As a gamer, I’ve always been amazed at how many games feature horribly frustrating water levels. From Mario to Zelda, game developers have never been bashful when it comes to making players trudge away through water, panicking to get to air when low on oxygen. Even in Echo the dolphin, players have to constantly find air to survive, and they’re playing as a freaking dolphin. Playing as a dolphin should be awesome right? Eat fish, fight off sharks, do flips. Too bad Echo the Dolphin, like many other games, suffers from clunky controls and water mechanics that distract gamers from the fun.
So as an Indie Game Developer creating a game about whales, I needed to ensure my game did not suffer from the same problems as games in the past. So what are these problems exactly? Let’s list them.
- Water slows you down - This makes me wonder why there is a water level in Sonic the Hedgehog? Seriously…
- Oh god, need oxygen - In a game with action, bombs, dragons, etc, the last thing the player wants to do is breath air. It’s so fun.
- Slower paced - Water levels tend to be less action oriented then their land counterparts.
- Beast mode difficulty - This is largely due to the prior points; changes in movement and adding additional things to monitor can frustrate players whom already become accustomed to the normal gameplay mechanics.
Beach Whale does not suck, well I hope so anyways, but if it does, it’s not because of the problems above. Lets look at some core mechanics implemented into Beach Whale that makes it different from other water levels:
- Water speeds you up - Players surf waves to gain speed, riding the tide into the beach to collect fish and items.
- Forget oxygen, it’s a game - Players become a whale in Beach Whale, they don’t need to worry about breathing, just fighting enemies.
- Action packed - Although the first level is dedicated to learning the core control mechanics, Beach Whale picks up after that with the ability to spit bombs, exploding TNT, bomb dropping birds, and other deadly enemies.
- Boss Fights - Boss fights are the best part of Beach Whale; these unique sea monster battles feature retro pattern-based attacks reminisce of old school gaming.
- Scaled Difficulty - Simple, the game starts of easy and gets more difficult towards the end. For every boss fight, there exists a hardcore version with a ramped up difficulty.
I’ve done everything possible to make Beach Whale different from other water levels. Set for release on November 26, 2012, I hope Beach Whale will help break the trend of crappy water levels and help gamers realize that being a whale should be awesome. Forget the water mechanics, and focus on the fun. Here are some screenshots from the iOS / Android game, Beach Whale.
Bombs away
Surf Waves to gain speed
Avoid getting squished by the Octopus Boss
I’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and comments below.
