You could probably telegraph hazards with with literal signage (icicles ahead, avalanche zone, etc), or tease the hazard on a bend (or two) a little before the event itself. Imagine seeing the avalanche boulders perched atop of a cliff begin to shudder on approach. Think of it as you're telling a story through the race (an avalanche knocks down trees, making a bridge across a ravine, and so on)
When you create special abilities/attacks, probably long time off, can you make an attack which comes up the mountain like a snowmobile and you could radio it in and it can be called emergency pick up Thanks
It would be interesting if the icicles wouldn't explode, but be stuck in the ground, so you can either be hit which is really bad or go against it which is less bad. You could make the disappear over time if it would otherwise be too many icicles
I think this is the right direction for the game! Also, I think the flags should be like boosters, rewarding you for going through them with a little speed bump now that they don't give you items
For the Boulders made of snow you should have them leave a trail of thick snow which is slower to ski in. That would force players to drive around the thick snow instead of just straight down the mountain and make for a nice randomizer:)
I would also like to add, maybe adding some snow particles from the front of the boulders that lingers behind them might be able to sell their scale better as they destroy the snowy track
Sounds like a good idea. It also introduces another decision for the player: Either cross the trail directly, losing a bit of speed but being able to continue the ideal path afterwards or ski parallel to the trail to pick up more speed and wait for a gap in the trail to cross. If you add wind shadow to boulders, where you accelerate faster to a higher max speed if skiing close behind them it could lead to even more interesting gameplay. That one might be hard to balance against the boulder velocity while on track though.
These devlogs are great! I would switch the avalanche with yeti's throwing snowballs from cliffs. Use range detection triggers and snowballs that grow as they roll downhill.
To fix the avalanche you should add a detection system like when you're being chased by a red/blue shell in mariokart, just to give the player a heads up before they get crushed.
For the boulder section you clearly want to telegraph approaching boulders better to the player. One approach would be to have the boulders roll on the side of the track, slowly closing in, before they get pushed onto the track by e.g. a ditch in the terrain. For that the boulders need to accelerate relatively quickly on the side of the road to overtake players and the change in direction should reduce their velocity significantly so that players can actually run into them. The player camera should provide a wider FOV to telegraph the boulders early on, so it might be a good idea to have it move back slightly for this section only. The only problem with this is that players won't be able to see boulders coming up from behind their FOV. This can either be solved by adjusting the on-track boulder velocity or by providing a hazard sign when a boulder is closing in while outside FOV.
The game looks amazing, im hyped to play it someday. It really gives so much inspiration and ideas. Wishlisted on steam! So here is some of the ideas that came into mind for 12:16 Make the bolders come from the side so you have a way better time predicting the boulders as a player. And it could be really and I mean really frustrating if the boulders are faster then you are. So please make them slower than the player Plus, add some ramps and a lower section to make things more interesting maybe even some objects in the middle of the road.
As a fix for the avalanche section you could give the boulders a sound, like a crunch sound when snow is compressed or that kind of a rumbling a big boulder makes, so players have a heads up. Then you also should add the ability to look back, so you can actually try to dodge them.
im sure its already been suggested but the icicles falling from the cave should stick into the ground instead of exploding acting like the ice spikes. if you ever add a system in which you do laps of the course it means each subsequent decent it gets harder too go through the cave without hitting obstacles.
Idea: what if they’re a little characters at the end of the map on top of the Hills throwing snowballs at you and the snowballs sliding down the hill, and becoming the bigger snowballs
I LOVE the progress on the game!!! Especially the new camera since that makes the player feel more speedy and powerful yk However I don't know about the air balloons haha... I mean, they fly with hot air, right? And that's not really something that works well in a snowy and cold environment :D Anything else is just soooo cool (no pun intended), I really really love this devlog!
Your devlogs are always amazing, I love this series dude. And the game looks really geat, I love the boulders falling as you race, looks really exhilarating!
For the boulders, maybe change them to rolling snowballs that start of very small and transition to the large ones you see in the video. For the icicles in the cave, maybe make very small ones shatter. The larger ones could stick into the ground, which would become an obstacle? Maybe add a few ramps made out of snow or wood. This would make the gameplay more fun. You could maybe use the ramps to jump over fallen trees or small icy lakes.
Loved the editing on this one, the visualizations were awesome too! Even though you’ve sort of shown me a tiny bit of this stuff, it’s amazing to see all the other stuff you got accomplished in such a short amount of time!
so happy to see a snowboard kids mention, wishlisted, buying it day of release, this looks incredible! came back to add my 2cents on the avalanche area. maybe when the boulders hit the ground from height they leave a larger than normal snow cloud obscuring vision for those behind it, mixed in with a couple smaller jumps around the wide section to launch unsightly riders into the side walls
Amazing! It's really coming together. I would recommend for your own sanity that you add a multiplier to that boost strength variable in your BP. Your starting value of 60,000,000 is just hilarious. I'd multiply the boost strength by like 50,000 in the blueprint. So that starting variable would only be 1,200. Will just make it a more sensible number for you to tweak for future levels. But man, keep it up, it's looking so good, and multiplayer is no joke to setup you've done so well.
I have a really hard time with level design, and I'm very inspired by how you make the path, the obstacles like snowballs, falling ice, everything comes together naturally; amazing video!
snow ball section ideas as you asked for some: 1. have some snow balls rolling next to the skii track, to fit more in without hindering the player 2. have some rolling slower than the player, that you overtake. to give sense of speed. (if wanted) 3. you probably dont want them rolling that much faster then the player. as they come from behind and you cant really dodge them that well. either a bit faster or they just come from the left, so that you can see them coming. Great dev vlog btw!
Love it! One of my favorite parts of downhill biking and the skiing game you mentioned was finding jumps and jumping off of places you’re not necessarily supposed to and seeing if I can make a shortcut or crash in a funny way. An off trail shortcut or a jump off a cliff that could be tricky to pull but would end up in a funny crash or saved time would be awesome.
I love these changes! what you could do though is tone down the smash effect on the icicles, to a small smoke puff and some tiny ice fragments to make it more realistic and less obtrusive, also for decorations you could add grandstands, bunting, floodlights and trees and bush's. Alternatively you could also have drones that fly over head, you could even uses there camera footage in the replay. But definitely do some banners and bunting to add some color. Also you could add ice patches which increase your speed but vastly reduce your turning capacity when you ski over them to add some strategy to the course. To liven up the avalanche section you could add a few speed boosts, jumps, crates and obstacles throughout to make the last moments the most memorable.
