Today, I tackled a fun little project: building a simple “animal volleyball” game. It was a neat way to mess around with some basic game mechanics and animation, and I thought I’d share the process with you all.
First, I drew some simple animal characters. I went with a bear, a fox, a rabbit, and a turtle. I kept the designs pretty basic, just enough to tell them apart. I didn’t spend too much time on the art since it wasn’t the main focus. And I found a picture of a volleyball online and a simple background.
Next, I imported these images into the game engine. I used a free one that’s popular for beginners. I set up the background first, then placed my animal characters on either side of the screen. I made sure they were facing each other, ready for a volleyball showdown.
Basic Movement
- I started with the bear and fox on one side.
- I added some simple code to move them left and right using the arrow keys.
- It felt clunky at first, but after some tweaking, it started to feel more natural.
- Then, I added a jump action using the space bar.
Getting the ball to bounce realistically was a bit of a headache. I played around with the physics settings, adjusting gravity and bounciness. It took a lot of trial and error, but eventually, I got it to a point where it felt somewhat like a real volleyball.
Adding Some Action
- I wanted the animals to hit the ball, so I added a “hit” animation.
- When the player pressed a certain key near the ball, their animal would swing its paw or whatever.
- Figuring out the timing for this was tricky. I wanted it to feel responsive but not too easy.
Then, I duplicated the bear and fox to create the opposing team (rabbit and turtle). I gave them some basic AI, just enough to make them move towards the ball and try to hit it. They’re not exactly volleyball pros, but they put up a decent fight.
Finally, I added a simple scoring system. Every time the ball hit the ground, the opposite team got a point. I displayed the score at the top of the screen. It’s basic, but it gets the job done.
So there you have it, my little “animal volleyball” game. It’s far from perfect, but it was a blast to build. I learned a ton about game development along the way. Maybe I’ll add some more features later, like different animal abilities or power-ups. Who knows? Anyway, I just felt like sharing this little adventure with y’all. Hope you found it somewhat interesting!
