Prompt 4: Describe how the designer could create more interplay.In this game, the designer has presented the player with the core and sole challenge of bouncing a table tennis ball on the paddle repeatedly, without dropping it. Each bounce increments the user's score until ultimately, the user drops the ball and loses. Despite being an easy ruleset to follow for the player, the game can be quite challenging at some points with the ball’s velocity rapidly speeding up due to a small player error. Perhaps an element of interplay that could be added to this game, would be different types of ‘power ups’ that enchant the user's current game environment. These power-ups could be different in nature and occasionally appear on the screen for the user to bounce the ball over top one in order to receive the power-up. These power-ups could also have a set time limit creating a limited opportunity for the player to get the ball in position to receive the power-up. Different power-ups that I believe could enrich this game experience could be, receiving another paddle for a set time, mirrored to the one being controlled by the player, so that the player has more room for error. A power-up that temporarily slows the bounce of the ball to make it easier for the player to get into position to accurately bounce the ball, or maybe a power-up that acts as a saving grace and resets the ball once the user drops it but keeps the player's score. Each power-up could have different times allocated to being on the screen for the player depending on the power-up’s useability.
Prompt 2: Describe the challenge of the game as if the designer was working to thwart you.
The game doesn’t make it necessarily easy to win, by always having the ball move at least in some direction. There are no extra external forces and it is up to you and your paddle, letting you have control over the gameplay, but the velocity of the ball persists at least a little despite your best efforts. It’s not forgiving of mistakes either. As soon as you make a quick movement to save the ball, everything quickly goes downhill. Your velocity is transferred to the ball and if the ball has any horizontal direction, you’ll be in a tough spot.
Even in the off chance you don’t make a mistake as the ball continuously moves across the screen, you have a paddle and a ping pong ball, you naturally have a feeling to see how your movements affect the ball. You are punished for this, just like in real life when you’re learning, with the ball flying all over the room you’re practicing in. This makes it more challenging, but it definitely is more fun than just slightly moving your paddle, so you can easily feel encouraged to continue this more wild style of play. Sure gravity is your primary, concrete enemy, but in reality it almost seems like your self control is the true enemy.
Luckily, the designer gives us a little wiggle room, with the handle also working to hit the ball instead of just the primary paddle surface. It feels satisfying just like if you would use the handle in real life and gives you a bit of an extra leeway while still not completely nulling the existing challenges of the game.
The central uncertainty of this tabble tennis juggling game is the direction and speed of the ball much of the time. It's obvious that the paddle will redirect the ball back upward, but there is still a degree of uncertainty as to the horizontal element of its direction as well as the velocity. It really plays like how juggling a table tennis ball on a paddle does in real life, where you can cushion the bounce of the ball by moving away from it before it bounces and strike it away with immense force by moving the paddle toward the ball. In this way it is quite predictable as to the behavior of the ball after bouncing it, but not immediately calculatable. This is supplemented by the fact that the exact degree of horizontal motion in the ball post bounce feels somewhat random, though it clearly isn't entirely random as the ball will go straight up if struck with the center of the paddle collision box(circle?) and to the left or right if struck on the respective side of the paddle's collision box. Another rule at play in the game, though I can't tell if it was intentionally coded or not, is the insane increase in velocity upon the ball ricocheting between the paddle and the ceiling of the game space. While the direction of the ball is easily predictable off the ceiling and walls, it can really build momentum up fast when colliding between all the walls and the paddle to a near unpredictable extent. Because of this, it is rewarding for the player's score to play it safe and stick to many small juggles near the center of the paddle to avoid these uncertainties.
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Prompt 4: Describe how the designer could create more interplay. In this game, the designer has presented the player with the core and sole challenge of bouncing a table tennis ball on the paddle repeatedly, without dropping it. Each bounce increments the user's score until ultimately, the user drops the ball and loses. Despite being an easy ruleset to follow for the player, the game can be quite challenging at some points with the ball’s velocity rapidly speeding up due to a small player error. Perhaps an element of interplay that could be added to this game, would be different types of ‘power ups’ that enchant the user's current game environment. These power-ups could be different in nature and occasionally appear on the screen for the user to bounce the ball over top one in order to receive the power-up. These power-ups could also have a set time limit creating a limited opportunity for the player to get the ball in position to receive the power-up. Different power-ups that I believe could enrich this game experience could be, receiving another paddle for a set time, mirrored to the one being controlled by the player, so that the player has more room for error. A power-up that temporarily slows the bounce of the ball to make it easier for the player to get into position to accurately bounce the ball, or maybe a power-up that acts as a saving grace and resets the ball once the user drops it but keeps the player's score. Each power-up could have different times allocated to being on the screen for the player depending on the power-up’s useability.
Prompt 2: Describe the challenge of the game as if the designer was working to thwart you.
The game doesn’t make it necessarily easy to win, by always having the ball move at least in some direction. There are no extra external forces and it is up to you and your paddle, letting you have control over the gameplay, but the velocity of the ball persists at least a little despite your best efforts. It’s not forgiving of mistakes either. As soon as you make a quick movement to save the ball, everything quickly goes downhill. Your velocity is transferred to the ball and if the ball has any horizontal direction, you’ll be in a tough spot.
Even in the off chance you don’t make a mistake as the ball continuously moves across the screen, you have a paddle and a ping pong ball, you naturally have a feeling to see how your movements affect the ball. You are punished for this, just like in real life when you’re learning, with the ball flying all over the room you’re practicing in. This makes it more challenging, but it definitely is more fun than just slightly moving your paddle, so you can easily feel encouraged to continue this more wild style of play. Sure gravity is your primary, concrete enemy, but in reality it almost seems like your self control is the true enemy.
Luckily, the designer gives us a little wiggle room, with the handle also working to hit the ball instead of just the primary paddle surface. It feels satisfying just like if you would use the handle in real life and gives you a bit of an extra leeway while still not completely nulling the existing challenges of the game.
High Score: 202, Prompt 1:
The central uncertainty of this tabble tennis juggling game is the direction and speed of the ball much of the time. It's obvious that the paddle will redirect the ball back upward, but there is still a degree of uncertainty as to the horizontal element of its direction as well as the velocity. It really plays like how juggling a table tennis ball on a paddle does in real life, where you can cushion the bounce of the ball by moving away from it before it bounces and strike it away with immense force by moving the paddle toward the ball. In this way it is quite predictable as to the behavior of the ball after bouncing it, but not immediately calculatable. This is supplemented by the fact that the exact degree of horizontal motion in the ball post bounce feels somewhat random, though it clearly isn't entirely random as the ball will go straight up if struck with the center of the paddle collision box(circle?) and to the left or right if struck on the respective side of the paddle's collision box. Another rule at play in the game, though I can't tell if it was intentionally coded or not, is the insane increase in velocity upon the ball ricocheting between the paddle and the ceiling of the game space. While the direction of the ball is easily predictable off the ceiling and walls, it can really build momentum up fast when colliding between all the walls and the paddle to a near unpredictable extent. Because of this, it is rewarding for the player's score to play it safe and stick to many small juggles near the center of the paddle to avoid these uncertainties.