3 days until Tumball is released (sort of, as the news articles need reviewing by staff they take time to appear on the main page...). Total, as promised, I uploaded a Tumball Trailer Video.
I never thought I'd actually finish a Tumball, I'm not very renouned for finishing games, but here it is. Tumball actually started life 3 (or was it 4?) years ago as a quite different game, the remnants of which can still be seen as one of the preview images on the first news article. The game was very industrial, very plain, very lifeless. It was called Rebound.
I owe the inspiration to a 3D game called FX Ball, made in 3D Gamestudio. At the time I wasn't very good at 3D games so I tried to make a similar version in GameMaker. The result was pleasing, and so I went forward and made 16 levels but after a month or two I left the game alone being pulled on by other projects. 2 years later I'd decided 3D games were too hard to make and needed something quick and easy to turn into an app. So I dug out Rebound and started to add more levels, improve the graphics and generally spruce it up here and there.
Unfortunately Rebound didn't really make an interesting game. There was no drive or incentive and the levels were boring, only improved by an experience system that allowed you to level up - for no reason.
So after beta testing I redesigned the entire graphical style. I added more colour, more personality and a simple story to get the ball rolling (excuse the pun). 3 months later and we have Tumball. It now has 3 unique stages, 30 levels in all, multiple objectives and a large variety of map elements.
Personally I'm quite impressed with how much it's changed. On the 11th you'll be able to see too! Tumball will release at 75% OFF, but I'm not saying what the price will be yet. :P
