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[kyn]

<sup>CLICK


UP or W: JUMP
LEFT or A: RUN LEFT
RIGHT or D: RUN RIGHT
DOWN or S: SIT
HOLD SPACE: WALK and AVOID SPIKES</sup>

I just finished my first game (for a school project), sure it's still a prototype for a future game (hopefully), and sure it's a pretty unimaginative and generic platformer, but damn it sure was hard work, and I feel like it paid off, even though I'm still waiting for it to be evaluated by my teacher.

I would love to hear what the TIGS community thinks of it so far, please be gentle.

[Stane]

Nice graphics. I especially love the colors. Animations also feel very smooth. Only thing that bothers me is this floaty feeling in jumps, makes it feel like walking on a surface of the moon. I'd personally crank up gravity a bit. Good job in general!

[AuthenticKaizen]

fine graphics and a nice style.
also like the sound when you jump on a cat

as already said i think the controls need a bit of work.
and the gameplay itself needs some more ingredients (but as you already pointed out that this is just a prototype im pretty sure you are aware of that

summary:
pretty nice for a prototype and especially for your first game!
congrats. 
i hope your teacher will appreciate your effort. 

i remember that i have tested your engine before somewhere...
it was only one screen were the bear was controllable.

little detail:
i think it would feel better if the clouds would move a bit slower.

[deadeye]

i remember that i have tested your engine before somewhere...
it was only one screen were the bear was controllable.

I remember that too.  That was some time ago...

It does look really nice, but there's not a whole lot of challenge to it.  Then again, perhaps there isn't meant to be, what with the soothing music and all.

I also agree that the jumping is too floaty.  It's got to do with the fact that you can just glide down to the ground at a 45 degree angle.  The fall speed is exactly the same as the horizontal movement speed, so it does seem somewhat strange.

All in all though, good job on your first game

[Banov]

The peaceful atmosphere and smooth animations were great!  After a little while the game started to get repetitive, but it did show a surprising amount of versatility in the levels considering the small number of mechanics present.

It's a solid game overall, here's hoping that you go on to make many more!

[Dasher]

I really liked the animations and the art style
Is there a storyline behind the jumping on the various cats?

[HybridMind]

Wow.. this is a really great atmosphere.  I felt compelled to keep playing longer after I might have normally bailed on a puzzle platformer.  The soothing music really worked well with the lush grash, the floating clouds, and the mountains.  For calling it a prototype it feels quite far along to me anyway.

I must admit I find the bear a little odd (the sprite looks great) combo with the cats.  I'm not sure but the cats appear more "of that world" then the bear does. 

Love the colors and look though.

Even the jumping puzzles were fun.  One of my favorites was the one where you have to sacrifice a health to run through a bunch of spikes.  Then you can climb and gain it back.  I played over 20 of the levels I figure.

I didn't find the jumping too bad.  I sorta liked the more forgiving floaty feel.  Seemed "nicer" then most platformers.  I felt the collision detection against the blocks versus where it showed the bear sprite seemed a little off.  At least in the horizontal direction.  Just the bear seemed to overlap a little.

Great job!

[kyn]

Thanks a lot guys, it's nice to know that the graphics and the atmosphere are being well accepted, I put a lot of effort into those things as for the programming itself is not my forte.

As for the jumping, I really like the behavior as it is now, I didn't want it to be very rough and quick just to go with the soothing atmosphere, but now you're making me second-guess it. I'll have to ponder further on this subject.

little detail:
i think it would feel better if the clouds would move a bit slower.

Definitely noted.

Is there a storyline behind the jumping on the various cats?

Haha, no no. There's absolutely no storyline nor goal whatsoever _{(for now :3)}

I must admit I find the bear a little odd (the sprite looks great) combo with the cats.  I'm not sure but the cats appear more "of that world" then the bear does. 

Haha, about that. Well, it's not really a bear, it's a Dog, boxer breed (my dog to be more precise). Unfortunately everyone has yet failed to identify him as a Dog, he's either a Bear or a Monkey. Honestly, he doesn't really resemble a Dog, that's my fault really, specially because he walks up straight. But my initial concept was that he could run on four legs for more speed and longer horizontal jumps, and stand up for higher vertical jumps but decreased running speed, unfortunately time and technical constrictions forced me to scratch that idea for this prototype version. The only thing that probably hints that he's a Dog is the tongue movement, but unfortunately it's barely noticeable, you can only see it if you zoom in on flash player.

