Okay, so, I’ve been messing around with this idea for a while now, and I finally got it up and running. I wanted to make my own volleyball arcade game. Not some fancy, high-tech thing, just a simple, classic arcade-style game. You know, the kind you’d find in a pizza place or an old-school arcade hall.
I started by brainstorming some ideas, I love volleyball. What kind of mechanics would it have? How would the players move? What would the graphics look like? Just like playing a volleyball game online. I sketched out some rough designs on paper, just to get a feel for it. I don’t have any experience with game design. I just did what I thought was cool.
Then, I started looking into game engines. There are tons of them out there, but I wanted something straightforward and not too complicated. After a bit of research, I stumbled upon a couple that seemed pretty beginner-friendly. I started tinkering. I’m not a programmer, so it was a lot of trial and error. I’d code something, test it out, and usually, it wouldn’t work the way I wanted. But I kept at it, following online tutorials, reading forums, and slowly, I started to get the hang of it.
First, I worked on the player movement. It was a struggle. I wanted the players to be able to move left and right, jump, and dive. It took a while to get the controls feeling right. I messed around with the code a lot, trying different approaches. Eventually, I got something that felt pretty decent.
Next up was the ball physics. This was another headache. I wanted the ball to bounce realistically, to react to hits and the environment. I spent days tweaking the code, adjusting parameters, and pulling my hair out. But finally, I got it to a point where I was happy with it. The ball was moving pretty much like I imagined it would in a real game.
With the core mechanics in place, I started working on the graphics. I’m no artist, so I kept it super simple. Pixel art style! Basic shapes, basic colors. I created a few different player sprites, a simple background, and a net. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was starting to look like a real game.
After that, I added some basic AI for the opponent. I didn’t want anything too complex, just a simple opponent that could hit the ball back and provide a bit of a challenge. I played against the AI a ton, trying to find a good balance between easy and hard. I didn’t want the game to be too frustrating, but I also didn’t want it to be a total cakewalk.
Finally, after weeks of work, I had something that I was proud to call my own volleyball arcade game. It wasn’t perfect, but it was playable, and it was fun. I even showed it to a few friends, and they actually enjoyed it! They gave me some feedback, and I made a few more tweaks based on their suggestions.
Here’s what I ended up with:
- Two-player mode: You can play against a friend on the same computer.
- Simple AI: A basic computer opponent for when you’re playing solo.
- Retro graphics: Pixel art style, just like the classic arcade games.
- Basic sound effects: Beeps and boops, nothing too fancy.
It was a lot of work, but it was totally worth it. I learned a ton about game development, and I had a blast doing it. It’s not going to win any awards, but it’s my little creation, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Maybe I’ll even add some more features in the future, like different game modes or power-ups. Who knows? The possibilities are endless!
