next »

[Cocytus79]

Meet Skampers. He's a little black kitty in search of yarn and various other kitty-associated things.



        I'm very new to the forums (I posted in the intro thread maybe 3 days ago, so I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds or anything.

        Its just that being around all this talk of making games as a hobby inspired me to fire up Game Maker one last time to see if it finally wouldn't click.

I have absolutely no artistic or game-making experience apart from a small bit of messing around with friends many years ago, and Game Maker has embarrassingly confounded me more than a time or two, but this time I stuck with it and came up with something that at least didn't cause the player's computer to ignite.

All of the graphics are originals I made for this game, the sounds are from the game maker library, save for the music which was public domain.

I couldn't quite figure out how to make enemies die by jumping on them (which is something I really wanted to do), and unless I've misread you can not animate sprites with the free version of Game Maker, but other than a bug where sometimes the enemies won't move after you restart a level, I think it turned out fairly well.

I'm sorta upset that I couldn't get player-associated sounds to work (they would keep repeating super fast ad nauseum), but hey I can always keep reading up on GM until I get it right 

Anyhow, I primarily posted just to get opinions on if I'm going in the right direction level-design-wise and ways I could make the character sprites pop a bit more.

I realize the levels are very short and simple, but are they somewhat fun to play considering my experience ?

Download link-  http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=Skampers.zip

[J. R. Hill]

YOU ARE OVERSTEPPING YOUR BOUNDS

GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT THIS INSTANCE YOUNG LADY!

Kidding aside it's not bad, it's a lot better than the first game I made, haha.
Here's some advice:

Level design:
Try to fit in more vertical variance in your levels and more obstacles.  Right now, though the levels are certainly different, the challenges in them are the same: go from left to right and jump over the dogs.

Physics:
The jump right now is a flat integer while going up and the same integer while going down.  In real life (and most video games) jumping involves an initial boost and a constant deceleration (up to a fixed amount).  For example, if your initial velocity has a value of 6, you could subtract 1 from that velocity until it reaches -6.  This would give a more "natural" feeling to the jump.

Art:
The cat has plenty of character, but obviously animating would boost everything about him.  It's hard to see him against the background, so I'd suggest using a different color for the sky.  Something a little lighter would work, but since I think this is supposed to be nighttime, a lot more grayed out (less saturated) would make him more visible.  The orange and green of the ground are the most vibrant things on the screen so lowering their saturation and even brightness would help put more focus on the character rather than the ground.

Gameplay:
As far as doing the jumping-on-their-head part, I wouldn't know the specifics of doing it in Game Maker, so my best advice is to google "game maker collision testing"

Good luck and happy game making! 

[Lokon]

I played it through.  It was cute.  I agree with everything that J.R. said, and just wish I could be more help from a technical standpoint  .  Only idea I had is perhaps you could have a moving bird as one of the level goals?  Anyway you keep making and I'll keep playing.  COngrats Cocytus, you've made exactly one more game then me 

[Cocytus79]

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=Scampers.zip


Thanks for the encouragement fellows ! I've taken your words to heart and will continue work diligently.

To the end of making the graphics pop more I've lightened the background and increased the size of all sprites to 64x64 (previously they were 32x32).

I also figured out a slap-dash manor of animation and have gotten Skampers up and running, as it were (it isn't very elegant, but it works pretty well).

I replaced the message boxes with audio cues denoting death.

Also, I added two levels. The last of which was  meant to bring a more vertical element to the game. A great suggestion because I think it came out fairly well.

Also, to add a bit more variety to the experience I have resurrected the most beloved icon in gaming, the insta-kill bed of spikes  

Thanks very much for taking the time to try the game and offer aid guys,it means a lot to me. I've always wanted to do something like this, and it seems this time I've at least figured out how to get the ball rolling ( that being said, god I wish I could figure out how to actually get a ball rolling in-game).

I've included a readme in this file indicating my known bug list which I'm trying to clean up, there are some real toughies in there. Including ones that weren't in the file from last night.

Oddly enough, I think Skampers handled better last night as he now sticks to some things. That, right now, is my biggest bug I feel.

Anywho, thanks again for everything guys  

[Cocytus79]

Hello all. I've been working diligently on Skampers and have redone some of the art, tightened up gameplay, put in a new enemy type, added in a little "scenario" at the end to show Skamp's passive-aggressive nature, now have a total of 10 all-new levels, and changed the music.

On the technical level, I've fixed MOST of Skamper's sticking issue, solved the enemies' freezing problem, and put an end to my music issues.

I still need to get around to doing a distinct "jump" animation for Skampers and making the re-done Puppy enemy actually turn around when he starts walking in a new direction after hitting something (right now I've got a lot of moon-walking puppies).

I'd appreciate any feedback on what you think of the new stuff. Especially the end "scenario". It is meant to show the character as a bit depraved and angry about his impotence in direct conflict, like I said, I'm trying to make him "passive-aggressive " to a fault. Maybe a better word would be "jackass" in that case.

I'm wondering if a more traditional "boss battle" wouldn't serve to end the level better. That would be a problem as I'm not exactly sure how to achieve that. I thought perhaps the "naughty charm" of the end scenario would end the game's first zone on a nice note, as well as give the player a better understanding of Skamp's personality.


Next up, in addition to working on some lingering technical issues, is making new art assets for the second zone. I anticipate this taking some time.

I appreciate any responses and insight. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in a project that you can't see it fairly.

Thanks a ton, guys

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=Skampers.rar

[J. R. Hill]

Download link doesn't seem to be working properly...

[Cocytus79]

Oh my stars and garters !  My apologies.

Here is a new one:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PE5713F6

[Cocytus79]

 Hey guys, don't mean to be a pest, but I finally finished Skampers and would love to see if people at least think it is somewhat fun to play.
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/platformer/skampers-the-cat-in-where-the-hell-is-my-stuff/2024/

I'm already working on a new project as I feel I've run the platformer genre into the ground for awhile (at least until my skill level increases enough to make the experience very much different).

I hope whoever tries it out finds it fair. At every turn I TRIED to make any death the player suffered due to their own impatience or sloppiness. Sadly, I never was able to tighten up the jumping to a level I'd be happy with.