GiTD [#28] Entries and Discussion page 5

Originally posted by TheAwsomeOpossum:

I’d suggest switching to standard WASD movement… I think it’d work better with this game rather than forward-back.

I don’t get why everyone keeps saying that. Nobody in their right might would be walking around in a dark place full of flesh eating monsters without the torching showing what they were walking towards… might just be me I guess.

Originally posted by nutter666:

Originally posted by TheAwsomeOpossum:

I’d suggest switching to standard WASD movement… I think it’d work better with this game rather than forward-back.

I don’t get why everyone keeps saying that. Nobody in their right might would be walking around in a dark place full of flesh eating monsters without the torching showing what they were walking towards… might just be me I guess.

Way better with WASD now. I agree that the old movement system made sense too, but the problem is that players are used to WASD. So when we arrive to your game, we are a bit confused about how to move.

Yeh, its horrible. I’m so used to WASD movement. Sure, it seems weird, but I’d rather have familiar controls. (Remember that controls can make or break your game)

Originally posted by Gama11:

Originally posted by DrYoshiyahu:

Originally posted by jjwallace:

Shinyo: Finished this weekend, https://www.fgl.com/view_game.php?from=dev&game_id=27123

Broken link is broken.

No, it’s not, you just need an FGL account.

It also requires FGL account owners to have market level 1 or higher, which is a bit excessive.

I’m in. Consider that T-Shirt mine!

Just starting today, so there’s no time for fancy art. I hope you’re all fine with squares and circles.

Originally posted by nutter666:

Originally posted by TheAwsomeOpossum:

I’d suggest switching to standard WASD movement… I think it’d work better with this game rather than forward-back.

I don’t get why everyone keeps saying that. Nobody in their right might would be walking around in a dark place full of flesh eating monsters without the torching showing what they were walking towards… might just be me I guess.

That is true, however, gamers might do exactly that =p.

In any case, comfortable controls help… even if they aren’t the most realistic things in the world ;-).

New day, new daily sneak peak. We are still fighting with the collision, so couldn’t made any valuable progress. Anyway, here is another character art until then:

I’ve been updating mostly using Twitter (@RTLShadow) but here is my entry so far: http://www.fastswf.com/PqAz8nw

Also, if we post before 7 days for the deal does that mean that we can’t update past that?

Originally posted by RTL_Shadow:

I’ve been updating mostly using Twitter (@RTLShadow) but here is my entry so far: http://www.fastswf.com/PqAz8nw

Also, if we post before 7 days for the deal does that mean that we can’t update past that?

That looks extremely similar to BoomsticK…

Originally posted by DrYoshiyahu:

Originally posted by RTL_Shadow:

I’ve been updating mostly using Twitter (@RTLShadow) but here is my entry so far: http://www.fastswf.com/PqAz8nw

Also, if we post before 7 days for the deal does that mean that we can’t update past that?

That looks extremely similar to BoomsticK…

Yeup- I focused on building the mechanic first. After that I’m gonna throw in a weird twist :)

Originally posted by RTL_Shadow:

Originally posted by DrYoshiyahu:

Originally posted by RTL_Shadow:

I’ve been updating mostly using Twitter (@RTLShadow) but here is my entry so far: http://www.fastswf.com/PqAz8nw

Also, if we post before 7 days for the deal does that mean that we can’t update past that?

That looks extremely similar to BoomsticK…

Yeup- I focused on building the mechanic first. After that I’m gonna throw in a weird twist :)

The ammo regeneration is very strange.
Might I suggest doing double kill, triple kill, quad/over kill…
Unless 4 is different to 3, I think a triple was my highest, so I couldn’t check.

Originally posted by feartehstickman:

Originally posted by RTL_Shadow:

Originally posted by DrYoshiyahu:

Originally posted by RTL_Shadow:

I’ve been updating mostly using Twitter (@RTLShadow) but here is my entry so far: http://www.fastswf.com/PqAz8nw

Also, if we post before 7 days for the deal does that mean that we can’t update past that?

