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[sabajt]

http://dinopuzzlegame.com/
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Hey TIGsters - I've been working on this project ( my first game   ) for about 3 months now.  First thing's first:











It's a tile-based flow-control puzzle game.  The objective is to guide cute baby dinosaurs in space through colorful courses to safety.  

Complete features so far:

    - original graphics / sound
    - 4 colors of dinos: green, red, blue, yellow
    - 4 corresponding colors of space stations (guide matching dinos here for safety)
    - grey space station that will accept any color of dino
    - 4 corresponding colors of arrow tiles which change direction of matching dinos)
    - grey arrow tiles (which change direction of any color of dino)
    - portal tiles (warp dinos from point to point, keeping same direction)
    - switches which shift / hide / reveal tiles when dinos pass over
    - asteroids to avoid
    - smooth scrolling playing field (puzzle can get huge, but there's a radar)

Planned features:

    - in game tutorial
    - smooth difficulty curve
    - 4 star systems with World of Goo / Mario 3 type level select screens (FUN  )
    - a story with dialogue and cut scenes. *edit - may do comic-style pictures for story
    - branching paths (i.e. multiple ways to solve puzzles, opening new paths)
    - many more gameplay tiles (fairly complex, so i'll skip a textplanation)

Though I haven't played either of the following, the game looks like it has a similar feel to Pragmatica or RUSH, if you're looking for something to compare it to.  In this game, you set up the puzzles before "running" them, at which point you just watch things go.

I plan on releasing the game for Windows, Mac and Linux, for free - my goal is to release in no more than 3 months from today (June 23). an indefinite amount of time that will probably be this year.  It's made using Python / Pygame if anyone is interested.  I'd love to put up a gameplay video but was getting frustrated with the free programs out there, so if someone can recommend a capture program that gets smooth videos compatible with SDL, please let me know.

Most importantly, thanks for looking!  This project means a lot to me, as I am aspiring to make a living off making games some day . Anyway, I will have a demo for playtesting soon, and a (hopefully) fun game to share with everyone around September!  
  
 

[sabajt]

update 1:

play tested a few levels with a friend this weekend and got some suggestions for a simplified control scheme (thanks dude!).  rotating the arrow tiles before placement turns out to be pretty much pointless as they can be rotated once placed by simply clicking.  while this makes rotating only happen in one direction, simpler seems better.  it was also suggested to change the tile selecting system to one that is number based, but i think i will leave it as a cycling mechanism for now to keep simple controls (one button only). it was also suggested that holding a key for picking up tiles was awkward, so i'm going to try a toggle method instead.  here's the new control scheme:

  mouse   - move cursor
  click   - place / rotate / link / pick up tile
  a       - toggle pickup
  s       - cycle tiles
  space   - run puzzle
  return  - game menu / options

  r       - quick restart
  t       - toggle display info

additional updates:

- added frame skipping and screen wrapping for slow moving background objects

the next decision i have to make is whether to work on a "cut-scene" class, or simply have comic style pictures between certain puzzles.  i've planned out the cutscene class in pseudo code, but am leaning towards the comic to move things along.

also changed the name of the thread to be more descriptive  

[sabajt]

update 2:

new "flickering" space cow sprite:

[sabajt]

update 3:

-added quick restart feature: restarts the puzzle, but does not reset the tiles from player's inventory that were placed on the field. 

I think this is the restart method most players will use.  Todo Note: add animation to point out features changed during a quick restart because the entire screen isn't reset as per menu option.

[sabajt]

update 4:

-added class for short "passing animations" that destroy themselves after the last frame
-the vanishing object animation uses this class.  it appears over objects affected by the quick restart:


_{the animation simply runs forwards then backwards}

this class should allow me to easily place transitional effects between objects such as animations for dinos appearing, hitting an asteroid, entering a space station or when the player navigates through the menu.  

[sabajt]

update 5:

- added animations to dinos warping
- added sound manager to eliminate duplicate sounds
- added menu / message sounds
- added visual effects module: planning to take advantage of pygame's pixel array class
- currently working on the in-game tutorial.  here's an example of one screen:



as soon as i finish the tutorial, i plan to design a few more levels and package up a demo for feedback, so be on the lookout for something to play in a week if all goes well  

[roflmaoqwertyqaz]

It looks pretty. Ill prob even get it when its done. Actually, maybe ill even beta test it! Do u have the source or a wrapped version of it

[sabajt]

update 6:

The Windows version of the demo is out!  See the top of first post to get it.  There's a built-in tutorial, just make sure to play the puzzles in order as information is given gradually.  Any and all criticisms welcome.

I'm working on making a mac version of the demo right now and it shouldn't take but a day or two if all goes well.

A little about the demo:  It's just a handful of puzzles, mostly to introduce and get you familiar with the tiles.  I plan on having a more gradual difficulty curve for the complete game.  The warp tile is not in this demo (unless you play the "just for fun" level) so it is not explained yet.

When the game is finished, I still plan for it to be free of course, so I hope you give it a try.

[Ardbob]

I played it and like it! You may already be planning these, but I figured I'd suggest two things: I would have liked it better if the areas weren't so zoomed in. Second, you should add a map-making feature so that players can make their own maps and submit them to you. Then every once in a while you can look at the maps and choose ones you like, then add them to the game during patches. (I mean you would add them to a "Fan Maps" style section.

[sabajt]

@Ardbob

Thanks a bunch!  I think both of your suggestions are great ideas.  The game has support for larger resolution but I haven't put the option in to change it in game yet.  A level editor would be great (and deepen the game in the long run, as you said) so hopefully I'll get to that soon.  Right now I'm using old board game pieces, index cards and a poster board with grid lines as a "level editor".  It's fun, but not very useful for anyone else wanting to make levels

[Ardbob]

Well it sounds like your project will end up great in the end! :D

[sabajt]

mac demo out.  see top.

[roflmaoqwertyqaz]

I played the demo. one thing it needs is serious optimization. oh and also ill be thinking about another type of block

[sabajt]

@rofletc

could i ask what system you are using?  i've had many people try it and no one has had any difficulty with performance.  it runs very smooth on my 5-year old mac.

does anybody else have this problem?

[roflmaoqwertyqaz]

its just on the pausing. i wasn't clear enough  . I think it has to do with objects in the game not getting released when you pause it. the objects in the game along with the objects from the pause take up too much memory and cause a lot of lag on the pauses. python isnt known for its speed and efficiency.  

ps: my comp has a duo core AMD athlon and 3 gigs of ram, so its not my computer.
but other than the pause screen it runs great!

*pss: and do u like my heightmap avatar? i made it after reading up on the link you gave me about procedural generation.

EDIT: i think it was that minecraft was running while i was playing. . i feel stupid