Difference between revisions of "MyLittleBall"

General
Author(s)	pinecone
Type	Game
Version	1.0.1
License	BSD
Links
	[[here\|Download]]
	Source

Revision as of 21:40, 6 March 2009

"Propose to an Englishman any principle, or any instrument, however admirable, and you will observe that the whole effort of the English mind is directed to find a difficulty, a defect, or an impossibility in it. If you speak to him of a machine for peeling a potato, he will pronounce it impossible: if you peel a potato with it before his eyes, he will declare it useless, because it will not slice a pineapple. " -- Charles Babbage

MyLittleBall (the most unfortunately titled form of entertainment since the console on which it is played) is the game that puts you, the player, in the position of a bouncy little red ball with an undying urge to further elevate himself by means of randomly arranged platforms.

Challenge a friend and then try to defend your high-score by blasting him off the screen!

Screenshots

These screenshots are representative of gameplay. Some stuff has changed since:

The intro screen
A screenshot of v1.0.0 gameplay

Gameplay

Standard Mode

Be the ball. Holding it 'normally', rotate the WiiMote left and right to control Mr Ball up and up and up! Keep bouncing on the platforms to avoid falling (falling is a bad idea). See how many points you can get, then challenge your friends, family, secret lovers, teachers and co-workers!

Don't forget to bring a towel.....

NEW! Two-Player mode

Same rules apply, except a second player can pick up a WiiMote, press 'B' in mid-game, and start dropping bombs on the player controlling the ball! Just point and press 'B' to drop.

Controls

Player	Button	Action
		Start game
		Pause game
		Return from whence you came
		Join the game/Drop bombs!
		Point at where to drop the bomb

Rotate the Wiimote left and right to controll the ball. The larger your horizontal velocity, the greater the factor by which your vertical velocity increases (but you don't really need to worry about that).

Player 2 can join any game by pressing 'B' on a second WiiMote. Then, point at the screen and drop bombs to blast your opponent off the screen.

Changelog

v1.0.1

Date Released: 06/03/09

2 player mode! Features:
- Starts automatically when 'B' is pressed in gameplay
- Point at screen and drop bombs on Ball!
Removed some debugging information
Made 'cheating' nearly impossible
Basic framework for internationalisation, but alternative languages not yet supported.
Added some translations to XML description
Sound effects finally implemented
'Falling platforms' animation added
Used a GRRLIB fix to strange images appearing on start-up
Optimization on storing high scores

v1.0.0

Date Released: 08/02/09

Graphical overhaul, courtesy of SpriteAttack
Added tamper-proof highscoring
Bugfixes
General gameplay improvements
Added music track
Made 'cheating' slightly harder

v0.0.1

Date Released: 21/01/09

Initial Release

Communication Problems (A word on Languages)

No translations this time. Sorry. I've been trying hard, I really have, and the translations you've submitted are very much appreciated. Unfortunately, I wasn't even able to add translations to the meta.xml file because the Homebrew Channel wouldn't allow accented characters. But your translations have not been in vein. I have added them as brief translations of this wiki page, and I hope to add them to the game in the future....but probably not too soon. Sorry.

High Scorings

So you thought you could cheat, huh? FTPed the high score file and modified it, did you? Well, unless you have more determination than a sense of when something is just really not worth pursuing, you will have failed, because accompanying the high score is an (albeit very simple and probably very breakable) hash. I don't doubt that the clever people in this community could have it broken without breaking a sweat, but all the same, I'd like to keep the highscore system as secure as possible, so that should I later decide to implement an online highscore store, I won't have to wipe everyone's existing highscores.

Oh - and anyone who hacks the system is obliged to create a new one.

Sounds like fun

Hurray! Sound effects are working and so is the background music. And the best part is when it was broken it wasn't my fault! The latest build of libogc has fixed a bug in the old version. Three cheers for sound effects!

Plot

This one's up to you. Submit a plot/storyline for the game on the Discussion page. The best (and most amusing) story will win.

Secret Sauce

At this point, for various boring reasons I can't be bothered to go into, I will not be officially releasing the source code. If you're really that keen to see some poorly written and messy C code, try typing in random requests to pastie.org. Who knows - you might get lucky!

Thanks for all the fish

Big thanks to SpriteAttack for bringing some much needed character to the game
Thanks to NoNameNo for the excellent GRRLIB
Thanks to everyone responsible for DevkitPro and Libogc (there are too many to list!)
Thanks to all those helpful, clever and patient people on #wiidev
Thanks to Team Twiizers
Thanks to anyone I forgot

