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Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

astro.golf

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Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#61

Post by furyofantares »

I loved Desert Golfing, and also love gravity games (Angry Birds Space is great, and Mario Galaxy is one of my top games ever) but I really wasn’t enjoying this until I read a comment here mentioning hard mode being more fun. I never would have tried out hard mode on my own, or bought the full game, due to the main mode being so hard and, for me, unrewarding.

I’m finding hard mode easier in a way. I learn something between each shot, where I don’t necessarily when I land on different planets and have to make a brand new shot. This also just keeps my motivation up. Coming into a new level in Desert Golfing I usually see some way to get the hole in one, and can evaluate less risky plans that make progress — I get very little of that in this game. So having a mode that lets me learn from each shot helps.

I think what I’d really like is a mode that resets unless you land on the target planet. Let me make the putt. The aforementioned ghost arrow would be nice too.

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#62

Post by mrspatula »

furyofantares wrote: post #61

I loved Desert Golfing, and also love gravity games (Angry Birds Space is great, and Mario Galaxy is one of my top games ever) but I really wasn’t enjoying this until I read a comment here mentioning hard mode being more fun. I never would have tried out hard mode on my own, or bought the full game, due to the main mode being so hard and, for me, unrewarding. I’m finding hard mode easier in a way. I learn something b…

Thanks, that's interesting to hear. I need to think about how to make hard mode more discoverable.

I do think you can actually get good at zen mode as well, but it takes a bit of practice. Having played a lot, I can usually set up the trickshot I intended and get it most of the way there - and when it doesn't, it's usually quite funny anyway. It's definitely a steeper learning curve than DG.

I'm definitely coming round to the idea of a ghost arrow in hard mode. Your idea about a shot and a putt is also very good - perhaps that could even be the default mode..

Great feedback!

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#63

Post by furyofantares »

mrspatula wrote: post #62
furyofantares wrote: post #61

I loved Desert Golfing, and also love gravity games (Angry Birds Space is great, and Mario Galaxy is one of my top games ever) but I really wasn’t enjoying this until I read a comment here mentioning hard mode being more fun. I never would have tried out hard mode on my own, or bought the full game, due to the main mode being so hard and, for me, unrewarding. I’m finding hard mode easier in a way. I learn something b…

Thanks, that's interesting to hear. I need to think about how to make hard mode more discoverable. I do think you can actually get good at zen mode as well, but it takes a bit of practice. Having played a lot, I can usually set up the trickshot I intended and get it most of the way there - and when it doesn't, it's usually quite funny anyway. It's definitely a steeper learning curve than DG. I'm definitely coming rou…

Oh I’ve got no doubt it’s possible to get good at zen mode — just a brutal learning curve for me that I wasn’t going to make it past without the helpful tip from another poster. :)

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#64

Post by mrspatula »

furyofantares wrote: post #63
mrspatula wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, that's interesting to hear. I need to think about how to make hard mode more discoverable. I do think you can actually get good at zen mode as well, but it takes a bit of practice. Having played a lot, I can usually set up the trickshot I intended and get it most of the way there - and when it doesn't, it's usually quite funny anyway. It's definitely a steeper learning curve than DG. I'm definitely coming rou…

Oh I’ve got no doubt it’s possible to get good at zen mode — just a brutal learning curve for me that I wasn’t going to make it past without the helpful tip from another poster. :)

Yeah, perhaps it is a bit too hard for a mass appeal. I'll have a think about what I can tweak. :)

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#65

Post by kleer001 »

mrspatula wrote: post #16
seanwilson wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great job on completing it - looks fun! Any comments on troubles you ran into and surprises on the way?

Thank you. Lots of interesting troubles - quite a few surrounding Unity itself. E.g. they have a physics API that gives different results when run automatically by the engine at 1x speed and when you run it manually as fast as it can go. This came up because I wanted to test every level automatically offline, using the exact same physics simulation as the player would experience. The procedural generation of the leve…

Stupid question... Did you try a voronoi diagram?

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#66

Post by lufte »

mrspatula wrote: post #24
Xophmeister wrote: post #22

I remember playing a game like this when I was a kid (25ish years ago) at school, except it wasn't golf, but rather a two player game where you shot gravity-assisted missiles at each other (think Worms-in-space). I remember it being on an Acorn Archimedes, but it may have been a PC.

Yeah, there are a few games with a similar mechanic! Probably not the one you're thinking of, but there is: https://sourceforge.net/projects/slingshot-game/

I've been looking for this game since I played it many years ago, but I had forgotten the name. Thanks for the link!

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#67

Post by mrspatula »

kleer001 wrote: post #65
mrspatula wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. Lots of interesting troubles - quite a few surrounding Unity itself. E.g. they have a physics API that gives different results when run automatically by the engine at 1x speed and when you run it manually as fast as it can go. This came up because I wanted to test every level automatically offline, using the exact same physics simulation as the player would experience. The procedural generation of the leve…

Stupid question... Did you try a voronoi diagram?

Not a stupid question - I did some small amount of experimentation with voronoi, but I also had some global constraints / parameters that I wanted the levels to have and these were more easily implemented in the sampling method.

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#68

Post by TheRealSteel »

big_chungus wrote: post #31
mrspatula wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, exactly. Have to pay $$ to remove that splash screen logo!

Stupid question, but I see your logo is on there as well. Might you be able to just make a larger image, or make a background image that blended in with the colors so as to make it illegible? I'm sure that was not top priority, just curious.

Even if you're technically able to cover the splash screen, you aren't legally or morally able.

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#69

Post by baxtr »

mrspatula wrote: post #44
Insanity wrote: post #29

I don't normally install games on my phone, but this looks fun so I just installed it. Seems like something I could entertain myself with for some time! Also kudos on having a Linux version <3

Thank you! The entire game was developed on Linux as well ;)

Interesting! Including the iOS game? I would not think so?

Re: Show HN: My first game, minimal procgen gravity golf inspired by Desert Golfing

#70

Post by baxtr »

mrspatula wrote: post #37
coldcode wrote: post #35

I built a game based on gravity and other physics and pool a long time ago on iOS which did not go anywhere; possibly because the next game that came out on the same day was called "Angry Birds".

Oh man, that really sucks. Getting anywhere in the app store is so difficult nowadays. I'm a complete marketing rookie but atm I'm just trying out random ideas to see what sticks.

Has anything sticked so far that you could share? I am also thinking to do a small little video app.
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