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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingWithin (work-in-progress)
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dtraposo
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« on: October 14, 2014, 06:55:47 PM »

Within

Download link (Windows only): https://www.dropbox.com/s/rfjk4pniberw1dg/Within_10-14-2014.zip?dl=0



Within is a puzzle game (a very very early work-in-progress!) I'm looking for design feedback, I am aware that the game as is does not currently look very nice. It is all temp art. This is my first game and I'm really excited to be getting feedback from other people and just generally getting the word out there. I hope you enjoy discovering what this game is through play!



Known Issues: Small controller bugs, 1 rare but possible crash (just restart the game, should be fine)

You can follow me on twitter @dtraposo for more if there is interest!

UPDATE 1: Fixed manual resets, fixed some controller issues, updated UI

UPDATE 2: Fixed minor UI issue

UPDATE 3: Fixed song not playing upon manual reset, fixed sound repeating bug, possibly fixed fatal crash (not thoroughly tested, difficult to reproduce), fixed bug in one room that would let you get out of the room.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2014, 09:55:54 PM by dtraposo » Logged
Quicksand-S
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« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2014, 01:00:44 AM »

At first, it was very unclear what I was supposed to do. I find it strange that you have two signs but neither of them says what the line is actually for. The blocks don't stand out as being important, so I kept trying to make the line interact with the circles instead.

The menu controls don't work properly. Half the displayed keys don't do anything at all, and resetting never worked. I quit and re-opened the game, thinking that would reset the blocks, but it didn't.

I have both blocks stuck against a wall (vertically at the bottom of the map). When I tried to make a line through them, it got buggy and made an endlessly repeating sound until I made a new line segment. They never moved from that position, but I was still getting used to the controls and probably missed something.

Upon re-extracting the game files, I tried again and had a much better time. The first two rooms were good. The third room was pretty cool. I really like this gameplay mechanic.

My only complaint about the mechanics is that I found it irritating to have to use different controls to change which direction I was facing. I would've preferred for a short tap of the button to make me face a direction, while holding it would make me move.

I wasn't sure why the choice was made to make movement so jerky. Why not let it be smooth but stick the player to the grid when they stop moving? There's so much backtracking and I found it a pain to walk like that all the way back and forth.

Some of the sound popped and crackled. It usually happened when I walked over a special ground tile.

I actually kind of liked the graphics for the character and the ground. Interesting color palette. The green doesn't quite fit with the rest, though.

The music seemed fitting and grew on me.

I really like the concept and the puzzles were pretty good. I especially like the ones where you have to pull the blocks the opposite direction from where you're facing. It just felt good for some reason. Anyway, I stopped playing at the blue maze (one room right from the key door) but I may go back and play more.
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dtraposo
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« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2014, 08:40:01 AM »

At first, it was very unclear what I was supposed to do. I find it strange that you have two signs but neither of them says what the line is actually for. The blocks don't stand out as being important, so I kept trying to make the line interact with the circles instead.

The menu controls don't work properly. Half the displayed keys don't do anything at all, and resetting never worked. I quit and re-opened the game, thinking that would reset the blocks, but it didn't.

I have both blocks stuck against a wall (vertically at the bottom of the map). When I tried to make a line through them, it got buggy and made an endlessly repeating sound until I made a new line segment. They never moved from that position, but I was still getting used to the controls and probably missed something.

Upon re-extracting the game files, I tried again and had a much better time. The first two rooms were good. The third room was pretty cool. I really like this gameplay mechanic.

My only complaint about the mechanics is that I found it irritating to have to use different controls to change which direction I was facing. I would've preferred for a short tap of the button to make me face a direction, while holding it would make me move.

I wasn't sure why the choice was made to make movement so jerky. Why not let it be smooth but stick the player to the grid when they stop moving? There's so much backtracking and I found it a pain to walk like that all the way back and forth.

Some of the sound popped and crackled. It usually happened when I walked over a special ground tile.

I actually kind of liked the graphics for the character and the ground. Interesting color palette. The green doesn't quite fit with the rest, though.

The music seemed fitting and grew on me.

I really like the concept and the puzzles were pretty good. I especially like the ones where you have to pull the blocks the opposite direction from where you're facing. It just felt good for some reason. Anyway, I stopped playing at the blue maze (one room right from the key door) but I may go back and play more.

Re: menu controls, I tried to make the distinction between "buttons" (for controllers) and "keys" (for keyboards), but I realize I didn't 100% do this, so the game has been updated in the original post to accommodate. I also fixed the problem you were having with resets. I had the endlessly repeating sound bug a long time ago, but thought I had fixed it. If you or anyone else comes across it, let me know!

As for some of the other ambiguities you mentioned, I wanted the game to have a sense of discovery to it, thus not everything is spelled out. I think it feels more rewarding in that sense, but I'm willing to be proved wrong in that regard.

