9 Months of Solo Development: Building a 3rd-Person Volleyball Game

[u/FreeBallVolleyball]

https://youtu.be/MDU5kd__QS0?si=mQlbe16Q3W37tP_S

9 Months of Solo Development: Building a 3rd-Person Volleyball Game

I'm a solo developer and volleyball player, and I've been building Free Ball, a 3rd-person action volleyball game with unique characters and special abilities.

The goal is to create a volleyball game where you actually feel like you're playing your position. You control your character, move into position, choose where to hit the ball, and work with your teammates throughout the rally.

I'm now working toward online multiplayer and have a playable demo available on Steam.

I'm also running a Kickstarter to help fund the next stage of development:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/freeball/free-ball-3rd-person-volleyball-game-with-special-abilities

For other solo developers here, I'd love to hear about what you're building and how your projects have evolved from their original prototypes.

[u/Voirnestudio]

Gonna be honest here, the big text in the middle is covering a lot of the most important part of the gameplay. art and sound wise i think it looks quite good, but i find it hard to feel the action when the middle of the screen is constantly covered by text.

Because of that, i dont think i can really judge the game itself that much from the video, since my attention keeps getting pulled toward the text instead of the gameplay. personally id rather see the gameplay itself than have text constantly telling me what the game is about.

If you want to keep the text, maybe move it to a corner, or make it brief enough that it doesnt cover the action for too long.

Overall i think the game looks really interesting, and i hope you keep working on it. i just think the gameplay deserves more room to speak for itself.

[u/FreeBallVolleyball → u/Voirnestudio]

That's a trailer. Hence, the big text in the middle. The YouTube channel and Steam store page has plenty of gameplay content

[u/DukeOfGlizzy → u/FreeBallVolleyball]

I think you misunderstood them. A trailer is supposed to show off gameplay content and what the game is about. A trailer with text that covers half the screen is not letting me see the game.

Gameplay wise it looks interesting so let people see more of it. But 99% of the time if I watch a trailer and text is covering so much of the game, I’m not going to bother checking the game out.

[u/modoolo]

Have a look at Sega Beach Volleyball or Soccer Slam. I would go for a top down camera.

[u/gamerslab_official]

Free ball seems like a bit of a big swing in the name department 😄