Hey Triplefox, thanks for the comments. Yeah I should have a story / introduction but I thought people would be prefer to get straight into to the puzzle instead. Maybe time to think of a theme and art style to wrap around the game.

Has anyone else tried the game? Any feedback? Impression?
Does forum apathy = bad game?
I am posting in the right place?

Cool, I am glad the build works on vista/win7 now, that is certainly a step in the right direction. I have not added any audio/fx to the game yet, just a prototype to work out if the game play works or not. What gameplay 'looked a little bit scary at first with all the spinning and flashing indicators you have going on'? The front menu or the first level screen?

Download : http://www.simonoc.com/files/games/Flipper_v15.exe
Website : http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/games/flipper.htm

Here is a new version which should hopefully work correctly with vista and win7. If anyone can spare some time to test this new version I would especially appreciate it.

Thanks
SimonOC

@Triplefox, thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I have not tested this game with Win7 yet, so my fault. I will update my Torque libraries and recreate a new version of the game. I will change the download button on my site to something bigger, so it is easier to see on the top bar. Thanks.

[Download Link]

Download Link : http://www.simonoc.com/files/games/Flipper_v15.exe

The game is designed for a Windows OS and requires a minimum display resolution of 1024x768. The game has its own installer program which creates a directory in the 'program files' folder and this will need to be tweaked if using vista for security access. (the game config files are updated in the program directory)

Description

Flipper is a tile based board game where you clear each level by turning coloured tiles while moving around the board. As you progress further into the game special tiles are introduced to create more complex ways of completing each level. The game can be played at your own pace and access to all levels is available from the start of the game. (no special unlocking of levels required)

Features - 6 coloured and 6 special tiles used to create engaging puzzles - 30 levels of various difficulty which can be played at your own pace - Built-in puzzle editor which can be used to change or create brand new puzzles - All levels are stored in a text format which can easily be emailed to friends and family This is a prototype game which is functional but has a couple of key features missing like a story, bonus/reward system and good art theme. I think the core puzzle game play mechanic is good but the presentation and lack of any bonus/reward system can be a hurdle for some people.

I originally developed this game a couple of years ago and released it to PAD sites to see if I could get any feedback. (I tried a couple of forums but at the time I was new to the indie scene and did not know where to go) After a while I realised that PAD sites are hopeless for feedback and gave up on the whole idea of trying to develop the game any further. After speaking to a couple of friends who have played the game recently I think the core game has the potential to be reused in a new version. Before I beginning the next version I want to get some feedback on what can be improved about this game first. Sort of a features/todo list or maybe even a new direction.

What sort of feedback am I after

Did you have any problems with the installer or access to the game?
Do you like it or dislike the game? Anything in particular you like/dislike?
Can you think of anyway the game can be improved?
Was there anything that frustrated you while playing the game?
What did you think of the presentation of the game?
How difficult was the levels for you? easy/medium/difficult?
Did you get stuck on any levels and give up?
Do you find the interface confusing? Able to choose different levels?
Did you try out the editor and create any puzzles yourself?

I did produce a couple of website pages for the game if you need any further information or want to get some hints on how to complete levels. If anyone create some new levels PLEASE send me what you create, I would love to see any new content for this.

Additional Information : http://www.simonoc.com/pages/design/games/flipper.htm

EDIT : Updated top download link to new version.

Hi everyone, my name is Simon and I am obsessed with computer games! 
Oh ... so this is not like AA meeting then, maybe I should start with a brief history about myself instead ...

I remember when I was at school flicking elastic bands at teachers, PC's did not exist! All the fancy computer graphic oriented courses that are around today were just a dream then, instead art involved staring at still life and painting / drawing it. In fact the saying "oh that's as interesting as watching grass grow" must of had its basis in still life art classes.

- Childhood addiction

Oh sure, computers did exist, but nothing like people take for granted nowadays. There was a computer lab at my school and the words 'computer' and 'lab' really did go together well. The pride and joy of the lab was a mini computer with rows of switches and various neatly stacked piles of punch cards. How anyone can describe this tower of plastic as mini is beyond me. The thing should of been in a museum but at the time it looked impressive, like something from a 60's sci-fi movie. A new addition to the school computer lab was a batch of commodore pet computers. They were a lot smaller than the monolith of plastic in the corner and due to their size almost felt personal. I am not sure what stuff I did on them during class anymore but I do remember one thing, I use to play space invaders a lot! Even then I was mesmerised by the idea of computer games but never thought I would be creating them myself one day.

- One of my favourite game

Like all teenage computer geek's I studied on some random computer course at college and went straight into IT. The idea of me actually being employed to make computer games was just plain crazy. Just like all those millions of kids that dream of being astronauts or something equally beyond the average person, making computer games was on that list. After a few years of various IT jobs fixing things for people and playing computer games, I remember things started to change for PC's. It is strange how one company can launch a whole new market but ID software did just that. Finally computer games were coming out on the PC that were fun to play, visually very cool and best of all, you could create new content with them for yourself! Now I am not suggesting that you could not create new content at all, but I am saying at the time the ability to create new content was difficult. Making your own computer game was a daunting task that often involved lots of eye bleeding staring at computer code. When Quake 1 (and Doom to a lesser degree) came out there were tools like Worldcraft available to create your own content and it did not involve mad coding skills to work. This made me very happy.

Level design in the early days was liberating, nothing was defined, it was the undiscovered country. The whole idea of being able to use computer tools to create space, shape, form and not need good conventional illustration skills was freedom. All my dreams, memories and ideas locked away behind clumsy artistic hands were finally let out. Anyone with enough patience to learn the tools could create something and that was empowering.

Getting a job in the games industry in the early days was more about luck than anything else and it often boiled down to being in the right place at that right time. With the emergence of the Internet and Games Companies website's becoming focal points for fans, certain developers became digital superstars. With so many people wanting the game developer lifestyle (The internet hyped version) it is not surprising that so many fans followed the designers of games.

I remember when I was creating content for SIN and a chat channel was setup so that fans could talk to one of the designers of SIN called Levelord. About 500 people turned up even before Levelord showed up and when he did come online, the chat channel went crazy. It must of been a weird feeling knowing that so many people wanted to talk to you and all you did for living was make computer games!

- Latest Puzzle Project

Eventually after a lot of IT jobs in different countries I got myself a job in the Games Industry as a level designer. It was a long journey but something I had always wanted to do as far back as my old Space Invader days. So you may ask 'Why are you registering on an Indie forum when you work in the Games Industry already?' Well I still create my own projects in my spare time and I have been following/lurking on this site for a couple of years now. I currently have a couple of indie game projects I want to finish and this place seems like a cool place to get some good feedback. For a long time now I have been playing with various graphically game making Tools and experimenting with several doodle ideas. A couple of years ago I stumbled across Garage Games and eventually ended up making my first indie style game called Flipper which I plan to make a second version of soonly!