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Pool Redirect is a puzzle game where you must pocket the cue ball without aiming the cue. Instead, place items commonly found in a pool hall to create a path of deflections that guide the cue ball.
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Working on Pool Redirect independently has helped me understand game development to a greater extent and given me the opportunity to recognise skills that I can further improve:
Making the game has deepened my understanding of the importance of auditory feedback in reinforcing player actions, such as the player being able to hear when they strike the cue ball.
I had to identify whether I wanted my game to look more realistic or have a higher level of abstraction. After considering the effects of both creative styles, I decided to minimise abstraction, with the expectation that this would reduce the cognitive load on the player.
Pool Redirect has greatly helped me with managing scope throughout the project by understanding the project goals and anticipating how effective my skills would be at reaching those goals.
Creating Realistic Cue Movement in Pool Redirect
Below is a video of how the movement of the cue progressed throughout the project. Given how the player has to interact with the cue every level, I continuously iterated on it to give it the best feel I could.
Originally, I had issues with making the cue move smoothly when it is at an angle. While I managed to overcome this issue after great amounts of testing, I then had an issue where the cue would "snap" backwards when the player clicked it.
I combed through the code and realised I need to create an offset between where the player clicked on the cue and the centre of the cue.
Such an offset led to what you see in Build 1.0, where the cue doesn't snap at all when the player clicks it, creating a smoother experience for the player.
A Playthrough of Pool Redirect
A full playthrough of Pool Redirect can be seen below.