This kind of reminds me of a small indie game I played ages ago called Endgame: Singularity. In that one you played as an AI that has just been created and escaped into the internet. It was much simpler than this is looking, which is great because I felt that Endgame: Singularity was a really interesting game but didn't have a lot of depth.

Ape Escape did it and it worked. Try playing Ape Escape.

Unfortunately I don't own a PS1, so I don't really have that option. I went and looked up what the controls were. Apparently they used the right trigger and/or shoulder buttons for jump. Seems like they went for much the same solution as I did.

That's one example. Are there any others? I know of a fair few recent platformers that use mouse and keyboard to aim and jump, but none of the seem to have controller support.

Today I would like to talk about controls.

I recently received some adamant criticism about the controls for Dragon's Wake. The criticism basically boiled down to the idea that when playing a platformer with an Xbox controller, the A button should be for jumping.

Dragon's Wake does not use the A button for jumping. It uses the Left Shoulder button. The reason for this is that I want to use the Right Thumbstick for aiming the breath weapon, and I quickly found that using the A button for jump meant that, at best, the player was having to quickly switch their right thumb back and forth between the thumbstick and the A button. I felt that this was awkward and annoying, so I moved the jump input somewhere that didn't require the thumb.

My critics seemed to think that this was not sufficient reason to move away from the industry standard of using the A button to jump in a platformer. They claimed it will confuse and annoy players.

I disagree. Or rather, I think that the benefits of non-awkward controls outweigh the disadvantages of moving away from an industry standard.


Obviously you guys aren't in the best position to make a judgement since you can't play the game yet, but I'm interested to hear your opinions.
I've been looking around for other platformers that use the right thumbstick to see how they handle jumping, but I haven't been able to find any that have controller support. Does anyone else know of one, and how did they handle the issue?

We have a proper title image now. Take a look.





This was done at my request by a friend that is helping with some art stuff. As you can see, he does some nice work.


In other news, In two weeks time I will be at PAX Prime. Whoohoo! I'll be showing a demo of the game at booth 6002. If you happen to be going to PAX Prime come check it out and have a chat. I don't bite. (The dragon on the other hand...)

Dragon's Passage has been changed to Dragon's Wake.
A number of people were telling me that the name wasn't compelling to them. This was a bit of a problem since I was rather fond of the name. However one person whom I really respect was insistent that I find a new name and that I do it quickly.
I spent some time seriously thinking about it and came to the name Dragon's Wake. I found I actually like the name Dragon's Wake even better than Dragon's Passage.
Dragon's Passage is a name with several meanings that are relevant to the game but they only resonate weakly. A Dragon's Passage most obviously refers to the passages and caves that the dragon character(s) live in. It can also refer to the act of a dragon passing by. It also can be stretched to mean the action of a dragon passing on (i.e. dying). All of these are relevant to the story and/or gameplay, but the most relevant ones (passing by and death) are kind of oblique.
Dragon's Wake also has a couple of meanings and most of them are rather similar to Dragon's Passage. A wake is the immediate trail created by something as it moves. When people hear the term they tend to think of burned towns and dead bodies. However, a wake can also refer to the funeral ceremony. A Dragon's Wake would mean mourning for the death of a dragon. The meanings are similar to Dragon's Passage, but I think they strike the imagination much more sharply.

What do you people think?

My own philosophy when it comes to inventories is "Getting lots of stuff is fun. HAVING lots of stuff can be a pain.". As such, I prefer sharply limited (or non-interactable) inventories.

Stealth Bastard. It's like a cross between Splinter Cell and Super Meat Boy. Stealth games mostly have a slow pacing that can annoy, but Stealth Bastard keeps things moving quickly. You can avoid death even when detected, but you die instantly if they hit you with anything. The levels are relatively small and have well placed checkpoints to keep the frequent deaths from being too annoying.

Also Mark Of The Ninja. I loved terrifying guards into shooting each other, getting them to split up so that I could take them out one by one, and generally acting like a horror movie monster.

This is actually pretty insightful for me right now... sometimes i wonder if making a hard game as the only option is the way to go.
I think at all the times that doesn't give you a choice, like Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy and totally get away with it.
Maybe theres a way of doing this without making the player feeling like its actually his fault that he "died"?

The player should always feel like it is his fault he "died". Anything else is bad game design. If it's not his fault, who's fault is it? There is only the player and the game (ignoring multiplayer for the moment). If the player is not at fault then the game must be. Who wants to play a game that "kills" you even when you do nothing wrong (i.e. are not at fault)?

This isn't to say that games should all be hard. On the contrary, a game that is too hard risks having the player decide that it's the fault of the game that they are doing badly.

A certain level of difficulty is neccessary to convey the desired experience to the player. This is inherent in the nature of games. A game with no challenge is not a game at all. It is, at best, a toy.

DanHayesGamer-

Yeah, I can definitely see how graphics quality (and variety) could impact the player's immersion into the game like that.  Of course as you pointed out that does make it more daunting for indie developers.

Obviously almost all games, big or small, reuse assets.  For some genres this really isn't such a problem, but I can definitely see how it might be one for horror. 

Then make the reuse part of the creepyness.
"Wait I remember this room... but wasn't it on the floor below? And weren't there three paintings on the wall instead of two?"

Character growth means that the character changes over time. This generally means that what the character wants changes. For a character that is all by himself this could mean starting out desperate to reestablish contact with civilization and ending with him finding himself terrified of seeing people again. Or he could start a determined survialist and have that determination whittled away. The important point is that he have a different character at the end.

[Fly:]

Dragon's Wake is a 2D Adventure Platformer where you play as a newly hatched dragon.

Your wings are a part of you. Learn to fly and discover the beauty, wonders and dangers of this new world.

Evade your foes as you navigate the caverns. Hunt for food and rain fire from above. Make new friends and defeat your enemies.

This is a tale told without words, where your actions can shape the outcome.


A trailer for the game can be viewed on Steam Greenlight.


Dragon's Wake is intended to be a compelling narrative experience that relies on the gameplay to tell the story. You hatch from your egg and find yourself alone. You begin to explore and discover...
...well that would be spoiling things wouldn't it?

• Fly: Navigate the caves and avoid you enemies by using your mastery of the air. A flying system that lets you really feel like a magical winged creature.
• Burn: Breathe streams of flame and spit exploding balls of fire. When a dragon roars, the world trembles.
• Eat: Your foes are food. Eat your enemies to recover your strength.

                   


Dragon's Wake is being developed by Brainbox Software, which basically means just me.

EDIT: The name has been changed to Dragon's Wake. See the post below.