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[GregWS]

Cool; I wasn't super sure about the goal, so, yeah.

The goal of the game does sound quite fascinating; I can't think of something like that off the top of my head, so it should definitely be interesting.

[Eli (Threeli)]

I say: keep the style simple, add some slight (emphasis on slight) interaction with the environment, and keep things focused.  You'll have a hit.  If you still need a musician I'll gladly help out.  Either way, quite enjoyable.

(edit: sorry, never mind; noticed you already have music.  My eyes skipped over that part apparently)

[medieval]

A little screenshot that doesn't show dramatically new things, but there is some extra stuff.

[Renton]

Great update. It's the little details here and there that makes games like these enjoyable.

[medieval]

Also one thing I hope to achieve by showing this game to you guys is that more of these games will be made in the future.

Because, no-goal games are awesome.

[GregWS]

Also one thing I hope to achieve by showing this game to you guys is that more of these games will be made in the future.

Because, no-goal games are awesome.

I sort of agree.  I think I'm partial to "incredibly small and meaningless goal" games.  I thought Knytt Nano was like that; you could go look for the Knytt's home, but you really didn't need to.  And as far as I remember, it did even tell you to look for her home.  And if you did find it, the game didn't end, so you could just keep walking around too.

[ithamore]

Also one thing I hope to achieve by showing this game to you guys is that more of these games will be made in the future.

Because, no-goal games are awesome.

I sort of agree.  I think I'm partial to "incredibly small and meaningless goal" games.  I thought Knytt Nano was like that; you could go look for the Knytt's home, but you really didn't need to.  And as far as I remember, it did even tell you to look for her home.  And if you did find it, the game didn't end, so you could just keep walking around too.

Even though there was no sound, I enjoyed the game for a couple of minutes.

Maybe we should try to make "meaningless" games the theme of a future competition (2+ after the Demakes, since the next one is already in the works). It would be a good way for us to show off what we can do without having to worry about goals, endings, and other expected defaults of the gaming industry and the expected defaults for which pre.indie.pro.gameX+=1; gamers' fall. And "meaningless" provides so much room for interpretation that a diverse variety of games could be developed from it. It would also help us to work on fundamentals, since refining the basics of one's "meaningless" game would be far more important in this context.

Thus begins the "meaningless" games No Goal competition petition.

Update:

This would be similar to a mood inducing, an immersive environment, or an ambiance competition but using "meaningless" to describe the idea (although more ambiguous than those alternative descriptions) certainly opens up the possibility of many different takes on "meaningless." One with more mainstream inclinings might call it a competition of "self-contained,-unfinished,-but-not-broken" games.

I certainly agree with the discussion that's been going on in the Idea pool that No Goal or Goalless are the best names for this idea for a future competition so far.

[medieval]

Bumping this. I haven't come much further other than that I will be adding a peg stick and a slowly falling umbrella to the game. I still need a lot of things to happen in my game would I want to achieve what this game was made for.

[ChevyRay]

Cool good to know you're still working on it. You still have me on MSN if you need a hand with anything. Cheers

[agj]

I'll have to voice my support for the No Goal Games Competition.

[GregWS]

You had better, because I'm tired of doing it myself every few posts.

[Graham Lexie]

ooo, pretty.

I noticed a bug, where if I hold direction left, press right, then release right, I keep walking left, but facing backward. Same deal with opposite directions.

Have you considered making the sprites snap to low-res positions, while still internally storing high-res positions? It might fit the low-res style, but I could also see it looking less good. That flying bug seems like it would feel less "bug-like" moving in low-res. hmmmm...

I think the more interaction with the world you can get, the better, especially causing or altering events. Like, focus in on whatever a small bird can do in a big world, just by being in the right place in the right time. Say, rather than just have the cat ignore you or attack you or whatever, have the cat follow you. Then if you lead the cat to the right spot, some guy pets the cat. The cat leaves and the guy follows it. The cat leads the guy to some girl and they wander off together. Or whatever. Some sort of chain of events or butterfly effect based gameplay. Of course to really pull it off well, you'd need so many possibilities that it might get out of hand, especially if you're aiming for simplicity.

Have fun with it at any rate.

[ithamore]

Here's some old sounds and a song I once made using MCK and MML. They've all been converted from NSF files to waves.

The song was supposed to represent wind, the the low sound resolution of the volume envelopes was much rougher than I wanted. I'll have to redo it with consistent volumes, and the edit it in Audacity to get what I want.

Wind

The bird chirping probably wouldn't be fitting for the play (I like to imagine it as a silent protagonist that only has faint flapping and walking sounds), but the chirps could be used for another or other birds.

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[medieval]

Well. Nice to see you're so supportive :D

But I already have my music and my flapping sound, and that's about all I need. The current song isn't chiptune either.

[Pacian]

Just figured I should throw in my own, "That's awesome!"

I loved the original Knytt for the way it was more about exploring interesting scenes than dodging enemies.  Good luck with this.   

[medieval]

I have updated the game! Now including music made by michael. Added an obligatory umbrella to the deal, slopes, stars, clouds, and an insect.

Download at the bottom of the first post.

[agj]

Really liking it! The music fits perfectly!

I think it'd be nice if the world extended upwards too. Oh, and the collision detection is still awkward on uneven surfaces; I just got stuck in one of those mounds at the rightmost screen.

[Cerogravian]

...The umbrellas really bring home the bacon! 

This project already looks great! The atmosphere is wonderful, the tired-wings-mechanic works great (though there still seems to be clipping issues, on the last screen to the right, got stuck on the first slope-bit when I fell down from tired wings, haven't been able to reproduce it though.)

I totally agree that there should be more shuffling, hidden things, sneaking behind bushes and such. Same with the snow-idead, maybe you could fly up on a hill, with another view and it starts snowing?
When I see this I just scream out for shady characters lurking and leaning against the lighposts, smoking cigarettes and looking shifty, but that might be a bit wrong for this setting... Maybe just a glowing, discarded cigarette somewhere? 

I'd love to see more of this, keep it up!!

[ithamore]

Nice improvements. It's almost like a late night walk in the park (enhanced with flying). And the music and fxs are very nice.

[medieval]

Thanks for the comments, although I'm kind of riddled about what I could do to fix the collision issues.

Anyone who would like to view the source (Game Maker 7) feel free to PM me.