Swimmy - A 2D Underwater Survival Game

SWIMMY
​

Swimmy is a single-player 2D side scrolling game that has similar gameplay to the popular Flappy Bird. It is currently under the development of Blue Bean Apps and will be available for free on all of the following:

• Android
• Facebook (this one is questionable)
• Flash
• Google Play
• iOS
• Kindle
• Windows 8

GAMEPLAY...
The gameplay is very similar to that of Flappy Bird, but with several differences.

There are 4 different modes of gameplay to choose from, each with their own difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Insane.

Your objective as the fish is to avoid various obstacles by moving out of the way before hitting them, such as hooks and jellyfish.

Unlike Flappy Bird, this is not an infinite runner. As you progress, the difficulty increases. For example, after some time, the speed of the fish starts to increase in small increments over time, getting faster and faster the farther you go, so eventually you are bound to lose.

For bragging rights, there will be a global leader board that will display the high scores of players all over the world. Think you have what it takes to be #1?

SCREENSHOT(S)...


VIDEO(S)...
Coming soon!

DEMO...
Play the web player demo!! (last updated: 12/07/14)

BETA RELEASE...
COMING JANUARY!*

SWIMMING TO GOOGLE PLAY THIS FEBRUARY!!*​

*Dates are subject to change.

 

SCREENSHOTS - GAMEPLAY
​

Here are some screenshots of the main gameplay:

Screenshot #1: Dodging hooks! Go Fish!!

Screenshot #2: Dodging hooks again...!

Screenshot #3: Dodging more hooks...

Screenshot #4: Dodging even more hooks..........

Screenshot #5: STILL dodging hooks........................................................


These screenshots simply show the fish dodging the hooks. Anyone like the bubble particle effect because I know I do!

UPDATES:

• [Not visible] Improved fish movement.
• [Sort of visible] Hooks spawn with enough space between one another to allow the fish to maneuver around them at any time. The game is now 100% possible, so DON'T SAY IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!
• More decorations along the seabed.
• More sea lights.
• Better looking sand (seabed).
• Bubbles! Lots and lots of bubbles!!

*Screenshots taken: 9/14/14

- Chris

 

Cute art style, keep it up man, don't let the lack of responses stop you.

 

Thanks! I've been waiting for some responses, but I'm just happy that I'm almost at 200 views!

-- Chris

 

SWIMMY - WEBSITE
​

I am currently working on making the website for Blue Bean Apps. You can click the link in my signature and it'll take you right there. There is not much to look at right now, but I'm just letting you know what's going on. My website progress will be slower than my game's progress, but once I finish my game, I will dedicate all my time to my website.

- Chris

 

SWIMMY - WEB PLAYER UPDATED
​

The web player demo of the game has been updated as of 9/18/14.

- Chris

 

SCREENSHOTS - TITLE SCREEN
​

I apologize for not having updated this thread with anything for a few days. I have been doing a lot of work on other things (making my business's Google+ page, YouTube page, Gmail and website), so I have been doing stuff, just not for my game. I intend to resume work on my game either later today or tomorrow. If you want proof that I have not been entirely lazy, take a look at all that I've done these past few days:

Blue Bean Apps website
Blue Bean Apps Google+ page
Personal Google+ page
Blue Bean Apps YouTube page

Here are some screenshots showcasing the title screen:

Screenshot #1: The title screen as it would look with no player input.

The three buttons act the same as the ones in the credits screen (they turn light blue when the mouse cursor is hovering over them and turn red when clicked). There's no need to upload the 9 different buttons as I have already done a couple buttons in the post showcasing the credits scene.

NOTE: I intend to edit the ship sprite to remove the little bit of sand that is on the bottom of it (you may see it better if you zoom in on the image.) I just need to get around to doing that! Also, I do not have an official name for the game yet, so that is why I have not added the title logo yet.

- Chris

 

UPDATE - ALMOST DONE
​

I am very close to being done with my game! All I have left to do is make the leaderboard scene (which I might scrap entirely) and to set up the score board.

