DAY 12 & 13

TODAY’S GOAL:

Add Power-Ups, Actions & Effects

The Sprinkles on Top

Hopefully by now you’ve started (and possibly finished) building your scenes.  If you haven’t finished, then that is OK, because this lesson is still scene focused.

We’re going to talk in detail about power-ups and effects.  Both of these can add extra depth to your game, but remember, they aren’t necessary to create something great.  Flappy Birds for example had zero effects and not a single power up.  In the end, gameplay truly trumps all.

While we all enjoy power-ups and love adding cool effects, don’t feel like going crazy in this area is a necessity.  Only do as much as you enjoy!

Lesson Steps:

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

Learn About Actions

With Buildbox, power-ups are very deep.  Every power-up can be used in many ways.

For example, you can have a Kill All Enemies power-up that is an icon the character picks up in the game and instantly defeats all enemies on-screen.  You could also assign this power-up to a button that is displayed on top of the game and whenever this button is pushed the enemies are defeated.  Since this would not be very fun if it was always available, you could limit it to only one use per 24 hours.  You could even choose to have them purchase this power-up with real money or coins you get inside the game.

There are tons of power-ups and actions inside buildbox, and they all have this deep level of control.  In the video, Trey walks you through the setup of these power-ups and a quick demonstration of how they work.

Learn About Effects

Buildbox comes with 3 effects:  Light, Trail and Flag.

The light effect was a major instrument in Trey’s Buildbox game, Phases, and this is a special effect used in many popular indie games, most recently Thomas Was Alone.  The trail effect simply creates a trail that can be attached to any object, or be a stand alone effect.  If attached to an object, the trail zigs and zags with the object when it moves.  This makes a cool effect when attached to a character as you can see where the character has been.  The flag effect simply takes any image and turns it into a flag with fully adjustable wind control.

Effects are pretty straight forward and more simple to use than power-ups and actions.  In the video above you’ll see Trey run through these effects and show you how they work.

Decide What To Implement

Now that you understand how power-ups and effects work, you have an important decision to make:  What, if any, will you use?

One good way to decide this is to look at your target game and notes you took in the last lesson.  In your “perfect version” of your target game, did you write down different power-ups you’d like to add?

There is no right or wrong answer here.  Building games is an art form, not a science, so we recommend to always go with your gut and do as you see fit.

30 Day Game Challenge Lessons:

Week 1 – Game Ideas &  Basic Training

Week 2 – Creating Your Game

Week 3 – Monetization & Setup

  • Coming Soon

Week 4 – The Launch

  • Coming Soon

friends4Know someone who might like to do the challenge with you?
Send them over to the challenge page so they can download Buildbox too:
www.buildbox.com/challenge/