Joat
Gum Phoenix
What Is It?
Bippo Bop is a working title. It sounded catchy, it had the names of two of its characters in it. The name will be changed. Bippo Bop will be a mod, with custom SOCcing, at least three characters, and plenty of levels.
Plot and Advice
Bippo Bop will have a goodly amount of plot. At first, I considered frequent cutscenes, but I know that would annoy some people, so I instead will rely mainly on ECHO. This also allows me to give mid-level advice to characters. For example, “I’m detecing a trap in your vicinity. You’d better keep on your toes!” This is also quite useful for the tutorial.
For those who prefer extra plot, however, an optional SOC will be included with the mod, containing cutscenes and detailed story.
Look Ma, No Friction!
Bippo Bop makes use of the Ice/Sludge sector (once upon a time, Missile was used, but this made multiplayer virtually impossible, because you would kill friends more often than enemies), as well as Bounce, making for a rather unique experience. The main way to stop moving is to slow yourself down enough and spin, then jump while charging the spin. Or, for Bippo, you can just use his Drip Drop double-jump move, which is a 0-speed thok. The good thing about this is that it makes for a quite unique experience, but the bad thing is that it’s harder to control the characters.
Levels
Bippo Bop currently has these main levels:
0: Tutorial
1: Egress
2: Lighting the Way
3: Glitter Breeze
4: Mountain Pass
5: Transcendant Cave / Of Mice and Eggman
Levels tend to be rather short in this mod. Levels are given names more similar to chapters titles than they are descriptive of the theme of the level. This is so the player can draw their own conclusions from their surroundings and the story as to where they are.
Audio
I got the digital music from http://incompetech.com. All I need to do is give credit and I’m allowed to use it for any purpose I want. For free, I’d say I got one heck of a deal!
As for digital, I got that from http://www.shockwave-sound.com
As for sound, I used the in-game sounds. Pretty much all the sounds are fitted to each character, however. Someday, when I get an audio editing software, I intend give the characters voicing for their taunts and victory sounds (except Bop, who cannot talk).
Galto
Galto is a ball of spirit energy. His sprites are hand-made (or rather, paint-made) and really require no shading (balls of spirit energy have a natural glow of their own, really). He was a knight in life, and it seems he won’t let death stop him from doing what is right. His ability is a simple float. He is the slowest and, if you discount Bippo’s Drip Drop ability, the easiest to control. His ability is glide.
Bop
Bop is a bubble. He has simple, custom sprites. As strange as it sounds, even a bubble can fight. He has a rocket-fast swim and is incredibly difficult to control. Experts only.
Bippo
Bippo is the only non-round character thus far in the game. He has the most developed personality in my mind, he is the one I’ve spent the most time with (mainly developing the ammunition that is no longer usable due to the doing away of slingring, but oh well, I guess), and he has probably the most useful ability in the game, drip-drop. Yet right now, this character is in danger. As seen above, I am working on sprites for him, and the prototype to the right has been improved little since that image was posted. Honestly, I’m just not good with spriting, especially legs, so if someone could help me out with the sprites, it is greatly appreciated, and I may even SOC something for you in return.
Archie
Archie was considered for Bippo Bop, but he is too similar to the flicky sprites in-game. Not only that, but there would be no logical reasons for him in the physics engine of the game. Thus, he has been dropped.
Feeling Exposed?
Rings have been reassigned, and give points in a similar way to wing logos, but do not protect you. Well, most of them. Hidden among those rings are three rings per level that function as actual rings.
There are no 1UP boxes in this game (I may later revise this ruling), so you can only gain extra lives by gaining points. Maybe those rings aren’t so useless now after all, in that case.
Because most rings do not protect you, there is an increased amount of barriers laying about to help even things back out.
In this game, Space Countdown is not used for Space. Instead, it is used for intense conditions (such as, in Glitter Breeze, freezing temperatures). If you are in such conditions, you have 1250 tics to Huddle or find shelter.
To huddle, you must stand prefectly still for 200 tics. Huddling causes you to become temporarily invulnerable to all attacks (which lasts until very shortly after you start moving again) and sets your Space Countdown timer back at 1050. This isn’t as good as heading into shelter real quick (since that would set it back to 1250), but it’s definitely a good emergency measure. A general rule of thumb is that you should never wait until your countdown starts to Huddle. If the countdown catches you in mid-combat or a similar situation, or if you just can’t stop yourself from moving in time, the countdown may be a sign that it’s already too late.
One more thing to help you survive.
Dealing With The Numbers
One key advantage to having barriers but few rings is that the difficulty level will not be too much lower in coop mode. Thus, because there are only a finite amount of barriers (whereas there were many rings in normal gameplay), the more players there are, the less likely each player is to be able to withstand a hit. So things are about even.
