Twiggles 1.3 just uploaded. Another new level (so that's 14 now) plus a new bonus. Kudos go to the first person to spot the new bonus thingy 

Kwacky1, please let me know if this one works ok for you!

Oops, I left the lightning in? That was just me tinkering with a new effect. They'll do something at some point soon.

Thanks for your other thoughts - I'll do something random with Mr Pong.

Quote from: timns on April 14, 2010, 02:44 AM

Kwacky1, please let me know if this one works ok for you!

Indeed it does!

Quote from: JavaJones on April 14, 2010, 08:10 AM

On another note, I think "pong mode" is too "stable" sometimes and the "catcher" should move randomly a little (while still being there to "catch") for each bounce, thus avoiding "steady state". I had it happen just now where the ball literally bounced in a precise vertical line 20 times, blowing 90% of the "pong mode" time. Also, it's more like "breakout" than pong I think.

I second that...

ps. love insanity and the new levels..

All taken care of in 1.5, which I shall be uploading on Monday. Plus at least one more new level!

Woohoo, first hit on level 1 = ball insanity! Off to a good start.

- Oshyan

i have an idea for a new special ball type.. when activated you have a certain amount of time when you can draw bumpers on the screen.

question: what determines whether a colored bumper turns into a special ball? or is that a mystery i'm not supposed to be able to figure out?

It's all to do with the colour of the bumper itself me old mate...  

Now: as to what TYPE of special ball - at the moment that is quite random, but it may be fun to have the player influence it somehow. Thinking cap on: thank you mouser.

How about the ability to keep some 'specials' for later deployment.

For example, the big catcher is heaps better now, but it's not much fun in the early levels or when you've only got 1 red peg left to hit, it'd add a bit of strategy to keep it for times of need like your last shot with 2 pegs to go, or when you get a ball insanity bonus 

I agree with kwacky. One way or another I think the game needs ways to make it still more strategic and skill-based, and being able to save powerups for later is an interesting possibility.

As it is I find myself trying for the green pegs on almost every level straight off because I know my best chance of winning is getting a multi-ball of some kind, or assassin. Without either of those my chances are diminished significantly. I think it would be virtually impossible to make it through all current levels without losing once, and I think if that's true, it's not the best design. A game shouldn't *force* you to lose, you should always have the ability (IMHO) to get better at the game and thus pull off a win. While theoretically you could become an expert at predicting bounce mechanics and figure out the exact right angles to bounce all pegs and win, practically speaking it's virtually impossible. I find luck guiding my progress more than anything, and while that is fun when you do get good luck, very often you get no or even bad luck, and that's not so fun.

Anyway, I keep playing this game, every time a new release comes out if not more often, so I *like* it. But at the same time it drives me crazy quite often.

- Oshyan

I have some thoughts and suggestions if you're curious.

In fact, I think one of the things that would both make the game more enjoyable generally, and more accessible to all levels of players, would be to institute the "difficulty settings" I described in a previous post. I'm not sure how hard it would be, but just being able to vary the "average number of green pegs" per level would help a lot! Here's my previous post:
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20943.msg192343#msg192343
You may notice I already mentioned the "store up powerups" idea back then, which I had actually forgotten about.

- Oshyan

a way to avoid difficulty settings would be that each time you retry a level there is 1 added green bumper, etc.

i meant that every time you fail a level and have to retry it, you get one extra peg, for that level only.
on next level it starts back at normal again.

Well done timns, level 15, 16 and 17 are my new favourites!