Happy New Year all! Here’s hoping that 2019 is a great one for you. I’m very excited to be bringing you Bubbles the Cat in a few months time!
Continuing a little in theme off the previous blog post, I thought I’d start taking a look at the different hazards Bubbles will encounter and what I hope they will bring to the table in terms of level design. I’m going to split this one into two parts as there's quite a lot to cover!
Bubbles, Meet Hazard
I try to introduce hazards in a similar way throughout the game: your first encounter will be in a relatively safe environment and in isolation of any other mechanics. You will be able to see the hazard clearly before you have to deal with it and these will be placed at the start of the level - so in the event you do fail, you've lost only a couple of seconds of progress.
Future encounters will gradually layer on more difficulty or require cool and unique interactions with the various bubble power-ups - those were covered in the previous blog post if you're interested!
Spikes
Undoubtedly the ur-platformer game hazard; these are one of the first hazards the player will encounter and practically an expectation at this point - they’re also universally recognisable and there’s no confusion as to what they do. These gently ease in the concept that there are things that will need to be avoided to continue the game!
Spikes from an early World 1 level...
These exist as a basic and static failure point for not completing a certain jump or executing a mechanic correctly - later levels (in particular World X) have reduced margins of error, requiring accurate platforming.
...and spikes in one of the later (optional!) World X levels!
Fireballs
These toasty terrors are fired from launchers and are also encountered within the first world of the game and are again chosen in this order because it’s fairly widely understood that fire = hot and should be avoided!
I really enjoy making cool patterns with these and it feels great as a player to weave through these. There’s also some neat interactions here with powerups like the Waller bubble, which you can use to shield yourself against incoming fireballs with good timing!
Slimes
These rather cross looking jellies are no doubt furious that their existence is confined purely to moving either horizontally along the floor or vertically when stuck to a wall. One assumes they’re quietly annoyed at Bubbles for having the ability to leap around freely, but we may never know for sure - either way, it’s best not to touch them.
You can either platform around them or - in the case of the Blaster powerup - platform through them. They also interact with other level elements, triggering traps or even being used as a means to demonstrate other mechanics safely!
Timed Spikes
These are like regular spikes, except they have a keen sense of punctuality and will raise and lower in fixed intervals. Bubbles will need to bounce in time to these hazards to get through the level safely.
Timed spikes are about the closest the game gets to becoming a rhythm game, with players needing to use good timing to hop between safe surfaces.
Lasers
Bzzzt! Lasers can either be static or move along a fixed rail. These appear in Worlds 2 and 4 as I’m not sure how thematically appropriate these would be in, say, a spooky wood.
I feel like these are kind of the natural adversary of a cat’s agility and wanted to create that tense sensation you get when you’re able to weave your way through a laser grid. There’s also some cool timing-based platforming here; check this out!
To be continued!
I hope you’ve enjoyed a quick look at some of the hazards that you’ll encounter as you play Bubbles the Cat! In the next update, I’ll reveal the rest of them - until then, thank you for reading and if you want to keep up on the game’s development before launch, I’d recommend following and wishlisting the game!
You can also follow the game's development on Twitter, where I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have about the game or game development in general.
Until next time!
Johnny
Team Cats & Bears