The ball speed
In fact, the ball in Arkanoid is the main weapon. But how to make it interesting so that the player doesn't fall asleep? We decided to take the ball speed parameter and make it more dynamic. In the classic version of the game, the speed of the ball changes only in the case of taking special bonuses - increasing and decreasing the speed of the ball.
Without checking everything to the end, we injected a gradual increase in ball speed. The casual game has become at least a nightmare in complexity. The ball accelerated to near-world speed until it struck out. When taking the bonus for slowing down the speed, the game session significantly increased and lost its dynamism. This implementation even made it into Early Access. Some of the lucky ones even appreciated this particular level of exclusive pain and anguish. Here's one of the comments:
"I went in to relax, and left the game with the feeling that Vietnam was over."
Our development team also had a thrill seeker who loved the challenge. And who enjoyed honing their playing skills in our Arkanoid. We realized that there was no balance and immediately started looking for a compromise between hardcore and casual players, and it was found.
The main goal was the following - the speed of the ball had to change during the game, as we originally wanted. But this had to happen smoothly and according to its own regulations. In the end we found this option: the speed of the ball dynamically changes during the game and depends on the effective game. An effective game is hitting the cubes and then the obligatory bounce of the ball by the platform. We thought over this idea well, implemented the logic, tweaked the last one and here's the result:
the first situation - after each successful hit on the cube, the ball is bounced off the platform - the speed increases slightly;
the second situation - the ball just beats against the walls - the speed of the ball increases significantly;
the third situation - the ball hit the “encirclement” of cubes, for which the player received many points - the speed increased by an order of magnitude.
But how does this option differ from the first? In this case, we have implemented “the ball cooling” mechanic. The speed of the ball decreased slightly when it was hit with the bat. We have finally achieved the dynamism we dreamed of.
And hardcore players can prove themselves in various difficulty modes - NOOB, PADAWAN and MASTER. Optionally, these are small changes to ten settings, but they significantly affect the gameplay. As a result: the game has become more dynamic, the speed of the ball does not allow us to lose heart under any game circumstances, the skill of the players in masterly controlling the bat has not been ignored, and finally - three types of difficulty. By the way, the level of difficulty higher than NOOB with a quality game will allow you to score more points.