Yesterday (9/24) I got the highscore to change if you beat your previous record, however it does not save. Today, I intend to get it to save the highscore, then I will update the web player demo. Today, I will also work on creating the leaderboard scene, but I probably won't be able to finish it today, so the leaderboard may take a day or two to complete.

Once the leaderboard scene is complete, I will do the FINAL update to the web player demo, which will no longer be a demo... it will be the beta version of my game!

I intend to upload a video of the beta version to YouTube, so keep an eye out for it! I will mention the video in a post here when it's uploaded.

The final build of my game is planned for release sometime in early November, so very soon! After I release the beta version, I will have to figure out how to use Google's Admob, which I expect will take some time to work out, so it will take a while to monetize my game, but once it's monetized, I will release it everywhere I can!

- Chris

 

Awesome news! Just don't get Project Completion Anxiety. Keep going strong!

 

I'm afraid it's too late to not be anxious, as I am already anxious, but I am still plowing ahead!

- Chris

 

UPDATE - WEB PLAYER UPDATED!
​

I just updated the web player demo, so feel free to check it out! This is the best version of it so far! Play it here!

UPDATES

• Improved speed mechanic. The speed of the fish increases in smaller increments of time than before to make the game somewhat easier and more enjoyable to play. It really starts getting hard at the 3 minute 30 seconds mark!
• Each time you die, you view a scoreboard. The number of stars you get are determined by how long you survived. You can see how the star system works at the end of this post.
• When you break your highscore, your highscore will equal your current time until you die. I'm still working on saving your highscore, so it does not save your score as of yet.

SCORE SYSTEM

• Under 1 minute = 0 stars
• 1 minute to 3 minutes = 1 star
• 3 minutes to 5 minutes = 2 stars
• Above 5 minutes = 3 stars

NOTE: The leaderboard scene has not been made yet, so DO NOT click the leaderboard button on the title screen!

- Chris

 

I visited the web page where you browser demo is but all I see is the Unity Web Player Click Here to Download image. Already have it installed of course. Thought maybe your game needed an updated version so I downloaded and installed but made no difference.

 

Alrighty, it should be working now. Tell me if it works on your side!

- Chris

 

@Blue Bean Apps bringing your conversation about your impending release over from my thread lol.

don't underestimate the difficult of implementing ads especially if it's your first time. There are some good plugins out there but the good ones cost money. Also something I've learned from past projects is to not get overexcited and rush to release something. When you think it's ready, sit on it for a week or two. Once the hype of "being done" wears off you will likely notice some areas that could use improvement. That being said eventually you need to stamp it as COMPLETE

 

I have been considering putting off the release for a week or two after I feel my game is complete just to give myself some breathing room, but at the same time I really want to get it out there, which I know is not smart. I'm leaning towards breathing rather than suffocating, so I probably will wait a little longer! However, I can't wait to start on the next idea I have which is Project Stealth, which so far, I have only mentioned on my site. If only we had time machines...!

- Chris

 

It works now!

I played it a few times. Made it to just about 2 minutes. I think what you have right now seems quite solid except for there is some slight "freeze" that seems to happen around the 1 minute mark. I am guessing maybe you are generating the next section of the playfield ahead or something.

Right now it seems solid but feels kind of empty to me. I know you want to wrap it up and get it out there to the world but I think if you added just a little bit it would make a huge difference. Things like very slowly moving hooks (moving up), maybe a crab occasionally walking across the ground at the bottom that jumps up into the air and floats back down. Also, it would be cool if there were a couple power ups. One that could be good or bad depending on current situation: speed-up. This would give you about a 50% speed boost for a very short duration. The other would be a very short amount of invincibility (maybe stick a bubble around the fish or something).

The music seems to fit the game well. The graphics are minimal but what is there looks good.

 

I wanna eat the bubbles

 

@GarBenjamin Thank you so much for being the fist person to finally give me some solid feedback!!

I still don't know why the web player wasn't being acknowledged in the first upload... cheap Google Drive, I guess?

