Okay, so today I messed around with making a “dead fish volleyball” game. It’s exactly what it sounds like – volleyball, but with a floppy, lifeless fish instead of a ball. Sounds fun, right?
First, I scrounged around for some game-making software. I’m no coding wizard, so I needed something pretty straightforward. I ended up going with something simple that I played around with before.
The Fishy Physics
- Finding a Fish: I grabbed a picture of a fish online – a simple, side-view one. Nothing fancy.
- Making it Flop: This was the tricky part. I wanted the fish to move realistically, all limp and floppy. The software I used had some built-in physics stuff, so I played with the settings. I made it super heavy and gave it almost no bounce.
- Adding Some Drag: I added a lot of air resistance (or whatever the game engine called it) to make the fish kinda float and tumble instead of just dropping like a rock.
Volleyball Time
- The Net: I just drew a simple line across the middle of the screen. That’s the net. Easy peasy.
- The Players: I decided to keep it super basic. Just two stick figures, one on each side. I gave them the ability to jump and move left and right.
- Smacking the Fish: The controls were simple – arrow keys to move, spacebar to jump. When a player collided with the fish, the fish would get some force in that direction.
Getting it to Work (Sort Of)
I spent a good chunk of time just tweaking the physics. Making the fish too floppy made it impossible to hit. Making it too stiff made it boring. It was a delicate balance.
After a lot of trial and error, I got something that was kinda playable. The fish still did some weird stuff – sometimes it would get stuck on the net, sometimes it would just fly off the screen – but it was mostly working!
The Result?
It’s… well, it’s a dead fish volleyball game. It’s janky and weird, but kinda fun in a silly way. I showed it to my friend, and we laughed at how ridiculous it was. Mission accomplished, I guess!
It is not perfect at all, but It’s a start, so I might try to add some stuff. Maybe some different fish? Power-ups? Who knows!
