User Guide

Cannonball: Instrument of Ares

Cannonball: Instrument of Ares is a 2D cannonball-based puzzle game in which YOU control the angle of the cannon and power of the blast to avoid obstacles and complete each level objective.  

Controls:

Features:

• Keyboard and Basic Controller Input Support
  
• Multiple Levels
  
• Help Screen
• Main Menu
  
• Level Selector
  
• Level Complete Screen
  
• Original Custom Sprites
  
• Original Music
  
• Sound Effects

Gameplay:
The core gameplay consists of setting the cannon's angle and power level to fire to cannonball to complete the level objective. Each level has a varying way to complete it with different obstacles and win states.

Cannon

The cannon moves both up and down to change your angle.

You can also change your power level, letting you determine how strength of the explosion.

Cannonball and Bucket

The core gameplay is firing the cannonball and landing it in the bucket.

Target

Another gameplay element is the target which can trigger different actions, such as dropping the red ball.

Game Screenshots:

Main Menu

Level Select

Help

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level Complete

Documentation

Concept to Excecution:

Original Concept:

 I’m developing a 2D cannonball-based puzzle game consisting of 5-10 levels of various obstacles in which you control the angle of the cannon and power of the blast to complete the level objectives. I’m cloning the gameplay of flash game ‘Cannonball Follies 3: Cold Front’ while expanding upon it with new concepts and level designs in a paper cut out style.

 The game will incorporate powerups, obstacles and different cannonball types while increasing the level of difficulty as the game progresses. The levels will have different completion states such as destroying targets, landing the balls in set locations and completing trick shots.

Original Backstory:

 After years of missing targets, a worthless abandoned cannon adrift at sea DEVELOPS SENTIENCE! Now fully in control of its destiny after divine intervention from Ares, the God of War, the cannon takes action into its own hands.

Execution:

2D cannonball-based puzzle game:

I feel strongly that I accomplished this, my version has all the core elements that I was trying to emulate from ‘Cannonball Follies’, the game I was cloning.

5-10 levels of various obstacles:

My game comes in at 5 levels, just within my planned amount.

Control the angle of the cannon and power of the blast:

I had this working early on and feel like I have a great balanced control scheme and power level for the cannon.

Expanding upon (the original) with new concepts and level designs in a paper cut out style:

I didn’t address the game with new concepts. I was planning on doing that with powerups and new obstacles. I only found the development time to clone and mashup levels from the original game. With more time I feel like I would have accomplished this task.

I also early in the development process switched quickly to a pixel art style since I found the barrier to entry for doing pixel are much lower and easier to complete in my time frame.

The game will incorporate powerups:

Did not get to the point where I had time to develop powerups unfortunately.

The game will incorporate obstacles:

I feel like the newer levels I have developed have shown some variations in the obstacles and level completion conditions, with mixing some level ideas from the original together and making them in my own way.

The game will incorporate different cannonball types:

Did not get to the point where I had time to develop powerups unfortunately.

The levels will have different completion states such as destroying targets, landing the balls in set locations and completing trick shots.

Throughout my five levels I developed different ways the cannonball needed to be aimed, shot and interacted with the various objects to complete each level. I feel like I achieved this goal.

Back Story: I did not get to the point where I could have the time to implement some of the story elements into the game, which directly relates to the subtitle. However, having a strong and clear idea of the game world helped with developing the overall creative identity of the game.

Feedback:

1. Game Objective

• Feedback: Most testers agreed or strongly agreed that the point of the game was clear.
• Observation: Players quickly understood the main goal just by playing.
• Action: No changes needed.

2. Controls

• Feedback: All testers found the controls intuitive and appropriate for the game.
• Observation: Players were able to start playing without needing extra instruction.
• Action: Controls remained unchanged.

3. Visual Design

• Feedback: Testers responded positively. Confirmed the visuals as consistent and fitting for the style of game.
• Observation: No confusion or negative comments about visuals during observation.
• Action: No major visual changes.

4. Gameplay Enjoyment & Challenge

• Feedback: Gameplay was rated enjoyable with level three noted as a favourite, described as both challenging and rewarding. Some found the need for patience on level three a fun challenge.
• Observation: Players appeared engaged and motivated to keep trying, especially on level 3.
• Action: No change.

5. Camera System

• Feedback: A few comments suggested that the camera sometimes didn't need to move above the base level.
• Observation: Most players seemed comfortable, but a small number hesitated when they couldn't see further ahead.
• Action: For the final version, I left the camera system as is as a level complexity design choice.

6. UI

• Feedback: One player reported the power bar UI wasn’t working on levels 2 and 3. Another player suggested adding a visual indicator of the level complete requirement for level 3 (1/2 Balls in the buckets)
• Observation: I witnessed the player get confused and mention the power bar issue in real time.
• Action:
  
  • Power Bar: Fixed the bug immediately by relinking sprites to the script.
  • Level Complete Indicator: Added to list of features to address. Did not add due to time constraints.

7. Scoring System

• Feedback: Suggested by multiple testers to track progress or add competitiveness (example, golf-style shot counter).
• Action: Added to list of features to address. Did not add due to time constraints.

8. Sound

• Feedback: Several testers suggested adding sound.
• Observation: Players still enjoyed the game but mentioned sound would be good to add.
• Action: Music and Sound Effects were added to the game.

9. Level Design and Introduction of Mechanics

• Feedback: Some confusion about the red ball/bucket but also enjoyment of the difficulty of the task once the mechanic was clear.
• Observation: I noticed some players assumed the red ball/bucket were negative at first.
• Action: Built a new level after testing to introduce the red ball and red bucket mechanics earlier.

