Okay, so I’ve been wanting to make a little Steven Universe game for a while, and I finally decided to just go for it. The idea? A simple beach volleyball game, inspired by Beach City’s chill vibes. Here’s how it all went down.
Getting Started
First, I needed to figure out the basics. I wanted something super simple, not some AAA title, you know? Just a fun little project.
- Concept: Two-player volleyball, Steven Universe themed.
- Characters: Maybe Steven and Connie versus… I don’t know, maybe Peridot and Lapis?
- Controls: Super basic – left/right movement, a jump button, and maybe a “special move” button if I felt fancy.
The Messy Middle
This is where things got… interesting. I started sketching out some character sprites – let me tell you, drawing pixel art is harder than it looks! My Steven looked more like a blob with a star shirt for a good while. Connie was a little easier, thankfully.
Then came the actual game part. I decided to use a game engine, it had a 2D mode, and some built-in physics, which seemed like a good starting point. I fumbled my way through the tutorials, which were so helpful. Mostly I just slapped a square for the “ball”, gave that thing some bounce, and made some character sprites that were just colored rectangles at this point. I managed to get them to move left and right, and even jump! High-tech stuff, I tell ya.
The “net” was just another rectangle. Honestly, the whole thing looked like a five-year-old’s drawing, but hey, it worked (sort of).
The “Special Move” Debacle
I got ambitious. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if Steven could use his bubble shield to like, super-bump the ball?” Yeah, well, cool doesn’t always mean easy. I spent hours trying to figure out how to make that happen. I’m pretty sure I invented some new coding bugs in the process. Eventually, I gave up on the fancy bubble-bounce and just made it a regular “power hit” that made the ball go faster.
Sights and Sounds (or Lack Thereof)
Remember those amazing character sprites I mentioned? They never really materialized. I ended up using some placeholder sprites, that looked better than colored rectangles. The background was just a static image of a beach. For sounds… let’s just say I found some free “boing” and “thump” sound effects online. Classy, I know.
The Finished (Sort Of) Product
So, is it a masterpiece? Absolutely not. Is it playable? Barely. Is it Steven Universe beach volleyball? Kinda! It’s two-player, you can hit a ball back and forth, and there are vaguely human-shaped things on the screen. That’s gotta count for something, right?
I learned a lot, though. Mostly, I learned that game development is hard. But also, it’s kind of addictive. I’m already thinking about version 2.0… maybe with actual Steven Universe characters this time. And who knows, maybe I’ll even figure out that bubble shield thing eventually. Stay tuned!