For the boulders introduce some camera shake based on your proximity to a boulder when it impacts the ground. It will make it feel more dangerous and real.
Fantastic progress! I am loving the way this level is coming together and all the cool and unique sections! My only suggestion would be to the way the icicles fall and land, currently they stop suddenly when hitting the ground, however this looks kind of strange since due to their size you would expect their shattered peices to continue to fall with the same momentum. I suggest having the tip either instantly shatter, or sink into the snow slightly upon impact, as it stopping on a dime doesn't fully sell the impact.
Great progress! I'm sure its been suggested, but maybe a 'sixth sense' indicator of approaching boulders and weapons. The boulders do come out of nowhere quickly. A good test would be increasing the amount of boulders, slightly shrinking them, and significantly slowing them down. Like they are going through some deep powder and can't quite get up to speed. They could also grow as they roll down, gathering that fresh now and slowing them down further. I have a feeling with some of those changes, the finale could feel dynamic and unique every time.
incredible work thus far! for the tunnel i thought the icicles could dig into ground making a small slippery patch? for the avalanche, maybe an indicator to notify you of the direction and intensity of its distance, like when you're being shot in a game and it tells from where. great work!!
For the avelange at the end I think it would be really cool and tense for having a really dense fog of snow so its both hard to see what position you are in and where the snowballs are. Could also have like a small warning when you're within a radius of the balls, a bit like the shell warning in Mario kart
Hey, great work and nice progress. The icicles could fall and stay in the ground stuck until someone hits them, then they break and are removed and the skier falls. The balls cloud be closer to an avalanche and when a skier reaches a certain part of the level the avalanche is triggered.
I like your idea about the icicles sticking in the ground. That might be a bit more interesting of hazard than them just smashing into the ground. Then maybe then would just burst after a while? Also kind of sounds like a fun item
For the avalanche section, you could consider bringing the camera further out and bringing the camera on a higher angle, so the player has a bit wider range of view and gets a little more time to adjust. It would probably really send home the "final stretch" feeling too as you pull back and show a larger area of the track and the chaos of the avalanche.
THE 3D ANIMATIONS IN THE EXPLANATIONS ARE SO GOOD as for the boulders, you could go with a warning indicator like when a red shell (and other items) are thrown at you in mario kart
The game is really starting to shape up, loving the new map! defitely the right approach to it. I had one thought while watching this video so Il just throw it out there and that is to add to the background and the scenery parts of other levels, so that it gives the feeling that some of these levels are the part of the same skii system. I would even like to see you experiment by taking it a bit further, having some maps merge by the lower part of the maps and end at the same spot as they tend to do in skii systems. I do understand that this complicates the map/level creation as they need to be able to fit and blend in together with each other in the same space. but I do think it would add to the skiing fantasy. Lonely Mountain does this and for me it adds a lot to the experience while playing that game. I eagerly await the next dev log, Best of lucks with the project!
12:14 for the boulders you could add like flashing orange triangle exclamation point little indicators on the side/corner of the screen where the boulder is coming and they could get bigger the closer they are. And you could make it look less sparse by having some shoot off right away, and just have a bunch more that sit up there and shoot off delayed from the others. Super cool game though, really like the art design especially.
I feel like one thing above all should be important: The movement has to be incredibly satisfying! For me, games like Rocket League, Mario Kart etc. are only so popular because mastering the controls is so buttery smooth.
Loving these devlogs. My first thought when seeing the end sequence of that avalanche is an item that turns your character into one that you can roll over other players with, similar to the bullet in mario kart.
Have you thought about including some resort-type signage and pathways. Drawing to experience from skiing on a mountain, there are signs that indicate the difficulty level of the route using color. From easy to hard, it can roughly go Green, Blue, Blue-Black, Black, and Double Black. Why not include different routes that indicate a faster route, but perhaps a more hazardous route. A High Risk, High Reward Scenario. There could be more snowballs, moguls, trees, or other obstacles. Just an idea. I love this game. It hits a nice vibe. Keep going, king!
a few level ideas i had watching this: wooden platforms covered in snow that have a more intricate vertical structure, for areas where the mountain geometry might not work very well. could also have areas with no snow that catches your skis and makes you fall over. an area where the mountain breaks apart and you jump between falling rocks an uphill section where you’re propelled up by either grabbing onto a bar that slides up quickly, or a rocket launches you up, or just speed pads made of handwavium on the track which makes you go fast and launches you up. this could let you have laps on some tracks. and it would be cool to have an ice cave section where you can ski on the walls or even the ceiling if you’re good enough. could have that be a way to access a shortcut path, that you gotta ski on the wall at the end and that lets you land on a higher path.
and another idea, you could also have some tracks where you ski on sand rather than snow, could be fun to have some new items to use as well as changing how some existing ones interact with the world. cold sandy deserts exist as well, so snow sections and sand sections could mix in the same track, as well as provide a reason why snow related items don’t like immediately melt or whatever
Very cool to see your progress and the new approach to level design seems to work out way better. One thing to keep in mind is the name of the game... maybe "Gumball" isn't a good name for it because there has been some famous franchises with that name. Just so your game is easily findable when googling.
Idea for the boulders section: You could have them be visible from an earlier part of the level, and maybe the player can go trough some obstacle and see how it triggers the avalance. For example, when they fall after the jump, the ground could shake a little and they could see the boulders falling in the distance. Also, if they came from the front they would be much easier to dodge, and satisfying too since you could see them coming. There could be an opposite slope diagonal to the players at that section PS: this game looks fun as hell, can't wait to play it!
Another idea that i got is that the game dont stop once You finish the level and then use the elevetor idea for restarting the level, i love when games use in-game menus
12:11 maybe a "danger arrow" at the top of the screen that points to a boulder if goes your direction.ooorrrr: if you are not planning on doing splitscreen then you could actually have the stereo/surroundsound be the thing that tells you where the boulders are coming from? idk this was the first video of yours that i watched and im pretty stoked, i might actually make my own game now lol solid video👍
The snow VFX in grand mountain adventure is using flipbooks on its particles, animation on the subUV level. There's a free plugin for Krita that can bake an animation into a spritesheet you can use for the same purpose! You can probably find some free ones too but you are very good at figuring these things out yourself it seems! Awesome video, the production quality is so good.
