Otoshi Games Dev Blog

Ninja Volleyball ~ Transition Between Points

After some playtesting last weekend, I noticed players were getting confused when the point would reset ( because it was so abrupt ), so I decided to create a screen transition to let players know where they will appear next.

Initially, I tried to make it more “ninja-like” by having them teleport to their spots, but this felt confusing as players didn’t directly know where their characters would reappear in the smoke.

So to try adding more visuals, I had the characters move from their current position to their next starting area, leaving a little smoke trail behind ( like in the video ). 

I feel it could use a little polish to not feel so clunky, but I like how it conveys information and guides players to their next position. I’ll try it out during my next playtest session and see what players think. 

Ninja Volleyball ~ Player Stats

Ninja Volleyball ~ Instant Replay

Big news!

Instant replay is a now a thing in the game. After an accidental instant replay system happened in one of my playtest sessions ( due to the recording software replaying the last shot over and over again ), I decided to add it in and it’s working overall. Even cooler, I figured out a way to do slo-mo during certain parts of the replay to emphasize certain events from happening ( although I need to figure out which events are best ).

With instant replay, I’m trying to figure out how it affects the pacing of the game, as the fast-paced nature of the game is something that keeps the players engaged and excited to play “just one more” round. With instant replay after every point, I feel like it might slow the pace of the game down, which could take away from that ( but maybe playtesting will show otherwise ). I’ll have to see.

One thing I thought of is an optional / skippable replay where players can choose if they want to re-watch something exciting or just get to the next point quickly. 

~ Ninja Volleyball ~ UI For Scoring Points

I added in some UI updates when scoring a point ( top right of the screen in this example ). I felt like players might not see which stats they were getting through the match, so I wanted to highlight their achievements ( or failures ).

I was inspired by the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate trailer. which had a similar effect for introducing characters ( a transparent rectangle with the character name ). I liked how it slid in, which felt clean.

Ninja Volleyball ~ Server Safety Zone

During one of the early playtest sessions, one of the players was continually harassing the server before they could get the ball to the other side and it was behavior that I didn’t intend for the game.

I tried fixing this by adding in a new rule and service safety zone where players on the other team can’t touch the ball until it’s out of that zone. At first, the zone ended at the center of the net to be balanced and symmetrical, but after more testing, this took away serve blocking, where returning players try to hit / spike the ball back on the serving side to create pressure.

I wanted serve blocking to be in the game, so I moved the server safety zone further onto the server side, increasing the space above the net to block a ball. It made serve blocking more difficult than when there was no server safety zone at all, but I think that’s a good thing so the game actually plays out for more than just the serve alone ( and allows players to practice and get better at serve blocking ).

Getting feedback and playtesting has really helped better understand how to tweak the rules toward the experience I feel like will be most fun for the player. This could be saved for another article, but I think it’s interesting how games  evolve over time as players do strategies that break the intended flow of an experience. I’ve been finding parallels with the design of this game and real sports, where early versions of popular sports like baseball and basketball didn’t have the same rules or features as we know today ( like the 3-point line wasn’t always a thing and flyballs in baseball used to be catchable on a bounce ).

Ninja Volleyball ~ Server Harass ( Unintended Gameplay )

During an earlier playtest session to the one uploaded yesterday, there previously wasn’t a server safety zone ( the dotted line near mid court ), meaning players could harass and prevent the server from getting the ball over at all. Once players figured out that was a strategy, it became overly used and meant many of the points finished without a serve even going off ( which wasn’t fun for the serving side and took away from using other mechanisms in the game like dashing ). I was also concerned that behavior like this would push new players away from wanting to try the game, since it prevents players from having a chance to get better at the overall experience ( past the serve game ).

This video shows some of that in action to give a reference to why adding the server safety zone helped keep gameplay smooth like yesterday’s gameplay video.

Ninja Volleyball Playtest Session

Finally got enough pieces together to playtest the game with some friends! 

This video shows a session with 4 players playing a match up to 21 points ( like beach volleyball ). It was really cool seeing the game in action and getting feedback from those who played. 

