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[TobiasW]

I haven't gone further than the first two levels, but I'm letting you know it work great here on archlinux/firefox.

Good to know! It is somewhat disconcerting that it doesn't run on some systems...

Very interesting and nicely executed idea, though it lacks something that will keep you hooked. Maybe you could make bigger, scrolled levels with more visual variation?

I actually thought about scrolled levels too, maybe even with boundaries! But I think I won't insert this in that version, maybe later in a sequel. Though - visual variation won't hurt, I guess. I'll try to think about something!


@Oddball,
@Stoney:
Could you please test if the JNLP-Download works (better) for you? (JNLP is really new for me, maybe it doesn't work at all.)

[Droqen]

Oh! It seems alright.

I use Google Chrome and I never saw the health pie -- so yeah it was just a screeny clipping problem.

[Stoney]

When I try to run the jar or the jnlp file on Mac OS X 10.6.4 the java application icon shows up in my dock but besides that nothing happens.  I get this error, I hope that helps in finding the bug:

Code:

Exception in thread "Animation Thread" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
at processing.core.PImage.init(PImage.java:144)
at processing.core.PImage.<init>(PImage.java:130)
at processing.core.PFont.<init>(PFont.java:649)
at processing.core.PApplet.createFont(PApplet.java:3554)
at processing.core.PApplet.createFont(PApplet.java:3501)
at game.Font.createOrGetFont(Font.java:127)
at game.Font.initializeFontIfNeeded(Font.java:105)
at game.Font.preloadFont(Font.java:155)
at game.Font.preloadAllFonts(Font.java:160)
at game.Game.setup(Game.java:95)
at game.Applet.setup(Applet.java:30)
at processing.core.PApplet.handleDraw(PApplet.java:1372)
at processing.core.PApplet.run(PApplet.java:1300)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:637)

It works on my Windows-machine (I tried Webstart) and here are my first impressions:
- It's really fun. Well done
- I have to agree that judging from the screenshots it does not look really visually impressive, but it's much better in motion. How about adding some Geometry Wars - like glow-effect
- I would like it more if you could control the whole game just with the mouse, like resizing the net with the mouse wheel

[TobiasW]

Yep, while experimenting with it I got that stacktrace on one of my computers, too. So I guess Mac OS X has a low heap space setting as standard. The fonts are taking an awful lot of memory...

Please test the Java Web Start Link again on Mac OS X - I have included a max heap space parameter.

- It's really fun. Well done

Thanks!

- I have to agree that judging from the screenshots it does not look really visually impressive, but it's much better in motion. How about adding some Geometry Wars - like glow-effect

I'm thinking about it, though as I'm only using native java so far, I don't think I've got hardware acceleration. Not talking about me having no idea how to do glow effects

- I would like it more if you could control the whole game just with the mouse, like resizing the net with the mouse wheel

Will do! I just added it to my ToDo-list.

[TobiasW]

Oh! It seems alright.

I use Google Chrome and I never saw the health pie -- so yeah it was just a screeny clipping problem.

That's good to know, and far better than a bug! But strange anyway. I just tried it with Google Chrome 5.0.375.125 on Windows 7, and everything was just fine. Which version/OS are you using?

But well, anyway, I exchanged the "Play" link with the Java Webstart Version - no caching problems, no clipping problems and hopefully no java heap space problems

[Stoney]

Pleae test the Java Web Start Link again on Mac OS X - I have included a max heap space parameter.

It's working now on Mac OS X. Great! 

[Droqen]

Google Chrome 5.0.375.125 on Windows 7

Same! Weird. The downloadable thing works just fine though :]

[TobiasW]

It's working now on Mac OS X. Great! 

The downloadable thing works just fine though :]

 

[belbeeno]

Seems like a game about hugging stars, which is nice.  The gameplay itself was interesting enough to keep me playing for a while.  Catching large groups of creatures is HIGHLY rewarding.  The only gripes I have with the game are probably on your list but aren't implemented for this version:

1. It's not entirely clear when I'm taking damage other than when my notice the health pie change color in my peripheral view.  I had to read the instructions to find out that the end points were my collision points.  Some particle effects and sound would go a long way in helping here.
2. Having a light line between the two dots while you're catching creatures would be nice to show their path back to each other.

[Oddball]

@Oddball,
@Stoney:
Could you please test if the JNLP-Download works (better) for you? (JNLP is really new for me, maybe it doesn't work at all.)

That worked.

This starts out feeling quite fiddly and complicated. Then you hit a point where it clicks and it suddenly becomes a very clever and interesting game. I'll echo the comments about having a more immediately obvious way of telling when you're getting injured.

[TobiasW]

Seems like a game about hugging stars, which is nice.

Haha, that's the best description of the game I've read as yet! Allow me to steal it until I change the name...

The gameplay itself was interesting enough to keep me playing for a while. Catching large groups of creatures is HIGHLY rewarding.

Thank you!

[...] Some particle effects and sound would go a long way in helping here.

A great idea! Sound effects will come in later, particles were just added! Is this what you had in mind?

2. Having a light line between the two dots while you're catching creatures would be nice to show their path back to each other.

Done!

That worked!

Great!

This starts out feeling quite fiddly and complicated. Then you hit a point where it clicks and it suddenly becomes a very clever and interesting game.

Yeah, I know it has a high entry barrier. Any idea how I could ease it? (And how long did it take to "click"?)

I'll echo the comments about having a more immediately obvious way of telling when you're getting injured.

See above

[TobiasW]

Update: Catcher has now mouse wheel support! That means you can, if your mouse has a wheel, play the game entirely with your mouse

[belbeeno]

Those changes really help the game a lot; especially the mouse wheel control which help the game flow feel less clumsy (though it could just be me being clumsy).

[Stoney]

I love the mouse wheel support. I'm getting way better scores than before.

[Accidental Rebel]

Took awhile before I got the controls. But as soon as I did, I was starting to enjoy.

Good job in thinking of this control scheme. Is this a submission to Experimental gameplay's theme for this month? The no buttons one?