Announcement

I am proud to announce work on my latest project, Half Step Frenzy! I've always wanted to make a puzzle game seeing as I am a big fan of the genre, and working on this game has been a blast. This update will provide some information about the project, including gameplay mechanics and the history of the project, so sit back and enjoy the read!

THE PHILOSIPHY BEHIND DEVELOPMENT

As stated previously, I am a big fan of puzzle games, notably Tetris. I like when puzzle games allow the player to play fast, so speed was a defining aspect of the project from the start. Only 5 frames separate each block placement and chain reaction, and the game runs at 60 frames per second. In addition, the blocks do not slowly descend down the screen like most falling block puzzle games; instead there is a timer overlaid on the piece at the top of the field, and the piece instantly drops either when the timer expires or the player hits down (or S in head to head multiplayer). In addition, by not having the blocks descend the field, the player is not restricted to what columns they can place their blocks in if they have walled off part of their field, which should make the gameplay more forgiving. In gameplay, this game is most similar to Puyo Puyo, a game that I'm not very good at, but the main difference between the two is the size system. In this game, blocks have 2 sizes: Half (1 Unit tall) or Whole (2 Units tall). Every piece the player is given consists of 1 Half and 1 Whole block from a pre-generated bag that both players share. In order to clear blocks, players much match 3 similarly colored blocks, meaning that Half and Whole blocks can be mixed and matched. This was done to make the gameplay more interesting: by having different sized blocks, the amount of which blocks above are shifted downward varies, which leads to interesting setups. From there, the opportunity was provided  to have a unique scoring system for the different kinds of blocks, so Half Blocks were assigned to be worth 1 point, and Whole Blocks were assigned to be worth 2 points. With these design ideas in mind, the game entered development.

DEVELOPMENT SO FAR

Development started in Mid February: I had gotten the idea for a puzzle game that I wanted to work on, but I was busy developing Escape Speed at this time. Since Escape Speed was a School Project (meaning it was for a grade), it took precedent. That being said, since I had the idea for the game then, I spent the first week of development prototyping things: First I got the blocks to stack correctly, then I got the blocks to match and disappear, and finally I got controls working. After this was done, I sent copies of the prototype to some of my friends, who gave some constructive feedback on it. Afterwards I created a few different types of AIs to play the game, as I wanted this game to have a single player element to the multiplayer, which has been absent from my titles so far. After the AI's were created, I halted the project to finish Escape Speed and focus on the semester, which ended at the start of May.  Since then I worked to implement the different modes into the game, incorporating Human and AI competition into the multiplayer modes. The gameplay was finalized around the middle of May, and work slightly prior to and since then has been focused on polishing the game, adding missing components, and fixing bugs.

WHAT'S NEXT

As stated in the previous paragraph, development on the gameplay itself is finished, but the game itself has a lot left to complete. The remaining tasks vary in length and complexity, but I'll lay them all out here:

• Main Menu - Currently I have a debug menu that allows the player to access any of the modes, but there needs to be a menu system that looks visually pleasing and uses the controls of the game, as opposed to a list of options navigated with the numpad.
• Tutorial - I'd like to have a tutorial to properly explain different mechanics of the game and what they mean, complete with a grid that demonstrates the topic being discussed.
• Music - I'm going to make music in Famitracker, but I'm going to use the VRC7 module for this game, as it will help to provide more contrast from the sound effects, which at this moment are complete. In addition, I used VRC7 for 1 track in Escape Speed, and I really liked how it turned out, so I'd like to keep that going.
• Customizability - I'd like for the blocks to have different images associated with them, as I think that it would be neat to be able to choose your own type of blocks. The functionality for this has already been built into the game, but I need to create different sets of images, along with a way to select them.

SOME INTERESTING GAMEPLAY THINGS

While not everything is detailed yet, I'd like to explain some of the mechanics that will be present in the game. By giving context, I hope that these will make sense when players first encounter them

• All Clear - When the player creates a match that completely clears the board, an All Clear has taken place. As a reward, the player is awarded points in addition to what they received from the match.
• Cancel and Counter - In Battle mode, garbage is exchanged when a player gets 30 or more points. If a player has garbage queued to be placed in their grid and they score enough points to negate the queued garbage, the garbage is nullified. This is known as a Cancel. If there is surplus after negating queued garbage, the remaining garbage is sent to the opponent, and this is known as a Counter. Counters and Cancels have unique sound effects, so keep an ear open for them.
• Dash Times - In Dash mode, times are displayed with milliseconds at the end to give a more precise measurement of time. In addition, after a Dash has successfully been completed, the time is displayed separate from the grid.

Half Step Frenzy will be released sometime in Summer of 2021. I do not know how much time the remaining tasks will take, and I also have summer courses starting in a little over a week, but I am committed to completing this game. This is my best work yet, and I look forward to everyone playing it!