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[wilbefast]

Hey there,

I got a lot of great feedback for "Murder Man", which is making me think seriously about coming back to a lot of my old half-made games. Abomination is inspired by "Knytt Stories": I think it's fairly cute and enjoyable, but it's very short and limited in scope. I got too ambitious, tried to add certain features (notably moving platforms), failed, tried to rebuild the whole game from the ground up to implement those features, failed again and gave up.



The game is special in that your character moves differently over different surfaces: you can cling to wooden roofs and climb stone walls, but metal is too slippery to grasp (unless you're magnetised). The goal of each level is to reach the teddy  

edit: forgot to mention - this is a Gamemaker game so requires Windows (coincidentally this is why I no longer use Gamemaker). And music is by the very talented Swede Henrik "LordHengun" R.!





<<download (indieDB)>>

<<game page (some info)>>

<<blog post (more info)>>

I guess what I'm looking for is ideas for making the into more of a "real" game. I'm thinking of adding some traps and enemies maybe. Let me know what you think as the gameplay as is, and if you have any suggestions for extending it's lifespan  

[dlan]

quite fun to play. I haven't play Knytt stories, just see some gameplay video, so I cannot really compare, but the system of surface add a lot to the game. ironically, the metal surface sprites seem like wood to me .

couple of thought about the game :

- the game is sometime frustrating , in the spike parts. you need to be pixel precise on some levels, and while it please hardcore gamer, it could be a show stopper for more casual one.

- having more air control could add up to the whole experience.

- adding different surface apart the existing one, like ice (could be tricky to implement the control with this one)

- you could mod spike to allow them to appear and disappear, to force the player to time a specific jump.

- about enemies, you could add ones clinging on wall with a specific move cycle, and add some aerial ones. I think passive one (who don't shoot things or follow the player) would make a better effect since the movement of the character are constraints when you cling to a surface.

- the ambience is really good, I like the art direction, as well as the fact that an abomination go for a teddy bear . the music is also a good fit.

Anyway, you have something interesting there, curious to see how the C++/SDL version will turn out

[wilbefast]

the game is sometime frustrating , in the spike parts. you need to be pixel precise on some levels, and while it please hardcore gamer, it could be a show stopper for more casual one.

You can't please everyone... can you? The spikes are cosmetic, with a underlying, invisible "death" object. Perhaps what's frustrating is that sometimes you can almost touch the spikes, and other times you die a lot sooner? I'll have a think about this problem 

having more air control could add up to the whole experience.

The movement is designed around the idea that you need to get a run-up to clear gaps, rather like Prince of Persia and Abe's Oddyssey. In other words the lack of air control is a "feature", left out on purpose. You're not the only who thinks I just forgot to add though - what am I doing wrong here

adding different surface apart the existing one, like ice (could be tricky to implement the control with this one)

Good idea! It might be a good idea to have another slippery surface that magnets don't help with. Ice might be a bit out of place though - maybe slime The hardest part would be creating the new tile-set for it...

you could mod spike to allow them to appear and disappear, to force the player to time a specific jump.
about enemies, you could add ones clinging on wall with a specific move cycle, and add some aerial ones. I think passive one (who don't shoot things or follow the player) would make a better effect since the movement of the character are constraints when you cling to a surface.

Yeah, passive enemies/traps are the way to go I think. I was thinking of adding one of those sort of generic buzz-saw blades that goes up and down on a wall, and maybe a little spider-bot that shoots a constant laser-beam perpendicular to the surface it's climbing across (perhaps occasionally turning on/off). We could also have helicopter-bots with lasers!

[messyjessy]

This game is pretty clever.  I like the retro art style too.

[dlan]

Perhaps what's frustrating is that sometimes you can almost touch the spikes, and other times you die a lot sooner ?

pretty much, it's hard to tell sometime if you have the space to make a jump without getting touched by a spike, while at another time, some jump a surprisingly easy.

The movement is designed around the idea that you need to get a run-up to clear gaps, rather like Prince of Persia and Abe's Oddyssey. In other words the lack of air control is a "feature", left out on purpose.

IMHO, since the character can move quite fast and make long jump, i was thinking that adding air control could allow to use some kind of special move like u-jump when jumping from one platform to another under it. but it mean the levels must include this feature, so it's entirely up to you to decide if you think it worth it, experimenting around this idea could help.

We could also have helicopter-bots with lasers!

with a flashlight searching for the character, like it have evade from some kind of laboratory, that would be something   (but that's not really passive anymore, and that would be a hell to code )

i also want to add that the whole pace, movement speed of the character feel right so far. you have a real feeling of power whenever you jump or climb a wall.