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Author Topic: Hop Pop - A game about bubble popping bunnies, better than a box of bubble wrap!  (Read 3631 times)

jasperPT

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I have just released my first game for IOS! Made entirely with Playmaker, graphics and animation done in photoshop.

Hop Pop is a high score game, your aim is to feed a genetically modified bunny (called a Hop) its favorite food, Carrots! Push bubbles together until they reach your Hop's favorite number to give it a carrot and score points!
But don't go over that number or you will accidentally feed it junk food... Yuck!

Check it out here - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hop-pop/id965649986?ls=1&mt=8




A bit about making the game -

My aim with the game was to create the sensation of popping bubble wrap or a big nasty pimple, with the build up of tension as your bubbles get closer to popping, and a sense of frustration as your screen fills with pop-able bubbles until finally you figure out how to get the right numbers and... POW! I find the result quite satisfying and have almost missed several train stops from playing it.

I started trying to make games almost two years ago now, having created a few small failed experiments I finally settled on this idea as I managed to prototype it and make it fun within a weekend. After about 5 months of work late night or early morning work,  (I have a day job as a 3D VFX animator to keep money coming in) I finally managed to get it across the line.

Initially I had aimed to get it out for Easter, so I submitted to apple the week before, not fully understanding how the app store worked. It took two weeks for the game to get processed by apple which was sad, but at least the deadline forced me to finish the project to a releasable state.

The only problem was... I accidentally released the game with my personal high score as the starting high score! Aghhh!! So after fixing that and a few other minor bugs + making the tutorial a little bit easier, I have finally released a version of the game I am proud of.

Getting closer to the deadline I had to strip out a couple of features I wanted to have in as it was clear they were not 100% up to standard yet. They will be coming in soon.

1. There is already another bunny in the game, she is just not accessible yet as I am not happy with her animations. This along with about 5 more bunnies are in the works.

2. Each bunny will eventually have a story that unlocks as you level them up.

3. There is a Puzzle mode in the game that gives you specific bubbles to try use and get the correct energy. It works really well and can teach you a lot about the game, I just didn't have time to do a proper UI for it yet or fill out enough puzzles to make it worth while. It will be in the game soon as I feel it gives a good sense of progression.

I plan on doing a few short videos running through some of the playmaker stuff in my game to show how the systems are built. I will also start streaming the animation work on the next few characters when I get time to put a plan in place for that.

I hope you enjoy it!
Let me know what you think or any feedback you may have.

Thanks for making such a great tool to get in and start making games! It has been a real dream to use Playmaker from an artists perspective, and the community on here is extremely helpful.

Jasper.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2015, 02:40:45 AM by jasperPT »

serenefox

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Congrats on your first iOS release. Have you made a game trailer for it? If not, Im sure it wouldn't be to hard for you with your profession :). Your graphics look great too, very clean feel from what I can see in your screenshots.
Most Recent Published Games:
Juicy Theater - Android

jasperPT

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Thanks Serenfox!

I have not made a game trailer for it yet. I think I am being a little too perfectionist about it as I keep wanting to put a massive ammount of effort into the trailer but I just don't have time to right now.
I should just create something a little ambitious than I had planned and start sending it off to do some marketing.

jasperPT

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So I just made the game free today as part of some promo!

If you want to check it out I would love to hear what you think.

Cheers
Jasper.