DESCRIPTION DOWNLOAD VIDEO EVENTS/4UP CREDITS UPDATES

When the sun goes down the night balloonists battle for pollen over a sea of ink.

  • Local 2-4 Player competitive multiplayer, join or leave a game at any time.
  • Deep one button gameplay: Spit ink and boost into opponents, raise and lower your balloon to catch airstreams, dodge enemy attacks or capture pollen.
  • Play with keyboard or Xbox360 gamepads, includes force feedback support.

The Night Balloonists was originally created for the GAMMA 4 One Button Games competition. Like all games created for GAMMMA 4 it uses only a single button per player. No arrow keys, mouse, joystick or d-pad. GAMMA games are meant to be played in a large social setting with people playing short bursts while others spectate. The Night Balloonists is optimized for these settings and have included a continuous side display that teaches spectators the basic gameplay.

However we've found it also plays great if you have a few friends over and want a good quick party game to play together. The one button interface makes it a great game to play with non gamers who are intimidated by complex controls.

We have also tried to optimize the game for 'one-switch' devices used by players with disabilities. If you use such a device and have found our setup doesn't work for you give us a shout. That said, the game inherently requires fast precise button presses and 'double tapping' so it may not be suitable for all players.

> Download Version 1.0<

Requires Windows XP or newer and up to date
Direct X. Due to some of the background animation effects it may not play on older computers.

If you get a "XINPUT1_3.dll not found" error or have gamepad issues you need to get an update to Direct X HERE

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Video

Press

"...a deliciously atmospheric competitive game ... There's a surprising amount of drama and strategy given the simplicity of the one button control scheme."
- 'Diamonds in the Rough' - Paul Sottosanti, Senior Systems Designer Darkspore

Events/4UP

While The Night Balloonist's plays great at home with a couple of friends it was always meant to be played with a crowd. Inspired by the Copenhagen Game Collective's custom controller for their game B.U.T.T.O.N we had the 4UP built. The 4UP is a custom 4 button controller with glowing coloured buttons created just for playing The Night Balloonists. It was unveiled at Hand Eye Society Social #11 and was built by the talented Jonathan Seguin and Tino Kapetaneas.

If you're interested in booking the 4UP and The Night Balloonists for an event in the Toronto area give us a shout! We're also working on a more portable version with bigger buttons and a smaller form factor we may be able to ship out to events farther away. More info on that when we have it.

Credits

Miguel Sternberg - Art, Sound & Game Design
Andrij Pilkiw - Programming

Created using Game Maker 7.0 Pro

In addition the following 3rd party dlls were used:
GMXInput.dll by Yellowsix
supersound.dll by tsg1zzn

Sound effects include audio from freesounds.org and are
used under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License.
These sounds were created by the following users:

AGFX - andriala - Benboncan - delphidebrain
Dynamicell - fabe - junggle - pengo_au - petenice
Pogotron - Rock Savage - sagetyrtlee

All music is from Apple Garage Band’s default loops.

Updates

July 12th 2011 - I've added info on our custom controller along with some videos and pictures.

March 4th 2010 - Game Released! - The Night Balloonists is released. Minor improvements over our GAMMA submission. Specifically: added sound, proper keyboard controls, credits and logo screens. Also the balloons now flash when rammed by opponents to better indicate when they've lost pollen.

www.spookysquid.com
Contact us at: neko@silencegreys.com