Devlog #5 - Revision phase, mystery boxes and making the game functional

Devlog #4 described the big update regarding gameplay mechanics. This time, it is now about making the game fair, replayable and download-friendly.

Balancing phase

After analyzing the numbers, I found an issue: the height of the barrier can go as high as 2.0 but the maximum energy level is 1.4. Thus, some barriers are literally invincible because it is impossible to break through them no matter how well the player performs. The charge speed also varied from “almost 7 seconds” to “instant charging”, leading to different results every time.

I have put all the variables related to gameplay in one line, so the process of making the game better became much easier.## Highest score

The top score is stored in a small file, which allows it to persist even after you exit the game. The welcome screen displays the score, and if you lose, it says “NEW HIGH SCORE!” on the game over screen. The record is present in the repository, so my score won’t overwrite anybody else’s.

Sound for everything

The ghost, answers in trivia, and entangled transfers didn’t have any sounds. I have added sounds: a sound of the ghost appearing with a whoosh, a sound of a correct answer rising in pitch, the sound of a wrong answer producing low frequency buzz, and a beep sound of a partner barrier charging. All sounds are produced in code without using audio files.

Schrödinger boxes

A few boxes marked as ? are placed between walls. When you click on one box with the help of the button E, it determines what is inside. When you click on the box, the result of what is inside the box is set randomly, which can be either +5 seconds, -4 seconds, or charge for the next wall. Every time a level appears, each box can exist with the probability of 60%.## My ship has been returned.

The review indicated that my GitHub release did not include an executable file, therefore voters were unable to play the game. That’s true that a .py file is not considered a game by anyone who does not have Python installed.

Now I am addressing this issue by using PyInstaller to convert the game into Windows .exe file and adding it to the release. One thing I had to deal with is that packaged game runs from temporary folder and as a result my high score file gets lost every time I run the game. Now it saves in the same folder as the exe file.

Conclusion: If someone has to install anything in order to play your game, most likely, they won’t. Deliver your application the way it can be launched with a single click.

What is next

Complete the release and resubmit it, then let someone else who has never seen the game play it.