That looks extremely similar to BoomsticK…

Yeup- I focused on building the mechanic first. After that I’m gonna throw in a weird twist :)

The ammo regeneration is very strange.
Might I suggest doing double kill, triple kill, quad/over kill…
Unless 4 is different to 3, I think a triple was my highest, so I couldn’t check.

You pick up the little grey things that fall on the ground after shooting. What’s weird?

Currently now it goes:
Double Kill
Triple Kill
Multi-Kill
Ultra Kill
M-M-M-Monster Kill!

I was planning on using quake sounds but that’s not legal and I suck at sound creation. I might hire someone?

Last build of 2012 (I had to re-build into release, sue me!): http://www.fastswf.com/dD8Z19U
Runs slower in browser for some odd reason :/
To-do list

Oh. You can move left and right. Well I’m retarded…

If you don’t mind, put stage.focus=stage somewhere, so I don’t need to click before moving. Apart from that, all good, now I finally figured out how to move (I’m a derp).

For announcements: get microphone, speak in a deep voice like the quake/halo announcer, screw around in audacity until it sounds suitably awesome.

Wow, some stiff competition. I just wasted a few minutes shooting blocks in your game, RTL, and Nutter’s game looks awesome so far.

RTL, will your game have different levels/goals? I really like it so far and I could see myself playing it to the end.

I guess a bit of feedback couldn’t hurt. Here’s what I got so far.

Graphics are a bit shitty, but w/e. Maybe I shouldn’t have restricted myself to this color palette, but at the same time, it’s also kinda fun. I also struggle with keeping level design interesting and innovative. I feel like everything I’m about to add has been done before over and over. :/

Edit: Btw, is it allowed to get some music from the NG audio portal?

I don’t mind the graphics, I like it. The controls and the physics are solid, but the screen could be a little larger. I found the second level frustrating cause I was falling blind. Players need to have some sort of control, especially on level 2. For the first few levels specifically, make a slower difficulty curve. Start off with something dead easy and work from there.

As for the music, as long as you’re not infringing any copyright laws, (you have permission to use the song) teams of up to 2 can work on the game. (You + the author of the song = 2) So sourcing resources from other sources is fine as long as it’s still only 2 people IIRC.

Originally posted by DrYoshiyahu:

I don’t mind the graphics, I like it. The controls and the physics are solid, but the screen could be a little larger. I found the second level frustrating cause I was falling blind. Players need to have some sort of control, especially on level 2. For the first few levels specifically, make a slower difficulty curve. Start off with something dead easy and work from there.

As for the music, as long as you’re not infringing any copyright laws, (you have permission to use the song) teams of up to 2 can work on the game. (You + the author of the song = 2) So sourcing resources from other sources is fine as long as it’s still only 2 people IIRC.

Thanks!

Bigger resolution is something I’ll do… It’s 800×600 now and the game feels a lot better already. Part of level 2 was not knowing what’s down there, and there are some “icicles” which sorta indicate where you have to go.

You’re probably right about the difficulty curve, I was worried about going overboard with it. But I also don’t want the game to be too easy. I’ll need to balance that out a bit more… Also, it’s actually a lot easier to come up with a few simple levels than extremely challenging ones.

Ok… I have a question for everyone.

Honest opinions needed, shall I swap the controls in my game to normal AWSD controls (for the sake of familiarity) for shall I stick with how they are now with forward and backward movement (which is less familiar but fits the game better), I’m stuck on the fence as I can see benefits for both. I’ve been making an effort to keep HUD elements and stuff offscreen to keep it “focussed” on the horror and darkness.. normal AWSD controls might be counter-intuitive to that. I guess why question is? Is it really that big of an issue.. or will people be able to adapt once they’re told the controls properly rather than having to pick it up themselves?

