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[thewojnartist]

Hello. Last year I made some small games in GameMaker 8.1 for a first-timer's Game Development class (emphasis on "first-timer"). I'm considering making one of them into a bigger-time project as I start learning more advanced methods, but I kinda want to see what more people think of the short original before I do that. However, before I post it I've got this one problem keeping me from doing so...

I kinda have this fear of this game being copied by someone else before I finish the bigger version that I want. In that case, do you guys think I should post it here? or should I just forget about it if I want to prevent copying so bad?

I'm sorry this isn't exactly on-topic for this forum and isn't quite yet a play-testing topic. But I want to know if my fears are at all justified or if I should just ignore them and post the game. Thanks.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sg7z02ld9l3m93l/dribble.exe

(Some cheats and info were left in the game for the sake of the professor. Press F1 if you want more info on that.)

Ok, thanks for lifting my fears. Here is the GameMaker 8.1 version of Dribble, a platformer controlled completely by mouse. It took about three weeks to make, GDD and executable, and considering that I had plenty of other class projects during that time, it isn't long or polished. But I think it's a good proof of concept and I'm hoping to use Unity to make an expanded iOS game, as I have always intended the game for iOS. But first, what do you guys think of this first version, this proof of concept? Is it worth expanding into an iOS game?

[perky]

The fear is natural and I'm sure everyone has it at some point. But it is irrational and you should ignore it. It is so much better to talk about and share your ideas and projects than hoard them to yourself. The cliché saying is 'ideas are cheap, execution is expensive'.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

There's a saying that goes the idea by itself is worthless. The execution is what matters.

[Bret Hudson]

Chances are your idea will be better than anyone who copies you. Take Vlambeer for example: Their game Ridiculous Fishing was copied on the Apple App Store, but they still released theirs and did WAY better - hell, they even won the Apple App Design of the Year award.

The chances of someone stealing your idea and copying it are pretty slim, and if you DO post a devlog, you have proof that you made the game first. I'd say go for it once you have a concrete start.

[thewojnartist]

Ok. It's now posted at the beginning of this thread. Thanks for encouraging me to do this.

[Bret Hudson]

I couldn't seem to find it, want to share the link?

[thewojnartist]

Huh? Didn't I put a dropbox link in the first post through an edit? Hold on a sec. Lemme check it.

Here's the link again, just in case.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sg7z02ld9l3m93l/dribble.exe

[Ancient Account]

The game is fun, but sometimes gets very annoying...

[Bret Hudson]

Huh? Didn't I put a dropbox link in the first post through an edit? Hold on a sec. Lemme check it.

Here's the link again, just in case.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sg7z02ld9l3m93l/dribble.exe

Oops, sorry, thought you had posted in the Devlog section.

[thewojnartist]

The game is fun, but sometimes gets very annoying...

What exactly is annoying? I'd like to know so I can look into it as I make the Unity version.

[Bret Hudson]

I just got around to playing it, and I must say that it's a fantastic game for being so early into the game development experience. There was a class at my high school for games and the students wouldn't be able to make anything near this. I recommend expanding on each theme and making a world out of it, rather than just a level. It'd also be super helpful to have a learning curve, with earlier levels being easier to navigate to help the player learn the controls.

I do understand it's not yet finished or polished, but what you have so far is great.

[Ancient Account]

The game is fun, but sometimes gets very annoying...

What exactly is annoying? I'd like to know so I can look into it as I make the Unity version.

Sorry, for not describing what annoyed me.
That's not the game's fault, it was actually me not playing the game well.
Sometimes, the ball would get so fast, it would become out of control and would die!

[Noyb]

Beat the boss. Pretty good for a first project! I'm looking forward to see this develop.

Took me a while to tell that the dot in the cursor means I can fling again. Super subtle. Could me more obvious with a visual tell on the player character and maybe a sound cue. If there's a relationship between fling size and recharge time, that should also be made clear graphically.

The flinging mechanic lends itself to large jumps, but the level design focuses on punishing this behavior with enemies and spikes placed where a first time player can't see. Similar tension to Sonic games: it feels fun to go fast, but levels don't always signal where caution is necessary.

Didn't feel like I mastered the controls by the end, just that I stumbled through thanks to a very generous amount of health.

Didn't realize that the enemies could be killed until the level that required it. Took a little while to figure out that's what that level wanted from me, too.

(You might want to look at

for a platformer game with similar flinging mechanics, though the focus is more on collecting items in small vertical levels.)

[Xanthus]

Great game! I had a lot of fun with it, it had some great mechanics. I didn't see about right clicking to slow down the first time though, so I had a bit of a harder time with the game later on, although I never died.

I could definitely see this being expanded into something worthwhile.

The only thing I would prefer, is if the game view was slightly zoomed out. Because of the speed / scale of the game, you can't always see what's ahead if you're going fast.It'd be nice if what you saw fit the pace of the game a little bit more.

[adganong]

Haha pretty neat game, I got frustrated and gave up rather quickly, but the mechanics were pretty solid! Except for spiky walls... didn't like spiky walls

[thewojnartist]

Wow, I thought this topic got buried. Good to see more feedback!

Noyb: Yeah, I'll admit that I didn't handle the initial tutorial and learning curve very well this time around. Also, the game was actually supposed to be point-based and not health-based where you could not die (i.e. Kirby's Epic Yarn), but the professor wanted there to be a "Game Over" Screen of some sort. I bet I also could have done with much more spacey levels and...

Xanthus: ...a larger camera. The thing though that worries me on the camera would be that I am planning on the Unity version being playable on touch-screen capable devices, and am worried that on such a small screen, it could be easy to lose track of Dribble. I guess I'll just have to find the right balance.

adganong: Good, you're not supposed to like the spikey walls.

Just as an extra note, I have been working on the Unity version for a class, but I'm new to Unity so it may be a slow process. I've got a decent collision system that can detect bounce angles without using a physics system, but it still needs a LOT of work.