next »

[MaxHeyderArt]

Hello everyone, this is my first post in the forums.
Been lurking around for a while now and thought I want to share my sidescroller project and hopefully get some feedback!

What kind of feedback? Everything! I want your opinions, emotions, criticism, whatever you got! I am pretty new to really trying to become a game developer.

Iteration #2:

http://www.maxheyder.com/upload/Secret/Web03/Web03.html

Controls: Keyboard
Game: WD to move, S to duck(and collect), K to attack, Space to jump, E to interact
Start Menue: WASD to switch buttons, E,K or Space to Apply(works only on Start btn now)

Notes:
New Features: Ladders, Movable Objects, Buttons and Doors, Menu Buttons, Big Enemy
After the great feedback from last time, I adjusted the attack range and speed a bit and slowed down the quick enemies. Also, I added a bit more gameplay variation and tried to add a little level design with the limited features I have so far. Added more persistent health drops to make the game a bit easier.

Old Versions

http://maxheyder.com/upload/Secret/Web02/Web02.html

Thanks for your interest and time :D

[Chip]

Nice visuals! Vector art + 3D looks great! I also like the parallax effect a lot. Keep it up!

[ceMelusine]

The art is quite nice and I like the colour palette, but the game is pretty frustratingly difficult. Its okay to make really hard games, but you need to ease the player into it. I can't even make it past the fast spiders. Keep it up though!

[ohaiguy]

Second the game being too difficult. The fast spiders are waaaaaay too fast. Also, the range of the attacks seems a bit small. Maybe you could extend it a bit?

[Quicksand-S]

I agree with the others. The smaller spiders hit me faster than I was allowed to attack, so that's no fun.

The other problem I had was with the way momentum is handled. The movement felt really slippery. I imagine that will be adjusted once animation is in place, though, and you'll see what looks right in addition to feeling right.

I love the graphical style. Great job making the 3D and 2D elements look good together.

[MaxHeyderArt]

Thanks so much for your feedback guys!
I will make sure to adjust the small spiders' speed and increase the attack range a bit.
Were you able to kill at least one or two? Maybe I place too many in one area, because before there is only 1 spider per section and there are 4 fast + one normal all at once.
I will post the updated version with some more puzzle mechanics soon.

I have not created a proper tutorial yet and a proper pacing for the game to buildup. Glad I know I have to take care of that too.
Also great to know that it is too hard at the moment. I made the #1 developer mistake of assuming the game is too easy because I find it too easy. There were still bits where I thought it was too easy, comparing it to some nes titles, but that may be my mistake.

Looking forward to sharing the updated version(more features+some gameplay fixes) within the next few hours.

Again,

BIG THANK YOU!

[ryansumo]

This is basically a useless post saying I agree with everyone else, and I'm looking forward to an update!

[feglk]

I loved the art style as the others have said, and the parallax works nicely.

The left-right movement is maybe a bit jarring - A little speedup/slowdown on the movement would help, as well as maybe a bit of a buffer before the camera starts tracking

The ability to jump (or something similar) would be a big help in avoiding the enemy attacks. And the attack speed of the character is maybe a bit slow.

I like it a lot, it shows some good potential, and I look forward to seeing more

[MaxHeyderArt]

ryansumo, I do not think it was useless, because it added more emphasis on certain problems, thanks for the comment!

feglk thanks so much! I totally agree about the movement, it is not perfect yet, feels too harsh. As soon as I have some animations, I will continue working on the movement. Thanks so much for your feedback, I fixed some of the issues, jumping is re-enabled now! :D

Looking forward to hearing more of your Feedback, because:

Also:

Update!
Dun dun duuunnn, I managed to upload an updated version(see main post).

Again big thanks for everybody's help! :D

[helgravis]

Hi,

There seems to be some odd lag when I press space and when my char actually jumps, so it messes up my timing.

Animation sprites would be nice, so I can tell if I'm walking/crouching/standing or interacting with an object (but I'm guessing you already have that in your todo list).

Other than adding more level design, I think it's pretty playable.

[MaxHeyderArt]

helgravis: you are totally right about the jump, it is to increase jump height. I read before that players hate a delay when it comes to jumping, but forgot it somehow. I probably have to find another solution to increase jump height according to the duration the jump button is pressed. Yes, animations sprites will follow in the next iteration. With it, the whole visual stye will probably be re-done to a more polished and equal quality level...I am really curious if you guys will like it! After the core of the game is production ready(delays, mechanisms, input handling), as well as there is some animation to the player, more feedback and when the graphics style has been established, I will start adding more levels. Thank you so much for your time and interest! :D

[MaxHeyderArt]

Hey everyone, I am currently playing with the styles for the game, before I put alot of time into it, I want to hear your opinions.
Would you prefer a ghostly character in an artsy world? or would you like me to keep the style the way it was before, inspired by cartoony rayman origins, but a tad more serious?

New, darker, light driven, more artsy screenshots


older, more comic-ish rayman inspired screenshots?


Looking forward to hearing your opinions on this. There are so many possibilities, it is hard to make a decision.

[feglk]

I like the progress you have made since the last iteration!

First about the art - I like the top screenshot best. I always think it's good to try and go for an art style that sticks out, which i feel that one does. However, it really just depends on the mood you want to go for, so just think about how the art conveys that mood.

I like the new platforming elements - The jump is really useful, and I like the movable environmental objects at the start. The combat has a better feel to it now I have more of a chance to run away!

The only thing I would say is that I found the controls a little awkward, but perhaps it's because I haven't played a purely keyboard game in a long time - I'm used to having my hands very separate. maybe more time will make it more comfortable for me, but it would be worth making sure that they are as comfortable and intuitive as possible.

Great progress, can't wait to see more! I'll give it another play when i have the time and perhaps I can be a little more helpful

[MaxHeyderArt]

feglk: Thank you very much! Your feedback on the style is very helpful. So much, I decided to put more time into it.

I agree with the controls being a bit weird, because I have not balanced them yet. I will definately have to have a go at the controls again, or finally implement the custom control panel :D

Just for updating, I played with styles a little more and this is a current ingame screenshot in unity. It uses sprites, therefore it won't be possible to mix it with particle effects, but it is going in a very good direction, I think. What do you guys think?

[feglk]

definitely moving in the right direction. Nice one!