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[pigpen]

Download exe, 13.6MB

-controls-
Right/Left: Move
Up: Jump, hold to charge a Superjump
Down: Pickup/Drop (all onscreen pickupables jump when you do this)
Esc: toggle fullscreen

[RichMakeGame!]

howdy! love it so far, but I'm stuck on the 2nd bird. I can't get it to follow me with the bread. it's just kind of sitting in the 'pond?' ignoring me..

is there a trick to it, or is it a bug?

ps, I die if I fall the height from my maximum jump? ie. jump up fully then die on landing?? seems kinda wrong to be able to jump a height that kills me

[pigpen]

The second bird isn't responding to you because it's chasing the first bread (you have to drop it back down the hole). Is there a way i could make that more obvious?

And yeah a lot of my playtesters have told me it feels wrong to die from your own jump... it is going against decades of platformer tropes so i understand the sentiment but it's important in a couple areas that you have a way to kill yourself and i didn't want to add in a virtually useless self-destruct button and it serves to imprint on the player exactly how far you're able to fall and that you should plan ahead when jumping.

[RichMakeGame!]

I think it should just go for the closest bread, or ignore the first entirely. I assumed the high ledge that forces me to drop the first bread was so that it was out of the picture so to speak and 'used up'. I'm not sure why you need 2 breads though, when you could just reuse the first

RE killing yourself, maybe some spikes would be a more obvious way to off yourself? or a drop you can voluntarily fall down. it's not a deal breaker, but it does feel more like a mistake than a feature

(not meaning to come across negative about the game btw, loving it so far)

ps- hmm, im stuck on the box climbing bit. how many do I need to get to the top? I can only figure out how to get one up there, but trying to jump up using just one kills you

[pigpen]

I kinda feel like i shouldn't be answering your PS because youre cleary playing it RIGHT NOW and i'm sure you'd figure out what to do given a little extra time and would find it more satisfying than me telling you but...
Spoiler:Stand on the box, crouch to make it jump, jump off of it while it's in the air and you should be able to activate the next checkpoint.

[RichMakeGame!]

aha- I understand..
here's some more text to prevent spoilers for others:
since I've been holding and releasing jump all through the game, I didn't have the idea to tap jump. I just noticed there's a box at the beginning to teach me this, except I didn't learn it because you can jump straight off the top of the box and reach the ledge

[pigpen]

Ah yeah, originally it was only possible to get that first ledge in that way but some playtesters either weren't figuring it out or not nailing the timing and would give up early because of dying there repeatedly so i ended up lowering that earlier ledge so it could be done two ways.
It's hard figuring out how to introduce mechanics especially ones like the jumping objects which don't really have a precedent in other games (or reality) and every player is different.

[RichMakeGame!]

hmm, I'm afraid all that's happened is you've moved the bit to get stuck on later in the game

could I suggest raising the initial platform again, but including a little more of a hint on the sign? like:  \/, tap /\

i think if you want to rely on the mechanic, it's best to make sure the player gets it somehow before using it in the game.

actually, the way I would handle it is if the player is stood on a box when it bounces, you get launched higher by default so you never have to tap jump

[pgil]

Loving the game so far, however, I'm stuck in a later part and it seems like there's a bug:

I've gotten to the part where there's a bird in a room with a red gas can.  I've gotten the bird to lift the gas can so that I can grab it from above.  Now there's a second bird, and a piece of bread.  The second bird goes for the bread at first, but as soon as I grab the bread (or even the gas tank?) and jump off the ground, the bird just moves up and to the right (spoiler).  . I can stand on the bird, but I can't control what direction it moves in.  If I jump off the bird and drop the bread, the bird is still trying to fly to that corner (spoiler).  It seems like the only way I can get the bird to follow me is if I drop the bread on the ground below.

[pigpen]

@Rich
The box launching you automatically is a good idea... wish i had it myself earlier, i generally try to not make big changes to core functionality because im afraid of it breaking other areas (i had to completely redesign 3 large areas because of a small change to the functionality of ducks). I could see it causing problems at areas where you need to stack boxes.
Maybe just include a Down hint again at that checkpoint jump?

@Pgil
Go scout further ahead and you'll see what's up.

[pigpen]

The multiple bread points always seem to cause confusion... and the first time it appears it's solely to prevent getting stuck... if i made it so there was only one bread someone could accidentally drop it and not be able to get it back.

The second time there's multiple breads (where pgil is) it's an intended part of the puzzle to force you to do some platforming instead of just riding the duck everywhere. But if you didn't run into the first multiple bread situation you wouldn't be aware what's going on there....and people don't seem to be particularly aware what's going on the first time either. Not sure what to do about that.

[Greg]

This is excellent so far. I love the art (A+) and the little bits of music at each checkpoint. Great, original style. If there were a vote on player death from falling, I would be all for it. Hey, jumping 15ft off the ground in RL is dangerous too :D

It seems to me that once you're through with the first duck, you should just make him go away. Even if I drop the bread he tries to follow me. But that is minor. I couldn't figure out the box climb either.  but I guess overall, I would prefer that it err on the side of too challenging rather than not challenging enough. I was just listening to a long podcast about people talking about testing their games, and adjusting gameplay according to metrics and whatnot, and it made me sick; totally the wrong way to do it.  *this game* is the right way.

[RichMakeGame!]

riiight right. when you design a game it should be *just right* for yourself. if other people can't play it it's simply their fault for not being more like you, the ignorant dolts.

damn those hacks at Valve for paying attention to how people play their games and altering them based on the reactions. it's almost as if they care about the player having a good time! *spits*


(ahem. none of that's aimed at you pigpen )

[Greg]

RichMakeGames, I respectfully disagree with you.

[pgil]

Go scout further ahead and you'll see what's up.

o

For some reason I didn't think I could make that jump to the higher level. It's actually pretty easy 

Finished the game. The ending was nice.  I like the graphical style and all the different bits of music. I'm not sure you need to change the puzzles at all.  You've taught the mechanics of the game, and if you do anything beyond that it will feel like hand-holding.