Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this idea of making “super volleyball games,” and let me tell you, it’s been a journey! I started with pretty much zero knowledge, just a vague idea of what I wanted.
The Initial Brain Fart
First, I brainstormed what would even make a volleyball game “super.” I’m not talking about just another regular volleyball sim. I wanted something… extra. Like, maybe power-ups? Crazy court hazards? Players with ridiculous special moves?
Getting My Hands Dirty
I decided to start simple. I downloaded a free game engine – I won’t mention the name, but it’s a popular one. It was pretty intimidating at first. The interface looked like a spaceship cockpit. I spent a good few hours just watching tutorial videos, trying to figure out the basics. Then using some free assets model I could find.
- Figuring out movement: Getting the player to run and jump felt like rocket science at first. Lots of trial and error with the physics.
- Making a ball: This was surprisingly tricky. I wanted it to bounce realistically, but also be, you know, hittable.
- Setting up a basic court: Just two sides and a net. Nothing fancy, but it was a start!
The First Playable (Disaster)
After a few days of fumbling around, I actually had something playable. It was… rough. The player moved like a drunken robot, the ball sometimes went through the net, and the whole thing felt incredibly clunky. But, hey, it was a game! You could kinda-sorta hit the ball back and forth.
Adding Some “Super”
This is where the fun began. I started experimenting with power-ups. My first attempt was a “super spike” that made the ball go super-fast. I tweaked the code, added some particle effects (which looked terrible, by the way), and… boom! The ball was now a blurry missile. It was totally unbalanced and often flew out of bounds, but it felt awesome.
Then adding some basic AI to make it like a real game!It was totally unbalanced and hard to play, but it felt really like a volleyball game now.
The Never-Ending Iteration
Since then, it’s been a constant process of adding, testing, tweaking, and repeating. I’ve tried out different court ideas, experimented with more power-ups (a “gravity well” that pulls the ball towards a point was a particularly disastrous one), and slowly improved the player controls and physics. I’ve watched countless hours of volleyball matches to get a better feel for the game, and implemented a bunch of feedback from friends who’ve tried it out.
It’s still far from finished, and it’s probably never going to be a masterpiece. But it’s mine, and I’ve learned a ton along the way. That’s the cool part about making games – even if it’s just a silly little volleyball project, you’re constantly learning and creating something new. And, who knows, maybe one day I’ll actually make it “super”!