The ones I show in the video are flipbooks- just not very good ones 😂. I'll study the grand mountain adventure ones a bit more but if you have any ideas on how to make them less "thin" looking, let me know.
@@solomon-gumball So one thing I'd point out is it looks like the particles are spawning too far apart (there's gaps in between at high speeds basically) and that's detracting from the density your're looking for. Another thing that will help blend the snow particles with your environment is depth fade on your material. Right now the particles clip really obviously into the ground and with depth fade you can smooth this out. The particles in GMA are getting spread much wider (thicker) than yours are currently-- this could also affect gameplay tho so Idk how much you wanna push it. The texture used in grand mountain adventure is also much more "cloudy" where yours is more "sandy". It's much grainer and looks less fluffy. However the main track takes place on a different snow conditions than your game. Might be fun to explore different effects for on the track and off road! Anyways sorry for the paragraph but I hope this was helpful.
You could also add snowballs that get progressively larger so you can see them start small and then they become a bigger obstacle farther down the hill. This game is looking great keep up the good work.
The avalanche part made me think. Just before that part, have a warning sign, the trigger the camera to zoom out a bit and make the FOV wider for a second or two maybe. Just to show the player a more macro perspective of the situation, then zoom back in to further enhance the stress and adrenaline.
I suggest that you make the end a longer, flat surface with some trees and a small ski village. If possible some slope variation in the course, that speeds up or slows down the player would also be great! This could be sections of the course being steeper or maybe slope variation between the outer and inner part of a turn! My final suggestion for a future level would be a sand dune level, where the player skis on the sand.
For the avalanche segment at the bottom, you could have a tall mountain opposite the direction of the players so that the boulders actually come towards you as you're skiing down, or make the final stretch a "bowl" shape and have the boulders come in perpendicular to the player path so that they cross back and forth in front of you
everything about the boxes screams satisfaction, I feel rewarded for breaking them even though you don't actually get a reward. time well spent in my opinion.
Amazing work with the game! I feel like with the cinematic camera you had before, you could use it as a camera setting in a replay mode; sorta like the TV replay station in Mario Kart. I got this idea of different cameras for replays in a mobile game called “TouchGrind Skate 2”. I feel like replays would be a great addition to the game. Thanks for your time :)
Loving the track and all the memorable features! A small change that may help the avalanche sequence is modifying the camera for that section of the track. A combination of (1) zooming out and/or (2) having the camera track the player at the upper half of the screen to leave more screen below to watch for objects coming from behind.
Also, if the ski gates aren't for items anymore, you could take a Wave Race 64 approach and have the gates add to your speed and missing a gate resets your "groove". The use of the ski gates would be adding an optional challenge of weaving through the course (like a real skier) rather than charging straight down the hill.
You know what would be a cool feature: have fixed cameras from 'TV Crew' that project on to LED Screens that are physcailly placed in the map. So even if you can't quite see who or what is ahead of you around a bend, you can look in-world at the giant screen and get a glimpse of what's ahead.
for the avalache section you could even zoom out the camera more to show all the snow they're racing from and the scale could feel more impactful with the zoomed out camera, more snow movement on the players screen and maybe more opportunity to race through plooms of snow left behind by boulders. It might give the effect they're struggling to make it through
12:15 for the boulders make it to allow the players to have a free camera mode if they hold down a key so they have to skillfully use the free cam and turn the camera around so its looking behind their character to avoid the boulders.
1. Boxes on the mountain don't make sense, you could replace them with logs or balloons snowman etc. 2. For multiplayer the last two player could get a snowball item like the rocket in Mario kart, they become a controllable snowball. 3. Snow/wood ramps & tricks. 4. If the map is still too short, the race's end could be a big ramp, and as you go up then come down the map is flipped and you race reservely against other players. 5. Ski & snowboard and the concept of drifting. Ski is faster in straight line but minimal drifting, snowboard drifts more but you gain a bigger speed boost. Like different karts in Mario kart.
Looks really great so far! Regarding the boulder section, there is no way to dodge some of the boulders because you can't see them coming (12:10 in the video). I can see this feeling unfair when playing. Maybe have the boulders shake the ground in front of them to show their path? Or have big wooden tracks the boulders roll down so you know where they come from, similar to the big cog you sometimes see when you enter the first tunnel in Thwomp Ruins in Mario Kart 8. Just an idea. Keep up the great work
With the cave part, the floor could be ice rather than snow. Could have the Icicles fall and break a chunk of the ice, turning it into water which in result would kill/reset the player if fell into it. Would also be cool for a lapped race as you will have to remember the progressive path you have to follow. Also with he snow boulders, would be cool to slowly increase the size the further they roll :D
You can show the mountain while you ski and then snowballs fall form the snow on the mountain and they come from great height so you can’t really see them respawning, love your videos and game 😁
This level looks amazing! I really like the low poly style but am aware you're moving away from it so it'll be interesting to see where you take it. Also a suggestion for the falling icicles, perhaps they can freeze the player in a block of ice. They still slide forward at a slower pace but cannot control their direction.
About the avalanche part: I'd consider adding some kind of "warning" that you're about to get hit. I think it would be really frustrating, if you're at 1st place, and you lose because of random boulder. For example: 1) Exclamation mark in triangle, from the side that the closest boulder is approaching you. 2) Tracks that indicates path of the boulders + some camera/controller shake when boulder is just behind you.
For the avalanche area, I think sliding snow would be interesting. Maybe like in koopa cape where you aim to be on it to go faster? Also maybe to make it look less barren you could have some uprooted trees and skis sticking out of the snow.
so when you said avalanche at the end I imagined something really big coming after you and gives you anxiety because it always seems like you're not going to make it. so here is my suggestion: rotate the camera in the last part of the map so that you see behind instead of your front. you see a whole avalanche going super close to you and some chunks of snow or balls go faster than others (so it's not just a line behind you but you still have to dodge them right or left. In my opinion, it adds a nice and complex last stage!
I really love these devlogs. It's nice how much progress you have to show in each video. These videos are packed with funny and interesting stuff. Good job!
