Dev Update - April 16th, 2025
Over the past month, A Simple Ball Game has gone through some important updates. The big three I'll be sharing today are stage reworks, controls optimizations, and the biggest one... a new visual style. Read on to learn more!
[h2]A Revamped Visual Style[/h2]
Why change the style?
(1) To create a unique timeless identity for A Simple Ball Game.
I find games with a timeless visual style really memorable. If I look at a game from 2001, does it still hold up in 2025? If it does, that's a sign of a good visual style. If someone looks at A Simple Ball Game in 2050, will they think it still holds up? I want as many yeses as I can get.
(2) To improve frame rates for users with older hardware.
There's no getting around it, Unreal Engine 5 is really hard for older GPUs to run. To even open an empty project on PC, Epic recommends an Nvidia 2060... However, with this new style, I was able to remove many visual features and reduce the GPU load, hopefully creating a better experience for everyone.
[h3]So... What changed?[/h3]
TLDR: I added cell shading, increased the brightness, and removed all the expensive lighting effects.
What do you think? There are still a few more things to update, but so far so good. Also, I will be sharing plenty more visual examples of the new style going forward!
[h2]Broken Levels... Fixed![/h2]
After learning from the demo and from watching many... many playthroughs. My level design philosophy refined quite a bit. I've gone through all 70 levels and took note of the ones that need reworking. 13 in total!
The first levels to be reworked we're number 5 and 7 from February's demo.
I’ll be posting dev log videos on ▶️ YouTube ▶️ to dive even further into my process in updating these levels (look out for the video on stage 7 next week!), but just to share a little teaser...
[h2]Many New Controls Options and Optimizations[/h2]
You can now use the Mouse (by itself) to tilt the level.
This is something I debated adding for a while as it takes a bit to get used to. The huge benefit in using a mouse is to match the range of precise motion a control stick has. I find myself really enjoying it, so hopefully mouse & keyboard players do too!
In addition, I have added a ton of new settings so players can customize their own ball rolling experience. You can now adjust:
And, in case you don't want to worry about all that, I've also added an "Overall Experience" option that will customize gameplay settings based on the experience you are looking for. You'll be asked this the first time you open the game. Of course, you can always adjust it later.
That's all for now! Stay Cozy. 🌒 🌃
Paul
The Big Updates
[h2]A Revamped Visual Style[/h2]
Why change the style?
(1) To create a unique timeless identity for A Simple Ball Game.
I find games with a timeless visual style really memorable. If I look at a game from 2001, does it still hold up in 2025? If it does, that's a sign of a good visual style. If someone looks at A Simple Ball Game in 2050, will they think it still holds up? I want as many yeses as I can get.
(2) To improve frame rates for users with older hardware.
There's no getting around it, Unreal Engine 5 is really hard for older GPUs to run. To even open an empty project on PC, Epic recommends an Nvidia 2060... However, with this new style, I was able to remove many visual features and reduce the GPU load, hopefully creating a better experience for everyone.
[h3]So... What changed?[/h3]
TLDR: I added cell shading, increased the brightness, and removed all the expensive lighting effects.
What do you think? There are still a few more things to update, but so far so good. Also, I will be sharing plenty more visual examples of the new style going forward!
[h2]Broken Levels... Fixed![/h2]
After learning from the demo and from watching many... many playthroughs. My level design philosophy refined quite a bit. I've gone through all 70 levels and took note of the ones that need reworking. 13 in total!
The first levels to be reworked we're number 5 and 7 from February's demo.
I’ll be posting dev log videos on ▶️ YouTube ▶️ to dive even further into my process in updating these levels (look out for the video on stage 7 next week!), but just to share a little teaser...
[h2]Many New Controls Options and Optimizations[/h2]
You can now use the Mouse (by itself) to tilt the level.
This is something I debated adding for a while as it takes a bit to get used to. The huge benefit in using a mouse is to match the range of precise motion a control stick has. I find myself really enjoying it, so hopefully mouse & keyboard players do too!
In addition, I have added a ton of new settings so players can customize their own ball rolling experience. You can now adjust:
- How sensitive the level is to your input
- How sensitive the camera is to your input
- How sensitive the camera is to the ball's movement
- Whether you want to use the Mouse or WASD to control the level tilt
- The size of the dead zone for both the left and right control sticks on a controller
And, in case you don't want to worry about all that, I've also added an "Overall Experience" option that will customize gameplay settings based on the experience you are looking for. You'll be asked this the first time you open the game. Of course, you can always adjust it later.
That's all for now! Stay Cozy. 🌒 🌃
Paul