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Topic: Growball (Read 1374 times) |
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Ulkesh
Junior Member
Posts: 147
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This is an alpha-beta-ish version of a flash game recently made by my brother-in-law.
http://www.hep.ph.imperial.ac.uk/~hsy01/growball
For some reason my university homespace doesn't like the .swf extension, so please add this extension to the file name after downloading and saving -- probably best to open it in IE/Firefox and allow the flash plugin to initialise. I know this potentially looks a little dodgy, but I've been around here for a while, so hopefully you realise I'm harmless!
Anyway, he'd like criticism etc. on the game... any bugs, improvements and the like. I personally see it is as very original and a nice distraction, but I'm not convinced there isn't a trick or two to ensure infinite score.
The rules are simple and should be able to figure out within a couple of games. You only control direction and not strength (I think). The balls grow to consume maximum empty space and you score 1 point by eliminating a ball.
Let me know what you think.
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| « Last Edit: Sep 3rd, 2007, 10:38pm by Ulkesh » |
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Sir Col
Uberpuzzler
impudens simia et macrologus profundus fabulae
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Re: Growball
« Reply #1 on: Sep 5th, 2007, 1:10pm » |
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On my computer the direct link above caused Firefox to hang-up; I needed to "end task".
To get it to work I right clicked and used "Save Link As...", adding .swf extension.
The game is quite a lot of fun! It's kinda pool meets Breakout. I'm probably not the best person to offer any valuable critique as I'm not very good at these types of games; my best score was 20.
Your brother-in-law has done a good job, but I did begin to find it frustrating losing lives without any obvious way to earn an extra life back - or would that happen if I scored more points? If that's the case, maybe it needs difficulty settings, starting with easy requiring 10 points to earn an extra life and so on.
Anyway, thanks for sharing.
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| « Last Edit: Sep 5th, 2007, 3:14pm by Sir Col » |
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mathschallenge.net / projecteuler.net
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TenaliRaman
Uberpuzzler
I am no special. I am only passionately curious.
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Re: Growball
« Reply #2 on: Sep 7th, 2007, 10:59pm » |
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Nice game!
Though i have struggled to get past my best score of 5 in the few games that i played.
-- AI
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Self discovery comes when a man measures himself against an obstacle - Antoine de Saint Exupery
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Sameer
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Pie = pi * e
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Re: Growball
« Reply #3 on: Sep 8th, 2007, 1:08am » |
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It's cool... and kind of addicting.. It was nice of it to change colors when I reached 10. I have gotten to 11 so far. The colors are not intrusive either. They are very pleasant!!
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"Obvious" is the most dangerous word in mathematics.
--Bell, Eric Temple
Proof is an idol before which the mathematician tortures himself.
Sir Arthur Eddington, quoted in Bridges to Infinity
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TenaliRaman
Uberpuzzler
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Re: Growball
« Reply #4 on: Sep 8th, 2007, 1:56am » |
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If we make multiple hits with a single shot, i think it would be nice to get some sort of bonus points. 
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Self discovery comes when a man measures himself against an obstacle - Antoine de Saint Exupery
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Sameer
Uberpuzzler
Pie = pi * e
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Re: Growball
« Reply #5 on: Sep 8th, 2007, 10:24am » |
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In that case some way to increase "remaining life" too!! Like bonus life!! 
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"Obvious" is the most dangerous word in mathematics.
--Bell, Eric Temple
Proof is an idol before which the mathematician tortures himself.
Sir Arthur Eddington, quoted in Bridges to Infinity
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towr
wu::riddles Moderator
Uberpuzzler
Some people are average, some are just mean.
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Re: Growball
« Reply #6 on: Sep 13th, 2007, 10:43am » |
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Anyone get over 20 points yet?
I finally figured out a system, although, still.. only 20 points.
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Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
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TenaliRaman
Uberpuzzler
I am no special. I am only passionately curious.
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I got a 22 once, but thats that. I am making 14-16 consistently. I dont have a strategy per se, but i keep using 2 simple tricks.
1. I place some large balls around me for protection and make sure there is enough gap between the balls so that i can fire.
2. Consistently fire 4-5 rounds through those gaps until the balls that surround diminish considerably.
With this idea, initially i dont get any points but with time, i get multiple shots. Infact, one shot giving me 2-3 points become pretty common at the later stages.
However, once you reach that 14-16 area, somehow i manage to hit myself with own ball and it hits me via multiple reflections (not just 2-3 but sometimes after 6-7 reflections). I tend to lose almost all my life in this phase.
-- AI
[edit]My recent attempt, unfortunately the ball positions disappear after the lives are lost .If anyone wants, i will get a better shot in my next attempt.[/edit]
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| « Last Edit: Sep 13th, 2007, 11:57am by TenaliRaman » |
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Self discovery comes when a man measures himself against an obstacle - Antoine de Saint Exupery
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Grimbal
wu::riddles Moderator
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Re: Growball
« Reply #8 on: Sep 13th, 2007, 2:55pm » |
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on Sep 13th, 2007, 10:43am, towr wrote:Anyone get over 20 points yet?
I finally figured out a system, although, still.. only 20 points. |
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I got 53.
The principle is: strike the balls from the back. Or send them with a 1st rebound to the back of a big ball or a bunch of other balls. I keep shooting in the same direction, adjusting slightly my aim, until a ball blocks the line of sight.
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| « Last Edit: Sep 13th, 2007, 3:00pm by Grimbal » |
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