Bouncy Snake

20211126.1049

Compared to my last project Bouncy Snake is not abandonware. Saw a few issues when Sean played the game and tried to fix them.

Patchnotes available here: https://marthtv.itch.io/bouncy-snake/devlog/318302/update-103

20211117.2106

Did some final changes mostly UI stuff that was a bit buggy or too small.

And I put it on itch.io and added it as a GameJam submission Link here: https://marthtv.itch.io/bouncy-snake

It doesn’t have everything I wanted to do but most of it.

This project has come a long way and changed so much form the initial idea I had. Also this is probably the most complete Unity project I have ever done and I learned a lot about features and how to approach things.

Will take a break now since I also have a lot of work to do in other things but there will be another game project.

There is also a small chance that Bouncy Snake will get some updates in the future.

I feel kinda proud of getting this far since almost all of my game projects ended in disappointment and frustration because I was giving up. And I really hope I can build on that in the future.

20211116.2319

Update part 2:

I made my first build and the first problems showed with my scene management and UI scaling. Already solved the first one. The second will be a bit more annoying.

And I did tweak some game settings and believe they were positive ones after a few test rounds.

20211116.2236

Finally got to another round of working on my project. And I made solid progress

Leaderboards are now also finished. They aren’t pretty but they work. I even got different ones for single and multiplayer.

This leaves me with only some tweaking of settings and a main theme, which isn’t all that important. So project will meet the game jam deadline!

20211113.0212

Second update for today:

Leaderboards now get recorded and saved. Now I only have the annoying part of making it display in UI.

20211113.0039

I am basically done. All that is left is small gameplay tweaks.

I still have leaderboards and music on my to-do list but those are not a must have.

But I finished all of the UI work today.

20211112.0006

IT’S WORKING!

Local multiplayer is now a feature as you can see.

Overall I added/improved a lot today. Level selection is active and works for single and multiplayer. I learned additional stuff about handling objects and scripts. Fixed a lot of issues and rewrote a bit of code.

Multiplayer scoreboard and complete leaderboards are still missing. Also a main theme is still something I want to do. Other than that I only need some minor UI work.

20211110.2310

Alright another day of UI and menu work.

But I am getting towards my target. The UI is almost completely set up and quite a bit of code behind it also exists.

The big part up next: A new GameHandler that manages two-player mode. And yes local multiplayer will be happening. My game design should work for it, most of the setup has been done and I have a pretty clear plan in my head how to implement it all.

Then I have to connect the new handler to the setup and we should be all set. The only thing that is left after that is some kind of record keeping. And of course double and triple checking everything.

20211109.2249

I brought the gifs back to showcase this. Because the amount of time I spent to get this working like this is laughable. I tried 3 different methods and had issues with everyone of them but I finally got it fixed.

…

And as I am writing this I finally understand why it didn’t work the first time. Me being stupid was the issue of course. I tried to assign the GameObjects via code, but it is very likely that the game did not find the correct one because by now I have 5 different scenes with objects that share the same name. Well at least a lesson was learned.

Edit: Switching this menu with the keyboard now also works.

20211108.2303

ITS BEEN FIVE DAYS ALREADY?!

Unproductive phases go by so much faster than productive ones. I was busy with some other stuff but a lot of me not working on the project was just laziness.

Well to get back on track I did some more menu work to create a level-select screen. Most of it is done. Only needs a highlight for the current selection.

Logic for this is no issue. But I pretty much need to create separate leaderboards next. At least I am getting somewhere again.

20211103.2359

Today I created some alternative playing boards. Functionality for choosing them will follow tomorrow I think.

20211103.0439

Only a small update today.

I tried to work on a main theme but got nowhere so far. I have some concepts in mind but this will take a while

Added a few optimizations to have smooth scene transition without reference errors.

And I may have started on a possible two player mode… But after first evaluation that would need a lot more work to get done because the basic game has not been made with that in mind. Needs uncoupling of logic and controls first. Maybe putting that on the “later” pile.

20211102.0204

I hit a occasional physics bug that is a bit annoying. Not sure if I should leave it in there or not.

UI got small optimizations today and I changed things for a new gamemode.

And I added the first sound effects. Blips and boops can now be heard.

Also the ingame timer now ends the game after running out and you get your final score. This means a lot of menu work is done. There are still things missing but most of them are extras.

20211101.0212

Managed to put in a solid amount of work today. Lots of things got changed and added but none of them are gif-worthy

Main menu got expanded, mostly in functions.

Ingame pausing now works for most but not all things.

The game can now track scores and also has a time limit.

20211031.0220

Edit: The new control model showcase

Days are flying by fast. I took some time today to overhaul and expand on the controls. The InputSystem of Unity gave me a few issues but I learned how it works and can now get on with it.

My goal is to give the player a bit more control over the Snake. Hope it turns out as expected.

20211028.0320

Yes its 3 am but my vacation started so I have an excuse for my bad sleep schedule. 😅 Anyways the last week has been quiet and today I have been working on some menus and ui stuff. So no pictures or gifs this time.

But the work is important since this will be the first time I try to create extensive, functioning and solid menus for a project.

20211020.2222

Finally got it working. Took a few tries but the Snake is now growing correctly in length and behavior. And you can also get some of the craziness that ensues while playing this game.

20211019.2243

BouncySnake has reached playable status. I took some lessons I learned form a previous failed project and implemented the newer Unity InputSystem and now controls are working via Keyboard or Controller and some more options are planned.

Overall I am doing surprisingly well at coding this with a solid base that can be expanded upon and also allows for different game modes and modifiers. Obviously I am far from done but we are getting close to a MVP.

20211019.2200

20211018.2140

After some hard days I am finally back. And I have created madness. There is still a lot of tuning ahead but I think I like the basics atm.

20211013.2218

While my project did not change much today I did work on the idea and basic concept. And that means a renaming is in order.

Project Gravity Snake is going to become Project Bouncy Snake 😁

20211012.2214

Did some changes. While I do find this funny I struggle to make anything useful out of it for the game itself.

Edit: On second thought I maybe can use this in a way… more on that later.

20211012.1056 |||

Sadly haven’t made any progress on the project since the last update but want to get back to it tonight.

20211003.2150

I fixed the quality issue of my gifs a bit and did some work. As you can see the snake is not tired anymore. Instead it has become a Beyblade. It also has working collisions and eats food (if it manages to get to some…)

20211002.2332

Still tired but still working. Also now I have a gif. Food now spawns and despawns on its own and even has a color change as its nearing the expiry date. Just disregard the snake at the bottom, its just kinda tired.

20211001.2305

Today I had a lot of heavy work so my body feels pretty wrecked. But I did put some minutes into my project. Worked on the snake and how its additional parts relate to it via Joints. Also created the first scripts to manage the food that the snake is going to eat.

Past work: So I made some notes off what needs doing and how this is supposed to work.

Also created the Unity project, added walls of the playable area, added the snake and made it fall down and gave it some body joints.