Let’s do it Boulderdash style..

Posted on by pixbits

While Xsx is away I’m experimenting with the engine, this is a quick video that shows the falling blocks chaining:


(sorry for the framerate but my capture software is quite crappy, we’re testing it on iPhone4 and iPod Touch 3g getting almost always 60FPS for now, so it’s a different story)

The behavior is similar to the way Boulderdash and other good old arcade games manage the rocks. We still haven’t decided if this will included or not in the first release of the game, mostly because we want to understand if this behavior fits well the gameplay without being too much frustrating/boring or whatever.

I’m sorry if these days are quite poor of cool screenshots but I’m tweaking the game code, I rewrote the movement and scrolling engine from scratch, I added custom behaviors to the AI of the mobs (that will need a lot of testing to obtain nice results) and now I’m facing falling blocks and allowed movements for special blocks.

We’re thinking about adding many secret and unique things that can be discovered while exploring, but you won’t have any clues for them 🙂

36 thoughts on “Let’s do it Boulderdash style..”

  1. the behavior from the rocks in the video i dont understand.
    i hope you will it make so that i can toggle it off 🙂

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  2. yay secret stuff 😀
    i like how the falling sand and rock pathing is random
    i just dont really understand how mobs are in the blocks o_O”
    and is your character invincible??

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  3. @Michl: falling blocks can fall vertically but also diagonally if there is space in adjacent columns, @Leenock: mobs are in the rocks because I was just testing blocks falling behavior, and in the video sample sand is a solid block, while falling rocks are not solid, so they allow the mobs to pass through it, in the final version they will probably be killed by the rock. Yes, character is invincible in our test version, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to test things, we would die too often 😀

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  6. It is planned, if people will like our game, but nothing is done so far. In any case consider that porting to iPad it’s just a matter of managing a different GUI, nothing more..

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  9. It`s sooooo bad idea. Better way is the normal behavior this blocks. Couse:

    A) You can`t create caves
    B) The animals and other things stuck in blocks
    C)You cant build things on underground
    D) Your world be the one big hole

    Please don`t change behavior, think most ppl dislike this…

    PS: Sorry for my english…

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  10. Don’t worry, this is not meant to be applied to the whole world, just to some kind of blocks (like falling rocks), and sand if we decide that it is the case.

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  11. Thanks for your feedback in the meanwhile! @Anonymous: mobs spawn rate is not decided yet, but you won’t be cluttered with mobs all around, the one in the video are automatically spawned to let us test the behavior 🙂

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  12. The sand looks good Pixbits. I feel it gives a little strategy in digging rather than not having any mining dangers other than the rock.
    Pixbits: “we want to understand if this behavior fits well the gameplay without being too much frustrating/boring or whatever.”
    I don’t think it will be frustrating, all we have to do is try to dig all the top sand blocks without it crashing down on are Smoking Hero : ). Plus won’t we be able to place collected dirt or other blocks to support the sand from falling anyways?

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  13. Hey! i just found out bout this game and i got all exalted about it!

    Im really gonna keep myself updated on the progress about this game and keep checking back often here!

    While i was reading i got a couple of ideas, since u guys seem to love feedback / suggestions:
    Im that kind of player that likes personality in games, which leads to my first suggestion since i havn’t read about it. Different characters to choose from! That would make the gameplay lotta fun. But keep ur signature in the game; characters smoking. The one u have now smokes a (chocolate) cigarette. Add another character with a army hat and a cigarr, a third character with a corn-pipe and a straw hat etc. I’d really like to see some of that if u guys like the idea ofcourse and maybe havn’t thought of it! 🙂

    Secondly; i was thinking about u maybe shud add a Hook to let the players _climb_ (and OFCOURSE) _swing_ in the game! In my opinion that would boost the gameplay alot higher, since now players can find maybe hidden spots in the game, climb a mountain, or defeat bosses using the hook in some kind of way. Also u could use the hook to grapple onto chickens and put a leash on em, or swing them and throw em away just for the fun of it!

    Got major loads of ideas, had to pick a couple! Hope ya guys find the reading interessting if nothing else.
    Keep up the good work! 🙂

    P.S. Sorry for the grammar

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  14. Wow great video guys 😀
    I was just wondering -how many different types of mobs will there be ?
    Oh and also will that flying cat you showed be in the game ?

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  16. That would be cool to have the flying cat in the game. It would be neat to also craft a net of some kind to catch it. This would also follow up on your other idea Pixbits.
    XSX- “catch the underground mole.”

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  17. Nice game! I like the idea of blocks falling. It adds some danger and strategy to digging. I have one concern however… Blocks falling diagonally. I find this mechanic very confusing and hard to predict. I feel like mining might become frustrating because of unnecessary deaths due to rocks or sand falling on my head. Also I think it just looks slightly improbable it seems like the blocks would fall and stay stacked in real life. I think maybe this mechanic will be alright but I know for sure that it will slow the pace of the game down because it will force the player to stop and think before digging… Of course maybe that’s the point. Anyway I have to thank you guys ( the developers ) for listening to these comments and bravo for making a good game!

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  26. Maybe in the future.. who knows 😀 But you will have to tap the blocks with the finger even with the pad since the game is heavily designed for touchscreen use..

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  27. Water will be included done in “the right way” in the future, but not in the initial release. Regarding the glass, we have planned it, with the furnaces too.

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  29. So just wondering about the flying cat
    -will there be other strange mobs like this included in the game ?

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  32. The cat will not be included in the release, it was an homage to Nyan cat. Regarding strange mobs and things we want to give to the users constant updates and fun things to do, so consider this as a yes 🙂

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  35. Sounds good Pixbits. By the way is it just my computer or is one of my old posts keep showing up on the bottom of this blog post?

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