For the avalanche section, you should make it so that they start small and build up/accumulate snow as they roll down the hill. Like you see in cartoons etc. You could then change how you punish the player based on the size of the rolling ball (e.g. only dizzy/freeze them with smaller balls but knock them out with larger balls)
Idea for the boost panel jumps: Once a player leaves the ground after hitting a boost panel, let them control the rotation of the character. They would need to make a clean landing to avoid wiping out. If they pull off a full flip in the air, they get a little speed boost once they land (similar to doing tricks in Mario Kart). This could be a fun and satisfying skill check while also rewarding skilled players for taking risks.
For the avalanche section, you could have some smaller "boulders" that give off there own powder and have lots of them across the course for that section all falling. Then as you go down through them it feels like the whole snow bank is falling and not just the large boulders. Similar to how the player pushes the boxes away have the player push those small boulders away. So then no need to deal with any interactions between them and players on the multiplayer side of things.
For the boulders it would be awesome if a rolling sound effect started playing if they came up behind you and slowly got louder as the boulder gets closer. P.S. great video and you explained everything very good
for the box explosions, have you considered using an animation instead of physics? like something where it expands and explodes into particles in a more cartoonish way. depends what you're going for aesthetically with this game but at least personally i would find that far more satisfying honestly tho you have no idea how hyped i am for this game, these devlogs are like crack dude (coming from someone with next to 0 game dev experience haha)
Yeah! Animated explosions certainly aren't out of the question. Could really perfect the look that way. We'll see tho- I do like the dynamic nature of the physics simulated version.
I think at the end of the track, you could put portals so the players go through the portal and get transported at the top of the mountain seamlessly. It would allow you to do multiple laps. (I'd imagine the portals work like how they would in portal)
About the boulders in the avalanche, you could make a set of animations and randomly choose one. Also these are really cool devlogs and I get excited when I see a new one.
this looks like so much fun. props on starting the level over from scratch, it's hard to scrap a ton of work like that but often leads to better results based off building off previous experiences. i'd love to see some code, not sure if you're interested in that but i for one would be interested in seeing things like the bug explained around 3:15-3:35. i find that kind of stuff interesting, and helps me avoid the same mistakes in my game 😆. have you thought about adding a jump mechanic? shortcuts? seems like you need some more boulders at the end too. some sort of signage like "Falling rocks!" and maybe a screen shake to help sell the effect? game looks great. i can't wait to play it!
Definitely will be adding some signage to the track, I think this also helps give the track more personality if done right. Jump mechanics- I do want to mess around with some things, but in all likelyhood I will be keeping it pretty simple (something like mario kart has with a single "trick" mechanic). As far as showing code- I'm certainly not opposed to it, and I have in the past. I'll keep it in mind for future videos
I feel like for the boulder section, you could make the boulders a bit slower than the player's speed that way they don't unfairly appear from behind you. If that makes it too easy then you could just add a shit ton more. I feel like that would make it more of a readable and fun challenge.
oh that's so cool! an idea for the avalanche sequence would be to switch back the camera to the crash bandicoot style, to see what's coming from behind
What I think would help you make your boulders look better is try and make it so the particles it makes are thick clouds of snow that don't dissipate immediately. That way it almost makes it so you are charging into the aftermath and should take up more space and feel pretty cool to be burrowing through.
I think the easiest AND most interesting way to deal with the avalanche is to simply change the camera angle to be like it was before. 'Change the camera' could be one of the things that you can use for any level to add that flair of uniqueness to them. e.g. Some kind of underground cave section that has a platformer-esque camera (though that might make controlling it hard, but you get the idea)
I think you should implement 2 things: Shortcuts that are difficult with a heavy risk to reward ratio and mechanics that make it harder for the person in first vs. the person in last. Ie. with the icicles section maybe you have them fall as the first player goes through and then stay there stuck in the ground. So it's technically easier to avoid since you can see them coming if you're not right behind first.
Ok idea for the boulders im thinking..is to have something like a ski resort/mountain village on the track that the boulders would smash through. I want to see them big balls interacting with stuff. I want that thrill of seeing big things crushing other big things and your little tiny guy is trying to dodge and survive this whole mess. I would also argue that this, with the right decorations, can add a bunch of color and life to the track like those balloons. Tbh tho idk how the AI might deal with it and still live for another day
The boulders could come from the side instead from behind. If you make the course like a snowboarding half pipe you can have fewer boulders going left right left. Which allows you to increase difficulty as well as you can make the boulders go faster and faster the close to finish you get.
The icy spinout is a great idea, can be used for anything that causes the same effect i.e. oil spills. For the avalanche part it might be cool to have a more technical trick jump that's difficult to get to and land but can boost you down to the finishline. Like an ice cave that's slick for speed or boost jump off a ski lift. Grinding mechanic when?? Good luck, loving the devlog series.
For clouds, if you enable the volumetrics plugin there is a really good set of cloud materials. The one I use is M_VolumetricCloud_02_Profiles_PaintClouds, its not an instance because most of those are invisible for some reason.
For the tunnel you could make the walls icy with creatures frozen inside of it like a mammouth or a dinosaur
I love this idea, it has so much character
glowy cave paintings
Or a Yeti
Ice Age sends his regards :D
You’ve gotta add a ufo as well for the ice-ace homage
You could probably telegraph hazards with with literal signage (icicles ahead, avalanche zone, etc),
or tease the hazard on a bend (or two) a little before the event itself. Imagine seeing the avalanche boulders perched atop of a cliff begin to shudder on approach.
Think of it as you're telling a story through the race (an avalanche knocks down trees, making a bridge across a ravine, and so on)
yes, yes and yes
very very good comment
best suggestion right here. Tell a story with each track
When you create special abilities/attacks, probably long time off, can you make an attack which comes up the mountain like a snowmobile and you could radio it in and it can be called emergency pick up
Thanks
or a little ‘teaser’
like an boulder falls in front of you that could never hit you but shows you that they fall
It would be interesting if the icicles wouldn't explode, but be stuck in the ground, so you can either be hit which is really bad or go against it which is less bad. You could make the disappear over time if it would otherwise be too many icicles
If they leave a small ice mound behind that could also make for a nice little ski jump.
That's pretty cool, they become obstacles
I think this is the right direction for the game! Also, I think the flags should be like boosters, rewarding you for going through them with a little speed bump now that they don't give you items
For the Boulders made of snow you should have them leave a trail of thick snow which is slower to ski in. That would force players to drive around the thick snow instead of just straight down the mountain and make for a nice randomizer:)
I would also like to add, maybe adding some snow particles from the front of the boulders that lingers behind them might be able to sell their scale better as they destroy the snowy track
Sounds like a good idea. It also introduces another decision for the player: Either cross the trail directly, losing a bit of speed but being able to continue the ideal path afterwards or ski parallel to the trail to pick up more speed and wait for a gap in the trail to cross. If you add wind shadow to boulders, where you accelerate faster to a higher max speed if skiing close behind them it could lead to even more interesting gameplay. That one might be hard to balance against the boulder velocity while on track though.
