The Ball - Hueca Announced

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Hourences

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Aug 29, 2000
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www.Hourences.com
For those who hadn't noticed yet, in phase 3 of MSU we won:

* First place Best FPS Mod
* Second place Best Level in Mod
* Third place Best Graphics in Level
* Fifth place Best Use of Physics


We now hold 8 Top 5 positions within the contest, including 4 first places.

We have some major things coming up. It is going to be a ride. We are announcing Part 4 of The Ball: Hueca (far, distant). To be released in little over a week!

Hueca (far, distant) will be the 4th episode. To be released in little over one week from today, Hueca will be a one level extension to our adventure, but it will be a really large level. We estimate it will take people close to an hour to play through and explore. We only had three short months to produce this but I feel we have done more than ever, at a higher quality than ever, and we managed to add a range of fresh new elements to the gameplay and will certainly carry on doing that. Gone are the days of just rooms with puzzles. The design is getting mature.

Hueca takes place in a gigantic cavern with three large pyramids. Inside each pyramid are a whole bunch of puzzles and enemies. The player will travel over the desert using a large ancient vehicle that uses the Ball as its powersource.

Features
# Solve the pyramids in any order and freely roam the desert.
# The introduction of a vehicle to roam the desert with and to protect yourself from its inhabitants!
# Three new enemies: A giant bomb dropping bird, a cannonfodder beetle, and a big sandworm that guards every pyramid.
# Introduction of ball modifications. The ball will acts as a local low gravity field or as flashlight in certain specific areas of Hueca. This functionality will be greatly extended in Part 5.
# The introduction of a brand new environment theme. While used only in the indoor sections in Hueca, this new metal industrial style will take over from the old one entirely in Part 5.
# A new Survival level and further improvements done to the gametype in general.
# A range of changes including new voice acting, more parts of the menu replaced, and last but not least a stats system.

Check out ModDB's Preview special! - http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-ball/features/the-ball-hueca-preview

[screenshot]http://www.nijnka.com/hourences/theball/theballhueca1.jpg[/screenshot]
[screenshot]http://www.nijnka.com/hourences/theball/huecaworm2.jpg[/screenshot]
[screenshot]http://www.nijnka.com/hourences/theball/media/vehicleandbird1.jpg[/screenshot]
[screenshot]http://www.nijnka.com/hourences/theball/media/vehicleandbird2.jpg[/screenshot]
[screenshot]http://www.nijnka.com/hourences/theball/media/vehicleandbird3.jpg[/screenshot]
[screenshot]http://www.nijnka.com/hourences/theball/media/vehicleandbird4.jpg[/screenshot]

Our team has grown too. Mike Hillard joined us as voice actor, nELsOn as level designer for survival, and Charlie Baker as an artist. He worked on the vehicle and did an outstanding job on it.

Also if you come across an article about us in printed media, please shoot me a mail and tell me about it! It would be much appreciated.

http://theball.toltecstudios.com/
 
Last edited:

popsUlfr

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Jun 15, 2009
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Oh my... You got me excited! Free roaming and a vehicle? Will it be that big?

# Introduction of ball modifications. The ball will acts as a local low gravity field or as flashlight in certain specific areas of Hueca. This functionality will be greatly extended in Part 5.

Will this new functionality be added to the previous chapters too?

Keep up the amazing work! ;)
 

Hourences

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Aug 29, 2000
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www.Hourences.com
Won't be in previous chapters, too much work and the idea is kind of that as you get closer to the source of it all the ball gains power.

And yes itll be big but the terrain is still walkable. You can walk the distances between each pyramid in a minute or so. If you go on foot you will encounter enemies on your way though. Those won't appear when using the vehicle.

We are still looking for a few beta testers btw. If you or anyone else is interested email me@hourences.com
 

popsUlfr

New Member
Jun 15, 2009
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Won't be in previous chapters, too much work and the idea is kind of that as you get closer to the source of it all the ball gains power.

Yes, I thought as much.

Concerning Betatesting: how long will it last? I'd have liked to go bug hunting but I fear I won't be available in the coming week. :(