Ninja Volleyball ~ Ball Hit Count

After some feedback from friends on the first playtest ( which I don’t have footage of, unfortunately ), I added a hit count for the ball so players know how many times they’ve hit the ball on their side. Before that, players would have to keep track themselves which could be frustrating, especially in the heat of the moment where they might not be aware of how many hits it had been and lose the point because of it.

It’s subtle, but the information makes a huge difference during gameplay, especially when the action is fast paced and hard to keep track of.

Ninja Volleyball ~ Text on How a Point was Scored

The game now displays text on which team scored and what happened to earn the point. I’m still looking into fonts and visual effects to make the words more exciting, but the text has been helping with playtesting so players understand what they did to earn or lose a point. 

Ninja Volleyball ~ Dash Icons and Removing Projectiles

I added in some new sprites to represent how many dashes the player has left ( the blue boxes above the player ). In doing so, I decided to remove the projectiles from the game as I felt like they were a bit distracting from the core of the volleyball experience. I may add them back in the future once the rest of the experience is solid though, but I want to make sure the game is fun first before adding in more mechanics that change the complexity of the game.

Ninja Volleyball ~ Point Marker

It’s been a little while! 

I’ve still been working on the game, but I haven’t uploaded the progress lately ( so expect a fair amount more content soon! ). For this video, I added in a small point marker to show where the ball lands and which team scored ( by the color of the marker ).

Ninja Volleyball ~ Background Art

One more background mock up to get ready for a playtest session this weekend. This one is a beach scene, going back to beach volleyball roots. I tried moving the ground a bit upward and stretched the ground to the edge of the screen so the art can fit the gameplay. I also changed the border color to be more like a picture frame, but I’m not entirely sold yet. More experimenting to do and places to make.

Ninja Volleyball ~ Background Art

Here’s another mock up background piece for the game. This one is inspired by Fushimi Inari in Japan with a red sky background. I tried a different perspective with this one ( where the yellow ninja is standing ), and I really like the depth it provides visually, but it may not work with the way the current game bounds functions. 

Ninja Volleyball ~ Background Art

Ninja Volleyball - Dash Attacks

The dashes have hitboxes now and can be used to hit the ball in different directions. It feels really smooth and I like how it opens up a new set of movement options for the player. With the addition of dash attacks, I decided to nerf the dash range a little since the additional movement felt quite powerful.

Currently there are 8 directions a player can dash and each direction influences the ball’s movement in a different way.

Left and Right: Horizontal dash attacks send the ball towards the opponent’s back wall. They are useful for getting the ball out of your own court quickly and can be used to mix-up the serve with a quicker ball speed versus other horizontal hits.

Up Left and Up Right: Diagonal-upward dash attacks are useful for setting up ceiling spikes and send the ball at an angle that can make it more difficult to track. They’re a good mix-up option when the threat of a downward spike is available and can also serve as a primary serve option, gaining both ball speed and horizontal movement in one package.

Up: Upward dash attacks hit the ball directly overhead and are the quickest way to get a ceiling spike set up. They’re most useful when following underneath the ball because they open up the option to spike while giving time to react to the opponent’s next move. 

Down Left and Down Right: Diagonal-spiking dash attacks get the ball to the ground quickly and are a solid way to finish off an attack. They tend to push the opponents back in the direction of the ball, allowing for deep court shots for follow up zoning or a shot towards the bottom of the net, resulting in an automatic point if it goes through.

Down: The spike dash attack has more power than the diagonal-spiking options, but gives up its horizontal trajectory. It’s the strongest option for trying to win the point right away and has high potential for a following up attack since the spiker can follow the ball down for additional blocking. 

Ninja Volleyball - Dashing

Woosh, woosh. Now ninjas can dash! 

Right now the collision doesn’t quite work yet ( for dash hitting ), but the player can still use the movement to get a better position on the ball. There also isn’t a limit on how many dashes a player can do, but limiting it or having a cooldown in the future will be something to tinker with as I get more feedback.

Ninja Volleyball - Projectiles