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[threesided]

Okay, so as I mentioned in the art forum, I've started working on a little distraction project to put myself up to the test of finishing a game.

The premise is very simple: CATCH THE CANDY!


So in this game, you play an empty bowl, and your goal is to catch as much candy as you possibly can. As you do, you will get points, and some of the candies are worth more than others, be it anywhere from 2-10 points.

HOWEVER: There is a catch. Since you are in fact a bowl, there is no one to stop nearby trick-or-treaters from trying to grab more than they deserve. So if you catch a Frankenstein (I plan on thinking up a few more costumes, but for the sake of starting the work I'll stick to just 1)you not only LOSE points, but you lose a life. After all, these are very greedy trick or treaters, and it only takes a few to deplete your bowl.

I've already started on this in Game Maker, and I intend to have it done well before this weekend is over. I've already figured out how to make the candy fall randomly, all that's really left to do is implement the scoring system!

This is not a serious project really, just a little diversion and personal challenge, since I've never finished a game before. It will be horrificly simple, but it will look pretty. Let me know what you think!

[moshboy]

Liking the graphical style. Not much else to say aside from that.

[threesided]

Well, I did it. I pretty much finished what I had in mind in just a day. It can definitely be polished, and it's made in Game Maker, so it's probably been horribly done, but hey, an accomplishment is still an accomplishment. Feel free to suggest ways to make it more entertaining beyond the actual graphics.

http://www.mediafire.com/?7t97zx2x92t

Things I can't figure out:
How to make an on-screen scoring system as opposed to having it in the Window bar. If someone knows how, I would greatly appreciate knowing.

How to make it so only the top side of the bowl recognizes the candy. Right now you can still catch it with the side of the bowl.

[moshboy]

It wasn't bad. Are you planning to add sound?

The bowl felt a bit unresponsive but I think that's because if you're heading in one direction and press the opposite direction, the bowl stops and only moves in the opposite way when you press it again. I think that should be changed so that as soon as you press the opposite direction, you move in that direction.

At the moment it's quite easy, mainly due to the fact that all you have to do is avoid the trick-or-treaters. To make it a little more challenging, maybe the rule should be to not miss any candy either (this would probably mean tweaking the pattern  or speed that the candy falls in, since I think it is impossible to keep catching it all currently, unless there was mouse control / faster movement).

It does get repetitive quite fast but I guess that's just the nature of a mini-game such as this. It's still well made regardless.

[threesided]

It wasn't bad. Are you planning to add sound?

The bowl felt a bit unresponsive but I think that's because if you're heading in one direction and press the opposite direction, the bowl stops and only moves in the opposite way when you press it again. I think that should be changed so that as soon as you press the opposite direction, you move in that direction.

At the moment it's quite easy, mainly due to the fact that all you have to do is avoid the trick-or-treaters. To make it a little more challenging, maybe the rule should be to not miss any candy either (this would probably mean tweaking the pattern  or speed that the candy falls in, since I think it is impossible to keep catching it all currently, unless there was mouse control / faster movement).

It does get repetitive quite fast but I guess that's just the nature of a mini-game such as this. It's still well made regardless.

I plan to add sound, more trick-or-treaters, I was contemplating mouse controlled bowl, and maybe things like size-shifter that changes the size of the bowl and stuff. But for now I am way in over my head in schoolwork, so that will have to wait.

[threesided]

Update:

Added a little sound byte, a new enemy, a "power up", and a high score system. Let me know how you all like the additions!

http://www.mediafire.com/?3ddgyzoest4

[Guert]

Hey there!

I tried the game a bit, here's what I think...

I understand this was made as a little mini-game but I felt like it got repetitive way too fast. The concept is interesting but I feel like the player should have one more action available to perform. Pressing the left and right arrow is ok but a little bit more of possibilities would be nice. Perhaps the player could have to empty the bowl after a while. You know, candies drop, player catches with left and right but presses a button to empty the bowl so he can catch more. The more candies in the bowl when he empties it, the more points he gets.

The game needs transition between screens. A little introduction along with a small ending screen and a life lost event would make the game smoother.

The falling candies could be a bit clearer. For example, I didn't associate bat or fang to corn candy at first. The idea of candy bat and chocolate fangs is pretty cool but you should tell the player clearly what he must pick up and what he can't. You could pass the information to the player in the title screen if you don't want to put this in a special screen.

The graphics are very nice but the game feels empty. It would be nice to have something else than an empty background. Some spider webs would be nice too.

Is there ways to gain new skulls along the way? I didn't get the powerup... what does it do?

Anyway, it's a nice little mini-game but I think it should feature at least one more gameplay element to make it less repetitive.   

Good job!
Later!