I’ve always been of the opinion that to appeal to the widest audience; you need to cater to every range of gaming experience. So for the noob, make levels that aren’t impossible, so anyone can beat the game. For the pro, have the same levels, but with added challenges, like achievements and bonuses that only the elite can get.

Originally posted by nutter666:

Ok… I have a question for everyone.

Honest opinions needed, shall I swap the controls in my game to normal AWSD controls (for the sake of familiarity) for shall I stick with how they are now with forward and backward movement (which is less familiar but fits the game better), I’m stuck on the fence as I can see benefits for both. I’ve been making an effort to keep HUD elements and stuff offscreen to keep it “focussed” on the horror and darkness.. normal AWSD controls might be counter-intuitive to that. I guess why question is? Is it really that big of an issue.. or will people be able to adapt once they’re told the controls properly rather than having to pick it up themselves?

To me, the answer seems pretty clear, I’d go for normal WASD.
There are two (good) options of doing the controls in a game like this IMO, either make it mouse-based, so the character moves towards your mouse – or go for normal WASD-movement. You basically mixed those two together and that just doesn’t fit and is counter-intuitive. You could even make a mix of both work, by limiting movement to walking straight ahead – no walking sideways or backwards whatsoever. The left and the right key would be used for rotating the direction the character faces.

Each option comes with its restrictions. WASD controls are definitely the option that allows the player to react the most quickly. You have to ask yourself, is that what you’re going for? Maybe you want the player’s reactions to be slower to focus on the horror / darkness theme even more.

Also, I don’t really see why WASD-controls would be “counter-intuitive to the focus on horror / darkness”, controls are not compareable to HUD elements at all. Speaking of atmosphere, a increasing the game’s dimensions a bit surely wouldn’t hurt.

I guess what you said about wanting to slow them down to focus on the horror and darkness is what i meant by counter-intuitive.

I sorta like the way they move slowly forward uncovering the path infront of them.. I just wonder if that would be lost by changing the controls around since the player wouldn’t be looking in front of them as they moved. I mean its not as if they have to move whilst firing a gun at an enemy or anything.

Originally posted by nutter666:

Ok… I have a question for everyone.

Honest opinions needed, shall I swap the controls in my game to normal AWSD controls (for the sake of familiarity) for shall I stick with how they are now with forward and backward movement (which is less familiar but fits the game better), I’m stuck on the fence as I can see benefits for both. I’ve been making an effort to keep HUD elements and stuff offscreen to keep it “focussed” on the horror and darkness.. normal AWSD controls might be counter-intuitive to that. I guess why question is? Is it really that big of an issue.. or will people be able to adapt once they’re told the controls properly rather than having to pick it up themselves?

I’d suggest normal WASD. Let me tell you why.

First, check out my game Colorb. It uses a rather similar system to yours. Your probably wondering why I’m telling you to use normal WASD then. And the main reason is, your game has walls which are very close together. It’s hard to navigate with such a control system when you have walls like that. Having to explain the control system is a second reason; I think it actually detracts from a game, and yes, that includes ColOrb. Unfortunately, I can’t run ColOrb in normal WASD without ruining the strategy in it. But you are fully capable of doing so, so I think it’d be a good idea.

If you want, you can develop an integrated system that uses both by using Q for rotate screen left, and E for rotate screen right, so you can rotate things much like you can in Realm of the Mad God. But I’d still suggest having normal WASD controls.

Originally posted by Moshdef:

Wow, some stiff competition. I just wasted a few minutes shooting blocks in your game, RTL, and Nutter’s game looks awesome so far.

RTL, will your game have different levels/goals? I really like it so far and I could see myself playing it to the end.

Yeah, probably different types. Chances are I’ll go past GiTD even and finish it/polish it. Suggestions are welcome!

Edit: Nutter, I would go for making the player follow the mouse while it is down.

I suppose one option is to offer the player a choice of controls before the game starts and let them pick.