In Development: Snowboard Game

The game looks really fun, and loved TinyWings myself. Unfortunately it does seem to run frustratingly slowly on actual hardware right now. Frame rate displayed is pretty good (~30 it looks like while running mirror, and probably closer to ~45 while disconnected) but movement is still very slow:

Playdate 2022-10-28_16:02:38

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Thanks for testing it!

Yeah, there is definitely something wrong here, the good news is I think I know what. In the main update loop, I calculate the delta time between frames and use this for all the physics and animation updates. The only reason I can think this is so slow despite the high frame rate, is the calculated delta time is a lot lower than it should be.

I have a new build, if you could test it out, I would really appreciate it.
Hillslide.pdx.zip (5.0 MB)

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nice that update helps a lot! It feels nice and smooth now. I am crashing a lot but that’s probably more on me than the game :rofl:

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Glad that fixed it. It could be some values need more tweaking to make it a little easier, but I’ve played it so much that whenever I make any changes it feels too easy :rofl:

I played it today. It's not that it's too hard. It's that it's very hard right from the start, which doesn't give the player any time to get the hang of it. Ever. I suggest holding off on the avalance for at least 60 seconds and then put a flashing "Avalance!" onscreen so the player will go "Oh crap!!" and if they can stay out in front of it for 10 seconds, the avalance subsides so they can enjoy snowboarding and doing tricks before the next avalance warning. As the game progresses an additional second is added to the duration of the danger, so as the player gets better the game becomes incrementally more challenging.

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Thanks so much for the feedback, I can totally see what you mean. When I learnt the game, the avalanche wasn’t even implemented so I had plenty of time to get the hang of it.

I have done some changes to how the avalanche works. So instead of spawning from the start, it would spawn after you have travelled a certain distance. When the avalanche spawns I have added some screen shake and a warning sign.

playdate-20221031-120325

I have also slowed down the starting speed of the avalanche, so the player gets more time before it starts speeding up. The avalanche speed follows the curve in the image. So, it doesn’t have a liner increase but more like stages where it accelerates, until it reaches max speed.

If you could test this out and see if it’s better it would be much appreciated.
Hillslide.pdx.zip (5.1 MB)

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Hello. I have nothing really new to share, but just wanted to show the new upgrade screen I have made. I’m really happy with how it turned out.

playdate-20221101-225739

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Awesome little game @Benzalo, really enjoyable! And the last upgrade really fixed the main gameplay issue of it being way too hard in the beginning as @joecunningham reported.

Here’s some more feedback (note this is all via simulator):

  • The hills could be a bit more varied, maybe sometimes a bit steeper as well, and sometimes also longer (steep) slopes instead of little hills to get into the flow. Ideally this could be based on the speed you have – Canabalt does this similarly, spacing the buildings based on current character speed.
  • Sounds are needed – or am I just not hearing them in the simulator?
  • In the highscore screen, you have to put your name again from scratch every time. Would be nice if it’s saved and you are just on the last character so you can either just press A to confirm or B to edit
  • The D-pad up/down for the name input feels reversed – pressing up should go up the alphabet?
  • Currently there is no way to go back to the main menu, you have to exit the game. Or am I missing something?
  • There is no title card in the main app selection, just plain text
  • The logo text in the main page doesn’t really fit the game, it’s a bit blocky

But really, amazing game, thank you so much! Love the avalanche adjustment and warning screen :smiley:

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Thank you some much for testing it out, really glad you liked it! Good to hear that the last update fixed the main gameplay problem.

As for your other feedback:

  1. It’s been quite a while since I made it, but I will have a look at the hill generation and see what I can do to get a more varied slope.
  2. There should be some sound effects as well as some music ingame (not in menus). They are playing for me, so don’t know why you aren’t hearing any (Could you have muted the simulator?). But the sound that are in now are only placeholder and will be replaced. I have a friend that will be fixing that.
  3. That’s a great suggestion! I added it straight away.
  4. For the name input I did it the same way the playdate keyboard is done, but I can see what you mean.
  5. You are kind of right, but there is a roundabout way of doing it. By opening the credits from the playdate menu and then pressing B you will return to the main menu. I didn’t really want to add the credits to the main menu as there are already quite a few menu items. The playdate menu is also limited to only 3 custom items so there wasn’t space for a main menu button, but I will change it.
  6. As for the title card and the main menu, I have another friend who is much better than me at pixel art, that will do it for me.

