This version concludes my push on input and control schemes for the time being. The overall goal was to arrive at a place where the game feels comfortable to play with a mouse, with a single hand on mobile, and has a clear path to usable gamepad controls when the time comes.

The main barriers to this were ideas about positional mechanics like placing and catching the ball by requiring players to click/tap on the ball. This, along with the flick-style input were some of the original ideas that sparked the original prototype, but they didn’t stand up to real gameplay testing. In previous configurations, most players were still confused about the controls and where and when to touch well into their playtest. I also wasn’t able to play the game standing up on a subway reliably. So that’s that.

The focus for the upcoming versions will now be prototypes for abilities and game modes. Mmm tasty.

Major Changes

• Rebounding and Aiming now happens in two stages, with each action requiring a separate input.
• Added a direct “point to aim” input style (cf. Holedown).
• The ball now draws a trajectory from its position to assist with aiming.
• Now using Shapes instead of sprite renderers for all objects.
• All brick shapes now have rounded corners with simplified colliders.

Minor Changes

• Projectiles collide with other projectiles (again).
• Balls will speed up slightly on each bounce.
• Updated settings menus to persist across all screens and sessions. You can change aim style from the main menu.
• Game over screen now indicates the end state of the game.
• Various visual updates for game state feedback, including more obvious indication of when a ball is selected and when a new ball appears.
• Various bug fixes