About the "freeze" glitch, I have noticed a slight lag here and there at times during gameplay (seems like it happens randomly) and this lag is due to more hooks, decorations, etc. being spawned off the screen a bit ahead of you, and sometimes it takes a little longer for the objects to find an empty location to spawn at. There's really nothing I can do to fix the slight lag, asides from having to completely rework the whole spawning thing... again... I don't think the lag is too much of a problem, I hope? When playing the game on my side, I notice no "freezing" or lag at the 1 minute mark. Could it be your browser's performance? What browser and what version did you play it on? I use Firefox 32.0.3 and it also works fine on Chrome (don't know what version I have). Your version of the web player may be to blame. I have the latest version of the web player. The last thing I can think of is your operating system? I use Windows 8.1. Asides from some performance issues, I don't know why else it might freeze. Does it always freeze at the same time? Are you sure it isn't just a slightly longer lag? Thanks for bringing this bug to my attention!

I really do want to add some pizazz to the gameplay to make it more engaging, but when I came up with the idea for this game, I wanted something simple, like Flappy Bird, so I built it on the premise of it being simple. Not to say that I can't add some complexity to its simplicity, but I just haven't planned doing anything other than dodging hooks. The hooks spawn in such a way that there is very little leeway for stuff in between them, such as a jumping crab. I thought about adding some shipwrecks, rocks and coral along the seabed for the player to dodge, but when I tried to do that a couple weeks back, I had a lot of difficulty with the collisions of all the objects. I don't want the objects to overlap, so I have it set to spawn them randomly at the level's start, but if it collides with another object, find another random location and spawn at that empty location. The problem I ran into was that with having too many objects all trying to spawn in a confined space, they would often collide with one another, which would make them respawn, and the more they had to respawn, the laggier the game would get, sometimes it would even crash at start up! That is why I scrapped the idea of more obstacles. I actually did have an idea way back to, at a certain point (like 5 minutes or something), make the hooks bob up and down very slowly, but if I were to do something like this, I think it would work better to have a randomly spawning jellyfish after a certain time and have the jellyfish slowly bob up and down, but the bobbing would be random, so you would have to guess its movements!

I will try to implement some creative gameplay mechanics by this weekend, but if it doesn't work out, I will have to stick with just the hooks.

You can thank the creator of www.openstockproject.com and www.zippytracks.com for the sprites and music! If it weren't for him, my game would look like crap!!

You might suffer from a severe case of bubble poisoning if you do...

- Chris

 

No problem. I figured a big part of why you were posting here was not just so we could follow along with the development but also to play test it for you.

Maybe so. Perhaps just some random glitch.

I just tried it two more times playing up til around the 2:30 mark. This time I saw / felt the lag hit at the 25 second mark and it did not happen again. I was thinking maybe you are using an object pooling system that allows the list to grow? If so, what could be happening is at certain times the system needs to dynamically allocate many new GameObjects and store them in the pool and that would explain the lag. It's really nothing bad and probably mainly something only a developer like ourselves would spot. If you are using an Object Pooling system you could simply increase the # of objects you pool at the very start of the game and that would probably eliminate it.

I understand completely. Sometimes you just need to "get it done". When I played this time I think I came up with a perfect way to add some more excitement with very little work involved.

When playing the game it seems like the challenge is continually the same. At least that is how it feels to me. If you just increased the speed of the scrolling a tiny bit every 10 seconds or so I bet it would make a huge difference. Some awesome players could be zipping along like crazy eventually until they get hooked.

 

But I really do wanna eat the bubbles! heh. I guess it's along the lines as Gar, in that I wanted 'something' else to pay attention to.

One idea with the lag and possible instantiate build up..as mentioned, ..is make a pool array as the game starts, like 20-50. and fill it with all the different objects you'll eventually need in the game. And call them from that as opposed to instantiating them each time new. It's probably what Gar was saying,.just wanted to add.

That said.,.in that array, you can put like different height coral rocks that you'd have to get over.

How's the leaderboard going? For me, anyways,..that'd be the thing that stumps me as I have not delved into ads or leaderboard things,..I dislike having to use outside sources for that,.but I guess I can't avoid it forever

good luck!

