danp

BattleBlock Theater’s exploding discs

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Another week with another prisoner update!  This week we’re looking at you, number 10316!  This prisoner enjoys using the handy dandy exploding discs and was arrested for staring at things after that time limit where it’s still okay to stare.  Nobody’s really sure how many seconds that is to the exact amount before it’s not okay… but we all still seem to “know”.

The very first weapon that was designed for BBT was the exploding disc!  We designed it to satisfy the combat needs while not being toooo deadly.   Sure it explodes, but only after a few seconds of impact with a wall or someone’s face.

While the disc is sitting there 1 or 2 seconds to destroy everything around it,  it can still be kicked/punched into the air before detonation!   This can either serve the attacker or the defender’s side depending on where it’s landed.

The disc is your default weapon in prison.  I don’t think the prisoners are making these on their own, as they seem to be made out of a good amount of parts.  Must have something to do with the theater armory being a little looser than usual..

The disc has other interesting less obvious uses like hitting touch-sensitive blocks or clobbering an airborne prisoner (forcing them to fall to their not-as-desired destination!)

See you next week,

Janet Jackson  -dan

BattleBlock Theater’s lava blocks, and prisoner #10305

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Our weekly BattleBlock Theater prisoner update has occured!!!!!   Prisoner #10305 will take the spotlight, along with the development of our LAVA BLOCKS.

We first based our prototyped gameplay of BattleBlock Theater (when it was still “Game 3”) off of our now-ancient mini-game from Alien Hominid.  That mini-game, back in 2003, was called PDA Games!  It had handy little ladders.  We felt like ladders in BattleBlock Theater were a little too slow for the pacing we were looking for, but we wanted something that served their function.  Oh, I know!  We need something that rockets you across the room!

And thus, the Lava blocks were born.  Not too nice to the touch, but still a welcomed utility for our little prison performers, as the other options normally include death or dying.

The Lava blocks can not only be hit from the top but from the sides and bottoms as well.  They provide a variety of interesting combat or problem-solving moments!

We’ve introduced a new weekly prisoner update — Prisoner #10305 was imprisoned when traces of asbestos were found in his construction.  To point out the obvious, obese tabby cats inherently dislike any amount of this material.    Curiously, prisoner #10325 was imprisoned for cat abduction (as opposed to serial killing) for a near-exact amount of time.   Hm!

We’ll have another update coming near the end of this week – ETA Thursday.  See you then!

-dan

BattleBlock Theater’s slide tackle move

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We just unveiled our new weekly prisoner unlock over on our BattleBlock Theater site!  This character enjoys slide tackling.  There are over a dozen abilities that we’ve given players in BattleBlock Theater.  Today I’ll be talking about some of the uses and development of the slide tackle!

Once upon a time BattleBlock Theater prisoners didn’t have a lot of defensive maneuvers at their disposal.  After finding ourselves in some sticky situations, and watching some of you play at the tradeshows, we decided we could make things a lot more interesting if we added some more defensive moves.

You now have an option to kick that grenade right back at your attacker (amongst other projectiles).   Of course, your attacker also has the option of doing the same and sending you both into the deadly metagame of hot-potato until someone turns into confetti.  That’s if they managed to foresee your plan to utilize your slide tackle – a lot of the time it just ends in a nice satisfying karma biscuit.

The slide tackle has various other purposes that aren’t combat oriented – such as getting out from underneath a laser that’s charging up,  sliding under moving horizontal hazards that would normally chop your head clean off, or making some good time across that goopy tar.

Many of the abilities you’ll have at hand are lumped in under shared buttons.  We decided to put the slide tackle tied in with the same button that falls roughly under the ‘non-lethal disruption’ button.  The context you’d need to pull of a slide tackle is to be running left or right when pressing.  It feels very natural and is easy to pull off.  It’ll get you out of all kinds of binds!

Later on I’ll tell you about some of the other abilities you’ll have at your disposal.  Stay tuned, sires and siresses!

-dan