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[Code_Assassin]

Hey guys,

Recently, I participated in a competition and I managed to get a game out on time(with a quite a lot of bugs). Although the one I submitted to the judges had quite alot of bugs I managed to take out majority of them(at least I hope I did!) after the compo was over. I had given a few people links to the build I had given the judges and surprisingly I got good feedback from all of them - of course with criticism. Some actually thought with a little more polish - I might have a game with a lot of potential. Although the prototype doesn't show everything that I had in mind for the game I think it's enough for players to get a general idea of what the game is about. If I get enough positive feedback, I surely devote the time and effort to make the game better and more enjoyable(possibly to multiple players... I've been thinking about it).
 
While playing this - I would like you to keep the following questions in mind - and if you want respond to them! Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and will be taken into the highest consideration. The game takes inspiration from Thomas was Alone, Little Big Planet, and Bit.Trip.Runner(I actually had a runner level in there - but I had to remove it due to time constraints and am a bit lazy to make it polished like the rest of the levels in game) I really didn't want to use cubes because I'm trying to distance it from Thomas was Alone however my 3D artist abandoned me, and the farthest we ever got to make it not "minimal" was putting bricks up on a wall.
 
Questions
 
Q: How are the aesthetics in the game? Am I going with a good style here?

Q: Is the narrative good? What are ways I could improve my narrative

Q: What do you feel when you read the narratives? Do you feel an attachment to the characters?

Q:If I polished the game and added more features, would you potentially consider buying a game like this?


Q:What are your thought's on bigger maps / cooperative multiplayer(in this game)


Q:How are the controls?


Q:If I do implement some sort of multiplayer, should I give player the freedom to create and upload his/her own maps?
 
Any other feedback / thoughts feel free to post em. If it's something you would like to talk to me about privately please PM or email me. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Download Links:

Windows:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2la5yxfncv4vv4w/Minimal_Windows_x86_Demo.zip
Linux:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/segxw9ew7a4kfwr/Minimal_Linux_x86_Demo.zip
OSX/Mac:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6w7qn03ae5f9fcl/Minimal_Mac_x86_Demo.zip

Screenshots:


(Mini-Devlog):
http://thecodeassassin.intellisenseless.com

 
 

[Silverfell]

I really like the presentation of the levels, with the weird world space behind them.

Narration, since you asked, is currently limited to some difficult to digest paragraphs between stages. Since you have so much space around the levels, you could intersperse some of the dialogue through the level itself. For example, start with 'Orange opened its eyes for the first time', and show the first level. Then, in-game, say 'the cell was cold', and actually show the thumping and shaking by making the camera shake.

That way, you get the same information across, but in a more streamlined way.

Controls were fine. I'm not fond of games that don't give air-time control to jumps, but the game moved along nicely, and I seemed to work well.

What did not work for me was the execution of the depth movement in levels. This is an unused concept in 2.5D games, and it could give interesting gameplay. On the other hand, the fact that there is absolutely no indication as to the position in space of the purple cubes had me jumping around like a fool for a couple of minutes at first. Adding a simple blob shadow (perhaps a purple one to make it look like it's light from the block) of some kind may help with that.

You need to give the controls out with more clarity. I read every intro paragraph, and still I was stumped when it came to moving the green block. The first time you do something, you should show the player how it's done.

Stick at it. The bold camera angles and the minimalist design look like they could become something pretty interesting.