App Creation #43 – Game Inspiration – Ping Pong Battle

Ping Pong, also known as Table Tennis, is a sport that has been around for a couple of centuries.

How you replicate holding a laminated wooden racket in a virtual world is a difficult one, yet a developer has achieved just that with Ping Pong Battle.

The Genius Aspect

First off, your Apple iPad acts as the ping pong table, resting ideally on a worktop or other waist high surface that is perfectly flat. You and a friend each with their own Apple iPhone assumes a typical position either side of this virtual gameplay arena. Now for the really clever part… Your respective iPhones become the rackets!

What A Racket

When a real Ping Pong ball bounces, there is actually an amount of time it glides through the air some distance away from the table. The iPad screen is only so big and can’t possibly replicate this expanded area, so instead a sound that rises and falls is used to indicate the exact timing of when you should ideally swing.

Slice

A popular method of hitting a ball is by applying slice. Slide is a term used to describe how a ball is hit when applying backspin or underspin. Effective for keeping the ball low over the net and giving the balls bounce an unsuspecting angle.

This can confuse your opponent as they would usually expect the ball to bounce and follow its previous path of a straight line; however slice applies a spinning effect to the ball and upon hitting the table it will veer sharply in another direction.

This is applied by sliding your finger along the iPhone screen whilst simultaneously swinging to hit the ball. It certainly adds a twist to the momentum of a rally, allowing for a more intense situation.

Connectivity

Using Wifi or Bluetooth, your iPad and two iPhones rapidly communicate with each other, transmitting and receiving game information to establish timing, animations and results.

It proves to be a perfect technical demonstration (better known as a tech demo) that perfectly shows the appeal of using multiple hardware devices and adapting it to an app that is suitable for entertainment.

Onlookers

You may feel a little daft flinging your arms around at first, attempting to hit something that actually isn’t there, however this soon passes as people around you watch with glee at this virtual marvel. It isn’t a perfect representation of the sport, but some of the best emulations of real life activities leave out the harshness and cruelty by replacing them instead with accessibility.

Within moments, the sound of “Give us a go” resonates around the room and before you know it, a few people becomes a crowd.

iTunes Store Link: Ping Pong Battle | Ping Pong Paddle

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App Creation Series

There are literally hundreds of thousands of applications and games available to download using the digital marketplace. These range from basic clocks to fully fledged 3D gaming experiences rivalling even the leading portable devices that usually only specialise in this field.

Your challenge is competing with this vast library of already impressive offerings which, although a daunting prospect to the fledgling traveller, can be navigated successfully with the right ideas and implementation. Whether you want to create an income generator or simply desire recognition for your efforts, this book will aim to show you the path and inspire your imagination to overflow with possibilities.

Allow James Woodcock to guide you through the wilderness and raise your chances of realising your development dreams by detailing different routes with this light hearted tour of the Apps terrain. Featuring a myriad of exciting and surprising examples, you can glean important suggestions for your own creation.

App Creation Series Index:
App Creation – Beginners Guide to App Design, Development and Marketing