Core Destruction #1 - Orange vs. Blue (Marble Race) 

For those asking, the "making of" video for this is on my main game dev channel, Indie Dev Lab: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sS7HgGGaTCw.html

That 118 betrayal was brutal

Love the idea

Orange getting a clutch 572 in healing at 7:09 is what won them the game

this physical pain i felt watching marbles bigger than a hundred go into the shield.

Me: no way I’m watching this for 15 minutes *cut to me thoroughly enthralled for 15 minutes*

Came here from your dev channel; this channel is definitely going to blow up soon. I've always wondered why more game devs don't create channels in this niche. Good luck, can't wait to see what else you come up with next!

5:37 That 142 in the mixer went on quite the journey, getting flung backwards into the multipliers, up the pipe and multiplied again, then right back into the mixer.

You should add a counter on the shield builders, like the one that appears on the barrels, so we know how long the shield builder will last/how much juice it has. Love this!

some sound effects could help give it more life

This will be showing up on tiktok under clips of ai joe rogan talking about how hobbits are the best workers for sweatshops. This it the only adhd medication I need.

I have a pitch: What if you created one of these games/machines where each side had very minor control? For example, if each side had a flipper like a pinball machine. The flippers/controls could be given random inputs for autoplay or use player inputs. I think it would be interesting to see something halfway between these self-playing machines and a true game.

I was just thinking about this while camping this last weekend... I used to watch bubbles form in puddles and watched them consume or pop against other bubbles... then I thought about turning it into a game or screensaver like thing... then I got home and see this. Great job. It really does capture that chaotic but oddly satisfying spectator feeling of watching something totally out of your control play out.

Putting a number on the shield generator would be great for helping understand how shield works

It'd be cool if you kept a stream up that broadcasts the "games" and whenever one game ends it switches to a different game or does rematches. I could watch something like this for hours and would have it up on a second monitor while gaming

I need one of those over the top sport commentators over this

Love the idea of each video having 2 randomly assigned balls as team captains, leading to heroic leaders to follow and some betrayals where the enemy captain helps the opposite team

I understand the purpose of the healbot having its own direct tube into the cannon, but IMO it's too effective at deflecting cluster rockets. Maybe slant it slightly backwards so that it still blocks some but not all of them?

great video! a couple recommendations: 1) a timer on the locked weapons might help to increase the anticipation! 2) i've seen other marble fight creators lock healing until later as well, to increase the comeback factor and make it feel like the opening back and forth has more consequence!

I love the idea. My attention span is a little too short though. I’d like to see games closer to 5 minutes. Maybe run a few with higher scale factors?

Dude, turn this into a game by letting players bet on the winner. You could also let players periodically influence the outcome in small ways (may ruin the point though). And if you want to go gigabrain, combine the two: let players influence the outcome by betting. E.g. A bet on orange could drop a 10-ball in the top left area (above the missiles, spikes, nukes and stuff). That way, the player needs to time it to the moving platform to get the effect they wish to get.

5:40 was the most mind-blowing thing ever, fro mixer to +1 ×2

Its always fun watching one of "THOSE" numbers and tracking it

I used to make these kinds of videos, and boy they are fun to make (and watch) keep up the good work!

Cool ! But heals were too powerful in this one. Maybe less shields and more core health would be more interesting !

Always love these! But I feel like the cluster shot was too weak as a lot of the bomblets were blocked by the healbot funnel. I think that shouldn't collide

What a swingshow, this one. That nasty attack in the middle followed by a defensive play was pure genius. Good tactics on both sides, but in the end a winner must rise. Those cluster bombs don't seem particularly strong, particularly not for being the last thing unlocked. They're too easily stopped by being shot at the wrong angle and only really effective against the shields. Though, the latter isn't necessarily a bad thing...

bestt comeback in history

Game audio would really add to the experience. This is really fun to watch :D

all its missing is a live chat and gambling system. This is probably just me being weird but I love the thought of an always online simulation that can be tuned into anytime anywhere and has an active community participating in it. The sorta thing you throw onto a second monitor at 4am

You could make different versions of these with different genres of bg music

For a first video, this is some high quality stuff. Cant wait to see where your channel goes.

I think it would be cool if the multiplier could also go up somehow over the course of the battle so you can get some really crazy numbers. It could be timed to increase like how the weapons are timed to unlock or there could be a way for a marble to trigger an increase so one side gets a buff.

