News

by Paul

New Engine, Post Processing & Pew Pew

The website has been quiet for the last few weeks. But with good reason. And no, not Christmas, that is a lousy excuse not to get stuff done.
Instead, the reason for not posting any news is, that I have rewritten Panic Pong and its graphic engine completely and from the ground up. Doing so I have switched to C# and OpenGL, thus supporting all three major PC operating systems, though the first Linux and MacOS versions will probably still have to wait a little while.

Supporting multiple platforms is not the only or even main reason for this drastic change however. The most important thing is switching to a more modern language, allowing for the implementation of certain features in a much nicer and easier way. Also, with my new graphics engine in OpenGL, I can now implement a much wider range of graphical effects, and I cannot help being addicted to those. Oh yeah, also, they will of course be used to increase atmosphere and epicness. Also, way more awesome explosions. Soon...

Also, while rewriting, I tidied up several parts of the code. For example collisions are now much more reliable. It is virtually impossible for a ball to skip through a brick for example, just because it is moving too fast.

New Stuff

Now, due to other commitments, and having to rewrite both engine and game I was not able to work on any new features until just last weekend. However, now I am back and got some stuff to show!

protoype video of new features

First is a little depth-of-field post processing test(with hexagonal bokeh), to both test the engine and also to get myself more familiar with GLSL, the OpenGL shading language. This effect will probably end up in the game, but it is just as likely to change at least to some degree, based on feedback and my own ideas.

Second, third and fourth, I quickly implemented prototype weapons. There are right now a kind of projectile plasma weapon, shooting rapidly from the two sides of the paddle, an epic laser beam, directly out of the paddle and lastly the swarm missiles, that launch from the paddle.
All three of these basically do the same thing, just in different ways; they destroy bricks. Right now, there is neither a cool down not a limit on the usage of those weapons, but that will change soon, and they will most likely also not be present from the beginning of the game, but will be unlockables, for example through power-up drops.

These are the new features for now, and none of them are quite ready to be released. I will try and get a new playable version out as soon as possible however, so stay tuned!

Also, if you have any feedback on these features, or anything else, or any other ideas, feel free to let me know, through the contact page, Tweeting to @amulware, by replying on YouTube or to this post, or opening a new thread on the forums!

Enjoy the pixels!

P.S.
Also check out the new and slick main page of amulware.net for more info about amulware, and a few other small games!

by Paul

Looking for Music and Sound Designer

With the website and download online, and a programmer ready to implement Panic Pong's missing features, there is one thing that remains missing:

Sound

Panic Pong still remains mute. To change this we need someone with the ability to create sound effects and/or music for the game. The needed sound effects range from bleeps and bloops for ball collisions to breaking bricks and swooshing menus.
For music we need a few minutes for the game itself, and maybe an optional title track.
The in-game music is envisioned to be electronic, synthesized, with a solid beat and maybe a catchy melody, possibly even reminding one of old retro games. Classical and maybe other elements are also possible. In general the feeling it conveys should fit the general fast and actiony play style of Panic Pong.
Optionally several tracks that can be chained after another randomly to create a varying loop of music would be great. Also, in the best case, each track would have two versions, so that depending on the pace of the game, the music changes accordingly.

So...

Do you have experience creating sound effects or music?
Do you want to create the sound for panic pong?
Do you have what it takes to not panic when the ball hits the paddle?

Then reply now, to this post or using the Panic Pong website's contact form!

by Paul

Website Now Online

The Panic Pong Website is now online and filled with exciting content.

If you are not already reading this post on there, check it out!

by Paul

Let There Be Pong

As things go, last Friday I had a friend over at my place. Another programmer of sorts.
After dinner came the time to decide what to do with the next few hours, and one of us promptly suggested that we could do some programming. I showed him a very rough idea I had had just a week earlier, and we decided to get coding.

Original game idea sketch

Now, as said friend had another actual official kind of game jam this weekend, his game never got very far. I however had nothing else to do, and so, after two days of continuous work..

Introducing: Panic Pong

First ever screenshot of panic pong

Panic Pong is a mashup of two classic video games. It combines the competitive two player action of Pong with the destructible bricks of Breakout. The players fight each other to the last ball, while collecting points for destroyed bricks and scored goals.
The game becomes faster over time until, if the players can keep their wits together long enough, it enters the name giving panic mode. The game features fancy stylised graphics and of course AI players, for when one cannot find a second player or just wants to lean back and watch the computer play itself.
There also are a couple of twists that differentiate Panic Pong from other similar games, like gravity, paddles not moving in a boring straight line and naturally lots of explosions.

Still missing is any sound whatsoever, as well as power-ups and a panic mode that does anything that is not already included in the game being incredibly fast at that point. However this will change in future updates, which is why the current download is a beta version.

So, keep a look out for the next version of Panic Pong, and if you have any ideas or want to contribute to the development in another way, please send me a mail or post in the forums.
Who knows, your suggestion could make it into the final game!