Yeah, is jumping a thing? It would be fun to try and time a little hop over the slow-snow that the boulders leave behind.
I normally don't watch game devs but I have been GLUED to this one 😅 can't wait to play it on steam!
These devlogs are great! I would switch the avalanche with yeti's throwing snowballs from cliffs. Use range detection triggers and snowballs that grow as they roll downhill.
To fix the avalanche you should add a detection system like when you're being chased by a red/blue shell in mariokart, just to give the player a heads up before they get crushed.
So true! Something like particles, screen shake, or a literal sign post would all be very nice
This and I think making the snowballs go a bit more parallel to the trail would give them more longevity and presence without just spamming them.
For the boulder section you clearly want to telegraph approaching boulders better to the player. One approach would be to have the boulders roll on the side of the track, slowly closing in, before they get pushed onto the track by e.g. a ditch in the terrain. For that the boulders need to accelerate relatively quickly on the side of the road to overtake players and the change in direction should reduce their velocity significantly so that players can actually run into them. The player camera should provide a wider FOV to telegraph the boulders early on, so it might be a good idea to have it move back slightly for this section only. The only problem with this is that players won't be able to see boulders coming up from behind their FOV. This can either be solved by adjusting the on-track boulder velocity or by providing a hazard sign when a boulder is closing in while outside FOV.
The game looks amazing, im hyped to play it someday. It really gives so much inspiration and ideas. Wishlisted on steam!
So here is some of the ideas that came into mind for 12:16
Make the bolders come from the side so you have a way better time predicting the boulders as a player. And it could be really and I mean really frustrating if the boulders are faster then you are. So please make them slower than the player
Plus, add some ramps and a lower section to make things more interesting maybe even some objects in the middle of the road.
My man over here has single handedly more creative ideas than Nintendo had for Mario Kart since 2008 in Mario Kart Wii.
As a fix for the avalanche section you could give the boulders a sound, like a crunch sound when snow is compressed or that kind of a rumbling a big boulder makes, so players have a heads up. Then you also should add the ability to look back, so you can actually try to dodge them.
im sure its already been suggested but the icicles falling from the cave should stick into the ground instead of exploding acting like the ice spikes. if you ever add a system in which you do laps of the course it means each subsequent decent it gets harder too go through the cave without hitting obstacles.
Idea: what if they’re a little characters at the end of the map on top of the Hills throwing snowballs at you and the snowballs sliding down the hill, and becoming the bigger snowballs
I LOVE the progress on the game!!! Especially the new camera since that makes the player feel more speedy and powerful yk
However I don't know about the air balloons haha... I mean, they fly with hot air, right? And that's not really something that works well in a snowy and cold environment :D
Anything else is just soooo cool (no pun intended), I really really love this devlog!
Your devlogs are always amazing, I love this series dude. And the game looks really geat, I love the boulders falling as you race, looks really exhilarating!
I'm only 4 minutes into this, but I am just blown away by the visualization you've made to explain things. Great work!
For the boulders, maybe change them to rolling snowballs that start of very small and transition to the large ones you see in the video.
For the icicles in the cave, maybe make very small ones shatter. The larger ones could stick into the ground, which would become an obstacle?
Maybe add a few ramps made out of snow or wood. This would make the gameplay more fun. You could maybe use the ramps to jump over fallen trees or small icy lakes.
Loved the editing on this one, the visualizations were awesome too! Even though you’ve sort of shown me a tiny bit of this stuff, it’s amazing to see all the other stuff you got accomplished in such a short amount of time!
Props to all the extra work you're doing creating all the visualizations for the video. Loving how the game is turning out!
Thanks! Some of these visualizations I spent half a day on only show up for like 5 seconds in the video, so I'm glad to hear they're appreciated 😂
so happy to see a snowboard kids mention, wishlisted, buying it day of release, this looks incredible!
came back to add my 2cents on the avalanche area. maybe when the boulders hit the ground from height they leave a larger than normal snow cloud obscuring vision for those behind it, mixed in with a couple smaller jumps around the wide section to launch unsightly riders into the side walls
Amazing! It's really coming together. I would recommend for your own sanity that you add a multiplier to that boost strength variable in your BP. Your starting value of 60,000,000 is just hilarious. I'd multiply the boost strength by like 50,000 in the blueprint. So that starting variable would only be 1,200. Will just make it a more sensible number for you to tweak for future levels. But man, keep it up, it's looking so good, and multiplayer is no joke to setup you've done so well.
I have a really hard time with level design, and I'm very inspired by how you make the path, the obstacles like snowballs, falling ice, everything comes together naturally; amazing video!
snow ball section ideas as you asked for some:
1. have some snow balls rolling next to the skii track, to fit more in without hindering the player
2. have some rolling slower than the player, that you overtake. to give sense of speed. (if wanted)
3. you probably dont want them rolling that much faster then the player. as they come from behind and you cant really dodge them that well. either a bit faster or they just come from the left, so that you can see them coming.
Great dev vlog btw!
Love it!
One of my favorite parts of downhill biking and the skiing game you mentioned was finding jumps and jumping off of places you’re not necessarily supposed to and seeing if I can make a shortcut or crash in a funny way. An off trail shortcut or a jump off a cliff that could be tricky to pull but would end up in a funny crash or saved time would be awesome.
I love these changes! what you could do though is tone down the smash effect on the icicles, to a small smoke puff and some tiny ice fragments to make it more realistic and less obtrusive, also for decorations you could add grandstands, bunting, floodlights and trees and bush's. Alternatively you could also have drones that fly over head, you could even uses there camera footage in the replay. But definitely do some banners and bunting to add some color. Also you could add ice patches which increase your speed but vastly reduce your turning capacity when you ski over them to add some strategy to the course. To liven up the avalanche section you could add a few speed boosts, jumps, crates and obstacles throughout to make the last moments the most memorable.
For the boulders you could add smaller rocks that signal when a large one is comming.
For the boulders introduce some camera shake based on your proximity to a boulder when it impacts the ground. It will make it feel more dangerous and real.
