Archive: 8 posts

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Ballblazer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballblazer) was originally released in 1984 for the Atari 5200 game console. Now, almost 30 years later, Ballblazer comes to LittleBigPlanet! I have done my best to bring over the same gameplay as the original, but with a few tweaks to enhance playability and balance. Ballblazer is basically a one-on-one hockey-like (or soccer-like) game. Players control a small, nimble hovercraft which is equipped with a powerful force field, which is used to capture and propel an energy ball into the opposing player's goal. The goals shrink or expand depending on the score, and points can be "stolen" once both players scores "bump into" each other. This implementation is a 1 or 2 player game. In the 1 player version, you will face off against a droid AI, while in the 2 player version, you face another player. 2 Player mode is online only (due to camera death), so don't try to play against another human on the same console. While the level recommends 1 or 2 players, I have included spectator controlinators, so that if there are too many players, the extra person(s) can at least watch. Anyway, give it a shot and see what you think. If you can't find a 2nd player, I'd be happy to join you...although I must warn you I've gotten fairly good at it with all the playtesting I had to do to get everything working properly! Here's some screenshots for your viewing pleasure... http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=39685&d=1336819952 http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=39686&d=1336819953 http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=39687&d=1336819953 http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=39688&d=1336819954 http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=39689&d=1336819954 http://lbp.me/v/b8-qzt

2012-05-12 12:06:00 Author: Angantyr Posts: 18

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looks cool! will add to the queue.

2012-05-12 15:43:00 Author: biorogue Posts: 8424

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Thanks! My previous level, Ploy is a fairly niche level...it requires Move, and it requires two people who don't mind a potentially long board game experience. I'm hoping Ballblazer will find broader appeal...it doesn't involve Move and games are short (around 3 minutes). One thing I didn't really mention is some of the tweaks I did vs. the original. - In this version the view is top down, while the Atari 5200 game was first person. Obviously, first person viewpoints aren't really an option in LBP. Fortunately, the game plays well with a top-down view point. - In the original, your rotofoil could only face 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees. I believe that this constraint was in place because of the algorithm used to simulate a "3D" grid on early 1980s hardware. In the LBP version, I initially was going to have the same limitation, but after playing it, it seemed very awkward. I changed it so that the rotofoil can face any angle, which made a noticeable improvement in game play. - This version, like the original, features 1, 2, and 3 point shots. However, in the original, 3 point shots were called "over the horizon" shots because you couldn't see where the goal posts were. With the top-down camera in the LPB version, this didn't really make sense. Consequently, I decided to set the 3-point range at a distance at which the goal posts weren't quite on screen. It also made sense for this distance to be measured as a certain radius from the center of the goal. - In this version, I have chosen to short-out a defender's force field if they venture within the 1-point zone of their own goal. This is to overcome a potential imbalance, since without the short-out, it was virtually impossible to score against a defender who sat with their force field active directly in front of their goal. - In the original, the play area was about twice as large as what I have done in this LBP version. Keeping the area a little smaller makes the game a little more exciting. - The original had some pretty impressive music for a game of that era. My version has no music. Can anyone point me to some cool custom music that would go well with this level? Anyway, that's all the major differences that I can think of. Not sure how many of you were alive in 1984--much less how many of you ever heard of or played the original Ballblazer--but I hope you'll find the gameplay to be enjoyable...it was fun making a LBP version of it!

2012-05-14 06:38:00 Author: Angantyr Posts: 18

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Looks great, and plays decently too. Will have to give it a bash with 2 players. The AI does seem a bit too good though. It never seemed to miss the goal when it shot. As for music, try comishguy's gallery (recently MM picked), there's loads of music there, some of it should suit your level.

2012-05-14 18:59:00 Author: Ali_Star Posts: 4085

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Thanks for setting me up with some music, Ali_star! I listened to several tracks by Comishguy67 and found a couple that were about perfect for Ballblazer. Also, PSYNTENS left a review on the level requesting more time, so I added the ability for the match time to be set from 1:00 to 9:00 (minutes). I have re-published the level with the above changes. About the AI, I have considered making the AI level configurable, but that will require further analysis to determine if it can be done in a fairly simple way. The current AI needs to be fairly accurate, because once the goals have shrunk to their smallest size, the AI still needs to be able to score at range. I can give you some hints about the AI though: - The AI always goes straight for the ball. You can outwit the AI by anticipating where the ball will be. - The AI will activate its force field if you are close. You can use this to your advantage and force the AI to shoot the ball away. - The AI will never take a 3-point shot on its own. It will try to shoot a 2-point shot shortly after it gets out of 3-point range. - The AI is very weak against simple defense tactics, like positioning yourself between the AI and the goal with your force field on. - The AI will never use Aim Override (right analog stick). You however, can. This allows you to easily keep the ball away from the AI by facing the ball away from the AI. - When a rotofoil has captured the ball, it slows down, which gives the defender a chance to knock the ball away. However, if you can manage to "bump" the ball lightly with your force field and never actually capture the ball, you will not suffer the slowdown. With practice you can become quite good at bumping the ball where you want it to go. - If you and your opponent are both going for a fast ball that is bouncing around, sometimes you can ram your opponent at just the right time so that you are in a better position to get the ball on a rebound.

2012-05-16 06:33:00 Author: Angantyr Posts: 18

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I finally got a chance to sit down and play this, albeit alone, but still, I couldn't put it down. I loved the design of this and enjoyed playing against the cpu, although I lost, but a second playthrough and I was victorious! The controls were intuitive and I found myself just admiring the level design, thus the cpu won the first match. Excellent level man! I look forward to revisiting this with a friend and having a good battle.

2012-05-27 03:46:00 Author: biorogue Posts: 8424

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I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has played my level. (I also really appreciate the honorable mention in Spotlight 86!) When I next log into LBP2, I will likely have a platinum trophy waiting for me...the last thing I needed was the 50 unique players. So, seriously, thank you everyone for playing. I also really encourage everyone who has only played against the droid to try playing against another person. I put the droid AI in mainly for me to test play against and also to allow the level to be played solo, but the best Ballblazer experience can only be had human vs. human. Incidentally, the original creator of Ballblazer for the Atari 5200 said something similar about playing vs. the droid: "The only problem with the artificial intelligence was that we had to put it in. The game is a two player game and it was designed to be as such. Atari, at the time of development, insisted on having a one player version because that was their company policy, and so we hooked up the computer, actually worked a little bit of artificial intelligence for the droid partner idea -- the practice partner. But they don't play like humans. They're not intended to play like humans. They're also not intended to be entertaining -- the game is strictly a two player game." (The full interview can be read here (Ballblazer interview starts about half way down.): http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap11/lucas_part2.html Anyway, that's all for now. (I hear the LittleBigPlanet Vita beta calling my name!)

2012-05-31 19:02:00 Author: Angantyr Posts: 18

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That looks pretty sweet , I'll be sure to test it out soon

2012-06-01 06:54:00 Author: Pyrotrooper91 Posts: 337

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