Countless v2.0: a big update

2017-04-072017-04-11 Valerio Sevilla Game Dev coin, countless, difficulty curve, game, improvement, indie, item, shield, shop, square, unity, update

Press Kit

Over 5 months after the first release of Countless, a big update, the version 2.0, is available. This new version features lots of additions and improvements:

Use shields to protect you against mistakes
Collect coins to buy shields and skins
Multiple different skins to unlock
Fully revised difficulty curve
Improved touch response: now you can touch two pieces at the same time
Ads are now less annoying and give more rewards
Many visual improvements
By popular demand, now you can leave the name empty when you make a new record

Countless was born as a simple project with the idea of learning how to use Unity game engine, as well as being able to release a game in a short period of time. There were no plans to expand it very much, and I only planned to maintain it by fixing issues from time to time while I was working on a new project. But once I saw the game actually released and received feedback, I decided I needed to do some important changes, and here they are. Let’s take a detailed look into some of them.

Difficulty Curve

The original difficulty curve was very abrupt. It rapidly reached the most difficult point and stayed there for the rest of the game.

Here you can see how after just a few seconds, the board passes from 2x2 to 4x4 and the time per level is decreased to the minimum — *Here you can see how after just a few seconds, the board passes from 2×2 to 4×4 and the time per level is decreased*

In order to get a friendlier, more progressive difficulty curve, and at the same time offer a more challenging gameplay to those who manage to reach advanced levels, the progress in the game has been meticulously adjusted.

*With the new, adjusted difficulty curve, the board increases its complexity in a much smoother way*

Items

The game now allows you to collect two different item types: coins and shields. You can get coins in multiple ways (playing, viewing ads, and even as a gift!). With them, you will be able to buy shields and unlock skins or themes that change the colours in the game. Use the shields when playing to protect you against failures!

*Everyday you will get a gift when opening the game*

*See the icon at the bottom left corner? Touch it to open the shop!*

*In the shop you will be able to buy stuff using the coins you have earned. You can also get free coins after watching an ad!*

Visual Improvements

Many small visual improvements have taken place: more icons and less text, more color variety, and other improvements to make everything more clear.

*Some new icons have replaced the old text markers, and a small separation between pieces in 2×2 boards has been added to improve the look and feel*

*With the new themes you can switch the color scheme to a different one if you have unlocked it*

*New colours have been added to support the new 5×5 boards as well*

Hopefully this update will make the game much more fun and engaging. Are you enjoying it? Do you have anything to suggest or comment? Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post or use the Contact Form.

See you in the leaderboards!

Countless is available

2016-10-27 Valerio Sevilla Game Dev android, countless, game, indie, ios, square, unity

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Countless está disponible

Countless, my new game

2016-09-03 Valerio Sevilla Game Dev countless, game, indie, square, unity

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And here it is. Or almost 🙂 . After some months spending part of my very limited spare time learning how to use Unity and working on a game, it is almost finished. Let me introduce Countless.

Countless is a very simple game. The player is presented with a square board full of squares. Each square has a number, and the player must match numbers, in correct order, as quick as possible. The player will fail when not matching the next pair of squares in time. The goal? Match as many pairs as you can.

Despite of its simplicity, developing Countless has been (and is being) very didactic when it comes to using Unity game engine. It involves a lot of animations, data persistence, scene and object management, event handling, UI configuration, ads, and access to some target systems’ features. And a lot of scripting. This is my first experience using a third-party game engine. My previous game, EggOrama, was developed from scratch using my own engine.

For me, Countless serves a dual purpose. On one hand, it is a game that I will publish. It will be free, but include some ads (as well as a little gamification of this). On the other hand, by working on it I have been able to learn a lot about the game engine without having to spend too much time on each feature. After releasing this game, I will be prepared to start another one (but won’t forget updates for Countless as well).

Countless will be released soon, for iOS and Android, featuring both local and online leaderboards. More platforms could eventually join the party. No specific release date yet, though!

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Countless, mi nuevo juego

Y aquí está. O casi 🙂 . Tras algunos meses pasando parte de mi muy limitado tiempo libre aprendiendo cómo usar Unity y trabajando en un juego, está casi terminado. Permitidme presentaros Countless.

Countless es un juego muy simple. Ante el jugador se muestra un tablero cuadrado lleno de cuadrados. Cada cuadrado tiene un número, y el jugador debe emparejarlos, en el orden correcto, tan rápido como sea posible. El jugador fallará cuando no empareje el siguiente par de cuadrados a tiempo. ¿El objetivo? Hacer tantas parejas como puedas.

A pesar de su simplicidad, desarrollar Countless ha sido (y está siendo) muy didáctico en lo que a usar el motor Unity se refiere. Involucra un montón de animaciones, persistencia de datos, gestión de escenas y objetos, configuración de UI, publicidad, y acceso a algunas características de los sistemas de destino. Y mucho scripting. Esta es mi primera experiencia usando un motor de juego de terceros. Mi anterior juego, EggOrama, se desarrolló desde cero usando mi propio motor.

Para mí, Countless sirve para un doble propósito. Por un lado, es un juego que voy a publicar. Será gratuito, pero incluirá algo de publicidad (así como un poco de gamificación de esta). Por otro lado, al trabajar en él he podido aprender mucho sobre el motor sin tener que pasar demasiado tiempo en cada característica. Tras publicar este juego, estaré preparado para empezar otro (sin olvidarme de las actualizaciones para Countless).

Countless será publicado pronto, para iOS y Android, e incluirá tablas de clasificación tanto local como online. Puede que más plataformas se unan a la fiesta en el futuro. ¡Pero no tengo una fecha de lanzamiento específica todavía!