Don't Get Consumed By The Spheres Redux Devlog

Introduction

So I was looking back at old games and ideas I had for games since I wanted to make something new, and I found a game called Don’t Get Consumed By The Spheres. I never ended up finishing it but I found the game idea interesting, although my old dev forum post about it was goofy :sob:

The simple idea of a survival game where you run away and hide from spheres that can level buildings just by crashing into them intrigued me (not surprised considering my track record) because I haven’t seen anything like it aside from Eat or Die which probably came into my head when I initially came up with the idea. Kids would probably like it, but regardless, it could help me improve my scripting skills.

Originally, the spheres were not at all dynamic in terms of their controls. Players and bots could only move the sphere by clicking one of the hundreds of parts floating around the map. I don’t like this since it makes you feel less in control of the sphere and takes away the destruction factor of it all. So I plan to have the sphere be able to roll around like a marble.

Before I started working on that though, I would think of new ideas for abilities, rehash some older ones, and also make a list of what I plan to do.

Abilities and Properties

There are two different groups of abilities, player abilities and sphere abilities. Player abilities will consist of abilities that the player can use to evade, defend, and support themselves from the spheres, Sphere abilities will consist of abilities that the spheres can use to chase, damage, and stun players.

Sphere Properties - { (Desmos)

  • Speed : The current speed of the sphere.

  • Max Speed : The maximum speed the sphere can produce, when over 1/2 of your max speed, players hit will be ragdolled and stunned until they hit the ground for (Speed/40 + 1) seconds.

  • Acceleration : ???

  • Size : The size of the sphere, can be edited from 0.5x → 2x. The size affects different properties of the sphere. (See the Desmos Graph for more information.)

  • Range : The range of the sphere, scales off of size.

  • Damage : The amount of damage the sphere deals when running into players. The sphere’s speed has to be over 10 to damage players.

}

Sphere Abilities - {

  • Boost : Increases the sphere’s speed by 25% but decreases its range by 0.9x for 5s, has a 12s cooldown.

  • Spring : Makes a spring form under the sphere that expands upwards, causing the sphere to be shot up, this makes the sphere lose horizontal speed while in the air, but gain a 20% boost in horizontal speed after it lands on the ground for 3s, has a 12s cooldown.

  • Ram : Makes the sphere charge forward for 5s, increasing their range by 40% and speed by 50%. Once the sphere crashes into blocks, its maximum speed is decreased by 40% and it loses 20% of its range for 6s, hitting players does not count. If it doesn’t crash into anything, it will not gain these debuffs, has a 20s cooldown.

  • Cannonball : Makes the sphere float upwards for 7s, increasing its range by 50% and damage by 100%, and after clicking on a part, the sphere will be sent flying at its max speed towards it, crashing into anything it touches. Afterwards, its maximum speed is decreased by 60% and it loses 40% of its range for 12 seconds, has a 30s cooldown.

  • Laser : Completely stops the sphere and makes it open its mouth for 5 seconds, allowing the operator to fire out a laser designated to their mouse position that deals 0.6 damage every 0.1 seconds dealing up to 30 damage. The laser can also be used on blocks, it takes two hits to destroy one.

}

Player Abilities - {

  • Sprint : Makes the player sprint, causing them to gain 70% more speed for 7 seconds, has a 14s cooldown.

  • Leap : Makes the player leap 30 studs forward, gives them 35% more speed for 3.5 seconds after landing, has a 7s cooldown.

  • Shockwave : Makes the user activate a shockwave backpack that deflects any incoming spheres, this does not work on spheres that are coming towards you at max speed, has a 25s cooldown.

  • Shield : Makes the user shield themselves, giving them +50% Resistance which prevents ragdolling and reduces damage, has a 10s cooldown.

  • Heal : Makes the user concentrate energy in their hands to either heal themselves or those around them by clicking, giving that person +10 health and doubling their regeneration for 5 seconds, has a 20s cooldown.

  • Mass Boost : Makes the user concentrate for three seconds, and then releases a wave of energy around them, giving themselves and those around them 50% more speed and jump power for ten seconds, has a 40s cooldown.

}

Game modes and Styles

The only game mode planned for launch is Classic, where a sphere is chosen and players have to evade getting crushed. There were other game modes originally planned, but it’s been too long so I completely forgot what I was going to do with them.

Styles will be a way for players to vote for ways to change the game, such as some orbs give players and spheres boosts. A random set of styles will be able to be voted on every five games, but players can also buy styles with the game’s currency, circles.

Currency

Circles will be used to buy abilities and styles, in the future they will also be able to be used towards cosmetics and buying perks.

And then there are maps, which I’m not too sure what to do with at the moment, but let’s get on to the development part of the devlog.