Hey this is extremely cool. I’d love like a salty bet version of this were you can bet on the winner maybe even have different mechanism go up against each other. Keep up the great work

really cool idea

This brings back memories

I'm mad about the 118, and there was another big one that simply bounced right into the middle. But I guess I can't be too mad cuz blue had a huge advantage with the 384 that had an even more insane origin story

Making a twitch integration for this would be so cool

Such an awesome video!

Should have a death explosion. As in when the cannon "dies" it blows up the machine on it's side.

I think it would be really cool if the bullets collided with the marbles. So you would have the comeback mechanic that shooting more bullets also shoots marbles to your opponent.

Watching clusters explode in the middle is really satisfying,

Watching raindrops race... Love this (and the "making of"). Minor suggestion: I find the number on the balls a bit distracting and would have preferred them to be clued as either color (gradient to more and more green?) or pattern (rings? perimeter thickness?) of the balls.

I'd like to see a glowing/blinking effect to the balls as they get higher numbers, so they're easier to keep track of. And some feedback when big numbers get cashed in.

Nice vs match, I like the design and mechanics. As someone who watched this genre of video on the regular, this is pretty good for your first attempt.

Can I add my thoughts since no one asked? I think the marbles changing hue as they multiply in points would be great for more visualization. The barrier glow is great but it would give it a sleeker look if the fill of the map was transparent or lowered op to like 15%. Again personal opinion but this has me absolutely inspired. What if the outline color filled the opponents space slowly as their health goes down after they get past shields? The entire viewport blue or orange depending on winner.

I think that it could be interesting if the design were asymmetric. So you could have classes, like the tank, who has better shields or the berserker, who forgoes shield heal for stronger attacks and so on

it took orange 10:03 to deal damage to Blue. was at 17% and it still won. amazing I think it would be interesting to see other varieties of attacks as well. Maybe some that require multiple marbles before it can fire, but has a stronger effect. Like a rocket that consumes 2 marbles per shot, but has a larger AOE. Or maybe a shot that deals significant Cannon Damage, but little to no Shield Damage, or vice versa. Maybe allowing someone to change which weapons to 'equip' would change this from a Zero-Player game to have some level of PvP. Or maybe randomize the selection, to keep the Zero-Player insanity.

My suggestions: 1. Get rid of the music and add sound effects. Little pitter-patters of marbles bouncing off walls and each other, "pshooms" and "whooshes" of shots being fired and explosions when they blow up, and pulsating hums from the shield regenerators would all really add life to it. 2. Add effects to the spicy marbles. When a marble reaches a powerful 100, there should be a "shing!" sound and it should glow or sparkle or something. 3. Add some visuals to the anti-gravity chutes. Maybe a couple of upwards chevrons at the entrance and exit would differentiate it enough from the surrounding field. 4. Fit the art styles together better. The cannons, marbles, and weaponry are simple shapes, while walls and collision surfaces have outlines. Marble power levels have one font, cannon health has another font, and cannon ammo counts have a third. Maybe some subtle outlines and even a reflection of light (even if it's just a simple white circle) would add a hint of detail to the marbles without being too distracting. Some outlines and additional small details to the cannons would also keep them from looking like giant Mario pipes sticking out of a couple of balls. 5. Add health meters for the cannons. The text is okay, but bars or circles that slowly empty as their health drains have a level of tension that precise health text doesn't quite have. I like the pulsating hexagonal shield. I like the digital fonts above the marbles. I like the ideas you implemented.

Hey, I'm pretty sure I saw a making of video of this a few days ago, but can't find it on your channel... Did you take it down? This is the best one I've seen so far? I find the design so compelling, it's not as complicated as others, it's more pure and more satisfying! Super well done!

