Updates to Online Testing Version of Bud The Spud Friday 23rd

Are you counting down the seconds to see all the sweet new changes that I've been hard at work creating to level 01 this week? Well you've not long to wait my friends, This Friday 23rd which is tomorrow around 5 PM ish I'll be uploading the latest version of Bud The Spud Unity 3D Web Player version so you'll be able to play and test out the latest updates to the game. You'll see all sorts of new stuff added to the game environment. If you've been following this blog and who whoever is interested in the game and who has been playing and likes the game would not be lol then you'll already have a good heads up on the shwack load of awesomeness that is going to be in the latest version this Friday. All kinds of cool stuff like

1. Bud's Blob Shadow fixed so not it does not spin around when he does his "Flip Jump."
2. Danger signs added around the Deadly Toxic Mud Bogs.
3. Fireflies to give players hints as to where to go in the game environment.
4. Special Potato Leaf Health pick ups that add 25 points to Bud's existing health.
5. Some cool background music.
6. A new broken pipe by the 3rd Toxic Mud Bog.
7. More worms to fight.
8. More Fertilizer pellets to collect.
9. Beast light mapping for shadows.
10. More challenges.
11. Additional sound effects.

Wow,  I mean WOW! I have been a busy little beaver this week. What can I say, I live to serve lol.

Don't forget to post comments to the blog as I would love to hear anything you have to say. Ideas, suggestions, rants, raves, you name it, it's all good. Who knows maybe some of your awesome ideas may wind up in a future level of my "Bud the Spud" game. ;)

A Little More Bling!

Just to add a little more "Bling" I thought I would add a nice magic sparkle particle effect to the Potato Leaf health pick up object. Now it's a lot more noticeable with that cool energy sparkle effect coming off of it and drifting upwards like magic fairy dust or something. I got it set up so it's color kind of cycles between a deep florescent green to a greenish almost aqua blue color. These cool health pick ups add 25 points to Bud's existing health. This one seen here is pretty easy for Bud to reach the one way up top on the floating stone platform however is another matter, Bud will need some pretty skill full jump timing to get that one without falling through the hole in the platform. ;) Gotta just love a challenge don't ya ;)

2nd Brocken Pipe Added

I added an additional challenge to Level one this morning. Over by the 3rd deadly toxic mud bog is a new broken pipe. Bud the Spud can jump onto the pipe and get in inside of it by jumping down from one of the floating stone platforms above. I added another rock in the middle of the mud bog so he'll be able to get back once he is done exploring the inside of the broken pipe. I tried to just jump out of the pipe but the distance was too great for Bud to make it across to the center rock safely so the addition of the extra stone should make it easier. I still have to test that out and see if it's possible yet but it should be.

Here you can see Bud the Spud looking down from the floating stone platform onto the new broken pipe. Inside you can see I've moved the extra life heart from the other pipe and place it inside of this one along with some additional Fertilizer pellets. I'll bet there are some player's that are going to just hate me for that. But hey it's not that bad, by now you should be all masters at making Bud jump around his underground environment. If not all I can say is practice makes perfect ;)

Potato Leaf Health Pickup

Bud the Spud has a new health pick up item, the Healthy Potato Leaf will add 25 health points to Bud's existing health points. Not only are the Fireflies helping Bud here cross the deadly middle mud bog but they are also giving a hint to look up and spot the glowing green healthy potato leaf. "Sweeet!" Bud will say when he gets one of these, especially if he's been injured by attacking worms.

There is another one located way above ground on the floating stone platform but Bud will need some supper skillful jumping dexterity to get that one without falling through the hole and having to climb back up again. I've managed to do it a few time but it is a very difficult jump to get just right, but it can be done. Worse case scenario is that he'll just have to climb back up again if he falls through the hole. Hopefully he managed to get the potato leaf in the process though.

Bud the Spud With Fireflies

As part of Jonathan's idea he suggested on Gamasutra to add visual cues or clues as to where to go I added some fireflies into the scene to give the players a hint. For instance on the middle deadly mud bog it would be perhaps logical for a lot of player to try and jump to the broken dock on the other side of the mud bog from the center island, and although it can be done it is a bit of a tricky jump. The safer jump is to the right of the dock along the mud bog edge. The fireflies flying around the glowing green fungus will hopefully provide a clue to the safer jump option.

Here we can see a screen capture of bud the spud with his very helpful Fireflies. They  are an animated particle system so if you get close to them you can see a little animated glowing bug flapping its wings while they lazily fly about and fade in and out. It's awesome comments like those from Jonathan that I just love and REALLY take to heart. ;)

Danger Signs Added

One of my game testers from Gamasutra (Jonathan) made the awesome suggestion of placing danger signs around the toxic mud bogs as he at first time playing did not know that they were dangerous. Makes perfect sense. I did actually have that planned but it is so good to hear that kind of thing from people as it lets me know I'm on the right track with a lot of this stuff.

Here we see Bud the Spud standing next to the new signs marking the deadly toxic mud bog water. This weekend I'll upload the latest changes and improvement I've made to the online playable version so people can test out and see the new stuff like these wonderful signs, the blob shadow fix, the additional worms and Fertilizer pellet pickups. It's so great to hear people are enjoying playing and testing out this first level. I think when level 02 is ready for testing I'll add that to this one so you'll be able to go from level one to level two just because people are being so absolutely Awesome!!