Also, there are many instances where different players start in different areas, or may be forcibly split up over the course of the level.
Bonus Stages
There are bonus stages. Unfortunately, the bonus stages currently in the game are the default ones. Custom bonus stages will be added later.
Altogether Pros
- Unique plot
- Interesting physics
- Detailed story with minimal intrusiveness (echo instead of cutscenes)
- Custom characters
- Multiplayer in mind
- Custom music that isn’t illegally taken
- Don’t worry, the characters’ backstories won’t be put into the game itself, I shan’t bore you with that! Instead, I’ll put that stuff in the readme.
- Huddle ability
- Optional cutscenes.
Altogether Cons
- The physics can take some getting used to
- Bippo’s sprites are, at the moment, not very good.
- The echo-wait combination can, unfortunately, block you from typing in commands until the dialogue is done. This is not too much of a problem usually, but in the tutorial, there is a lot of text. The most wait built up outside of the tutorial at a time is, I believe, 600 tics (at the start of Egress). But it’s still better than cutscenes, aye?
- Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles will likely be excluded. In addition to having the same problem as Archie, those three just simply don’t fit into the plot very well, in my opinion. Not to mention, they’re hard to control in these physics, since they’re not built for this mod.
- Some people might miss being able to go into superform.
- The file version including custom music is huge. By the time the mod is done, it will probably be the size of Alaska or so.
Current Problems
- Cutscene music does not loop.
- No custom bonus stages.
Download
- http://www.sendspace.com/file/v0wx70 (48MB)
A version without custom music will be uploaded upon request.
Include Bippo Bop (bbcompiled.wad), bbreadme.txt, and cut.soc (cutscenes).
My Questions To You
- How is the balance of power between characters? If they are not balanced, why so?
- Is the progression of difficulty through the levels fairly smooth? Keep in mind that Mountain Pass is meant to be a breather level.
- I added the ‘normal’ rings in as an experiment. Do you think it makes the game too easy, or should I keep them in?
- Can someone please play this in a netgame? I’m nto allowed to open ports, so I can’t host it myself, but this is meant to be playable in multiplayer, so it needs testing.
- And of course, are there any bugs I might have missed?
What You Can Do
- It’s not too late if you want me to include your character in my mod (though it is fast approaching that point). Keep in mind, though, that the character must fit.
- Create new sprites for existing or new enemies.
- And provide feedback, of course.
Here’s hoping I didn’t forget any details. If I did, tell me and I will fix it.
Bippo Bop is a working title. It sounded catchy, it had the names of two of its characters in it. The name will be changed. Bippo Bop will be a mod, with custom SOCcing, at least three characters, and plenty of levels.
Plot and Advice
Bippo Bop will have a goodly amount of plot. At first, I considered frequent cutscenes, but I know that would annoy some people, so I instead will rely mainly on ECHO. This also allows me to give mid-level advice to characters. For example, “I’m detecing a trap in your vicinity. You’d better keep on your toes!” This is also quite useful for the tutorial.
For those who prefer extra plot, however, an optional SOC will be included with the mod, containing cutscenes and detailed story.
Look Ma, No Friction!
Bippo Bop makes use of the Ice/Sludge sector (once upon a time, Missile was used, but this made multiplayer virtually impossible, because you would kill friends more often than enemies), as well as Bounce, making for a rather unique experience. The main way to stop moving is to slow yourself down enough and spin, then jump while charging the spin. Or, for Bippo, you can just use his Drip Drop double-jump move, which is a 0-speed thok. The good thing about this is that it makes for a quite unique experience, but the bad thing is that it’s harder to control the characters.
Levels
Bippo Bop currently has these main levels:
0: Tutorial
1: Egress
2: Lighting the Way
3: Glitter Breeze
4: Mountain Pass
5: Transcendant Cave / Of Mice and Eggman
Levels tend to be rather short in this mod. Levels are given names more similar to chapters titles than they are descriptive of the theme of the level. This is so the player can draw their own conclusions from their surroundings and the story as to where they are.
Audio
I got the digital music from http://incompetech.com. All I need to do is give credit and I’m allowed to use it for any purpose I want. For free, I’d say I got one heck of a deal!
As for digital, I got that from http://www.shockwave-sound.com
As for sound, I used the in-game sounds. Pretty much all the sounds are fitted to each character, however. Someday, when I get an audio editing software, I intend give the characters voicing for their taunts and victory sounds (except Bop, who cannot talk).
Galto
Galto is a ball of spirit energy. His sprites are hand-made (or rather, paint-made) and really require no shading (balls of spirit energy have a natural glow of their own, really). He was a knight in life, and it seems he won’t let death stop him from doing what is right. His ability is a simple float. He is the slowest and, if you discount Bippo’s Drip Drop ability, the easiest to control. His ability is glide.