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Infobox homebrewapp
 | title       = [[Image:MLBLogo.png]]
-| desc        = The exciting new 'video game' that all the family can enjoy!
+| desc        = Make sure ''your'' balls come out on top
 | type        = Game
 | license     = BSD
 | author      = [[User:pinecone|pinecone]]
-| version     = 1.0.0r2
+| version     = 1.0.1
-| download    = [http://finca-in-mallorca.com/nada/MyLittleBall.zip here]
+| download    = [http://finca-in-mallorca.com/nada/MyLittleBallv1d0d1.zip here]
-| source      = patience...
+| source      = no
 | hbc      = 1
 | hbb      = 1
 }}
-''' "''The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair. "'' -- Douglas Adams'''
+''' "''Propose to an Englishman any principle, or any instrument, however admirable, and you will observe that the whole effort of the English mind is directed to find a difficulty, a defect, or an impossibility in it. If you speak to him of a machine for peeling a potato, he will pronounce it impossible: if you peel a potato with it before his eyes, he will declare it useless, because it will not slice a pineapple. "'' -- Charles Babbage'''
-MyLittleBall is the exciting new 'video game' that all the family can enjoy! Using latest technologies, MyLittleBall brings life to any party. Get ready for countless good times in your Living Room!
+MyLittleBall (the most unfortunately titled form of entertainment since the console on which it is played) is the game that puts you, the player, in the position of a bouncy little red ball with an undying urge to further elevate himself by means of randomly arranged platforms.
-The new version features improved gameplay, a tamper-proof high-scoring system, background music and brand-spanking new graphics, courtesy of SpriteAttack!
+Challenge a friend and then try to defend your high-score by blasting him off the screen!
+==Screenshots==
+These screenshots are representative of gameplay. Some stuff has changed since:
+<gallery perRow="3" style="text-align:center;" widths="200px" heights="150px">
+Image:MyLittleBall_title1a.jpg|The intro screen
+Image:MyLittleBall_ingame1a.jpg|A screenshot of v1.0.0 gameplay
+</gallery>
 ==Gameplay==
-Be the ball. Holding it 'normally', rotate the WiiMote left and right to control the aspiring exclamation mark up and up and up! Keep bouncing on the platforms to avoid falling (falling is a bad idea). See how many points you can get, then challenge your friends, family, secret lovers, teachers and co-workers!
+===Standard Mode===
+Be the ball. Holding it 'normally', rotate the WiiMote left and right to control Mr Ball up and up and up! Keep bouncing on the platforms to avoid falling (falling is a bad idea). See how many points you can get, then challenge your friends, family, secret lovers, teachers and co-workers!
 Don't forget to bring a towel.....
+===NEW! Two-Player mode===
+Same rules apply, except a second player can pick up a WiiMote, press 'B' in mid-game, and start dropping bombs on the player controlling the ball! Just point and press 'B' to drop.
 ==Controls==
 {| class="wikitable"
 |-
-! Button !! Action
+! Player !! Button !! Action
+|-
+| {{Wiimote1}} || {{WiimoteAButton}} || Start game
 |-
-| {{WiimoteAButton}} || Start game
+| {{Wiimote1}} || {{WiimoteMinusButton}} || Pause game
 |-
-| {{WiimoteMinusButton}} || Pause game
+| {{Wiimote1}} || {{WiimoteHomeButton}} || Return from whence you came
 |-
-| {{WiimoteHomeButton}} || Return from whence you came
+| {{Wiimote2}} || {{WiimoteBButton}} || Join the game/Drop bombs!
+|-
+| {{Wiimote2}} || {{WiimoteAim}} || Point at where to drop the bomb
 |}
-Rotate the Wiimote left and right to controll the ball. The larger your horizontal velocity, the greater the factor by which your horizontal velocity increases (but you don't really need to worry about that).
+Rotate the Wiimote left and right to controll the ball. The larger your horizontal velocity, the greater the factor by which your vertical velocity increases (but you don't really need to worry about that).
+Player 2 can join any game by pressing 'B' on a second WiiMote. Then, point at the screen and drop bombs to blast your opponent off the screen.
+==Changelog==
+'''v1.0.1'''
+Date Released: 06/03/09
+* 2 player mode! Features:
+**Starts automatically when 'B' is pressed in gameplay
+**Point at screen and drop bombs on Ball!
+* Removed some debugging information
+* Made 'cheating' nearly impossible
+* Basic framework for internationalisation, but alternative languages not yet supported.
+* Added some translations to XML description
+* Sound effects finally implemented
+* 'Falling platforms' animation added
+* Used a GRRLIB fix to strange images appearing on start-up
+* Optimization on storing high scores
+'''v1.0.0'''
+Date Released: 08/02/09
+* Graphical overhaul, courtesy of SpriteAttack
+* Added tamper-proof highscoring
+* Bugfixes
+* General gameplay improvements
+* Added music track
+* Made 'cheating' slightly harder
-==Screenshots==
+'''v0.0.1'''
-These screenshots are representative of gameplay. Some stuff has changed since:
-<gallery perRow="3" style="text-align:center;" widths="200px" heights="150px">
+Date Released: 21/01/09
-Image:MyLittleBall_title1a.jpg|The intro screen
-Image:MyLittleBall_ingame1a.jpg|A screenshot of v1.0.0 gameplay
-</gallery>
-==Version jump==
+* Initial Release
-Before anyone else points this out, the jump from version 0.0.1 to 1.0.0 wasn't just to fuel my delusion that I was making progress. There were other reasons besides. The last version was pretty pants. The graphics from [[User:DayDreamOz|SpriteAttack]] have simply changed the game entirely, and on top of this, there are all manner of changes and tweaks which ought to have really been there in the first place.
+==Communication Problems (A word on Languages)==
+No translations this time. Sorry. I've been trying hard, I really have, and the translations you've submitted are very much appreciated. Unfortunately, I wasn't even able to add translations to the meta.xml file because the [[Homebrew Channel]] wouldn't allow accented characters. But your translations have not been in vein. I have added them as brief translations of this wiki page, and I hope to add them to the game in the future....but probably not too soon. Sorry.
 ==High Scorings==
@@ Line 53: / Line 96: @@
 Oh - and anyone who hacks the system is obliged to create a new one.
-==Sounds like trouble==
+==Sounds like fun==
-I had some excellent sound effects lined up for the game. I implemented them with success, and then went on to trying to add some background music. The background music was implemented with success, but at the expense of the sound effects. For some reason (probably a rather obvious one) I could not engineer them to work simultaneously. At the end, I decided to keep the music, mainly because it was the one that was working at the time of me giving up. If anyone would like to lend a hand, it would be very much appreciated.
+Hurray! Sound effects are working and so is the background music. And the best part is when it was broken it wasn't my fault! The latest build of [[libogc]] has fixed a bug in the old version. Three cheers for sound effects!
 ==Plot==