Even the jumping puzzles were fun.  One of my favorites was the one where you have to sacrifice a health to run through a bunch of spikes.  Then you can climb and gain it back.  I played over 20 of the levels I figure.

Ha, again because of time constrictions I couldn't include a pop-up balloon that explained how to get through that properly. You don't really need to sacrifice health in order to get through the spikes, you just hold space (to walk) and when you're in walking mode, you can walk right through spikes without getting harmed.



Again, thanks a lot guys, I'll try hard that the full-game doesn't become vaporware, I really do hope I finish this someday, but it's really hard getting into game programming, I'm more used to smaller stuff.

[aeiowu]

looks great! A couple things here i've got feedback on.

Controls/Feel
I thought the jumping was fine, same with the movement on the ground but the air-control bugged me. Pressing back against my momentum stopped me in the air immediately as opposed to simply slow it down per tick. I'd rather have it with more of an inertia-based feel, especially in the air.

Points System
I really liked the way it worked, it added a lot of depth to the score system creating new challenges that otherwise wouldn't have existed.

Sprite Size
At first I felt like the sprite was a bit too big for its bounding box.

Finally, and probably most importantly, are you taking this particular IP further or were you developing this just to get the platformer framework down? I wouldn't consider this a prototype at all. It's a polished game with finished art/music and a full set of levels. You could at least try to sell this game (get a sponsorship) on FGL for at least a few hundred bucks. You probably still could, take it down from Deviant Art and sign up at www.flashgamelicense.com and post it up there. Sometimes it takes awhile before you get bids, but with a game of this level of polish I wouldn't see it getting overlooked. Much worse games have gotten sponsorships.

Even if you were planning on taking the characters/art into a longer/deeper game after this "prototype" you could still sell this and make the next game as a "sequel".  I know you probably made this game with the intention of learning and figuring out the design and so on and that's as far as you ever wanted to take it, but why not make a few bucks in the process? It's worth it, and it'll be another chapter in learning about how to be a flash/game developer.

ps. I know you did this for a school project, but I subscribe to the Banksy ideology that it's "easier to get forgiveness than permission." Besides, i'm sure your teachers/school wants you to succeed in your future career and every encounter i've had with publicizing/selling school projects has supported that.

[kyn]

Hey, thanks for the feedback!

First of all, I'm not much of a fan of inertia-based jumps, I know it's the more realistic approach, but I do prefer instant control in the air. The only thing I see myself changing in the jump system is controlling the jumping height based on how longer you press the jump button. Right now he always jumps the same height.

Second, I'm glad you liked the Score System, but I'll probably remove it altogether in the final version. I only did it as a teacher-pleaser, they like to see those kinds of things done, to prove that we're not lazy, if you know what I'm saying. I always like to regard most games as a visual experience and not some sort of competition, of course there's lot's of games that work better with scores, but I don't really think it adds much in this particular game.

And about the Sprite Size, well, at first the bounding box was the exact same size as the sprite, but for lot's of different reasons I kept chopping the bounding box down and I didn't really want to resize the sprite, it's as small as it should be. But of course, you're absolutely right, I didn't handle the situation properly, I didn't plan ahead mostly, I just kept patching everything along the way. But I guess that's normal in your first game, right?



Now, about selling the game. Thanks so much about informing me about that website, I must admit I don't really know anything about selling games and it's a world that frightens me a little. I'll have to seriously think about it. On one hand, money is gooood, although I'm in no dire need of it at the moment. But on the other hand, I can't bare the thought of giving my precious creation away for a small fee, just thinking about it feels like I'm selling a part of myself, and how much could I get from it? 100$? 200$ if I'm lucky? It feels like a dilemma. I'll just have to think about it.

And again, thank you so much, you've been very informative and helpful.

[aeiowu]

Now, about selling the game. Thanks so much about informing me about that website, I must admit I don't really know anything about selling games and it's a world that frightens me a little. I'll have to seriously think about it. On one hand, money is gooood, although I'm in no dire need of it at the moment. But on the other hand, I can't bare the thought of giving my precious creation away for a small fee, just thinking about it feels like I'm selling a part of myself, and how much could I get from it? 100$? 200$ if I'm lucky? It feels like a dilemma. I'll just have to think about it.

