solocov

Moinsen!...



So Circallity has been out since the 17.04.2017 and the game has "aged" since then ^^. And I think I learned quite some stuff, since this is the first app release with a bigger focus on fine tuning instead of pushing as many features as possible into this game...

Why the Game exists:
The Android version of Circallity is based of the more Complex version on the Browser:
Link: Gamejolt.com
This Browser version exists because of the German GameJam #gppcc9 which set a one button game as limitation.
The Browser version has Localmultiplayer(Each person can just simply press a button on the keyboard to join). Also there are differently colored balls with "diverse" "abilities" like: Time manipulation, Electrocution(killing other players), simply fast balls, Background color change, and fadeout spheres(which kill you if you stay on them), etc.
Since this entry was quite well recieved I developed this Android version (since a one button game fits more with smart phones)
BTW: first version looked like this:
Twitter.com

=> =>

• The Release:
  After getting the 25$ GooglePlay license and releasing the game... (Of which I underestimated the "complexity" quite a lot.)
  I posted the game on Reddit, Twitter and 9GAG. On 9GAG the post really took off, which let to me getting about 1000 installs in the first 48 hours of release. This really took me off guard, since I expected barely making 50 installs :D
  Still there are things I could have done better
  
  • Animated GIFs are from my point of view most effective
    GIF>Pic>Video>StoreLink>Textpost
  • I should have tested the game more! TextFields were assigned Raycast targets, which stopped jumps. The "Click Me!" button did not work, and so on.
  • There was no Option in turning of the Phone vibration, which was criticized quite a lot.
  • No Online Highscore system.
  • The score wasn't in the center...
  • ...

The Changes:

• After fixing most bugs in the "day one patch" I started working on the online Leader board. First I tried using the GooglePlay leaderboard, but since this has to launch separately, and not instantaneously, I decided against it and scraped the code.
  Instead I used Dreamlo and with the help of Sebastian Lauge's Tutorial Series: [Unity Tutorial] Online Highscores 01 (dreamlo)
  
  Here I simply used the Name field for the ID, which is generated from TimeDate and a Random number, and used the last Field for the Name, which the Player can now change Freely without loosing his score or 2 Players using the Same score. Also using the Unity build in ScrollField felt really good :P
  Still things went wrong...
  • The Private and Public key weren't encrypted, which resulted in Chuck Norris getting immediately a score of 6969696
  • The Score was stored localy and easily accessible to "hack thingies"
  • There were no sainity checks
• Some other things which annoyed some players was the Score in the middle, lack of "diverse" balls and the annoying ad popups.
  • Thus I moved the Score the the top
  • Added DoubleJumps and a Fadoutball
  • And a Reward System!
• The Reward system started of with the player being able to be rewarded with a new Color every 200 Seconds and after watching an ad. I decided against it, since Players would collect the Colors until they are bored or satisfied with their final color.
  
  Instead each round with a Score above 5 Players get a random mix of 4 Rewards, which Either change the Players Color or make the Game easier, by disabling Fadoutballs, Double Jumps or Kill balls for one round. This hopefully increases the value of Ads shown and the overall number of times ads watched...
  
  
• Things for Gamefeel:
  
  1. I tried making the Jumping as satisfying as possible. Splatters are emitted when leaving or landing on a ball, the Phone vibrates shortly and a satisfying sound is played when gaining a point and when you jump. I also used screenshake quite a lot!
  2. Dying, even if it happens mostly outside of the screen, lets the player explode, a crushing sound is played and the screen shakes a lot.
  3. Music and sound are dependent on the current timescale, also pitch variation is added to make the soundeffects more diverse and less tiring
  4. On each button click the Phone vibrates also...
  5. The Menu slides in when dying and generally most elements stay in motion.
  6. The Generated balls fade in and out, instead of just popping up.
  7. Next Update introduces new Fonts (instead of Arial ^^), for which the scores are animated to give a great gamefeel.
     
  8. There is a small effect when touching a ball....

Thanks for reading!
GooglePlay: Play.google.com

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