By Lewie Procter on February 13th, 2011 at 12:02 pm.
Ballin’ Outta Control is a lovely looking ball rolling game by Impromptu games, of Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro fame. It has a mix of natural environments and weird greenhouses filled with abstract shapes and physics based puzzle platforming. I wonder whether this ball is friends with the ball from The Ball, the Monkeys from Super Monkey Ball, or the Marble from Marble Madness…
Trailer cleverly hidden beneath.
Presumably the use of the Unreal Development Kit was at least partly motivated by a plot to get Mark Rein to jump on a plane to Australia to check on their progress personally, much like how Impromptuer Joe “LaCabra” W-A managed to get Gabe Newell to visit him to look at his L4D mod, back in ’09.
When do you get to play it? They’re hoping to release at least a demo in the next few months. Find more pretty pictures and videos on their devblog.
13/02/2011 at 12:13 Valvarexart says:
Looks very interesting!
13/02/2011 at 12:15 Bodminzer says:
This looks beautiful. I really want to see more 3D puzzlers / platformers with this sort of naturalistic style. The classic cartoony style is great too, but Mario Galaxy kind of took that as far as it could go whilst still keeping it lovely, so it’s nice to see devs going down other aesthetic avenues. Also Lewie it’s good to see you writing more standard articles.
13/02/2011 at 12:22 Lewie Procter says:
Thanks.
13/02/2011 at 12:23 TheBlackBandit says:
This is beautiful. It proves, I think, that it doesn’t take all that much to make me go Ooooh.
Also – Hooray for Lewie!
13/02/2011 at 12:28 mda says:
I like how they ask to not be shot at the end. Lol.
Also a ball rolling puzzle game with a beautiful environment fit for a fantasy RPG is funny too.
13/02/2011 at 12:41 Joe W-A says:
Thanks Lewie, our hearts ache with love for you.
Also, thanks guys who think our game is beautiful! We do what we can.
<3
13/02/2011 at 13:16 Shazbut says:
Wow! Yes please!
13/02/2011 at 13:22 Ricc says:
I like the mix of realistic outdoor environments and test-chambers. Pretty cool for a puzzle game. Also, go Lewie! :)
13/02/2011 at 13:22 noom says:
I’ve always had an inexplicable love of games in which I play a ball. I really don’t understand where it comes from. I am, nonetheless, rather interested in this :)
13/02/2011 at 15:15 Hatsworth says:
Technically not a ball, but still:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/12/09/hot-hot-igneous/
13/02/2011 at 16:06 Urthman says:
Igneous is my favorite ball-rolling game so far. And this looks like it might be fun for some of the same reasons — rolling through huge, awesome-looking environments, going more for speed and distance than fine control around an obstacle course.
13/02/2011 at 18:32 golden_worm says:
I am about to commit RPS console toy heresy;…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUJPmmBhjUk
Kula World on the PS1 was one of the best puzzle games I’ve ever played.
Wish someone would make a port.
13/02/2011 at 21:37 Bhazor says:
Like Kula World? Then you’ll love Puzzle Dimension.
13/02/2011 at 14:04 bill says:
No one makes games where you play as pyramids or cones!
13/02/2011 at 15:48 Veracity says:
Spindizzy had a pyramid. Also a gyroscope spinning top sort of affair and a ball, but not a cone.
Puzzle Dimension’s the only one of these things I’ve liked in a while. It’s a bit misleading that you’re a ball in that, though, since the control is quite rigid and you don’t have to worry about momentum, just gravity changing direction depending on where you are.
13/02/2011 at 14:10 westyfield says:
Balls.
13/02/2011 at 14:30 Sarlix says:
Ballz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballz
I can’t figure how to link that with that. Silly XHTML.
My comment, shes ruined :-(
13/02/2011 at 14:25 Al3xand3r says:
I’m getting Metaball vibes. That was one amazing UT2004 mod, but it never really received the due recognition. It’s such a shame the sequel never happened either. I do hope this game attempts to be as clever and varied as that was.
http://metaball2.org/m_metaball1.php
Random screenshots of course don’t do the level & gameplay design justice, but I can’t even find any youtube videos of it! So underrated.
14/02/2011 at 19:12 LionsPhil says:
Well, I remember it.
(Unfortunately I don’t remember it being very good…)
14/02/2011 at 22:34 Al3xand3r says:
You must be confusing it with something else then. It was an extremely polished product that could have passed as a retail game with some extra work. It had everything, from a hub world that you run around with an actual character in which connected the actual gameplay levels, to incredible variety of mechanics, from Sonic-like speed levels to top-down puzzle levels, to physics-based puzzles, to the various material changes for your ball (metalic that is affected by magnets, bubbly that is affected by wind, etc) that you had to take advantage of to complete the normal 3D platforming levels, even side scrolling platforming levels. It just felt like a very complete platformer/adventure/puzzle game, outside the somewhat amateur modeling seen in the cute creatures (which didn’t play much into the gameplay outside rescuring them in levels) and of the chick character (that was only controlled in the hub world, being turned into a ball for the normal gameplay levels). The physics use was just great.
13/02/2011 at 14:46 Navagon says:
This game reminds me of The Ball, Flowers and Portal. Which isn’t a bad selection of games to be reminiscent of.
Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro? Okay, anyone who can come up with a game like that is worth keeping an eye on.
13/02/2011 at 14:56 stahlwerk says:
Edit: ^^^ what he said. :-D Teaches me to scour youtube for bad late 90s “nu metal” instead of posting swiftly.
very nice, the visuals reminds of a mix of Flowers for the PS3 and the Mirrors Edge DLC. Which is a very good thing.
Also I made something for you (SFW).
13/02/2011 at 21:19 Sarlix says:
Ah, you managed to make a fancy link. Tell me your secrets!
13/02/2011 at 22:28 stahlwerk says:
I take it from your lack of manic enthusiasm that the audio didn’t work for you? :D Strange, it did work when I placed the audio offset, now it doesn’t play for me at all.
Oh well, seems my tube-dub-fu is weak today.
My secrets are “742″ and the colour “Lime”.
Edit: Oh you mean the mark up? Just saw your post way up ^^^.
simple html works in this here comment system of rps, like so:
<a href=”http://www.ug.ly/link/target.html”>Fancy Link</a>
becomes
Fancy Link
13/02/2011 at 15:14 JohnnyMaverik says:
There have been plenty of games like this, but this one looks a little special, less focused on intense ball control (does that sound a little dirty or is it all in my mind? =/) and more like a journey… with a ball.
Also it’s pleasing to see yet another indie endeavour that realises that the Unreal 3 engine actually does lush, green, vibrant spaces better than it does gritty brown and grey sci-fi wastelands… AAA devs have been doing it wrong.
13/02/2011 at 16:11 Urthman says:
Yes to everything you said.
Yes to a ball-rolling game that’s more about going fast and exploring a huge environment than navigating an obstacle course (this game looks like it has both). I want a ball-rolling game that feels more like Burnout Paradise than Monkeyball. I hope there are lots of secret routes to find in that green overworld.
And yes to beautiful, lush green environments in Unreal 3 mods.
13/02/2011 at 16:20 mollemannen says:
ok. so instead of kicking the ball you are the ball? like that you cut out the middleman.
13/02/2011 at 16:21 KillahMate says:
Quite a beautiful game indeed, which is sort of strange for a puzzle game. But I’m not complaining. The natural environment really adds something to the game – and it actually works better because of the “greenhouse” structures, the contrast between natural and constructed looks great.
13/02/2011 at 17:21 Lambchops says:
I have to admit that my initial response was “oh another ball rolling game, eh?” having played both Puzzle Dimensions and The Ball recently.
but having watched the trailer it does look pretty so I’ll keep an eye on it for sure. It hasn’t quite displaced Rock of Ages as my most anticipated rolling ball based game though, as it really looks like it is trying something a bit different.
13/02/2011 at 17:25 Ergates_Antius says:
Insufficient Velociraptors.
13/02/2011 at 18:20 The_Great_Skratsby says:
Sup Joe.
13/02/2011 at 20:54 DOLBYdigital says:
Nice music, at first I thought it was from Aquaria but then read the end and its Chrono Cross. Wow that’s a game I haven’t thought about in a long time :)
I also like the focus on just exploring environments in ball form with occasional puzzles to keep things interesting. I only watched the video but agree with others that some fast paced areas, tracks or boost pads would be a fun change up too.
13/02/2011 at 21:27 geldonyetich says:
Taking music from Chrono Cross probably wasn’t the most professional move. Game looks pretty, though.
14/02/2011 at 00:37 Joe W-A says:
Well we’re not professionals yet, yo’.
Unfortunately we don’t have any music of our own just yet and needed something for the trailer.
14/02/2011 at 11:43 MadTinkerer says:
@geldonyetich: There are movie trailers in theaters all the time which insert stock soundtracks and/or classic public domain music for movies whose soundtracks aren’t finished yet. This is like that.
I have to say, though, borrowing that track shows impeccable taste. The music was pretty much the best part of Chrono Cross. Here’s hoping the final music in this game is just as good.
13/02/2011 at 22:34 saladin says:
That whole opening sequence to the trailer was very ‘Flower’ in feel. Then it became abstract puzzler. Strange combo.
14/02/2011 at 05:07 pupsikaso says:
Flower this aint, but it’s pretty and peaceful and seems like it has a bit of exploration in it, so I’m interested!
14/02/2011 at 05:19 Muzman says:
Agreeing with the Spindizzy comparison. That had a weird adventure-y vibe to it where you had to ‘solve the landscape’, for want of a better term. This looks like a modern take on that on some areas.
If you end up rolling about the ruins of mysterious ancient civilisations I guess that makes it Spindizzy meets…er… Myst. (I’d be quite interested in that game too, if this doesn’t turn out to be it)
14/02/2011 at 13:30 Pani says:
I hate trailers that don’t show any gameplay!
14/02/2011 at 19:21 LionsPhil says:
Yeah, the screenshot was actually much more compelling. They don’t even convey what that dark-matter-y ball thing does.
14/02/2011 at 22:19 Joe W-A says:
It’s 100% gameplay, you guys
15/02/2011 at 02:33 Shih Tzu says:
Look, don’t mess with us. Gamers are much more astute than you give them credit for, and they can tell live-action when they see it. Heck, I used to live right near that glass tower thing.