The art and design of ParticleBOOM! Part 1: The UI

The art and design of ParticleBOOM! Part 1: The UI

I wanted to take some time talking about and showing how I designed different elements of ParticleBOOM!
But first I wanted to tell you abit about the process behind the game, from idea to gameplay and the choice of graphic and style.

ParticleBOOM! started as an idea based on an old web-based flash game called “Chaos Theory”, where small circles shoots up from the bottom of the screen and your “job” is to push the screen and start a chain reaction. I could not understand why there didnt excist a game like that on a handheld device like an Iphone or Ipad, or any version of the android for that sake. The idea of the game is so basic, and has alot of potential if it gets done the correct way. So thats kinda what started the whole development of ParticleBOOM!
If you have read our earlier blogposts, you know that we at Lumi Games dont like to copy other peoples games or ideas, and that we like to do our own thing all the way. But there is a huge difference between copy, adapt and being inspired. And i guess we adapted an idea that was allready out there, just waiting for someone to reach out, grab it and make it ten times better and more interesting. So hopefully we have managed to do that

We have allready made a blog post called ” Designing the particles in ParticleBOOM! “, so be sure to check that out aswell.

Okay, now over to the design part of the game.

The UI:

 

 

 

I will begin from top left and explain every little detail of the UI, and hopefully its understandable. Its really not that complicated . hehe

 

Stars:

You can reach three stars pr wave/level. How many you reach depends on how many particles you pop. It is based on a percentage of the total amount of particles spawned. So one need to popp around 30% of the total amount of particles to earn ONE STAR, 60% to earn the SECOND STAR and 95% to earn the THIRD START.

Star Counter:

The number beside the stars (3X) displays the number of waves in a row you have managed to get THREE STARS. So in this example the player has allready had three waves in a row where he/she got three stars, and is on his/her way to get 4X.

When one reach 3X you get access to BONUSWAVE after the current wave finnishes. If you get 6X you reach SUPERWAVE where you gain access to a wave where a better particle is spawned, and you get a bonus score which will increase every time you reach the 6X SUPERWAVE. You can also reach 9X MEGAWAVE where a much better particle will spawn, giving you alot of points! You will also recieve a bonus score every time you reach 9X, which will increase every time.

If you dont manage to get 3 STARS in a wave, the counter will reset to 0. The counter will start over again after reaching 9X, starting at 1X.

Score:

This i pretty obvoius, it just displays the current score you have in the game.

Touch/BOOMparticle (The hand):

This displays how many times you can touch the screen pr wave. Each time you touch the screen you deploy a BOOMparticle to start a chainreaction. Each wave the counter will reset back to three.

Multiplier:

Every time you deploy a BOOMparticle you start a chainreaction. The Multiplier displays how many particles you managed to popp in one chain. The bigger the number of the chain, the bigger the bonus points and time bonus you will get. So its important to chain as many particles as possible pr chain to gain the most bonus.

The counter resets every time a chain breaks, and ofcourse every time a new wave starts.

Timer:

This displays how much time you have left. If the timer reach 0, the game will end. You fill up time by popping particles and by creating chainreactions. You also recieve a timebonus every time you unlock a new particle. (Explained under the NEXT UNLOCK segment below).

Remember that the timer will not fill up during BONUSWAVES, SUPERWAVES or MEGAWAVES.

Wave:

This displays which wave number you are on. In this example you are on wave 46 out of 100. Every TEN wave has more particles then usual waves, so here you can gain alot of time if you play them well enough, but you can also loose alot if you are not aware. A wave which has more particles then a usual wave may be harder to clear, so you may need to wait to the correct time before you deploy your BOOMparticle.

1 Swipe and 2 Swipe:

A swipe is a special move you can use in addition to your BOOMparticles. When you fill this bar you are now able to drag you finger from left to right, or from right to left to deploy or shoot out a SWIPE that shoots accross the screen where you deploy it, removing all the particles it hits.

You fill up the swipe bar by popping particles.

One must also remember that you do not get time bonus if you use swipe, so thats where some of the tactics come in. You need to decide when its clever to use the swipe. The swipe bar will also reset when used. The swipebar will not fill up during BONUSWAVES, SUPERWAVES or MEGAWAVES.

 

 

 

Next Unlock:

This bar shows you how far or close you are to the next particle unlock. When you unlock a particle you get a brand new particle which gives you more points when popped and ofcourse a time bonus ranging from 2-5 seconds. The main goal of the game is to unlock all the particles before reaching wave 100.

 

 

Thats the first part of  explaining the UI. I hope its understandable Next time I will explain the rest of the UI, the INVENTORY.

I hope you guys enjoyed this little rant.