C:\Users\Kevin\Projects\Bottle-Poppers>
Bottle Poppers!
A solo-made modded version of Rocket Patrol, rebuilt around popping bottle caps off water bottles using edited real-life photos, custom timing, looping visuals, and self-made music.
./project_summary
Project Overview
Bottle Poppers! is a modded version of Rocket Patrol where the core action is reimagined as popping the bottle cap off a water bottle.
Instead of using traditional drawn sprites, I recorded and edited real-life pictures so the game looked like an actual bottle-cap popping sequence.
This was a solo project. I handled the programming, asset editing, gameplay changes, visual presentation, and music.
./gameplay_systems
Gameplay Systems
Rocket Patrol Mod
- Built from a Rocket Patrol-style base
- Changed the presentation into a bottle-popping arcade game
- Kept the quick reaction and timing feel of the original structure
- Focused on making the mod feel visually different from the starting point
Photo-Based Assets
- Recorded real-life reference material
- Edited photos into usable game visuals
- Used the bottle and cap imagery as the main visual hook
- Made the action feel like physically popping a bottle cap
Looping Background
- Created a looping background effect
- Used the background to add motion and arcade energy
- Kept the game visually active while the player focuses on timing
- Helped the short arcade loop feel less static
Custom Music
- Made the music myself
- Used audio to give the game more personality
- Matched the goofy bottle-popping presentation
- Helped the project feel more complete as a solo mod
./worked_well
What Worked Well
Real-Life Visuals
The real-life bottle photos helped the game stand out and made the cap-popping idea immediately readable.
Visual Identity
The edited photos gave the project a funny, unusual look that separated it from a normal Rocket Patrol clone.
Audio + Looping
The self-made music and looping background helped the game feel more complete, even with the intentionally weird visual style.
./potential_improvements
Potential Improvements
Timing Consistency
- The game does not always run the same on every computer
- Animations and sound timing can vary across devices
- The project would benefit from stronger delta-time handling
- More consistent frame-rate logic would improve reliability
Animation Sync
- Some animation and sound moments could be timed more precisely
- Cap-popping feedback could be made more consistent
- Future versions could better separate visual timing from frame rate
- This would make the game feel cleaner across different systems
./tech_stack