Joe Hinkle's Development Blog

Released for Google Play Store Here's the download link:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.impactgamesstudio.games.supersmashclashapp I apologize for not posting in forever, but I have been so busy with this project I never had time to update you guys. Here's what's coming this Sunday. Official Trailer Before you move on, watch this quick video highlighting the final release of Super Smash Clash. Anyone else feeling pumped yet? Five Characters That's right! There's not just two like before, but five! You start out with Flare (in the upper left corner), and work your way to unlock all five. Each of these characters are completely unique, so make sure you try all of them to find your favorite. Classic Mode The first game mode you have is classic. In this mode, you play through 9 levels trying to get the fastest time possible. There's easy, medium and hard mode (I wouldn't recommend hard mode without havin

It's finally here! I'm expanding the beta size to 400, so go get testing over at the downloads page . You won't be disappointed. iOS All my free time is now being dedicated to making a Smash Clash port to iOS. This shouldn't be a problem as Corona SDK allows for me to easily compile to iOS. I just need to sign up as an Apple developer and set up an account at TestFlight. Physics Changes From little things like the amount of delay between attacks, to more major things like allowing players to control the direction they fly in when they are hit, the physics in 0.4 has changed the way Smash Clash feels for the better. Here's a list of the major changes Directional influence (when you're hit, you can change the direction in which you "fly") Gravity has been slightly tweaked Freeze frames added in (when an attack is landed, it causes the animation to freeze for a split second) Multiplayer Due to latency, online multiplayer has been r

What I had intended When I first started development on Smash Clash, I originally only wanted two buttons and a joystick. The two buttons would be to "jump" and "attack". Since then, we have split the attack action into two buttons "a" and "b". Intended controls scheme Current controls scheme While 3 buttons has complicated the controls on mobile devices, the problem is now becoming even my challenging, as I begin to add in a shield. This would make for a total of four touch screen buttons. The problem... Too many buttons + not precise screen = user frustration . If there are four virtual buttons on your phone, chances are, you probably aren't going to always hit the ones you were aiming for. This gives you the feeling that the GAME made you lose, not that YOU made you lose. This is an essential part of game development. Make sure each failure is attributed to the player, not the game. This makes the player feel like they n

Despite going through the college process and fighting senioritis, Smash Clash is still going strong in development. The next alpha test, version 0.3.2, is being aimed for completion in mid-March. Unlike previous updates, this time around I am focusing on the game's content rather than the physics. Because of this, expect to find more bugs as I will be trying new things (such as moving stages, new characters, new game modes). I took a lot of time to figure this out, but the game is now to the point where we can have interactive stages. The new version will have two unlockable stages, one which is a side-scrolling one. I am also having a new character added into the mix along with removing the gross brown one (nobody liked him). The menu screens are being redone by an amazing artist who wishes to remain anonymous. The game will also have so more depth to it as charge attacks are being added in. Last but not least is singleplayer mode. Hopefully by the time of the release we will h

It's finally here!!! This update focus on the mechanics, speed, menus and stability of the game. So don't expect more content from it. In my last post I put out some things to look for in the update, but here's a list of everything which was changed in depth. Scoring   One of the main problems in the last version was that there was no way of telling who was winning and who was losing. Now there's a nice quick way to see how you're stacking up against your opponents. Gain one point for a kill, and lose one for a death. Winner is declared   May seem like a small thing, but this actually makes the game seem more like a well...um..game. You can actually see if you won afterwards. Quick fall (jam joystick down)   This subtle change in physics has improve the gameplay drastically. It keeps players closer to the ground, and adds more depth to the game as you have more options while not on the ground. More particles   I doubled the particles, and

It's been awhile since I've posted, so here's a quick status on how Smash Clash's development is going. Graphics 2.0 One of the major things which will be changed in 0.3.1 alpha is that I'm converting the entire game to support the newest version of Corona SDK. This will allow me to take advantage of their new graphics 2.0 engine which includes water effects, better transitions, 2.5D effects and just an overall faster performance with the game. With these abilities, you can expect to see more particle effects in the future (yay particles) and a higher frame rate if you're using an older device. Local Multiplayer This allows two players to play on one device. This game mode will be primarily used for tablets due to screen size, but for now I'm going to keep it in the phone version to let testers tell me what they think. There're currently some issues which I'm working on resolving, such as the act pushing down a buttons, causes the other player&