 

The speed does actually increase at small increments over time. If you manage to get to the 3 minute 30 second mark, you will be fighting for your life! The only thing I dislike about Flappy Bird is that once you're good at it, you can keep playing forever. I eliminate the skill advantage in my game with the speed increase, so the longer you play, the harder it'll get!

- Chris

 

The Leaderboard scene has not been started yet... I too have put that off forever! This is my first game, so I'm learning as I go, so I try to avoid the more complex matters of game development for now! Integrating Google's ad mob into my game will be hard too! Ugh! So many challenges that must be overcome!!

- Chris

 

I played the webplayer, and I know this is indie, but here are some things.

The game is pretty plain; no fish movement/animations; only hook obstacles.

Also the background is plain, which is kinda weird since you think the ocean would have other mobs, and such. Other than all of these the gameplay/controls worked well and were good.

 

The fish is animated (it cycles through two different animation states). I got all the sprites from www.openstockproject.com, so I can't just add stuff that I don't have available, which is why the background is plain. I added the bubble particle effect to help add some visual pizazz, but according to your opinion, that is not enough.

I'm glad you like the gameplay, after all, that is the most important thing in a game! I will try to add some more obstacles to dodge, as I've mentioned in a prior message, so hopefully having some changes in gameplay will make you forget about the cheap background! Thanks for playing my game!

- Chris

 

UPDATE - SCOREBOARD SCREENSHOTS
​

I have been really lazy this week, but at least I managed to make some progress on Swimmy!

Here is the semi-finished scoreboard that pops up when you die:

Screenshot #1: Scoreboard with zero stars.
Screenshot #2: Scoreboard with one star.

Screenshot #3: Scoreboard with two stars.

Screenshot #4: Scoreboard with three stars (the best you can get).

The more stars you get, the more bubbles you get in the background! Who doesn't like bubbles?

I will soon have the you finish time and you highscore display where the "00:00:00" are. I haven't done it yet because I have gotten around to it yet...

Yes, I do realize that they are rather bland and boring, but that's because I didn't want to add a bunch of stuff in these three scenes. Honestly, I actually like how they look as it is! The way I see it, the player feels as though they are in the middle of the ocean instead of at the bottom, and this makes the player feel as though they are in a different setting.

What do you think? Should I torture myself by adding some decorations in these scenes or should I reward myself and leave them as they are? It's all up to you!

Do you think the colors for the text look nice and are readable or should I change their colors? It was really hard to find colors that are visually appealing, that contrast the background and fit with the overall style of the game. I'm not sure about the red RESULTS text...

Also, do you like how there's more bubbles the greater your score is? I really think it's a nice little touch!

Lastly, I need a better name than Swimmy!! So far, I have come up with: Sleeping with Hooks and Hooky, but I am not good at naming things, so please help with this!

*Screenshots taken: 10/05/2014

- Chris

 

If you're planning to have this on mobile devices I don't think the font will be readable. Also I think you should change the look of your buttons (they don't match the cartoony style). Other than that I think it looks good

 

Great to see Swimmy is progressing. I think the additional bubbles for better performance is a nice touch. The results display looks fine to me. If you added anything I think just having the fish swim around in the background would be enough.

 

By the font not being readable, are you referring to the size or the contrast? The screenshots are taken in the most common mobile resolution, so the way you see it in these screenshots is how it will be shown on most devices.

Also, the buttons are the way they are because I'm using Unity's default GUI buttons. I don't know how to implement a custom GUI interface. Is setting up a custom GUI button similar to how you set up a custom GUI text? If I can pull it off, there will be better fitting buttons. I already have some sprites for the buttons, so all I need is to make them work as buttons. I don't have a sprite for a button to visit my website or for credits, but I have a replay, play, pause, resume, stop, main menu, forward and backward buttons, as well as sound on/off.

If I do manage to make custom GUI buttons, how could I get them to scroll with the camera in the gameplay scene? I tried something like this earlier in the development and I couldn't get the buttons to scroll with the camera so that they were always in view, so they just went off the screen as you played, which made them rather pointless...

The fish swimming in the background could be arranged... We'll see. Thanks for the suggestion!