For the collectibles, you could replace the boxes with rainbow snowball
Fantastic progress!
I am loving the way this level is coming together and all the cool and unique sections!
My only suggestion would be to the way the icicles fall and land, currently they stop suddenly when hitting the ground, however this looks kind of strange since due to their size you would expect their shattered peices to continue to fall with the same momentum. I suggest having the tip either instantly shatter, or sink into the snow slightly upon impact, as it stopping on a dime doesn't fully sell the impact.
Great progress! I'm sure its been suggested, but maybe a 'sixth sense' indicator of approaching boulders and weapons. The boulders do come out of nowhere quickly. A good test would be increasing the amount of boulders, slightly shrinking them, and significantly slowing them down. Like they are going through some deep powder and can't quite get up to speed. They could also grow as they roll down, gathering that fresh now and slowing them down further. I have a feeling with some of those changes, the finale could feel dynamic and unique every time.
incredible work thus far! for the tunnel i thought the icicles could dig into ground making a small slippery patch? for the avalanche, maybe an indicator to notify you of the direction and intensity of its distance, like when you're being shot in a game and it tells from where. great work!!
For the avelange at the end I think it would be really cool and tense for having a really dense fog of snow so its both hard to see what position you are in and where the snowballs are. Could also have like a small warning when you're within a radius of the balls, a bit like the shell warning in Mario kart
Hey, great work and nice progress.
The icicles could fall and stay in the ground stuck until someone hits them, then they break and are removed and the skier falls.
The balls cloud be closer to an avalanche and when a skier reaches a certain part of the level the avalanche is triggered.
I like your idea about the icicles sticking in the ground. That might be a bit more interesting of hazard than them just smashing into the ground. Then maybe then would just burst after a while? Also kind of sounds like a fun item
For the avalanche section, you could consider bringing the camera further out and bringing the camera on a higher angle, so the player has a bit wider range of view and gets a little more time to adjust. It would probably really send home the "final stretch" feeling too as you pull back and show a larger area of the track and the chaos of the avalanche.
THE 3D ANIMATIONS IN THE EXPLANATIONS ARE SO GOOD
as for the boulders, you could go with a warning indicator like when a red shell (and other items) are thrown at you in mario kart
The game is really starting to shape up, loving the new map! defitely the right approach to it.
I had one thought while watching this video so Il just throw it out there and that is to add to the background and the scenery parts of other levels, so that it gives the feeling that some of these levels are the part of the same skii system. I would even like to see you experiment by taking it a bit further, having some maps merge by the lower part of the maps and end at the same spot as they tend to do in skii systems.
I do understand that this complicates the map/level creation as they need to be able to fit and blend in together with each other in the same space. but I do think it would add to the skiing fantasy. Lonely Mountain does this and for me it adds a lot to the experience while playing that game.
I eagerly await the next dev log,
Best of lucks with the project!
12:14 for the boulders you could add like flashing orange triangle exclamation point little indicators on the side/corner of the screen where the boulder is coming and they could get bigger the closer they are. And you could make it look less sparse by having some shoot off right away, and just have a bunch more that sit up there and shoot off delayed from the others.
Super cool game though, really like the art design especially.
I feel like one thing above all should be important: The movement has to be incredibly satisfying! For me, games like Rocket League, Mario Kart etc. are only so popular because mastering the controls is so buttery smooth.
Loving these devlogs. My first thought when seeing the end sequence of that avalanche is an item that turns your character into one that you can roll over other players with, similar to the bullet in mario kart.
Idea for 12:15 -> Display a warn-icon when there is a ball behind the player. The location of the icon is where there ball is coming from.
Have you thought about including some resort-type signage and pathways. Drawing to experience from skiing on a mountain, there are signs that indicate the difficulty level of the route using color. From easy to hard, it can roughly go Green, Blue, Blue-Black, Black, and Double Black. Why not include different routes that indicate a faster route, but perhaps a more hazardous route. A High Risk, High Reward Scenario. There could be more snowballs, moguls, trees, or other obstacles. Just an idea.
I love this game. It hits a nice vibe. Keep going, king!
a few level ideas i had watching this:
wooden platforms covered in snow that have a more intricate vertical structure, for areas where the mountain geometry might not work very well. could also have areas with no snow that catches your skis and makes you fall over.
an area where the mountain breaks apart and you jump between falling rocks
an uphill section where you’re propelled up by either grabbing onto a bar that slides up quickly, or a rocket launches you up, or just speed pads made of handwavium on the track which makes you go fast and launches you up. this could let you have laps on some tracks.
and it would be cool to have an ice cave section where you can ski on the walls or even the ceiling if you’re good enough. could have that be a way to access a shortcut path, that you gotta ski on the wall at the end and that lets you land on a higher path.
and another idea, you could also have some tracks where you ski on sand rather than snow, could be fun to have some new items to use as well as changing how some existing ones interact with the world. cold sandy deserts exist as well, so snow sections and sand sections could mix in the same track, as well as provide a reason why snow related items don’t like immediately melt or whatever
It looks really good, I like the ideas you had to make the level design work, and it looks like a lot of fun!
Very cool to see your progress and the new approach to level design seems to work out way better. One thing to keep in mind is the name of the game... maybe "Gumball" isn't a good name for it because there has been some famous franchises with that name. Just so your game is easily findable when googling.
Idea for the boulders section: You could have them be visible from an earlier part of the level, and maybe the player can go trough some obstacle and see how it triggers the avalance. For example, when they fall after the jump, the ground could shake a little and they could see the boulders falling in the distance.
Also, if they came from the front they would be much easier to dodge, and satisfying too since you could see them coming. There could be an opposite slope diagonal to the players at that section
PS: this game looks fun as hell, can't wait to play it!
Awesome work, homie! For the avalanche part, I think that using the shadow of the balls could be a neat way to show that they're coming
Maybe for the avalanche the camera zooms out and looks the player from the top/front, that way you can see the snowballs
Another idea that i got is that the game dont stop once You finish the level and then use the elevetor idea for restarting the level, i love when games use in-game menus
Finally i think some fog or shaders will improve the visuals a lot, maybe the aurora borealis 😏
12:11 maybe a "danger arrow" at the top of the screen that points to a boulder if goes your direction.ooorrrr:
if you are not planning on doing splitscreen then you could actually have the stereo/surroundsound be the thing that tells you where the boulders are coming from?
idk this was the first video of yours that i watched and im pretty stoked, i might actually make my own game now lol
solid video👍
The snow VFX in grand mountain adventure is using flipbooks on its particles, animation on the subUV level. There's a free plugin for Krita that can bake an animation into a spritesheet you can use for the same purpose! You can probably find some free ones too but you are very good at figuring these things out yourself it seems! Awesome video, the production quality is so good.
