The Ball - Pehua - Released!

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Hourences

Hourences

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It has been released!

Our current only download locations (more soon!) : http://files.filefront.com/theball+v1zip/;10799463;/fileinfo.html

Information regarding this mod can be found in our little FAQ: http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=178354

The Ball: Pehua is a first person singleplayer puzzle mod with an Aztec theme to it. The mod takes place in a mysterious Aztec temple which has only been discovered recently, at the top of a volcano. The player has to use the Impact Gun to move a large steel ball around and utilize that ball to solve puzzles and get around obstacles. Impact Gun aside, the mod uses all new custom art to establish a unique, stylish, and atmospheric experience.

The mod is currently pretty small, with only one level, and there a few features, like enemies, missing. We plan to dramatically expand it for phase 2 if the mod is received well.

[Screenshot]http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com/hourences/theballmod3.jpg[/Screenshot]

[Screenshot]http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com/hourences/theballmod11.jpg[/Screenshot]

[Screenshot]http://phalanx.planetunreal.gamespy.com/hourences/theballmod7.jpg[/Screenshot]​
 
toniglandyl

toniglandyl

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finished the game. here are my thoughts :
very interesting idea, lots of potential. I really like the art direction too.
I'll start with the cons :
- the ball doesn't slow down (or at least even at low speed, it keeps rolling for some distance). this makes going on 2 parallel wooden boards pretty difficult.
- not being able to scale the push strength
- cube section made the ball useless (except to stop the lava)
- you don't need the ball to go over the spikes (right after the last checkpoint) : 2 double jumps and there you go. at first I jumped on the ball as a mid-jump platform, but noticed it was useless.
-no noticeable sound coming from the ball when it's bouncing for example.
-what falls with the ball ?
-push-pull gun needs model ;)
-the bones are nice, but why would they be here ? I see no traps where they are laid.

pros :
-using the ball to push yourself to walk faster = win ! (put ball behind you and pull the ball)
- entertaining, interesting, the athmosphere is really heavy, but not too present. The death symbol really make me freak out cause I was being pushed by my ball at full speed the moment I went over it.
-lowgrav room !


ideas :
-there is no information on where you are and how things work. maybe having some gears to show that opening door or pushing this button makes the cube fall (kismet mini-movie ?). In Portal, there's always this blurry window showing that people are looking (well there's nobody, but still...) explaining why there's a cube here and all. This also adds to the player's unease.
- since there's PhysX implemented, maybe we can see cloth or semi-fluid challenges or something like that. (but not too complicated making the physX card necessary).
-maybe some floor ball buttons should be a little under the floor level so the ball correctly places itself onto it. (useful when you need to have the ball and the player on 2 switches at the same time)
-maybe some lights can show what switch to activate when there's a timed sequence.

overall, a very nice modification, but I want MOAR ! :)
 
D

DeBiese

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I finished it too.

Not that hard, although one of the cubes gave me a lot more trouble to fit into its spot then the other 3. (If you enter the room the first time, the 2nd on the right) But maybe that's just me.

Personally, I didn't really like the cube part. No offense, but it's called "The Ball", why do we need those cubes? :)

As already said before, the ball is not needed to go over the spikes.
(Might just be the intent...)

It was an interesting start, and I will be looking for the next part as soon as you guys bring it to us...
 
zynthetic

zynthetic

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Aug 12, 2001
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toniglandyl said:
- not being able to scale the push strength
Click to expand...
It scales the same as the hammer strength does (which doesn't have much variation)
- cube section made the ball useless (except to stop the lava)
Click to expand...
I like this as it introduces the concept that more items in the environment can be manipulated. A gradual change like giving the alt-fire to the portal gun.
- you don't need the ball to go over the spikes (right after the last checkpoint) : 2 double jumps and there you go. at first I jumped on the ball as a mid-jump platform, but noticed it was useless.
Click to expand...
I don't think riding the ball over it was intended, as was hammer jumping across. There are pegs on each side of the pit to jump on.
-there is no information on where you are and how things work. maybe having some gears to show that opening door or pushing this button makes the cube fall (kismet mini-movie ?). In Portal, there's always this blurry window showing that people are looking (well there's nobody, but still...) explaining why there's a cube here and all. This also adds to the player's unease.
Click to expand...
Portal had floor/wall signs w/ figures giving a small clue to solving the puzzle. I see you mention the skull/xbones but there were also arrows to indicate direction and the buttons that needed to be pushed in a timed sequence or simul were linked together by a path on the floor. Not as obvious as Portal but it's hard to miss black on white. I didn't notice any of this except the xbones the 1st time I played.

The only problem I ran into was the blocks. The first one and the one by itself seem to go in fine in the left-hand side but I have a realy hard time getting the blocks from the lowgrav side in. Either by hammer or pushing the ball against them they want to roll in. It just feels like the slots on that side are a unit smaller or the collision on those blocks is a unit larger.
 
D

DeBiese

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Oct 13, 2004
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problem I ran into was the blocks. The first one and the one by itself seem to go in fine in the left-hand side but I have a realy hard time getting the blocks from the lowgrav side in. Either by hammer or pushing the ball against them they want to roll in. It just feels like the slots on that side are a unit smaller or the collision on those blocks is a unit larger.
Click to expand...


I had some difficulty as well, getting one of the blocks in. (As I mentioned before)
Now I replayed the level and this time, for getting the blocks in the units, I just hammered away like a madman. Doing this made them all slide in much easier. :)
 
Hourences

Hourences

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Thankls for the great comments:)
I already started the design of Part 2 :)



You can charge, but its not very noticable.
The charge up will be more obvious in part 2, with more power to it when fully charged.