Character Blob Shadow issue fixed

Although a minor nuisance I found that whenever Bud the Spud performed his "Flip Jump" the shadow spun around with him which is not accurate. I found a way around this with the option of unparenting the Blob Shadow Projector from my character and giving it it's own empty object or container if you like, placed on the ground with the projector above the character. I added a very simple script onto that object containing the projector that tells it to follow the character along like so:
transform.position = objectToFollow.position + offset;
Works like a dream!! Now there is no more of the silliness of the shadow flipping with the player.

I've also been playing around a bit with trying to add a nice background music loop for level one's underground, I've got something with a bit of a tribal beat to it, not sure if I'm totally sold on it yet. just experimenting. I also added some worms to the upper floating stone platforms for Bud the Spud to deal with. I have not added any of these changes to the online web player version of the games testing page yet. I want to do a lot more tweaks yet. 

Sneak Peek at Level 2 Development

Here is a sneak peek at the very early stages of level 02 of "Bud the Spud." Level 02 takes place above ground just after Bud has exited from his underground world through the pipe to the surface, that is if he's managed to collect the two keys needed to unlock the door to the exit pipe, managed not to get himself killed by worms or from falling into toxic deadly mud bogs.

Level 02 Bud the Spud must make it through the front yard and make his way to the Tree House located in the Pumpkin Patch where he'll have to avoid more worms and a new enemy the "Potato Beetle." Inside the tree house he'll have to avoid the occasional windup toy robot as well.

I don't want to spoil too much of what's in store for "Bud the Spud" but I just wanted to show a sneak peek at how my environment for level 02 is starting out. ;)

Bud the Spud Makes it to the Top!!

Actually made it to the top with 4 lives and only half my health taken away while testing out some minor changes I made to the game today. I moved some of the glowing Fungus over towards the dilapidated wooden walkway that leads up to the giant rock across the 3rd toxic deadly mud bog. I found that after doing the beast light mapping that, that area looked a little dark and could use some light sources in there so the Glowing Fungus were ideal for that. While testing it out I was doing so well I thought; "OK... I'll keep going and see if I make it all the way to the top?" which I did!! And with 4 lives yet!! Just thought I'd share that as I thought that was pretty cool ;)

Play Bud the Spud Level One FREE!

Although it's still in development I know there are some out there who are already interested in giving my game a try so I have made level one available for free using Unity 3D's Web Player.
No load bar so you may have to be patient if you want to play.

I know what my player are going to be doing when they are tyring to cross those toxic mud bogs of instant death, "F" You Mr. Knight!! I'll bet will be some choice and colorful vocabulary that will be spewed from the lips of many a frustrated game player. OK so I like to present a few challenges in my games lol but rest assured it can be done. I guess Bud Spud should really take some time and repair those bridges huh? Oh well, I'm no super gamer and if I can do it I'm sure you can too, practice and a whole lot of colorful metaphors will eventually get you to the top of the cave where the exit is located, Bud is in for a climb ;)
Play Bud the Spud Level one for Free!!

Controls:
Movement: [W] [A] [S] [D]
Jump: [Space]
Crouch: [C]
Camera: [I] [J] [K] [L]
Hide Player: [H]

There is no load bar currently so depending on your connection speed you will have to be patient while the game loads, should take less than a minute though. ;)

Improved Blood Splat

Took me a little while to figure out what was going on with the projector method of doing blood splatter on my terrain for after each enemy worm has been jumped on by "Bud the Spud." I was originally using a mesh plane with a multiply texture for my blood splat on it and although it worked wonderfully if my enemy worm was killed on a flat part of the terrain, it looked like crap on uneven parts of the terrain. So I figured out a blood splat method using a projector and on my prefab for that I placed a script that destroys the game object after a minute. As you can see in the image above it works far better that my previous method of using a mesh plane ;)

Crossing The Deadly Mud Bogs

Level one of my Bud The Spud game is very close to completion... just adding some sounds and some scenic details.

Here we see Bud the Spud way up top of his underground world after collecting the two keys needed to open the door to the above ground level (Yet to be made... that's next)

I just have to work out his "Bog Death" so as when Bud jumps or falls into a mud bog he plays a drowning animation and then dies. Also need to add a nice toxic looking partical effect for bog gas to cover the bog muddy water surface.

But yeah, the basic game mechanics are in place,

• Worms can attack him if he's within range
• He can kill worms by jumping on them and they die with a nice splat (Could be better with decals need to look into that)
• He can pick up Fertilizer Pellets
• He can collect keys to unlock exit doors to next game level

BudTheSpudGameDev01.mov

This a development video clip of my indie game I am developing using Unity 3D called "Bud the Spud" which is a development title, may change it later but for now I am OK with the title. It's based off of the "Mario 3D Clone tutorial" from the Walker Boys Studios video tutorial series. I've made a lot of changes so it works with my Bud the Spud game concept. This shows some of the first level game environment and character abilities and interaction with enemies, in this case "Worms." Worms are slow and stoopid, but they will do 25 damage to Bud the Spud if they attack him. If bud kills a worm he gets a Fertilizer Pellet. You can see the first Key pickup which Bud will need in order to unlock the door located way above the top of the underground level, 2 keys are rquired, the 2nd key is way up top on top of the giant glowing fungas. Muddy bogs are instant drowning death for Bud if he lands in them (Still need to do).
The worm character death leaves behind a nice blood splat on the floor but works best on flat terrain surfaces. I hear Decals are a better way to approach this although my knowledge on this is next to nill ?? But that is somethng to look into.