- Chris

 

I'm in the progress of searching through all of Windows fonts to see if there are some that look better with my game because the font I've been using (for the time/highscore and the scoreboard text) is Elphant (I think that's how it's spelled?) and it was the best fit for my game that I found in the first 5 minutes to font searching. Windows has MANY fonts, so it will take some time to find the best font, but expect a new font by this Friday (10/10/14)! Hopefully I won't go blind by looking through hundreds of fonts...

- Chris

 

By the way, Blue Bean Apps is spreading its roots on the web! I have made a website, Google+, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and I intend to add a blog to this roster very soon! Chris Ramer (myself) also has a Google+ and Facebook, and will soon have a YouTube. I also have two emails, one for Blue Bean Apps and one for personal stuff. You can click the links to everything in my signature. Blue Bean Apps website is still under construction as it is only a month old by next week, but I update it frequently. On our website, you can see ideas for future games we have in mind, so it is worth looking through! I just want you to know that if I'm not updating this thread much, it's probably because I'm wrapped up in some other updates.

I intend to purchase Debut (video capture software) to upload a video to YouTube very soon, so keep an eye out (but leave your eye in your head)!

- Chris

 

Although I'm not a fan of the green text color, I am referring to size not contrast. The resolution may be accurate to a mobile device but that doesn't really matter. You need to think about how large (in inches) a phone screen is. Look at your screenshots on this thread with your browser at 50% zoom and you'll have an idea of what it will look like on a phone.

I'm not really sure about customizing the Unity gui system because I've never used it. I would recommend either making your own system with sprites or using the gui system in unity 4.6 beta. If your buttons are gameobjects you can just parent them to the camera to keep them on screen. If you are using the ongui system you cannot do this.

 

I see what you mean by the size difference... I will have to look into that...

Like with your Staying Together WIP, I want to use sprites as buttons, like what you do with the buttons on the title screen. How did you set up your buttons to look the way you wanted them to?

- Chris

 

I own a plugin called 2dtoolkit (bought it back before official 2d support) which has some basic gui objects, such as buttons, built in. That being said it wouldn't be that hard to code yourself. You could use a sprite with a box collider and do a raycast from the mouseposition to see if it is clicked. But honestly it would be much better to use the 4.6 gui system. Tutorials for it are here http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules/beginner/ui

 

Unity's really improved their UI interface! I am currently using 4.5.3f3 (a very recent version) and they don't have much going for their 4.5 UI system, so I will definitely look more into 4.6! It looks like it's exactly what I need!

- Chris

 

Yes it's a completely revamped system that they've been working on for a while now

 

SWIMMY - [UPDATE IN PROGRESS] COMPLETELY NEW UI​

I am currently working on a major update. I am completely replacing the whole UI interface using 4.6's new UI system.

I need some help with the title! The two names I've come up with thus far are:

• Hooky
• Sleeping with Hooks

Please feel free to give better suggestions!

Also, I have found a better font. I will upload more screenshots after I have reworked the UI, so it'll be a couple more days.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that a video will come soon (hopefully)! I want to get the scores and UI to be finished before I make the video. Hopefully in a week or two........

- Chris

 

A few suggestions... food for thought anyway:

* Be the ONE that got away!

* The Amazing Hook Dodger

* Hook Troubles & Glorious Bubbles

I never said they were great. Lol

 

I'm looking for something with a bit more meaning. I want something that is catchy, easy to remember and tells what the game is about (in this case, the hard life of a fish). I just came up with one!! What do you think about "Survival of the Fishiest"? Survival of the Fishiest comes from the concept of Survival of the Fittest. I actually really like Survival of the Fishiest (SotF?)... alright, its abbreviation SotF is not as good, but the full name is great!

