next »

[Paul Eres]

i didn't say that it was 100% saturated though. none of the example screenshots are 100% saturated either. it'd be weird for them to be so

but, you'll notice that the colored boxes didn't change color much in your alternation -- it was that part that i said was saturated. the colors of the wall and floor tiles are good

[Eigen]

How is it not your problem if the way you're promoting your game puts me off playing it? My problem with it should be yours. A "too bad" attitude probably isn't the wisest to adopt here.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that but if my sense of fun/humor does not suit or match yours, what can I do? If what I do or what I write does not tickle me in the right place then is that better?


For comparison, here's an image with box colors fully saturated. Maybe it's my screen but the difference is quite noticeable. I do have eyes and I can see what works or what doesn't. Mine is simply vivid. Nothing wrong with that. Colors do not clash, they are simply different, for differentiating purposes.



I don't know what else to say

[Udderdude]

i didn't say that it was 100% saturated though. none of the example screenshots are 100% saturated either. it'd be weird for them to be so

You said "those colors are completely saturated".

but, you'll notice that the colored boxes didn't change color much in your alternation -- it was that part that i said was saturated. the colors of the wall and floor tiles are good

The actual color values for red saturated are 255,11,11 versus 217,49,49 from the original screenshot.  That is not a small change at all.  Maybe you need to calibrate your monitor better?

Why not cherries though? You need to find a way to inject life into your visuals, a way to draw the player in. I know I'd rather push cute fruit around than multicolored boxes.

And maybe all those abstract arena shooters that use nothing but basic polygons and lines could use more representational artwork as well.  It's not a big deal if a puzzle game has simplistic art.  Pushing fruits around sounds kind of ridiculous anyway, even more ridiculous than pushing boxes into specific positions. >_>

[rivon]

Srsly dud, you expect people to actually download and play this?
You should be happy that even 59 people downloaded this.

Thanks to the internets, people have become pretty good at dismissing and filtering content.
It took me exactly two seconds to dismiss your game - 1. sokoban, 2. generic, tab-closed.

There's shit-ton of content fighting over peoples time so you better make sure it stands out.

I'm not your dude, so please don't call me that. Sorry I wasted two seconds of your life. It took me 3 seconds to validate the unusefulness of your comment.

His comment WAS useful... You really have to make the game stand out. You need to catch the viewer's attention in the first few seconds. Otherwise he just looks, sees another generic puzzle game and closes the tab.

Btw, it looks better than most of the examples Paul Eres posted. Still it's another generic puzzle game for me.

[Eigen]

His comment WAS useful... You really have to make the game stand out. You need to catch the viewer's attention in the first few seconds. Otherwise he just looks, sees another generic puzzle game and closes the tab.

Yes, he was right about making an impression but he said it a very aggressive and condescending way. Things can be said and discussed politely. I'd understand if I'd been rude like that towards him ...

[knotty spine]

Pushing fruits around sounds kind of ridiculous anyway, even more ridiculous than pushing boxes into specific positions. >_>

Pushing boxes isn't ridiculous at all, that's the thing. Ridiculous is good. I want ridiculous. 

Edit: Is there some way you could incorporate your sense of humor into the game? Because basically, I'd rather play something with more personality, something looking more like this-


(Adventures of Lolo on NES)

[Paul Eres]

You said "those colors are completely saturated".

again, i meant just the boxes -- i did feel that those boxes looked completely saturated. instead they were only almost completely saturated, which is a negligible difference and not really helpful to point out. the point is that i still think it'd look better if the colors weren't so bright, didn't clash, or if they weren't boxes, or even just if they had some type of symbol on each box to differentiate them for colorblind people (it's always a good idea to make your game colorblind safe, and not just to rely purely on color puzzles)

that lolo example is a good example. the first lolo/eggerland mystery game came out in 1985. and not to get all icycalm/caruso, but you can't, with modern computers and modern tools, make a game that looks better than a game that came out in 1985?

note that the walls are not completely top-down in lolo, but the top walls have a height to them, and the left walls have a shadow. the game still has something of a checkerboard look, but it's broken up a bit by making the wall tiles "overlap" bricks, so that it's not obvious where one tile ends and the other tile begins. also, the sprites out outlined in black, so that they are distinguishable from their surroundings, unlike the player in this game

[knotty spine]

Also note how relatable Lolo is. He's got huge eyes, and you know what they say about eyes and windows and souls. Your guy on the other hand doesn't have a face. I recommend giving him one ASAP. If that means redrawing the sprite completely or designing a whole new character, so be it.

Also note the way trees are used as barriers simply to avoid visual monotony. They could just as well be brick walls, but they're not. They're trees.

[thatshelby]

Personally, I think your game looks just generic. It's not as bad as those examples Paul Eres gave, I think, but it's not great...

Slide Them Boxes is a pretty boring name. Give your game some love, put something AWESOME into it. Think about how you could take it to the next level. Give it some more character. Develop it, don't just make it. I think it definitely needs a unified theme.

[ASnogarD]

I know the exact feeling there , I got it when I finally uploaded my first ( and only game ) and shared the link to a gaming community I am part of, and Tigsource, and Moosaders pages... and got maybe 50 downloads total and about 20 odd comments.

Tigsource feedback link : http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=16718.0
( Download is offline, been taken down by the host... probably inactive too long, Youtube video is still working and shows the game a bit )

The feedback you are getting in here though is good stuff, dont be too quick to judge responses as hostile or condensending... need a thick skin to let others play your baby and judge it as they dont see it the same way as you do.
I was content to stare at the screen when I got my hero to show up on the playing field, and wasted ages just gazing adoringly when I got the title screen to bounce around... and then scrolling text!! 

