3DU: 3D Curling

[funkboy]

Here's my first public build of my Curling game for the 3DU entry.

Is it ridiculously unfinished? Yes.
Does it name the winner accurately right now? It seems hit and miss, so probably not
Does it need many many improvements? You bet
Is it at least a .app you can run on your Mac? You bet
Universal Binary? For sure
Developed in Unity 3D - a very nice development environment if I do say so!


Controls: press the space bar to launch it.
Have your mouse near the top of the screen to throw it fast, have it near the bottom to throw it slower.
There is currently no way to actually put 'curl' on the stone... but it's coming :)

http://www.karlbecker.com/curling.zip

Who here has any experience whatsoever with the sport of curling in the past? And does it seem interesting at all to you?

[bronxbomber92]

I like it :)

You should have a select script, so the piece you choose is highlighted in a certain color. Less confusing.
Also, the friction seems a little realistic.

[akb825]

The friction is definitely off. I think what you need is a higher initial velocity, then a higher coefficient of friction.

[funkboy]

Build #2 posted, same URL as above:
http://www.karlbecker.com/curling.zip

Tweaked the friction as was suggested. I think this version has a better feel in that regard.

Press left/right arrow keys to move the stone before throwing it.

I added some ridiculous textures and geometry. Beware the awful lighting effect! It was done in a moment of me saying, "Ooh, hmm, I wonder what bump and specular lighting looks like... ah I see. Well, I'll fix that later." It has a little more of an icy look... unfortunately, Unity3D cannot do reflections without the pro version from what I can tell. Not that most curling ice is actually reflective...

Thanks for your thoughts, keep letting me know your feedback, I thrive on it.

[akb825]

The friction is much better. I like the addition of bump + specular, but it it definitely needs to be toned down. :p

One oddity I found: I had a few of the stones hit each other, then suddenly after everything seemed to settle down, one (that wasn't really hit, but very near) suddenly jumped straight up. It was quite strange. :p

[funkboy]

Probably right near the end of the game :D
I'll have a little goofy winning jump of the winning stone. I realize right now there's actually no way to tell which team won... or even which team you are!
Computer AI and a little sound effects coming next...

[EvolPenguin]

Seems like I can only move the stone left or right for the first stone, after that, the arrow keys did nothing.

Alex

[HiggyB]

Curling is good stuff, I've just discovered it these past few years and while I've only played once (poorly at best!) I like the idea of a curling game like this. Is there some sort of intended delay before I'm allowed to launch stones? I find it a bit frustrating to be sitting there, staring at the screen, able to use my mouse to aim/adjust power but I keep tapping the space bar and nothing, nothing, nothing, oooops, it shot... If I'm being prevented from interacting I suppose some UI to indicate that would help. :p Also, why is that the case, if I'm in a rush (impatient, too much coffee, whatever), why not allow me to send my stones when ready?

Otherwise I think it's a fun idea!

(BTW: First post here on these forums!)

-- I just added a signature after this post so folks will know who I am :p ---

Tom Higgins - Product Evangelist (http://unity3d.com/blogs/tom/)
http://unity3d.com/

[funkboy]

Hi Tom! Thanks for the feedback.
Actually, I have no idea why it's doing that. Since you are with Unity, maybe you can tell me? ;)
I have a very basic script that, on Update(), gets the "Jump" button. If Jump is pressed, it launches it.

I have run into the issue you are describing, too, and not sure how to fix it. I'll keep trying though.

A new build should be up before the end of the week with computer AI and a scoreboard. And of course toned down lighting :)

[HiggyB]

Hi Tom! Thanks for the feedback.
I have a very basic script that, on Update(), gets the "Jump" button. If Jump is pressed, it launches it.
Have you done any debugging work to sort out where the delay occurs? For example, do you properly detect the keypresses and somehow impose some delays on your own? It seems to me that your frame rate is reasonable and so you should be getting your Update() calls well enough, I say that because during the wait-to-launch time I can in fact aim the camera - the only delays seem associated with key presses and responding to those (moving the stone sideways also suffers from the same delay).

