I posted a Java applet called Nanotron at http://www.cowgodgames.com/games/nanotron.php . It requires Java 5, but should (in theory) work on an Java 5-enabled platform.
It’s a cross between Bricks and Space Invaders. I’m posting about it here so that we can get some feedback about the game. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s pretty nice for a small game.
I did the programming for it, and Eduardo Ramirez did the design and the artwork. The sound effects haven’t been added yet.
How do you start the game?
The game started for me the first time I ran it, but every time after that, I just got a gr[a|e]y screen.
As for the gamplay, it’s fairly interesting, but the ball physics are annoyingly horribly. Whenever it hits a wall or the bat, the ball just stops, then starts accelerating away in the direction it’s supposed to bounce.
The physics for bouncing with the germs seem fairly correct, though (just change direction, but keep the speed)
I also noticed a great tactic for clearing most of the level with minimal effort was to just not move the bat at all, since the ball starts in a perfectly vertical line, and as long as you don’t move the bat, you can’t lose.
The problem that I’ve had is that I can run the applet once, but then I have to shut all windows of the Internet browser I’m using to run the applet before I can run it again. Having windows of another Internet browser open has no effect.
I thought this happened with all applets, but I checked a random applet on the Internet and found that it does not. Apparently, it only happens in applets that are written by me.
I’ll post a thread asking about this somewhere on the forum.
I’ve uploaded a new version of the game that adjusts the ball the same way when it hits a wall or the bat as when it hits a germ. Previously, it’s speed dropped to 0. Now, its speed is cut in half, which is the same as what happens when it hits a germ. The difference is especially noticeable when the ball is bouncing rapidly back-and-forth between the flock of germs and one of the walls. Should the speed not be reduced at all? It seems reasonable to me for the speed to be reduced a bit after a collision.
I’ll have more time tomorrow, and I’ll address the issue for clearing the level by not moving the bat at all. I was aware of this, but somehow managed to block it out of my mind.
Should the speed not be reduced at all? It seems reasonable to me for the speed to be reduced a bit after a
collision.
Uhm… no. In reality you have something like bounce and friction for ball/surface collisions. However, in this type of game the speed is fixed.
Depending on how you solve collisions you might already losing displacement (and thus speed… basically).
You also might want to switch over to mouse controls. Even the very first arkanoid had analog controls (a so called spinner). Just hide the cursor and use some markers for the y position (as seen in this screenshot).
I uploaded a new version where the ball’s speed is never reduced. The new version also randomly starts the ball moving diagonally so that you usually can’t beat the level without moving. Still, you could move the bar so that the ball bounces straight up-and-down and then clear the level without moving.
I’ll think about adding mouse controls, but making the applet work after the first time it opens is a higher priority.
I’ve just uploaded a new version of Nanotron. I finally had a solid block of time to work on it, so the new version addresses all the issues listed in this thread except one. It doesn’t use mouse controls.
I started to implement mouse controls but opted against it because the applet is small enough that I keep moving the mouse too far when I try to use it. If there’s a “deluxe” version of Nanotron that’s full-screen, I’ll make that version allow mouse controls.
You can run Nanotron multiple times now, and you can even run multiple instances at once. The ball bounces around much more unpredictably, preventing the strategy of doing nothing to clear most of the level from ever working.
I also changed the url to http://www.cowgodgames.com/games/nanotron.php to make it fit in with the rest of my site.
