[Game Development] Hoop Flick #5–More Polish

A few minutes ago, I read my old Hoop Flick posts and watched the videos. The game has come a long way since then, I thought, and I felt a little proud.

Make no mistake, the game is very far from an actual release, but just seeing how much it had grown in the past 2+ weeks makes me feel optimistic about it.

My last post was 5 days ago and I reported the biggest update so far to the game. I went right back to work after that and tweaked a few things, added a few features, and even introduced the tutorial.



The current build, labeled 0.0.7 is finally done. At this point, I believe the core gameplay is complete (unless I think of new things), and the only thing left to do is to polish, polish, and polish.


Version History
There are two more things I would like to add, but don’t have an idea yet on how to implement:

1. A second special shot (will be discussed in detail later)
2. Credits

0.0.5a added a LOT of features. It allowed the player to navigate the game, tweak attributes, earn points, and save!

0.0.6a was cosmetic in nature. I redid the player’s avatar (no customizability yet, sorry) as well as his teammate. I also added the Arena stage. But the biggest change in this version was the addition of Special Shots.

Special Shots
When you shoot a Money Ball, or sometimes (10% of the time) when you make any Perfect Shot, you earn a Special Shot point.

You can use these to perform Special Shots, which are unblockable. Right now, the only special shot is the Fadeaway, but I’m hoping to add a second one later on (I can’t think of any right now).

To perform a Fadeaway, one has to swipe in almost the same manner as a regular shot, but to the left. Technically, all the game will do is multiply the x-velocity by –1 (flip it to the right), but it will also have special effects and a unique animation, and again, is unblockable.

Model Changes
The Player’s avatar was modified to now wear light colors (white and blue). He also now wears a head band, and has spiky hair. I didn’t do it on purpose, but he now kind of looks like a cartoon version of Sendo (Slam Dunk).

His teammate was changed as well to reflect the new team uniform. He’s also bigger now, which means he’s more effective at putting back missed shots (but is also more of a hindrance sometimes).

Speaking of bigger, the defenders grow bigger at later stages of the game. Watch out!

I also changed the animation for the ghost ball, aka acrobatic shot. It now glows and produces a distinct “magical” sound to let the player know that it can pass through defenders.

The ball becomes a ghost ball when shot via the fadeaway.

A swishing sound was also added, and it is triggered when the player makes a Perfect Shot.

Finally, the Arena stage was added in 0.0.6a. The Arena houses a relatively huge crowd that tries to distract you by waving their hands. I find it a bit harder than the Gym venue, but is definitely more lively.

Here’s the Arena venue in action, as well as most features I mentioned so far:

Version 0.0.6 Alpha

0.0.7 alpha
For 0.0.7, I added a tutorial. When starting the game for the first time, the player has to go through the tutorial first, which is easy and short.

Afterwards, the tutorial is never shown again, unless the player resets the game completely.

The tutorial needs a few more polish, but is definitely functional and comprehensive, in my opinion.

Next
As I said, up next would be just continued polishing. Hopefully I can find a way to get better sprites and sound effects, but overall I’m satisfied with the gameplay as it is right now.

Some features I would love to see someday but have zero knowledge at the moment are: multiplayer, online leaderboards, and social integration. Wow, that’s intimidating just to think about. Well, baby steps.