Sorry that the above is little more than hand waving and guesses, but I just don't have anything concrete to offer at this point. PM me if you'd like and perhaps we can sort things out a bit more off-line...

[funkboy]

Curling 0.15 (Build #3) is now available, and is still ridiculously incomplete! No sweepers, scoring usually doesn't work very well, and the menu is nothing to impress anyone with... but it's at least playable.

Improvements include:
* computer AI
* a little splash screen indicating how incomplete the game is (ridiculously so)
* customizable number of stones per end (an end is like an inning in baseball)
* a little better looking ice, much more toned down than before :)

Same URL:
http://www.karlbecker.com/curling.zip

Thoughts - I want to hear them! Curling will be worked on and really polished after the contest, so let me know any ideas you may have. And most importantly, feedback on what's in the game already :)

[HiggyB]

Nice work, you seem to have fixed the launch delay. My thoughts:

- your splash screen needs to stay up a bit longer, it's there and gone a bit too fast

- thanks for toning down the ice surface visuals :)

- the top-down view of the target doesn't seem to match the 3D view, specifically the stones appear further down the ice in the 3D view compared to the top-down (I can send a screenshot if necessary to help explain what I mean)

- perhaps you can provide a target recticle down the ice or at least a directional arrow out of your stone (pre-launch) to help guide your shot? as it is now the mouse cursor doesn't indicate the actual launch direction and so aiming can be a bit tough (maybe you enable a "helpers" option that allows that sort of thing to be turned on/off?)

- sweepers would be great, how do you envision that fitting into the game play?


Overall I think it's fun to play, can't wait to see how much better it gets!

[JonTrainer]

Very nice work. I really like the idea and the feel of the game. I see great potential in this one if you take the time to finish it and really apply spit and polish.

I look forward to the finished product.

[funkboy]

Thanks for the great feedback! Public build #4 is now available:

http://www.karlbecker.com/curling.zip <-- Mac OS X
http://www.karlbecker.com/wincurling.zip <-- Windows (if you really need it)

New features:

Proper curling scoring
Scoreboard now displayed
Set the number of ends per match


I accidentally replaced my contest version with this one :\
Did my contest build get downloaded by the judges? Does somebody have that version so I could repost it? Also I could cripple my current version to be how it was when the contest deadline was.

Did the judges already download the entries?

[funkboy]

- your splash screen needs to stay up a bit longer, it's there and gone a bit too fast
I will make it stay up longer the first time the game is run, then make it go by quickly after the game has been played once. Hopefully some nicer intro will be made eventually.

- the top-down view of the target doesn't seem to match the 3D view, specifically the stones appear further down the ice in the 3D view compared to the top-down (I can send a screenshot if necessary to help explain what I mean)
I know what you mean, and it's weird, since I think the target is at the same level as the top of the ice. Will keep tweaking with it - there is some tweaking of it in the latest build.

- perhaps you can provide a target recticle down the ice or at least a directional arrow out of your stone (pre-launch) to help guide your shot? ...
The skip, standing at the far end, will point with his broom to give an idea of where your stone will go. Unless you think a line indicating how the stone will travel may be better... it may be too easy though!

- sweepers would be great, how do you envision that fitting into the game play?
Sweeping will make the stone curl more to the left or right, and will be accomplished in one of two ways:
1) tap or hold the right or left (or both) arrow keys; tapping left makes the left sweeper go, right for the right sweeper
2) click and hold the left mouse button and drag left and right to sweep with the left sweeper. Click and hold right mouse button and drag to sweep with the right sweeper. Click and hold both mouse buttons and drag to make both sweepers go.

What do you think about that scheme?

Overall I think it's fun to play, can't wait to see how much better it gets!
Very nice work. I really like the idea and the feel of the game. I see great potential in this one if you take the time to finish it and really apply spit and polish.

I look forward to the finished product.
Thanks for the kind words, they are really encouraging.

My thoughts and reflections on using Unity for the contest and this game, and its possible continued use for me, will be coming soon.