Disclaimer: I did not install this, only played on the server.
BB (BlockBomber) is a really, really, good clone of bomberman. In my opinon, it
does everything right with its own aesthetics while still being familiar to
anyone that have ever played bomberman before. BB still manages to pull off
despite the limitations of MTE.
My only serious suggestion is to add A.I. non-players so BB can be played even in
"singleplayer" (still hosted of course). Not really necessary to BB, but being
able to play around in while waiting for players is nice.
It's a bomberman clone. It's not entirely original - BB doesn't need that. A
game like this should be enjoyable, and BB delivers on that promise. The rules
are simple and somewhat faithful with their own added mechanics. There is however
a unique take that comes with BB as a result of MTE - and that is the discrete
movement and 3D perspective.
Very polished and charming. The textures are very well made (nitpick: except for
the explosions themselves - I had hope for something more flashy). If someone
were to ask me the goals of making a texture, it would be to achieve what BB
did: coherent, consistent, aesthetic, thematic and functional.
The models for both bombs and the player (blocker 😄) are also well designed
with clear intentions and purpose. Players must be one-block tall for the game
board, so instead of shrinking Sam like some developers would (I'm looking at
you Box World 3D), the developers took the extra effort of making their own unique model.
Not only that, animations are also implemented though I wish it was more flashy.
The skybox is a nice touch, i'd hate to see the bland disorientating blue sky
with the stock MTE day/night mechanic leftover. Not sure if it's suitably
thematic as a bomberman clone, but it's good enough to enhance your sense of
direction on a floating game board in the vacuum of space.
Like many other minimal UI games, BB need not good UI to stand on its own. The
developers of BB did it anyways:
Change player colour (I rather have a color picker tbh), with its own charming
animation for your blocker.
Explain the rules in-game, something I noticed is not prevalent enough in
other games in MTE.
Give something to see while waiting for players. Again, the animations really
carried this part.
Display the leaderboards. My only issue being that this isn't really scalable
if more players join. I recommend a button to display a seperate formspec for
the leaderboards.
The UI looks great on both PC and my phone, but falls short on being unique. I half expected a pixel-art based menu. Minor nitpicks, I
know, but I just want to point out improvements where possible. Still the effort
here is already impressive for a clone that doesn't need much UI.
BB also did not need to have music or sounds, but the developers did it anyways.
Using audio cues as indicators for picking up good and bad pickups are good
design chocies. Hearing my little frog die is also a nice touch. The music while
fine on its own, it can be better. I suggest playing a faster paced music when
the timer hits a certain duration - say 1 minute - and continues into sudden
death.
All of the boards present are quite unique. However, my gripe with it is that
there's not a lot to do with it since the node choices are somewhat restricted.
I suggest adding more aesthetical or thematical nodes. Think of how CTF (Capture
The Flag) has lots of ways to decorate the map. Of course, the developers might instead
add more nodes that interacts with the mechanics. I've also noticed lack of instructions to create my own maps which is a bit disappointing - but the present boards are already fun on its own so it's not really something very concerning.
My only serious suggestion is to add A.I. non-players so BB can be played even in "singleplayer" (still hosted of course)
Yes, this was one of my ideas for future developemnt. However, AI to tell the NPC to place a bomb might be more chalanging than it looks. Time constraints realy killed this one.
Conclusion
Disclaimer: I did not install this, only played on the server.
BB (BlockBomber) is a really, really, good clone of bomberman. In my opinon, it does everything right with its own aesthetics while still being familiar to anyone that have ever played bomberman before. BB still manages to pull off despite the limitations of MTE.
My only serious suggestion is to add A.I. non-players so BB can be played even in "singleplayer" (still hosted of course). Not really necessary to BB, but being able to play around in while waiting for players is nice.
More in the comments...
Gameplay
It's a bomberman clone. It's not entirely original - BB doesn't need that. A game like this should be enjoyable, and BB delivers on that promise. The rules are simple and somewhat faithful with their own added mechanics. There is however a unique take that comes with BB as a result of MTE - and that is the discrete movement and 3D perspective.
Graphics
Very polished and charming. The textures are very well made (nitpick: except for the explosions themselves - I had hope for something more flashy). If someone were to ask me the goals of making a texture, it would be to achieve what BB did: coherent, consistent, aesthetic, thematic and functional.
The models for both bombs and the player (blocker 😄) are also well designed with clear intentions and purpose. Players must be one-block tall for the game board, so instead of shrinking Sam like some developers would (I'm looking at you Box World 3D), the developers took the extra effort of making their own unique model. Not only that, animations are also implemented though I wish it was more flashy.
The skybox is a nice touch, i'd hate to see the bland disorientating blue sky with the stock MTE day/night mechanic leftover. Not sure if it's suitably thematic as a bomberman clone, but it's good enough to enhance your sense of direction on a floating game board in the vacuum of space.
UI/UX
Like many other minimal UI games, BB need not good UI to stand on its own. The developers of BB did it anyways:
Change player colour (I rather have a color picker tbh), with its own charming animation for your blocker.
Explain the rules in-game, something I noticed is not prevalent enough in other games in MTE.
Give something to see while waiting for players. Again, the animations really carried this part.
Display the leaderboards. My only issue being that this isn't really scalable if more players join. I recommend a button to display a seperate formspec for the leaderboards.
The UI looks great on both PC and my phone, but falls short on being unique. I half expected a pixel-art based menu. Minor nitpicks, I know, but I just want to point out improvements where possible. Still the effort here is already impressive for a clone that doesn't need much UI.
Music+Sounds
BB also did not need to have music or sounds, but the developers did it anyways. Using audio cues as indicators for picking up good and bad pickups are good design chocies. Hearing my little frog die is also a nice touch. The music while fine on its own, it can be better. I suggest playing a faster paced music when the timer hits a certain duration - say 1 minute - and continues into sudden death.
Board (or Maps or Arenas? 🤷)
All of the boards present are quite unique. However, my gripe with it is that there's not a lot to do with it since the node choices are somewhat restricted. I suggest adding more aesthetical or thematical nodes. Think of how CTF (Capture The Flag) has lots of ways to decorate the map. Of course, the developers might instead add more nodes that interacts with the mechanics. I've also noticed lack of instructions to create my own maps which is a bit disappointing - but the present boards are already fun on its own so it's not really something very concerning.
Reserved.
Yes, this was one of my ideas for future developemnt. However, AI to tell the NPC to place a bomb might be more chalanging than it looks. Time constraints realy killed this one.
--threehymns, assistant maintainer of blockbomber
P.S. Thanks for the review!
BTW, you can now make your own maps for blockbomber using the editor: https://content.minetest.net/packages/MisterE/blockbomber_editor/
Thank you for your in-depth review!
We plan to add more asthetic nodes soon!