I understand your anxiety and I share it. Though a sponsorship is a bit different than giving it away. Basically you still control everything you want about your game except you'll be putting a short "ad" for them on the front of your game just after your preloader. Like "SEGA" shows up before Sonic or something like that. The ad will have a linkback to their site and that's what the sponsor is paying you for, for more exposure to their site as well as to link your neat game to their brand. Personally, I don't like the system, but if you're just putting this game up for free and want to make freeware flash games, this is the established way to make money off of them. While I'm not a huge fan of this system, it still remains the best way to monetize smaller games like this if they are Flash freeware. For larger games there are other more complicated (and more indie) options similar to what Fantastic Contraption, Incredibots, Auditorium does with their subscription/pay-to-play models. All of those games are special case and particular features that make payment a logical and profitable solution for them. Anyway... FGL has a great FAQ about all of this here: http://www.flashgamelicense.com/view_library.php Check that out, it will hopefully clear up any confusion you have about it.

HOWEVER, one thing you absolutely have to figure out first is if you want to actually sell your game. If you're planning on selling this game to consumers for something like $20 a pop you wouldn't want to look for sponsorships since that assumes you'll be making your .swf freely available for all to play. FGL and these markets are developed around freeware games. Personally, since this is a prototype and in Flash even if you were planning a much more expansive version later (even one you'd pay for) there'd be no harm in offering this up as freeware on various flash portals. If you sell a sponsorship you still retain all IP rights and ownership of your game and are free to do whatever you want with it. Basically it boils down to selling a spot on your intro-reel before the game starts as I mentioned earlier.

Finally, even if you don't need the money going through this kind of experience would is very valuable and a good chance since it's not a big deal if the game doesn't go for much since you're just putting it out there to see how it all works. If you are interested in trying to do this fulltime, and want to get into the Flash freeware world, or just even get used to the feeling of getting some money for making these games, then I'd recommend at least giving it a shot. The worst that could happen is that you don't get any offers or get some offers you don't feel comfortable with and decide to deny them. No loss.

I realize I'm jumping around here and probably not doing a great job of explaining this, and that's basically because it's something you should go through and learn about on your own. Nonetheless I'd be happy to answer any questions/concerns that are more specific through PM as to not clog up your feedback thread with boring business stuff.

EDIT: I forgot to address the exact amount you could expect. It's really hard to say, there are a lot of unknown variables that can really change things that range from gameplay to time of year. However, there {b]is[/b] a thread on this in the business forums actually.

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6490.msg209172#msg209172

It seems Jesseyay has received a bid of $250 for a physics based coconut-in-the-basket game. Take a look at that game and see how it compares to yours. It's not apples to apples, but it's at least a start. Like I said, i'd be willing to go into more specifics through PM if you wanted...

[kyn]

I've been reading the FAQ you gave me, and I'm a little overwhelmed by all of this. I think I'll just stick to learning how to make games for now, I don't think I can handle learning the intricacies of flash sponsorships at the same time (it's giving me a headache ).

[pixelatron]

Nice little game. I agree with HybridMind that the bears and cats don't quite seem to belong to the same world. But, hey, it's nice to see cats playing the bad guys for once. Cats are evil.

Love the music, and the sad little animation you get when you 'duck'.

Good luck with the evaluation.

[kyn]

I agree with HybridMind that the bears and cats don't quite seem to belong to the same world. But, hey, it's nice to see cats playing the bad guys for once. Cats are evil.

He's a Dog

Seriously though, some posts up I already explained that everyone either thinks he's a monkey or a bear. I have yet failed to get a positive ID of him as a Dog ):

Oh, and thanks

[Kingel]

Seriously though, some posts up I already explained that everyone either thinks he's a monkey or a bear. I have yet failed to get a positive ID of him as a Dog ):

I think the main problem is that his snout is too round. Dogs have pointier snouts and dark noses.



More like this.

[aeiowu]

I agree, though the sprites are small enough that I'm not sure changing the face will do a ton. I'd say the biggest issue is the fact that the player sprite is a biped and the cats are quadrupeds. biped + brown + fuzzy = teddy bear. Either that or make the cats bipeds and try and play up the snout a bit more.

even so... does it really matter?

[kyn]

From what I've gathered so far, I think the problem really is the small sprites. When I showed the sprites in full window size people had no trouble identifying him as a dog, but in the game itself it doesn't look like it at all. And of course there's the issue of his standing pose, but as I said before, he was supposed to walk in 4 and 2 legs separately for different jumping and running properties, but time made me scratch the idea. I think if I just show some intro movie or image where it clearly shows a close-up to his face people will have no problem seeing him as a dog afterward.

Also, for some reason that image made me laugh :D