Also as an avid park skier, it's my dream to see some corks in this game!!
The ones I show in the video are flipbooks- just not very good ones 😂. I'll study the grand mountain adventure ones a bit more but if you have any ideas on how to make them less "thin" looking, let me know.
@@solomon-gumball So one thing I'd point out is it looks like the particles are spawning too far apart (there's gaps in between at high speeds basically) and that's detracting from the density your're looking for. Another thing that will help blend the snow particles with your environment is depth fade on your material. Right now the particles clip really obviously into the ground and with depth fade you can smooth this out. The particles in GMA are getting spread much wider (thicker) than yours are currently-- this could also affect gameplay tho so Idk how much you wanna push it. The texture used in grand mountain adventure is also much more "cloudy" where yours is more "sandy". It's much grainer and looks less fluffy. However the main track takes place on a different snow conditions than your game. Might be fun to explore different effects for on the track and off road! Anyways sorry for the paragraph but I hope this was helpful.
You could also add snowballs that get progressively larger so you can see them start small and then they become a bigger obstacle farther down the hill. This game is looking great keep up the good work.
The avalanche part made me think. Just before that part, have a warning sign, the trigger the camera to zoom out a bit and make the FOV wider for a second or two maybe. Just to show the player a more macro perspective of the situation, then zoom back in to further enhance the stress and adrenaline.
I suggest that you make the end a longer, flat surface with some trees and a small ski village. If possible some slope variation in the course, that speeds up or slows down the player would also be great! This could be sections of the course being steeper or maybe slope variation between the outer and inner part of a turn! My final suggestion for a future level would be a sand dune level, where the player skis on the sand.
For the avalanche segment at the bottom, you could have a tall mountain opposite the direction of the players so that the boulders actually come towards you as you're skiing down, or make the final stretch a "bowl" shape and have the boulders come in perpendicular to the player path so that they cross back and forth in front of you
everything about the boxes screams satisfaction, I feel rewarded for breaking them even though you don't actually get a reward. time well spent in my opinion.
Amazing work with the game! I feel like with the cinematic camera you had before, you could use it as a camera setting in a replay mode; sorta like the TV replay station in Mario Kart. I got this idea of different cameras for replays in a mobile game called “TouchGrind Skate 2”. I feel like replays would be a great addition to the game. Thanks for your time :)
Loving the track and all the memorable features! A small change that may help the avalanche sequence is modifying the camera for that section of the track. A combination of (1) zooming out and/or (2) having the camera track the player at the upper half of the screen to leave more screen below to watch for objects coming from behind.
Also, if the ski gates aren't for items anymore, you could take a Wave Race 64 approach and have the gates add to your speed and missing a gate resets your "groove". The use of the ski gates would be adding an optional challenge of weaving through the course (like a real skier) rather than charging straight down the hill.
You know what would be a cool feature: have fixed cameras from 'TV Crew' that project on to LED Screens that are physcailly placed in the map. So even if you can't quite see who or what is ahead of you around a bend, you can look in-world at the giant screen and get a glimpse of what's ahead.
for the avalache section you could even zoom out the camera more to show all the snow they're racing from and the scale could feel more impactful with the zoomed out camera, more snow movement on the players screen and maybe more opportunity to race through plooms of snow left behind by boulders. It might give the effect they're struggling to make it through
12:15 for the boulders make it to allow the players to have a free camera mode if they hold down a key so they have to skillfully use the free cam and turn the camera around so its looking behind their character to avoid the boulders.
1. Boxes on the mountain don't make sense, you could replace them with logs or balloons snowman etc.
2. For multiplayer the last two player could get a snowball item like the rocket in Mario kart, they become a controllable snowball.
3. Snow/wood ramps & tricks.
4. If the map is still too short, the race's end could be a big ramp, and as you go up then come down the map is flipped and you race reservely against other players.
5. Ski & snowboard and the concept of drifting. Ski is faster in straight line but minimal drifting, snowboard drifts more but you gain a bigger speed boost. Like different karts in Mario kart.
Looks really great so far! Regarding the boulder section, there is no way to dodge some of the boulders because you can't see them coming (12:10 in the video). I can see this feeling unfair when playing. Maybe have the boulders shake the ground in front of them to show their path? Or have big wooden tracks the boulders roll down so you know where they come from, similar to the big cog you sometimes see when you enter the first tunnel in Thwomp Ruins in Mario Kart 8. Just an idea. Keep up the great work
With the cave part, the floor could be ice rather than snow. Could have the Icicles fall and break a chunk of the ice, turning it into water which in result would kill/reset the player if fell into it. Would also be cool for a lapped race as you will have to remember the progressive path you have to follow. Also with he snow boulders, would be cool to slowly increase the size the further they roll :D
About that tunnel section: add a downwards shadow using decals to the falling ice, it will indicate in the floor where it will fall
You can show the mountain while you ski and then snowballs fall form the snow on the mountain and they come from great height so you can’t really see them respawning, love your videos and game 😁
It is so cool to see you theorize and then generate some of these ideas. Your blender creations are so neat and accomplish the goal so well.
This level looks amazing! I really like the low poly style but am aware you're moving away from it so it'll be interesting to see where you take it.
Also a suggestion for the falling icicles, perhaps they can freeze the player in a block of ice. They still slide forward at a slower pace but cannot control their direction.
About the avalanche part:
I'd consider adding some kind of "warning" that you're about to get hit. I think it would be really frustrating, if you're at 1st place, and you lose because of random boulder.
For example:
1) Exclamation mark in triangle, from the side that the closest boulder is approaching you.
2) Tracks that indicates path of the boulders + some camera/controller shake when boulder is just behind you.
I was waiting for a video from you, I like the progress and additions to a very impressive game.
