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[jcstranger]

Big News:
Psych is finally released for iOS and Android devices, for free.



Release Trailer:

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Original entry:



Hey guys,

I would like to show you my current project that I am working on for a few weeks.

First of all some info about my person. I was working as a Game Designer for the past 7 years. Some months ago I decided to leave the company to try my luck as one man army and  to finally work on whatever i want to

The Project:
It is a very simple one-touch game in which you need to avoid getting sucked into the center of the screen by continuously jumping from one ring to the next one trying not to collide with the obstacles that are randomly spawned on the rings. Every new ring that spawns has an increasing speed so that the difficulty gets pretty intense after a short time.

To jump to the next ring, simply touch anywhere on the screen and the player (white arrow) jumps onto the next ring with the given angle.

Here are some gifs to get the picture:

Gameplay:
Pretty simple, one touch to jump.




Collision:
Colliding with an obstacle doesn't end the session but freezes the
player for a few seconds and increases the rings rotation speed,
then turns around giving the player a chance to leave that ring




Transition:
Currently, the game rotates between 3 visual sets




The Plan:
Since I aim for releasing it on mobile devices I want to have short but diversified sessions.
To do so, I plan to implement the following amongst other things:
- ~10 different visual sets (from stylish to confusing)
- Several pickups (slow down game for N seconds, leap over N rings etc)
- A few "bosses" (e.g. obstacles disappear, "shots" get fired from center and need to be evaded)
- TBD: different obstacles with different collision behaviours
- Random psych outs: the level randomly rotates very fast for a short time

I hope some of you guys find this project interesting enough to share your thoughts with me.

[JeremiahPena]

I really like the look of this. I think everyone will say it reminds them of Super Hexagon, but it's definitely unique and probably ridiculously addicting.

[Danny Hayes]

Man, that last gif reminds me of the doppler effect... maybe you could do something awesome like increase the doppler level the further out or in you are? But yeah looks like something really nice for short addictive sessions.

[jcstranger]

Hey guys, thx for your interest and your kind words.

I think everyone will say it reminds them of Super Hexagon, but it's definitely unique and probably ridiculously addicting.

Yea there are definitely some similarities to Super Hexagon, but as you say I also believe that it is unique enough to not get accused of being a cheap clone.

Man, that last gif reminds me of the doppler effect... maybe you could do something awesome like increase the doppler level the further out or in you are? But yeah looks like something really nice for short addictive sessions.

That is a very nice idea and would be actually doable as long as I limit the time this visual set is spawned, else this could get out of control I will give it a try.

3rd visual set (actually just the inversed 2nd set)

[jcstranger]

Hey guys,

let me share my last days progress with you.

I experienced some problems near the center of the level. Since every ring and obstacle scales down until it vanishes, it happens that the space between obstacles decreases the farther a ring is scaled down. Since the player (arrow) doesn't get scaled down, it happens that he collides with an obstacle near the center of the level even if he already sits on a safe spot on a ring.

So I decided to place a new obstacle in the center of the level that doesn't scale.
This way i can reduce the problem to a minimum. If the player collides with it, the session is lost.
Additionally, displaying the score in there made sense to me, since I always like when HUD elements are shown in the game world directly, which obviously doesn't make sense always.

Center element:
Unfortunately, it looks quite bad in the GIF.


The new center element also gives me the opportunity to seamlessly transition between sessions.
After the end sequence is played, the user can touch the screen to seamlessly jump into the next session.

End sequence:


Start sequence (end to start transition):
Currently this sequence is way too long, but thats how it generally should look like



As always, feedback is very welcome.

[and]

Hmm I can see me getting addicted to this.

[jcstranger]

Time for an update, a lot has happened!

Let's start with a Gif of the new look:



I did playtests with some friends and I decided to reduce the look
to a simple black and white in which the white colour randomly changes its RGB values.
The reason behind this change is that even if everyone liked the look, they had problems
to differentiate between obstacles and safe areas.
Now it should be easier to grasp.

Besides a lot of tweaking and performance improvements I added a bunch of different
screen effects to support that psychedelic look I want to achieve.

Here are some examples:

Pulse:


Sphere:


Emboss:



Last but not least I increased the speed of the start and end sequence to have the
player get into the game as quick as possible. The same goes for the restart.
Since sessions will be very short the player should not have to wait between one
and the other.

Here is an example:
After the session is lost, click once to get into the next session quickly.



