Box Art – Perplex Beats

After the redesign of the frontend we were able to create the box art. This is really strange because when we was brainstorming on how the box art should look, it was a nightmare to create something that looks good when the only iconic references for the game was the name and the game logo (the cube).

So by doing the frontend artwork the box art just fell into place.

 

Tweaks / Remix

With the new XNA 4.0 update, Jeremy decided to disable the game screen so it was not scalable, as stated previously. This led me to tweak a lot of the in-game UI and frontend menus. I raged at first because I thought this would be a huge task, but by tackling this take made me look at the game in a different light and notice areas that needed to be changed / tweaked. A blessing in disguise for Perplex Beats because the game now has a more exciting feel from the get go and now all the game menus are unified.

I have to give a shout out to Sam Beard our superstar sound engineer for producing an epic remix for the frontend of Perplex Beats. Maybe we could put the original version up for the loyal PreAnimals to hear one day, but trust me the new version is a million times better with traces of the old track imbedded. I guess we now got the best of both worlds.

Safe zones and more safe zones.

Jeremy has been telling me for a long time now, that we need to move things around so it fits into the safe zone.  I on the other hand felt the best thing was to allow the user to adjust the screen, because I have always believed that choice was one of the many keys points to creating a fun experience.  I later found out that was a silly move (as the other team members constantly remind me of my past poor decisions).  When testing the game on different TV’s and monitors we started to notice the problem of not placing things in the safe zone.  Also having to enter the adjust screen option every time you play the game on a different TV or monitor was starting to annoy us, so Jeremy disabled this option which forced me to tweak the layouts so it fits properly.

I am so glad Jeremy took it upon himself to do this otherwise this would have been a problem for the final release.

Silence is Golden

If you have been following us from the start then you will have noticed we have been silent for the last month or so, sorry guys.  But don’t worry we have been so busy getting the game up to speed, the way it looks and plays now; we are so proud of Perplex Beats.  From the changes of the symbols, the new look of the game, the trance system and everything else that has changed and I have forgotten about.

A few changes listed here.

• The new trance system – The user builds up the trance meter at the top of the screen and this can be activated to double the score multiplier.  Once in a trance state the user can fill this bar up again to double that multiplier from x2 to x4 etc…  As the user increases the multiplier the length of time in trance mode is reduced.  We thought this was really good since we noticed once the player became really good at the game the score were pretty much the same.  Then an idea was triggered and we started to think of ways in which the user can control the multipliers.  With this implemented the scores became spaced out a lot more and also the control makes the game feel a lot more arcade which is always a plus in our books.

• The rotate note has been changed so the user can clearly tell which cube needs to be rotated and for how long.  This was such a simple thing to work into the game which was really needed.  I got stuck into playing this game a certain way that I forgot this was even a problem.  This is why play-testing is so important.

• The feedback sounds you get when the user makes a match has been lowered so it enough so you know you made a match but not enough to effect the gameplay.  This was something that bothered me a lot after watching someone else play it.  It is really funny having something put in place at the start of the development process and just becoming use to it.  Then when day finally taking a step back and noticing how annoying something so small can be after.

• But the largest change of is the amount of symbols running along the bars.  This has been reduced because EVERYTIME the game was shown to people they never got how to play it, they always asked “how do you play this?”  So reducing the amount of extra noise given to the user has solved this problem.  A classic example of design choices made at the start of a project which you later become attached.

After all the changes implemented from the feedback given to us we then begun to show the game to some local people we know such as friends, family, pets, babies you know the normal crowd.  The response has been really positive and has given us the belief that we are in the right direction.  With that short speech out of the way here is a HIGH-RES video which is long overdue; this is our first high res video so rate, comment and all the other stuff please.

Thanks for your support guys, it has taking us a while but we will get there in the end.

 

Fonts Fonts Fonts

On our search for a new and interesting font for Perplex Beats, we came across this awesome one.   It is based on video game consoles and accessories.  I have already been told that we CAN NOT use it, but we if keep bugging Jeremy he might give in and put it in the game.

This font was created by Varun Vachhar

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