10. Ball Physics and Cannon Power

• Feedback: Generally positive. One tester mildly disliked the cannon’s power range.
• Observation: Players used the power without issue.
• Action: No action deemed necessary.
 

Feedback Summary:

The feedback from my Week 12 testing session was largely positive and valuable. It led to finding a UI bug, clearer objectives in level three and additional levels while improve the pace of the difficulty progression. The feedback about sound was taken on and addressed. The positive response to elements such as the controls, visuals and gameplay confirmed that many of my initial design choices were well thought out and planned well.

Asset List:

Sprites:

Cannon by Nicolaspla77 - https://nicolaspla77.itch.io/can

• Used as the main player sprite & cannonball sprite. Modified and edited. (Detailed in Week 9 - Basic Level Blocking Devlog)

Health Bar Asset Pack by Adwitr - https://adwitr.itch.io/pixel-health-bar-asset-pack

• Small red bar used for the power bar. Modified and edited. (Detailed in Week 10 – Enemies / Interaction / Puzzles Devlog)

Pixel Art GUI Elements by Mounir Tohami - https://mounirtohami.itch.io/pixel-art-gui-elements

• Used for the UI Help button in the game’s levels and used for moving obstacle in level 3. (Detailed in Week 12 - UI / Polish Devlog)

Background:

Moon and Sea Pixel Art Background by CraftPix.net -https://opengameart.org/content/moon-and-sea-pixel-art-background

• Used as the main levels background. Modified and edited. (Detailed in Week 11 - Presentation and Graphics Devlog)

Clouds by Brett Sayles - https://www.pexels.com/photo/clouds-1431822/  

• Used in Key Art and as the Main Menu Background

Fonts: 

Horizon Wide Sans Serif by Fontense - https://creativemarket.com/fontense/2189003-Horizon-Wide-Sans-Serif

• Used in key art for the main logo and game menus. (Detailed in Week 11 - Presentation and Graphics Devlog)

MinimalPixel font by Mounir Tohami - https://mounirtohami.itch.io/minimalpixel-font

• Used in the help UI element. (Detailed in Week 12 - UI / Polish Devlog)

Code:

 Infinite Parallax Scrolling Background Code by Game Code Library -  https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=AoRBZh6HvIk

• Used for the parallax background code implementation. (Detailed in Week 11 - Presentation and Graphics Devlog)

Sound Effects:

8-Bit Cannon by DeVern - https://freesound.org/people/DeVern/sounds/517664/

• Used for the main cannon’s sound effects in each level.

Video Game Menu Click Sounds by Not_Amasingrock - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/video-game-menu-click-sounds-148373/

• Used for the menu button UI sound and Power Level Sound. Heavily modified in FL Studio.

Music box wind up by Pastabra - https://freesound.org/people/Pastabra/sounds/366152/

• Used for the cannon’s angle movement sound effect. Heavily modified in FL Studio.
   

Gen AI Usage Statement:

Generative AI was used to assist and create portions of the code for the game scripts.

Open AI’s ChatGPT was the primary Generative AI used. All code was hand edited, some less than others. 

The following are links to transcripts for transparency.

https://chatgpt.com/share/68382215-b578-800c-8d17-1014e8124934

https://chatgpt.com/share/68382232-ab38-800c-8a7d-9678f8328f72 

https://chatgpt.com/share/68382246-c134-800c-9986-edab5ce7d03a

https://chatgpt.com/share/6838225f-5b60-800c-b864-26af2b3d9056 

https://chatgpt.com/share/683822a9-c1f4-800c-87d2-1b664b02bc19

https://chatgpt.com/share/683822b7-09b4-800c-a77f-84cc9eff8022 

https://chatgpt.com/share/683822d1-0720-800c-a20d-8569cfaf45a4 

https://chatgpt.com/share/683822df-15b0-800c-90d2-6196594f6b52

https://chatgpt.com/share/683822ee-a1b8-800c-8bc9-f10dc849bb65

https://chatgpt.com/share/6838230e-9b40-800c-8ec9-2df582bc178d

https://chatgpt.com/share/6838233c-1510-800c-8b28-3c24ed470e7d

https://chatgpt.com/share/68382349-c800-800c-a6df-e9c1e8f9a396

https://chatgpt.com/share/68382360-fb20-800c-8297-a14a379a9ee6

https://chatgpt.com/share/683882fa-d00c-800c-851d-ec149018318c
 

References:

Club Penguin (Web) [Video game]. (2005) . Disney.

Purup, M. (2007) Tank Trouble (Web) [Video game].

Snubby Land. (2008) The World's Hardest Game (Web) [Video game] Armor Games.

Cannonball Follies 3:  Cold Front (Web) [Video game]. (2007) . Cartoon Network.

Cannonball Follies (Web) [Video game]. (2005) . Cartoon Network.

Esposito, B. (2018) Donut County (PC) [Video game]. Annapurna Interactive.

Robinson-Yu, A. (2019) A Short Hike (PC) [Video game]. Whippoorwill.

Little Inferno (PC) [Video game]. (2012). Tomorrow Corporation.

Jones, C. (Director). (1955). Rabbit Rampage [Film]. Warner Bros.

Orama Interactive. (2024). Pixelorama (Version 1.0) [Computer software]. https://orama-interactive.itch.io/pixelorama

Igara Studio S.A. (2024). Aseprite (Version 1.3.7) [Computer software]. https://www.aseprite.org/

Image-Line Software. (2024). FL Studio (Version 2024.2) [Computer software]. https://www.image-line.com/