Bop
Bop is a bubble. He has simple, custom sprites. As strange as it sounds, even a bubble can fight. He has a rocket-fast swim and is incredibly difficult to control. Experts only.
Bippo
Bippo is the only non-round character thus far in the game. He has the most developed personality in my mind, he is the one I’ve spent the most time with (mainly developing the ammunition that is no longer usable due to the doing away of slingring, but oh well, I guess), and he has probably the most useful ability in the game, drip-drop. Yet right now, this character is in danger. As seen above, I am working on sprites for him, and the prototype to the right has been improved little since that image was posted. Honestly, I’m just not good with spriting, especially legs, so if someone could help me out with the sprites, it is greatly appreciated, and I may even SOC something for you in return.
Archie
Archie was considered for Bippo Bop, but he is too similar to the flicky sprites in-game. Not only that, but there would be no logical reasons for him in the physics engine of the game. Thus, he has been dropped.
Feeling Exposed?
Rings have been reassigned, and give points in a similar way to wing logos, but do not protect you. Well, most of them. Hidden among those rings are three rings per level that function as actual rings.
There are no 1UP boxes in this game (I may later revise this ruling), so you can only gain extra lives by gaining points. Maybe those rings aren’t so useless now after all, in that case.
Because most rings do not protect you, there is an increased amount of barriers laying about to help even things back out.
In this game, Space Countdown is not used for Space. Instead, it is used for intense conditions (such as, in Glitter Breeze, freezing temperatures). If you are in such conditions, you have 1250 tics to Huddle or find shelter.
To huddle, you must stand prefectly still for 200 tics. Huddling causes you to become temporarily invulnerable to all attacks (which lasts until very shortly after you start moving again) and sets your Space Countdown timer back at 1050. This isn’t as good as heading into shelter real quick (since that would set it back to 1250), but it’s definitely a good emergency measure. A general rule of thumb is that you should never wait until your countdown starts to Huddle. If the countdown catches you in mid-combat or a similar situation, or if you just can’t stop yourself from moving in time, the countdown may be a sign that it’s already too late.
One more thing to help you survive.
Dealing With The Numbers
One key advantage to having barriers but few rings is that the difficulty level will not be too much lower in coop mode. Thus, because there are only a finite amount of barriers (whereas there were many rings in normal gameplay), the more players there are, the less likely each player is to be able to withstand a hit. So things are about even.
Also, there are many instances where different players start in different areas, or may be forcibly split up over the course of the level.
Bonus Stages
There are bonus stages. Unfortunately, the bonus stages currently in the game are the default ones. Custom bonus stages will be added later.
Altogether Pros
- Unique plot
- Interesting physics
- Detailed story with minimal intrusiveness (echo instead of cutscenes)
- Custom characters
- Multiplayer in mind
- Custom music that isn’t illegally taken
- Don’t worry, the characters’ backstories won’t be put into the game itself, I shan’t bore you with that! Instead, I’ll put that stuff in the readme.
- Huddle ability
- Optional cutscenes.
Altogether Cons
- The physics can take some getting used to
- Bippo’s sprites are, at the moment, not very good.
- The echo-wait combination can, unfortunately, block you from typing in commands until the dialogue is done. This is not too much of a problem usually, but in the tutorial, there is a lot of text. The most wait built up outside of the tutorial at a time is, I believe, 600 tics (at the start of Egress). But it’s still better than cutscenes, aye?
- Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles will likely be excluded. In addition to having the same problem as Archie, those three just simply don’t fit into the plot very well, in my opinion. Not to mention, they’re hard to control in these physics, since they’re not built for this mod.
- Some people might miss being able to go into superform.
- The file version including custom music is huge. By the time the mod is done, it will probably be the size of Alaska or so.
Current Problems
- Cutscene music does not loop.
- No custom bonus stages.
Download
- http://www.sendspace.com/file/v0wx70 (48MB)
A version without custom music will be uploaded upon request.
Include Bippo Bop (bbcompiled.wad), bbreadme.txt, and cut.soc (cutscenes).
My Questions To You
- How is the balance of power between characters? If they are not balanced, why so?
- Is the progression of difficulty through the levels fairly smooth? Keep in mind that Mountain Pass is meant to be a breather level.
- I added the ‘normal’ rings in as an experiment. Do you think it makes the game too easy, or should I keep them in?
- Can someone please play this in a netgame? I’m nto allowed to open ports, so I can’t host it myself, but this is meant to be playable in multiplayer, so it needs testing.
- And of course, are there any bugs I might have missed?
What You Can Do
- It’s not too late if you want me to include your character in my mod (though it is fast approaching that point). Keep in mind, though, that the character must fit.
- Create new sprites for existing or new enemies.
- And provide feedback, of course.
Here’s hoping I didn’t forget any details. If I did, tell me and I will fix it.
Last edited:
