of the two months available to develop the game - in particular towards the deadline. Thankfully my girlfriend was very supportive - even helping test the game and give suggestions for improvements (thanks a lot Jo - you're the best 
).
The finished product
Now that the game is complete and the entries handed over I have uploaded it to my games website where you can play it.
The short time frame focused me on getting a finished product out of the door, but I have loads of ideas on how Roll could be enhanced to become a more complete experience.
I'm now waiting to find out if I have actually won anything or not. I don't want to sound big headed but in my opinion (and from the entries I have seen) Roll is approaching the top tier... but there are a few I think may be better, so I now have to hope the judges like what I created.
It would be great if you could have a play and let me know what you think.
7 Responses to “Roll – Flash Game” Leave a reply ›
That is damn fun. I've just had a go at work (sssh dont tell anyone), that early 'one thousand' conveyor belt level threw me off
Great fun, best puzzle game I've played in a while, I'll delve deeper into it later on.
Itsa good job, eh!
Definitely needs an option to turn the music / sound off. Fun though.
Great game. Thoroughly enjoyed playing it. It'd be nice if it had the music/sound on/off option (didn't really think about it because I just lowered the volume on my speakers), but all in all it's a greatly addicting game. Reminds me of a pool game I had once for Nintendo where you could determine the level of gravity on the board. Playing with zero-G was fun, though you never really got past the first round. (The balls never stopped!)
Wow - thanks for the kind words - I'm glad you all like it
A mute button is something I plan to add, the competition included a wrapper that had a mute button inside so it wasn't important then.
Thanks again
Awesome game! I'm really impressed, it's pretty addictive.
Awsome game .... specially very good physics for a flash game , still playing it ... it's getting tooo harder now
btw what was the name of the song that runs in the background .... , nice song , can you tell me or mail me the name of that song ??...