As always, feedback is very appreciated. I would love to know what you guys think about
the new direction the game is going.
Also please tell me if you feel like I'm exaggerating with my Gif usage

[Fervir]

I like the look of this

[screwtape]

This looks seriously awesome, what are you writing it in?

[Sustrato]

The old look was really cool, but it is a bit more readable this way. Can't say I'm fond of the emboss though.

Interested to see what you come up with for bosses.

[Connor]

this is gonna be the next super hexagon. i can tell :O!

not really liking emboss, or pulse tbh.

[jcstranger]

Thanks for your feedback guys.

This looks seriously awesome, what are you writing it in?

It is done in Construct 2. Really liking that tool...

The old look was really cool, but it is a bit more readable this way. Can't say I'm fond of the emboss though.

Interested to see what you come up with for bosses.

I am also a bit sad that I had to throw the old look, but I think it is worth the tradeoff.
I do agree that the emboss doesnt really fit into the concept. I just want as much visual variety as possible. Maybe dropping that one...

For the bosses I have a few in mind but I am not sure if they will make it into
the game.
If so, I need to make sure that they do not interfere with the highscore character
of the game.

not really liking emboss, or pulse tbh.

Could you specify what it is that you dont like for the pulse effect? I think it is a bit
too restrained at the moment, but overall I like that one.

[The Translocator]

I think with pulse it should change colors twice as fast but have the black area change colors to the inverse of the white area- when it turns purple it loses contrast, making it hard to see anything. Loving Sphere though.

[jcstranger]

I think with pulse it should change colors twice as fast but have the black area change colors to the inverse of the white area- when it turns purple it loses contrast, making it hard to see anything. Loving Sphere though.

Currently the colour changes independently from what effect is played. So you will never have exactly that combination you see in the GIF. Also the colour changes with different speed randomly.
I actually already tried to inverse the colours but that leads to total confusion.

[Green Gospod]

Cool. Will the looks randomly change during the game depending on time/stage/whatever?
Otherwise, not frantic enough! 

[jcstranger]

Cool. Will the looks randomly change during the game depending on time/stage/whatever?
Otherwise, not frantic enough! 

currently it doesnt but i think you are right. besides all the completely random stuff going on there should be some
elements that are connected to the progression.
there are multiple options:
- bosses that trigger at predefined stages
- different stages with different colour palettes
- new obstacle assets (more variety for black obstacles)

will think about other possible options.
thx for your input

[jcstranger]

Hey guys,

it has been quiet for a while now since I was on vacation.

Something interesting happened meanwhile...
A game called Orbitum has been released on the App Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/orbitum/id889940865?mt=8

Same mechanics, different details.
Not sure what to think about this...

Nonetheless, will continue development and keep you updated.

[ephoete]

The idea seems honestly awesome... Never seen such a thing before.

On the other hand I'm a bit bewildered concerning the long-term playing phase here. Verily you gotta be seriously tough and not sea sick to stay in front of these psychedelic spinning spirals for more than 2 minutes. :S

[jcstranger]

The idea seems honestly awesome... Never seen such a thing before.

On the other hand I'm a bit bewildered concerning the long-term playing phase here. Verily you gotta be seriously tough and not sea sick to stay in front of these psychedelic spinning spirals for more than 2 minutes. :S

Thank you for your feedback.
What you mention is exactly what I want to achieve.
A short but very intense, unique and crazy psychedelic experience.
My goal is more than achieved if you have to run to the toilet after a few sessions 

[jcstranger]

Time for an update, a lot has happened.

Update summary:
1.) Endless mode done
2.) New mode (Race mode) added
3.) Start menu added
4.) Improved performance for mobiles
5.) Added ingame pause menu
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1.) Endless mode done

I consider this mode done, now its time for
some playtests to figure out how it can be improved.

Stages have been added to give you a better understanding how far
you are. Every stage triggers a random effect.

Here are some updated Gifs

Basic (no effects):


Since you guys liked the sphere effect, here is the newest version:


New effect, colour invert:




2.) New mode (Race mode) added

The race mode isn't about points scored, but about time.
It basically is a level with a predefined end (currently after stage 4).
Instead of scaling down the level by time, it only gets scaled down when
the player jumps to the next ring.
The faster the player manages to get through, the better.

Another Gif to get the idea:




3.) Start menu added

The start menu works similar to the game itself and is hopefully
clear enough so that the player gets the idea of the game already.





As always, feedback is very appreciated.