Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this idea of making, like, simple games. And volleyball seemed like a fun one to try. I mean, who doesn’t love a bit of virtual sports, right?
I started by just brainstorming. You know, thinking about what makes volleyball… well, volleyball. It’s all about that back-and-forth, the bumping, setting, and spiking. I needed to figure out how to get that feeling into a game.
The Basic Setup
First things first, I needed a court. I just used a simple rectangle, nothing fancy. Then, I put a net in the middle – another rectangle, but taller and skinnier. I threw in some basic stick figures for players, two on each side. They were super basic, just circles for heads and lines for bodies. I wasn’t aiming for realism, just something to get the game going.
Making Things Move
The ball was the next challenge. I started with a simple circle. I made it move across the screen using some basic code, nothing too complex, making it bounce off the edges of the court and, of course, the net.
Then came the player movement. I decided to keep it simple, letting players move left and right with the arrow keys. I added a jump button, too, because you gotta be able to spike that ball!
Hitting the Ball
- Bumping: I made it so that if the ball came close to a player, and they were on the ground, they’d automatically “bump” it upwards. It’s a gentle lob, like in real volleyball.
- Setting: If the player bumped the ball, and it was high enough, a teammate could then “set” it. This was a bit trickier to code, but I basically made it so that if a player was near the bumped ball, they could hit a key to send it in a nice arc.
- Spiking: The best part! If the ball was set, a player could jump and “spike” it downwards. This made the ball move super fast. Again, just basic key presses to trigger these actions.
I added some simple scoring, too. If the ball hit the ground on one side, the other team got a point. First to, say, 10 points wins. Basic stuff.
The End Result?
It’s not going to win any awards, for sure. The graphics are super basic, and the gameplay is simple. But you know what? It’s kind of fun! It really captures that basic back-and-forth of volleyball. And the spiking feels pretty satisfying, even if it’s just a circle hitting a line.
I spent a good few evenings tinkering with this, adding little tweaks here and there. There’s so much more I could do, like adding different player abilities, maybe some power-ups, and better-looking graphics. But as a starting point, I’m pretty happy with it. It’s a fun little project, and I learned a ton along the way. Who knows, maybe I’ll turn it into a full-blown volleyball game someday!