I have also reworked the tasks screen as I wasn’t happy with it the old one. The new screen:

playdate-20221103-000524

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Awesome! Tested it again:

  • The sound was there, I just had to mute it in the app and unmute once. Not sure if that was a first-run issue, will see if it happens again.
  • Regarding keyboard direction: Yeah good point to make it the same as the Playdate keyboard. Maybe also makes sense to display the keyboard? Don’t know about you, but playing Gameboy or NES games I always got/get anxious at the highscore screen name input cause I am worried that a wrong button press will put in an incomplete name for my awesome highscore. :wink:
  • Regarding reaching the main menu: Actually also found that you can press B at the end of a run. Currently there it just says "Press A". Might be nice to say: :b: Menu :a: Another run
  • On number of items in the main menu: Might be nice to put the credits in the end of the handbook? It’s cute with the controls, log and tricks, and then credits at the end is fitting?

And awesome, looking forward to future updates, always happy to playtest. :slight_smile:

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Good that the sounds work! I can see your concern with the name input😊 So I added an additional A press after typing in the last letter to confirm you name. A press B for main menu prompt as also been added to the highscore screen.

playdate-20221103-200345

Btw if you didn’t figure it out you can return from any menu to the main menu by pressing B, I just haven’t displayed it as I can’t really find any space in the menus where it fits in… And with regards to the credits, I have just added it as an option to the main menu. I will maybe move it to the handbook in the future

I will probably make an itch.io page soon and upload my builds there. Will share a link with you when I have one😊

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It’s been a while since the last update, I’ve been busy with university. Since last time I have made some changes to the slope generation. It’s for the most part still the same, but now there is a chance for longer downhill parts to generate.
playdate-20221212-192555

I have also made a mock-up for what I envision the launch card to be like.
open

I have made a restricted itch page for the game, so if you want to test the game out and give feedback, just ask and I’ll send a link to the game.

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This looks good !
I've found your game when I got my Playdate last month and although I've not followed your progress since the beginning, it's great to read this whole thread and see the improvements !
I'm a developper myself so I'd like to make my own game but I'm yet to find a decent idea (and not another shooter or platformer).
I'd love to test the new version and give you feedback !

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Happy to share a link with you, I’ll send on in a PM. If you have any feedback please post it in this thread, so everything is in one place and others can see😊

I highly recommend making a game for the playdate, it’s a lot of fun (just wish I had a physical device). You should just start with something, anything really, ideas will pop up while developing on it. And do share if you make game!

Hey @Benzalo, Hillslide is looking great! I'd like to try it out and give some feedback if you don't mind! :smile:

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Yeah sure, that will be really apricated.

I have just uploaded a new build to itch. I have added dithering to the slope, as well as some screen shake when crash landing. If you could test out how it runs on hardware (if you've got) and how it looks, that would be great.

Here is how it looks:
playdate-20221215-211244

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I'm sideloading this new build right now.
For what I played, maybe it would be nice to have a little feedback when pressing button A. Like maybe bend the knees of the snowboarder when increasing gravity or a speed effect when double press (boost). For now, I can't tell if I'm doing it right.
Also, maybe a little message when we unlocked a new move ?

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Thanks for testing it out! There should already be an effect when using boost (double pressing A), but I'll make some changes to it to make it more visible. Good idea with the bending knees animation, I’ll definitely add that. I’ll also added a message when discovering a new trick.

I’m wondering if it is still performing as well after adding dithering? If you also could elaborate some more on this, it would be helpful:

Sorry for the late replay, I have been away for Christmas but I’m back now.

Hi !
Hope you had a great Chritmas :slight_smile:
No problem at all with the dithering. Frate rate is steady at 48 fps.

About the Boost, I found out that it was an upgrade. But even after upgrading to have 1 boost, I can't seems to trigger it. There is a gauge at the bottom right (there are 2 in you last gif), I guess I have to fill it up to use the boost ? But I can't understand why it keeps on emptying before it's full. It's not emptying when I fall but it's emptying "randomly" when riding. Do we have to keep a "combo" running or something ?
What I meant with "I can't tell if I'm doing it right" is that without a visual feedback, I can't tell if I'm using the boost or applying gravity or not. But I guess I've never managed to use the boost yet :slight_smile:

About the bending knees animation, maybe you could add it when the player is doing a flip also ? He's rather rigid right now :slight_smile:

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OK I just had the gauge full but nothing happend when I double press A :frowning: I didn't seems to accelerate and I saw no visual clue. And the gauge emptyed after a while.
Another thing : I can't remember if there is a message when we unlock an upgrade ?
In the "Stats" screen, it's writen "Highest score in a jump" and "Highest multiplier". It would be nice to have the jump score and multiplier on screen when riding. Again, it's about having feedback on how we play :slight_smile:

[EDIT] OK Forget it. I just saw that the jump score and multiplier are displayed on screen after a jump... But it's rather quick and I usualy don't have the time to see it. Maybe having it a little longer ?

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