I love the name "Chuck's Big Dig".

Goshdarnit I am not naming it Chuck's Big Dig
It sounds like some campy Disney movie or something and I do not like it sorry

 

Big meanie...

I think I'll either do that or 'Detective Hobo'  It seems catchy

The Hobo Detective is more title-like.

The Hobo Detective in: The Curse of the Swamp Monster – Title and subtitle.

But be careful, 'Hobo' may not be the right word you want because it implies he's dirty, poor, low-class, etc. 'Nomad' or 'Vagabond' are less pejorative.

You don't decide what your "definitive" style will be, you just have a style.

Also, what do you guys think I should do with this blank space to the right?

I've got a score table, an in-depth look at your score, a thing to show how much debt remains... But I need something else. Guess I could just leave it blank...

Why is the debt window separate from the rest of the score info?

I would run the score listing across the width of the window, and display the score info of the selected entry at the bottom.

Alternative: put all of that info in the score list itself in 6 or 7 or whatever columns.

Also: move the Local/Global tabs down a notch so they don't touch the logo (whatever you end up naming it), and set all info/text boxes in from the edge so there is a containing border around all separate elements.

[Chuck's Big Dig]

How about... Chuck's Big Dig? Name your drillbot Chuck, which is a thing that holds a drill.

This is the perfect name

Oh yes, I agree, and might I add that you're a handsome and intelligent fellow? 

As awesome as it is I don't think it really reflects the mood of the game. 

Mood is what you make of it. Take a game about a regular guy saving an abducted woman from a lecherous dragon who has unleashed his murderous minions upon a strange and unfamiliar land, where the sky itself blackens as our hero approaches the source of evil.

Do you call it Conquer the Rapist Lizard, or Super Mario Bros?

yes I agree that the skeleton and the goblin could be a bit more readable. Currently I dont have the tileset confirmed, because I dont have the island generation code confirmed, so until I get the tileset confirmed I will hold off doin any color correction stuff. I also hope to do several types of islands. maybe a volcano island, snow island and this island. I would then have different guys and bosses depending on location.

I think the skeleton reads just fine, but the goblin does blend into the grass tile.

How many hits can the bosses take?

How is this still at 10% complete? Gabriel, at this rate you're gonna have a longer dev cycle than

The final game will be a petabyte in size and be playable in an arcade cabinet at IBM's headquarters.

By the time it's done we'll have 16 petabyte iPhones.

Is Santa holding a record?
I like this.

Umm ... sure .. it's not a test object at all, it's a record ... containing xmas carols!

It's a vinyl chakram that plays music when you throw it!? And it does that record needle scratch sound when it hits something?! Awesome!

That's totally what you meant to say.

[Attack of the Attack of the Attack!]

Attack of the Attack of the Attack!
...

I like this one. Can you die from taking too much damage as well, thereby rewarding you for scraping close to death?

Prob...ably.

Ignore everyone else and make my game. 

[Attack of the Attack of the Attack!]

I have plucked this gem from my posterior:

Attack of the Attack of the Attack!

You control a character who gets stronger the more damage he takes – hits from enemies, long falls, bumping into spikes or walking into fire, etc – but you has to unleash this power before it builds up and kills him. But if you unleash it into the swarms of scampering puppies and bunnies, skipping orphans, singing nuns, or barely motile elderly found all over the place, your score plummets.

WINGED LUTIN OF FIRE

Lutins don't need wings to fly! Just ask Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy!

This thread needs some video for those who can't (or just won't  ) play the demo.

I agree about the walls, they looks a bit dull sometimes... I might try to vary the textures, maybe?

Varying the texture and colours would go a long way. The levels read a little flat, and you'll want some variety to distinguish levels. You might also want to round the corners and muddy-up the blocks used in underwater levels.

Yeah, he's chewing tobacco, although I'm not sure if that's coming through very well. And I see what you mean about the animation, just walking away and coming back I can see how stiff it is. I'll try playing with the timing a bit.

An exaggerated circular motion at the mouth/cheek would get the chewing action across a bit better. See

for example. Showing the lip moving or the mouth opening a little as it moves would also help a lot.

I think you might be looking for gamelan music, specifically gamelan gong kebyar.

I'm using it as background theme music in a game I'm working on too.

But what content they have is quite varied and/or allows for greater and greater complexity, which means the challenge is there. They're also the type of game you can beat and then beat a little differently the next time – rewind here instead of there, pop out of the wall instead of the ceiling, etc. The old "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master" factor. You aren't going to beat any level of Pursuit of Hat differently the next time through (at least from what I saw of the first ~15 levels).

I found Braid and Portal a lot less challenging than Time Fuck (a flash game) and Lup Salad (not flash but low production values and tons of levels).

I didn't say challenge alone was the determining factor; I actually said the opposite, that there are multiple factors working in tandem and they can generally be attributed to a level of production value you don't find in every game.

Also yeah you can play the levels "a little differently" if you're really into that but it doesn't change the fact that both are linear games with single-solution puzzles.

Most games are – I'm not sure why that needs to be pointed out – but there are some you have more fun playing, and replaying, than others.

Higher production values generally mean a game with more meat on its bones – an involving story, a wider variety of challenges that keep you challenged right up to the end, and just more game than you're likely to find in something made in Flash/for your phone/hosted by ConglomoWebGames.

Both Braid and Portal have VERY little content though. A lot less than you'd find in popular flash puzzle gams.

But what content they have is quite varied and/or allows for greater and greater complexity, which means the challenge is there. They're also the type of game you can beat and then beat a little differently the next time – rewind here instead of there, pop out of the wall instead of the ceiling, etc. The old "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master" factor. You aren't going to beat any level of Pursuit of Hat differently the next time through (at least from what I saw of the first ~15 levels).

D) All of the above.

Higher production values generally mean a game with more meat on its bones – an involving story, a wider variety of challenges that keep you challenged right up to the end, and just more game than you're likely to find in something made in Flash/for your phone/hosted by ConglomoWebGames.

But this isn't the only formula for success – Angry Birds has none of these things.