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[pglinker]

This is an early game prototype called Doodle Life, that turns your doodles into a 3D world to explore.  It takes about 7 minutes to complete.

Looking for any sort of feedback.  What you like/dislike, would add/remove, possible directions, etc.


Let's Play (self-made):



Let's Play (made by random stranger; much better doodling than mine):



Direct link to the installer: http://www.glinkiegames.com/DoodleLifeSetup.exe


Background info:

- using my own tech
- quick and dirty prototype; completely unoptimized
- the brush strokes generate geo.  frame rate will be inversely proportionate to how detailed your drawings are (that will be fixed in the production version of course)


Screens:

(Main menu)


(Doodling interface)


(In-game)

[twoeyedcyclops]

I tried it, I think this is so cool. I see a lot of potential here. Aside from an old PS2 game called Magic Pengel, in which you could draw monsters that would fight for you, I can't think of another game that does anything quite like this. Here are a couple thoughts that occurred to me while trying it:

1. It seems like the doodles you draw have to be integrated into the game in some way, either as a way to solve puzzles or get past obstacles, or to complete quests, or both. I could see this maybe being something like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing where you use your magic drawing power to improve a little town and help people. As you progress through the game, you could learn the ability to draw bigger and better things, starting with flowers and trees and stuff, and working up to houses and buildings. That would be really ambitious though.
2. I like how easy it is to draw a doodle. That part is already working really well. But I felt like having a fill button to quickly fill an area with color would be useful too.
3. It was a little awkward how pressing A or D rotated you left and right. One thought I had was it might be better with more standard first person controls, with mouselook. Because the player is drawing stuff that appears in the world, it'd be nice to be able to check it out.

Very cool, very promising prototype!

[pglinker]

@twoeyedcyclops: Thank you for trying it, I'm glad you like it :-)  I didn't know about Pengel, thanks for the heads-up on that.  It looks interesting.

To your points:

1) those are great ideas, I agree, it definitely needs to go in that direction.
2) a fill tool and an eraser will be present on the production version for sure
3) that's good to know, I'll definitely need to put some thought into the control scheme.  FPS style control could work well, though I wonder if it would be off-putting for the less 'hard-core' players.  perhaps the ability to select from some preset control schemes is the way to go.

Thank you for the feedback!

[joe_eyemobi]

Hi there, the concept definitely sounds interesting.  However, if the player could interact more from the drawings I think it would be more engaging. Based on a brief look at the video, the current gameplay of navigating through a maze looked quite shallow.

If you did want to keep this style of gameplay perhaps allow the player to insert their own photos into it, if that is do-able.

Best of luck! 

[pglinker]

@joe_eyemobi: I agree, the level of interaction in the prototype is limited, and the production version needs more than just simple mazes (some people people seem to be bored or annoyed by mazes).  I'm thinking it needs to have you draw NPCs, creatures, butterflies, etc., things that bring the world to life, and allow direct interaction (via sword, axe, talking, or whatever).  Even the trees should let you do more, like chop them down, build a cabin out of them, burn them, or things of that nature.

I like the idea of allowing players to drag photos into their doodles. I think it would be a nice addition.  Another means of personal expression for the player.

Thanks for the feedback!

[joe_eyemobi]

Sounds good.  If you can capture the same essence as Scribblenauts, you will have a winner!