I like the cubes, adds some additional objects to the level that behave different. If everything would be a ball and roll, it would get boring.

Yes there is fairly little gameplay feedback right now, we will be working on that. There are lots of hidden elements tho like Zyn mentioned.

Jumping on top of the ball, then onto the next platform was the original intention, but because of weird physics behaviour I ended up making the jump also doable without ball. If you jump on the ball when it still moves, even if it moves even the slightest bit, you are bumped off it, and into the spikes. Frustrating.

You can fire the gun real fast, you need to spam the cubes very fast sometimes.
The blocks are not larger or anything, all boxes and holes are 100 percent identical. Its a physics problem. If you hit the hole with the wrong velocity and angle, it could get stuck for a second. Cant make the hole bigger, or else the ball would fit in, and the whole idea is that you cant use the ball for the buttons because it wont fit, thus you are forced to look for an alternative.

Metal impact sparks come off the ball if you mean that.

There will be a new weapon model at some point.

No sound from the ball is a problem I couldnt get working. The impact sound kept playing over and over, even from the slightest impact. If I lower the threshold, my sparks almost never show up.. Theres no seperate threshold for audio..

I can think of a milion reasons why there are bones? Its not exactly a realistic setting, so... Also, those people could have been killed in a fight there long ago. They could have entered the temple but got stuck and starved. Etc.
There are not even enough bones around for a full skeleton, so it could be that something brought them to those places. Like a monster:)

In part 2 I really hope to have monsters. I also hope that I would be able to use those monsters to replace the Portal Windows mentioned, so that you see a monster looking at you in the distance, and running away when you get close. Gives the whole a very scary feeling.
 
Hourences

Hourences

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In UTEditor.ini you need to add or edit the modpackages section so it loads the u file by default. The level should open up more or less correctly.

[ModPackages]
ModPackagesInPath=..\UTGame\Src
ModOutputDir=..\UTGame\Unpublished\CookedPC\Script
ModPackages=TheBall
 
toniglandyl

toniglandyl

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Hourences said:
Thankls for the great comments:)
I already started the design of Part 2 :)
Click to expand...
no problem, thanks for the mod !
thanks for working on part 2 so quickly too !

You can charge, but its not very noticable.
The charge up will be more obvious in part 2, with more power to it when fully charged.
Click to expand...
with more power it would be more useful. for example being able to push the ball up the ramp with a single fully-charged shot should be good.

I like the cubes, adds some additional objects to the level that behave different. If everything would be a ball and roll, it would get boring.
Click to expand...
true. it adds variety, but it seemed pretty odd on how it was presented. seeing the cube simply fall out of nowhere...:eek:. seemed out of place.


Yes there is fairly little gameplay feedback right now, we will be working on that. There are lots of hidden elements tho like Zyn mentioned.
Click to expand...
well the thing is that many indications are really hidden. I've noticed the sort of railroad between 2 connected buttons but I didn't see the arrows on my first run. looks more like a pikeaxe IMO. ;)

Jumping on top of the ball, then onto the next platform was the original intention, but because of weird physics behaviour I ended up making the jump also doable without ball. If you jump on the ball when it still moves, even if it moves even the slightest bit, you are bumped off it, and into the spikes. Frustrating.
Click to expand...
what if the spikes didn't make a blocking volume, thus the ball doesn't roll so easily over them. have the ball really interact with each spike. the ball would gain in stability when it's between 2 spikes.


The blocks are not larger or anything, all boxes and holes are 100 percent identical. Its a physics problem. If you hit the hole with the wrong velocity and angle, it could get stuck for a second. Cant make the hole bigger, or else the ball would fit in, and the whole idea is that you cant use the ball for the buttons because it wont fit, thus you are forced to look for an alternative.
Click to expand...
well maybe making the hole like 10 units bigger could ease the cuber penetration in its designed hole. I had a cube inserted diagonally once ! :lol:

Metal impact sparks come off the ball if you mean that.
Click to expand...
noticed that, but sparks even when hitting slightly some wooden bar ?

There will be a new weapon model at some point.
Click to expand...
obviously, and I bet it's not a top priority. gameplay is more important than aesthetics !

No sound from the ball is a problem I couldnt get working. The impact sound kept playing over and over, even from the slightest impact. If I lower the threshold, my sparks almost never show up.. Theres no seperate threshold for audio..
Click to expand...
too bad. but it sure feels strange to see the ball fall after you in the pit and not hear anything.

In part 2 I really hope to have monsters. I also hope that I would be able to use those monsters to replace the Portal Windows mentioned, so that you see a monster looking at you in the distance, and running away when you get close. Gives the whole a very scary feeling.
Click to expand...
monsters ! I can't imagine what they might look like.

a couple of Ideas :
-white text (which is quite buggy) on black background sure hurts my eyes. can't you do an intro-movie like the UT2k4 assault ones where you show which button is for the player and which is for the ball.
-a little "movie" to show more how ball and cubes (and more) appear (instead of from nowhere)
-make the environment more hostile? there are bones, spears, but everything seems pretty empty. could our steps have a nice echo depending on the room's size to show how empty it is ? maybe have some claw marks or blood trails in some places.
- make the player pick up the pull-push gun from an altar, and not have it from the first spawn.
 
hal

hal

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RE: Cubes

Haha.. they are identical? I finally got that troublesome cube to go in (second on right, same as everyone else mentions) and it just so happened that the mark on the cube was turned vertically instead of horizontally. I just assumed that this was the key to getting it in and have done so every time I've played it since.

:doh:
 
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