- Chris

 

SWIMMY NO LONGER SWIMMY!? - OFFICIAL NAME IDEAS?​

I'm still working on the new UI, so please be patient. I have come up with what I think to be a great name for Swimmy... what do you think about Survival of the Fishiest? Compare this to the concept of survival of the fittest. Thoughts, opinions, questions, hopes, suggestions, fears, deaths, etc.? Cast your votes for the names below:

• Swimmy
• Survival of the Fishiest
• Hooky*
• Sleeping with Hooks
• Underwater Dodger
• The Fish

*I would prefer the name "Hooker" instead of Hooky, but it would give off the wrong impression... (especially since I was born in Vegas)

On another note, I am trying to integrate the web player demo into my website, but without the standard Unity web player format. I'm using Google Sites, so I'm not sure how well it will work (if it will work at all...) I think I might have got it, but I'm not sure if it will work for others. Please go here and tell me if it works for you.

Thanks,

- Chris

 

Ha ha. I think you got it. Survival of the Fishiest is perfect. Now just get it done and published before someone else decides to grab the name and knock out a fish game.

 

Yeah, my two favorites are Swimmy and Survival of the Fishiest. My third would be Underwater Dodger. It's looking like it's gonna be either Swimmy or SotF.

- Chris

 

Good luck with your game and is great to seeing you go to this effort and sharing your efforts.

Try not to get your hopes too high on the release, just getting it to the market is a huge achievements you should be proud of.

 

Thanks! I like to keep people in the loop about what's going on. That's why I am putting my soon-to-be company all over the web with a website, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email, blog and once it becomes a real company, a Linkedin as well. I know that I like to be in the loop when it comes to the next Legend of Zelda or Super Smash Bros, so I do the same with people who look forward to my games. Plus, it also helps to get feedback, especially if this is your first time showing your face to the strict world of game development!

My hopes and dreams are high, but I'm not counting on them coming true. And I'm already jumping up and down for just getting it this far! The day that I publish it to the stores will be celebrated annually! I'll mark it on my calender every year!

- Chris

 

Your opinions matter!

I just thought of a way to make it much more difficult and fun! What do you think about making the controls more like that of Flappy Bird (with the gravity that makes you fall down and you'll have to press a key or tap the screen to gain some altitude at the right time)? This would be a major change, so I want you to know before I do something this big.

Should I make this change?

By the way, I am still working on the new UI, so please be patient...

- Chris

 

I am in the process of adding a new style of gameplay. As I said in this post, I would like to change the gameplay, but I've decided to not actually change the gameplay because some players may prefer the simpler, less fun way to play it, so I've made a compromise.

I will have two different play modes: Easy & Hardcore. Easy mode will be easier as there will be no gravity. On the other hand, Hardcore mode will be much harder as there will be gravity. In Hardcore mode, you will have to press any key (on keyboard) or tap the screen (on mobile) to jump over the hooks. Hardcore mode's gameplay will be modeled after that of Flappy Bird, but it will be harder than Flappy Bird.

I hope everyone will be satisfied by this addition. Remember: I am NOT replacing or removing the original style of gameplay, I am simply adding a new style of gameplay, so you can choose which style to prefer.

NOTE: I am still working on the new & BETTER UI, so please be patient... I would like to get some new screenshots up by the end of this week.

EDIT: Blue Bean Apps' Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ and website have been updated with the most recent information regarding Swimmy! Feel free to take a look!

-------------
Questions? Suggestions? Fears? Murders/Crimes? Feedback? Please, feel free to post!

- Chris

 

I like the idea of Hardcore!

 

Glad to hear it! I got the idea from the game @TheValar is working on with his hardcore mode, so you could thank him too.

- Chris

 

If you need any help with some stuff you can hit me up. I can art, I can do a little bit of coding(I'm taking Unity's tutorials for scripting).

 

I'm afraid the improved UI screenshots will be delayed a bit because I encountered a problem which I am sorting out now. Hopefully I will have the UI finished by the end of next week so that I can start work on the Hardcore mode.

I hate you @TheValar for making me go through all this work with the UI!!

I thank you for your patience!

By the way, I am about to sell my Nintendo 3DS and a few games on Ebay soon, so that I can make enough money to afford the professional version of Debut so that I can make a video (a trailer if you will). I will make the video once I have the UI (at least most of it) complete as well as Hardcore mode, so it will be a couple of weeks (at the earliest) until you can see the video. In the meantime, you can always indulge yourself by playing the web player demo!

- Chris

 

I haven't ever used UI in Unity, but how hard is it?