As mentioned you need to build up a fanbase, get a reputation ... you start with your 79 downloads, these may show thier mates who take a copy who show thier mates who take a copy... and if the game has some impact these may want to see if you made anything else, and visit your page.

I got so down when I 'failed' to make a impact I didnt code for a long while, lost a lot of what I learnt from the first game and now had to go back to the books but I am programming again and hopefully armed with better programming techniques and a lesson in hard knocks.
Good luck.

[PompiPompi]

How is it not your problem if the way you're promoting your game puts me off playing it? My problem with it should be yours. A "too bad" attitude probably isn't the wisest to adopt here.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that but if my sense of fun/humor does not suit or match yours, what can I do? If what I do or what I write does not tickle me in the right place then is that better?


For comparison, here's an image with box colors fully saturated. Maybe it's my screen but the difference is quite noticeable. I do have eyes and I can see what works or what doesn't. Mine is simply vivid. Nothing wrong with that. Colors do not clash, they are simply different, for differentiating purposes.



I don't know what else to say

Well, you seem to want people to try\download\enjoy your games, so you better design your game for other people than yourself to enjoy.
There are things to do to make games more accessible\enjoyable to other people than yourself, you could always dismiss those things by saying "This is me, accept it or leave it" but don't complain people don't want to try your game afterwards.
Some things are more accessible for people, whehter it's making configurable controls, using proper grammar and spelling or not antagonizing your audience.
Of course you could always make a game not caring about all these, but then don't expect many people to play it, heh.
That's one of the differences between a polished game and a raw game, a polished game(or website) is... ready for human consumption?

[chris_b]

again, i meant just the boxes -- i did feel that those boxes looked completely saturated. instead they were only almost completely saturated, which is a negligible difference and not really helpful to point out.

FWIW the difference in Eigen's comparison image is quite striking to me, so maybe a monitor or perception issue? However I pretty much agree with what you said, except regarding the colors my first thought was that the floor and bricks should be a bit more vivid rather than making the boxes less bright.



Same boxes, different background.



Same background, different boxes.

Hmm... dunno which of these I prefer but I think either is some kind of improvement?

[Jackson31]

...he said it a very aggressive and condescending way. Things can be said and discussed politely ...

Actually no, not really, this is the internet.
Although it would be nice if indie devs where more encouraging and supporting of other aspiring developers the fact is that everyone here is trying to be noticed for their work and nobody here owes you anything.

Some people seem to have the view that other indie developers are going to steal their hard earned time in the indie niche spotlight, and there is only so much money to go around.

I believe that people will buy as many good indie games as good indie games exist and it would be a lot more beneficial for all of us to create an environment of mutual encouragement under the intimidating shadow of mainstream AAA developers.

But like I said, this is the internet, a place of brutal honesty where people delight in cutting down whoever they can for an increase of self esteem.

The more I look for encouragement and help on this internet the more I understand that if I can't find/make that motivation within myself, no-one is going to give it to me.

From the wording of your website and this post here it seems to me that you are dead-set on being a victim of a cruel, cold system.
You are being overly defensive of your work, you need to ask yourself if you're looking for a way to become a more talented developer and succeed, or are you looking for something to blame for your failure so you can give up with pride.

[Paul Eres]

@chris_b - both of those are a slight improvement, but i think fixing some of the other issues i named would go much further -- e.g. give the walls on the top some height, make the walls cast shadows to the left or to the right, put some type of distinguishing icons on the boxes, outline the sprites in a dark color (not necessarily black, just something to distinguish them from their surroundings), maybe give the player a face (as someone else suggested), maybe give the boxes some height -- i don't think the *primary* (no pun intended) issue is the colors. the only reason i brought the colors up is that i've noticed a tendency for new developers (including myself when i started out) to use a bunch of different bright colors at once, and to shade (if they shade at all) with directly darker versions of those colors (e.g. 255 0 255 for purple and 200 0 200 to shade the purple)

anyway, yeah, regarding the main topic, i think it's good for a dev to rely on their own judgement and not let the opinion of one or two people sway them from what you think is right, BUT, when your game is getting 59 downloads, and you say you were disappointed by that number and ask why it might be true, and you have devs who have made games with more downloads than you suggest things that could be keeping your game down, it's not a good idea to just reject what they all say and stick to one's guns, especially when they are mostly all saying the same thing about your game (that the graphics are turning people away)

players, perhaps if only unconsciously, think of it something like this: if the dev can't even spend the 15 minutes it takes to give walls basic shadows, or didn't bother to add some variety to the terrain by using something like trees and water and and brick walls instead of brick walls alone, how much time did the dev spend on the level/puzzle design or mechanics?

[Eigen]

anyway, yeah, regarding the main topic, i think it's good for a dev to rely on their own judgement and not let the opinion of one or two people sway them from what you think is right, BUT, when your game is getting 59 downloads, and you say you were disappointed by that number and ask why it might be true, and you have devs who have made games with more downloads than you suggest things that could be keeping your game down, it's not a good idea to just reject what they all say and stick to one's guns, especially when they are mostly all saying the same thing about your game (that the graphics are turning people away)

No, no, you must have misread something. I totally agree with everyone saying the graphics aren't the greatest and need improvement. What made you think otherwise? And I said I'm going to think about how and where I can improve and do it. It just takes a little time as to why I haven't posted progress screenshots yet. What I didn't agree on, was your remark about the overly-saturated-too-colorful boxes and the overall beginners look. I think that was discussed thoroughly enough already. Also, I'm entitled to an opinion, I think that's fair ...

Jackson31, during my short stay on this forum I've noticed quite the opposite. People are very encouraging and supportive. Just take a look at the pixel-art/mockup/etc threads. A bit pessimistic about your fellow devs, aren't you?