This is in the same video genre as the polyrhythm visualizer stuff and my autistic ass is 100% here for it

one thing that could be cool is to show 'charge level' on balls that go above 10 points or so. Takes on the color of the side its on potentially and draws visual focus to it. Some sorta glowy animated effect that increases the bigger the number and when it gets absorbed plays a powerup sound and some sorta absorption particle effect. This way it becomes the most important thing to focus on. Overall thats my critique, that you need more dynamic elements that pull focus and build anticipation over longer time intervals. Something that could be really good for one team and bad for the other, like the spinny thing in the middle

I love this so much. It reminds me of the old Algodo marble races. What if you actually made it into something playable? Like, perhaps something like Pinball.

i was following 370 from the start

You want an idea worth a lot of money potentially? Make something like this but controllable by Twitch chat so they can vote on which tactic to choose or some more minor changes.

i would make the marble effects stack, or make it so the shooting speed increases over time on the long attacks, it could even last between marvles if they are stacked up like it happens sometime in the video

The only problem I have with these kinds of channels is that their music playlists are often too short.

Orange was so unlucky until 9:30, getting hit with clusters on the top but shooting them downwards, and then it all flipped very quickly

One recommendation: Since you have a count of the remaining shots, would also be nice to also get a count of the remaining health (from the healing drone/bot)

5:37 look at the crazy foing 147 did from the bottom chamber. flied all the way up and doubled itself

Healing bots should have numbers that correspond to their ball power

You should do one where the marbles don't reset value when they are used

Orange: I thought they had us in the first half, I'm not going to lie.

Clustershot looks like its worse than spreadshot because if it hits the healing pipe then all the cluster bullets disappear

not a 142 ball going back into the mixer and shooting through blue X2 from the wrong way 😭

I never once doubted orange team’s autism power

5:40 that's cheating bro

To ensure that a winner is eventually determined, marbles should only lose 1/3 of their points when consumed.

That 370 was absolutely devastating.

increase marble brightness / add glow to high numbers? per 100 perhaps? Just to make it easier to track the big numbers.

So there is two things which slightly bothered me about this: 1. the range of motion of the turrets seemed slightly too high, often having shots miss entirely 2. The purple weapon for being the last unlockable weapon feels too weak / similar to the red weapon. I'm thinking it could feel a lot more satisfying to get that weapon if the shots had a slight homing effect towards the enemy turret position. Maybe adjust damage if this leads to too quick wins There's also something about the mixer animation. I think it would be cool if the motion was explained such as it having a pin in the center around which a rope is put and that rope is pulled left / right causing the mixers behaviour. One could have another mechanism which causes the left/right rope behaviour, such as a regular spinning "wheel" on both sides to which the ends of the rope are fastened to the outside of the "wheel". I'm not sure if that helps the feel of this project if implemented, either it'd be a cool mechanism adding to the feel or it might be distracting. I don't know.

The healer bot should have a countdown like the weapon countdown thing.

That was just riveting, really! Was this a typical representational run, or did you run a whole bunch and this was one of the better (longer?) runs?

Make a league with teams

The upset of the century. Orange team for life

The center balance pot should have a calculated total so we can tell the value of it

Dang... that game really favored orange. Blue got one lucky high point marble and that's it the entire game. F

What if the marbles got heavier/changed bounciness as their numbers get bigger? logarithmically, of course. wouldn't want exponential bouncing with the x2 hole. At some point, it would be cool to have the +1 and x2 holes (1/2 chance of an x2, meaning avg sqrt(2)=1.414 exponential growth) change into one bigger x1.5 hole. Buffs that would temporarily apply this change but take it out later.

An indication of how much is left in the repair would be nice.

bro that 572 that went into the shield

I feel like past the timers the stakes stop growing, since the multipliers seem to stop once used

make your channel name: "thigamajigger apparatus"

1$ to bet. You can change your bet whenever you want, but each change costs the double of the previous.

drama!!! that was so close!

5:14 it shoot into the plus and double from below

Now all we need is commentary

3:20 that 370 damn...

Blue got kinda greeedy with his superweapons, at least two went to orange

HOW DID ORANGE GET ALL THE BIG UNITS EVERYTIME!?

MAKE MORE MAKE MORE MAKE MORE MAKE MORE

We were so closeee! Better luck next time Blue

orange nation reporting in, let's go boys

i don’t think the hall tube should collide with rockets, it’s way too good at negating cluster bombs. also, the +1 x2 tubes go off way too much in early game for my liking

3:12 370!?

we need a health number for the healing thing

I WAS ROOTING FOR ORANGE HELL YEAH!!!

You know what is coming next, right? Where can I start a new randomized run to watch??? (I demand at least 1 video/day or access to a website :c) )

I think it should be just sound effects no music

No! My boy Blue...

I was rooting so hard for blue!!!! 😢