Regardless, I appreciate your feedback, and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

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debugchicken
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« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2014, 05:15:55 PM »

It took me a long long time to learn how to play, but I could make it.

There are some problems:

It needs a fast tutorial.
I hate not being able to rotate in place
I don't know why there is this much backtracking to rooms
I don't know the difference between putting the blocks on the hourglass floor or on the... normal.. in-order-to-open-the-door floor.
There seems to be no point for that diffent ground on the bottom left part of the second screen and that makes me really confused.
I think the graphics need update too, pretty much about the perspective (the portals need perspective) and scale. Also the color of bars don't help for the player to realise the portal is actually closed.
Also, why are the movable tiles so similar to the ones that arent ? I would pretty much change their colors.

All in all, I liked the idea. Got bugged with the unecessary backtracking.
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dtraposo
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« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2014, 05:48:28 PM »

It took me a long long time to learn how to play, but I could make it.

There are some problems:

It needs a fast tutorial. - I feel like the puzzles are tutorials enough. There is a sign in the first room that gives you the controls.
I hate not being able to rotate in place You can use the WASD keys/right control stick to rotate in place. This was outlined in the sign in the first room and the readme.txt included with the game, but I guess they were missed!
I don't know why there is this much backtracking to rooms The only rooms that would require significant backtracking have a warp between them.
I don't know the difference between putting the blocks on the hourglass floor or on the... normal.. in-order-to-open-the-door floor. Well, it is a puzzle game after all!
There seems to be no point for that diffent ground on the bottom left part of the second screen and that makes me really confused. That is the first warp. Both need to be activated.
I think the graphics need update too, pretty much about the perspective (the portals need perspective) and scale. Also the color of bars don't help for the player to realise the portal is actually closed. Agreed, visually it needs a lot of work. I was going for something kind of alien, and such am happy with some of the color palettes, but more detail is necessary.
Also, why are the movable tiles so similar to the ones that arent ? I would pretty much change their colors. I can see this, they are a bit similar. I'll give it some more attention. (both are artifacts of when I started making this over a year ago, and I just kept them. Yes, I am aware that is a long time, but it was on hold for a long while!)

All in all, I liked the idea. Got bugged with the unecessary backtracking.

I really appreciate your feedback! Answers in the quoted post.
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« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2014, 06:30:53 PM »

I thought I'd throw in a couple more comments now that there's been some more input.

I actually really like having to figure out every room except for the first one. I'm not saying you should tell people exactly what to do, which would defeat the purpose of the game, just that you should make the movable blocks stand out and leave it at that.

As for the other graphics, while I think they could use some work I didn't personally have any issues figuring out that things were doors, that bars meant they were closed, etc. It might not be immediately obvious, but it's easy to figure out very quickly if you've played any other top-down games like the old Zeldas. The hourglass stuff was a bit weird (Despite the sign, they didn't seem to have anything to do with time) but the way you interacted with them seemed to make sense.

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debugchicken
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« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2014, 08:16:17 PM »

It took me a long long time to learn how to play, but I could make it.

There are some problems:

It needs a fast tutorial. - I feel like the puzzles are tutorials enough. There is a sign in the first room that gives you the controls.well I dont think so. a simple room with a single string pull would pretty much speed up therprocess
I hate not being able to rotate in place You can use the WASD keys/right control stick to rotate in place. This was outlined in the sign in the first room and the readme.txt included with the game, but I guess they were missed!they were. also my joypad did not work.
I don't know why there is this much backtracking to rooms The only rooms that would require significant backtracking have a warp between them.well there were significant backtrack for me
I don't know the difference between putting the blocks on the hourglass floor or on the... normal.. in-order-to-open-the-door floor. Well, it is a puzzle game after all! being a puzzle game has nothing to do with not knowing what stuff is. if its proposital you ahould just say its proposital
There seems to be no point for that diffent ground on the bottom left part of the second screen and that makes me really confused. That is the first warp. Both need to be activated. ah ok. they dont look like transporting devices. also it would e better to appear just after they started working. or maybe making more evident they are disabled.
I think the graphics need update too, pretty much about the perspective (the portals need perspective) and scale. Also the color of bars don't help for the player to realise the portal is actually closed. Agreed, visually it needs a lot of work. I was going for something kind of alien, and such am happy with some of the color palettes, but more detail is necessary.
Also, why are the movable tiles so similar to the ones that arent ? I would pretty much change their colors. I can see this, they are a bit similar. I'll give it some more attention. (both are artifacts of when I started making this over a year ago, and I just kept them. Yes, I am aware that is a long time, but it was on hold for a long while!)

All in all, I liked the idea. Got bugged with the unecessary backtracking.

I really appreciate your feedback! Answers in the quoted post.

answers in the quote. youre welcome!
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