TacoM's messages

Hi! I’m programming in AS2 :( So I would like to say you some things:
1 – The pong game is good, but you could make it better, couse it is hardly controllable and slow with the keyboard, u should make it movable with mouse. Please.
2 – You should make some individual to your shooter ames, becouse it gets boring fast, and these are easy too.
But otherwayes, you have talent to make games, please don’t stop.
P.S. : I’m working on a Text RPG :)

Hey TacoM,
Thanks for playing Get Off My Lawn, and I am so glad you enjoyed playing! I programmed the game in AS3, and it was my first attempt at a fully refined game. As far as tips on what I think works best, I would suggest the following:
1. Make sure you spend a lot of time on the art. If you are like me and you aren’t the best artist, keep it simple, pick nice colors, and make sure everything looks crisp and deliberate.
2. Don’t rush the sound editing. Sound effects and music can make or break a game. I use a mac so I have some free software, like Garage Band, which I use to make music and sound effects. If you don’t have software like that, you can usually find other people on sites like Kongregate to collaborate with.
3. Test your games rigorously before you release them. And have your friends test them too. I’ve learned the hard way that releasing an unfinished game can be devastating. If people are really into a game, but suddenly a glitch messes the whole experience up, most of them will never play it again, and they will give you a low rating. This is usually my biggest concern when I make a game, and one of the hardest parts to make sure doesn’t happen.
4. Give people a reason to keep playing. Make sure you do things like: keep the story progressing, make sure the difficulty curve keeps the game challenging but not impossible, and I always like some sort of upgrade system. Also, you can add things like trophies, unlockables, and other incentives for people to keep playing the game. The more people play, the more traffic you get.
5. My last tip for now, but you can ask me for more if you want, would be to keep things simple at every stage. Especially since you are just starting out, make sure you keep your ideas within reason, so that you don’t get overwhelmed and confused. A really well-developed simple game is always more fun than a convoluted and sloppy complex one.
Feel free to send me projects you make, if you want me to test them or give you more advice!
Cheers,
Jon from HotAirRaccoon.com