For the avalanche area, I think sliding snow would be interesting. Maybe like in koopa cape where you aim to be on it to go faster? Also maybe to make it look less barren you could have some uprooted trees and skis sticking out of the snow.
so when you said avalanche at the end I imagined something really big coming after you and gives you anxiety because it always seems like you're not going to make it.
so here is my suggestion: rotate the camera in the last part of the map so that you see behind instead of your front. you see a whole avalanche going super close to you and some chunks of snow or balls go faster than others (so it's not just a line behind you but you still have to dodge them right or left.
In my opinion, it adds a nice and complex last stage!
I really love these devlogs. It's nice how much progress you have to show in each video. These videos are packed with funny and interesting stuff. Good job!
For the avalanche section, you should make it so that they start small and build up/accumulate snow as they roll down the hill. Like you see in cartoons etc. You could then change how you punish the player based on the size of the rolling ball (e.g. only dizzy/freeze them with smaller balls but knock them out with larger balls)
Idea for the boost panel jumps: Once a player leaves the ground after hitting a boost panel, let them control the rotation of the character. They would need to make a clean landing to avoid wiping out. If they pull off a full flip in the air, they get a little speed boost once they land (similar to doing tricks in Mario Kart). This could be a fun and satisfying skill check while also rewarding skilled players for taking risks.
I can't believe I haven't seen your channel before. High quality editing and voice over, keep up the great work!
Yes bro I love to see a new dev vlog!
Loving the series, would like to see moguls and the use of the characters polls while turning in future devlogs
For the avalanche section, you could have some smaller "boulders" that give off there own powder and have lots of them across the course for that section all falling. Then as you go down through them it feels like the whole snow bank is falling and not just the large boulders. Similar to how the player pushes the boxes away have the player push those small boulders away. So then no need to deal with any interactions between them and players on the multiplayer side of things.
Looks amazing! I like this new approach. The map looks fun. I am excited to see what your creativty produces next!
Great progress video. Its coming along great and I can't wait to play!
For the boulders it would be awesome if a rolling sound effect started playing if they came up behind you and slowly got louder as the boulder gets closer. P.S. great video and you explained everything very good
for the box explosions, have you considered using an animation instead of physics? like something where it expands and explodes into particles in a more cartoonish way. depends what you're going for aesthetically with this game but at least personally i would find that far more satisfying
honestly tho you have no idea how hyped i am for this game, these devlogs are like crack dude (coming from someone with next to 0 game dev experience haha)
Yeah! Animated explosions certainly aren't out of the question. Could really perfect the look that way. We'll see tho- I do like the dynamic nature of the physics simulated version.
I think at the end of the track, you could put portals so the players go through the portal and get transported at the top of the mountain seamlessly. It would allow you to do multiple laps. (I'd imagine the portals work like how they would in portal)
You need a statem to tell the player how many penguin missiles and stuff they have! Great vid as usual
Wishlisted! These are great videos!
About the boulders in the avalanche, you could make a set of animations and randomly choose one. Also these are really cool devlogs and I get excited when I see a new one.
this looks like so much fun. props on starting the level over from scratch, it's hard to scrap a ton of work like that but often leads to better results based off building off previous experiences. i'd love to see some code, not sure if you're interested in that but i for one would be interested in seeing things like the bug explained around 3:15-3:35. i find that kind of stuff interesting, and helps me avoid the same mistakes in my game 😆.
have you thought about adding a jump mechanic? shortcuts?
seems like you need some more boulders at the end too. some sort of signage like "Falling rocks!" and maybe a screen shake to help sell the effect?
game looks great. i can't wait to play it!
Definitely will be adding some signage to the track, I think this also helps give the track more personality if done right. Jump mechanics- I do want to mess around with some things, but in all likelyhood I will be keeping it pretty simple (something like mario kart has with a single "trick" mechanic).
As far as showing code- I'm certainly not opposed to it, and I have in the past. I'll keep it in mind for future videos
I feel like for the boulder section, you could make the boulders a bit slower than the player's speed that way they don't unfairly appear from behind you. If that makes it too easy then you could just add a shit ton more. I feel like that would make it more of a readable and fun challenge.
Wow I love it, another great devlog! I love all of the cool ideas for the level!
oh that's so cool! an idea for the avalanche sequence would be to switch back the camera to the crash bandicoot style, to see what's coming from behind
What I think would help you make your boulders look better is try and make it so the particles it makes are thick clouds of snow that don't dissipate immediately. That way it almost makes it so you are charging into the aftermath and should take up more space and feel pretty cool to be burrowing through.
An insane amount of progress and so many great changes. Keep it up!
I think the easiest AND most interesting way to deal with the avalanche is to simply change the camera angle to be like it was before. 'Change the camera' could be one of the things that you can use for any level to add that flair of uniqueness to them. e.g. Some kind of underground cave section that has a platformer-esque camera (though that might make controlling it hard, but you get the idea)
I think you should implement 2 things: Shortcuts that are difficult with a heavy risk to reward ratio and mechanics that make it harder for the person in first vs. the person in last. Ie. with the icicles section maybe you have them fall as the first player goes through and then stay there stuck in the ground. So it's technically easier to avoid since you can see them coming if you're not right behind first.
Ok idea for the boulders im thinking..is to have something like a ski resort/mountain village on the track that the boulders would smash through. I want to see them big balls interacting with stuff. I want that thrill of seeing big things crushing other big things and your little tiny guy is trying to dodge and survive this whole mess. I would also argue that this, with the right decorations, can add a bunch of color and life to the track like those balloons. Tbh tho idk how the AI might deal with it and still live for another day
The boulders could come from the side instead from behind. If you make the course like a snowboarding half pipe you can have fewer boulders going left right left. Which allows you to increase difficulty as well as you can make the boulders go faster and faster the close to finish you get.
The icy spinout is a great idea, can be used for anything that causes the same effect i.e. oil spills. For the avalanche part it might be cool to have a more technical trick jump that's difficult to get to and land but can boost you down to the finishline. Like an ice cave that's slick for speed or boost jump off a ski lift. Grinding mechanic when?? Good luck, loving the devlog series.
Awesome realization!
Next up: beach hill downslope skiing!!
For clouds, if you enable the volumetrics plugin there is a really good set of cloud materials. The one I use is M_VolumetricCloud_02_Profiles_PaintClouds, its not an instance because most of those are invisible for some reason.
I absolutely love this Devlog. Makes me want to drop Web dev xD. Keep up the good work, especially the Animations this video were very good.
no harm in doing both!
@@solomon-gumball I wanted to argue against but I can't. I guess youre right :)
Well, of to install Unity