I like just "Intersection" actually. Sometimes unassuming is better. The game concept more than makes up for and gives power to the common word. However, it would be harder to search for, and there's higher risk of trademark issues maybe. (IANAL.) If you do go "Intyrsection", I wouldn't use CamelCase. And someone hearing rather than seeing the name might type in the standard spelling anyway. Just my own thoughts.

Thanks much for sharing your experience with Haxe and C++, by the way.

I agree the proposed theme sounds really good.

I also think intraspecies variety could be really nice. Lo-res pixels might make that hard. Don't know. Oh, and you're welcome, Jimbert. (I'm not much expert on the details of such algorithms myself. I'd just like to imagine something could work.) Anyway, back to noumenus, I don't want to be too annoying with all the feature request list. It's just a topic I've thought about off and on for some 15 years but have never actually worked on. But I also know everyone has their own ideas, and constraining scope is super important. Still, I'm glad to hear of the learning plans.

The skybox does give a nice feel, but I'm also inclined to think something richer than cube, red, and blue could be nice. Maybe still abstract. Not sure. But yeah the skybox definitely gave me a different attitude than without it.

I agree it's a fun idea. Another thing I've imagined is actual AI machine learning training of monster behavior. And actual exchange of monsters with other people, maybe with bitcoin-like technology. Does that encourage unethical behavior toward animals?

Thanks much for the feedback (including the thoughts on the energy blocks). I really appreciate it.

Got good enough steel for the moment maybe:



That's supposed to be brushed steel, but sometimes it comes across a bit too much like wood grain (also depending on the color scheme, but maybe that's okay). Might need to revisit it later. I want some/better texture in the ladders and bars now, too.

But energy blocks are next. I'm a bit unsure of exactly what to do with them. Different ideas. Not sure what I can pull off properly.

My kids are still sad that I moved away from my intent to keep the old graphics, even those who think the new stuff does look better. Pondering a legacy mode that uses the old stuff, since keeping my kids happy is one of the big points. But that's some effort, too. Not 100% sure.

Any feedback on whether any of this is an improvement, or am I just spinning my wheels and/or barking up the wrong tree? Is this new stuff good or at least better looking at all?

Oh, and that's a stop button in the upper-left corner, since this is for both touch screens and keyboard.

Is H1 a spear? Maybe I like A-D1 best. B2 has a nice charm, too. And maybe G2. I sort of like the colorful ones, too, but I'm not always so representative of other opinions. Just speaking personally.

I love the floppy tentacles.

I think the transfer concept sounds like it could make for some fun gameplay.

I really like the name, the visual style (presuming the bad guy cylinders are just placeholders), and the feel of the game. I played the demo by myself, so I know that wasn't the right experience. I just got started on level 2 was all. Maybe I'll try it with others sometime. I think it could be quite fun.

I kept trying to use enter and such to get through the menus at the beginning. Sometimes the info screens would get past before I'd read them, too. Also, remembering both action buttons for both players would take me time, but I managed to get down the first one for each.

I'm not sure I understand the point of going "one earth year forward" after level 1. I haven't read up on the supposed story line, though.

What does it mean to break my constraint not to change graphics? I asked myself, "Would me of 20 years ago improve the graphics, given the option?" I would have answered, "Yes." At the same time, I've retained the same game ideas: approximately same play features (even reduced maybe), same pixel sizes, no scrolling, editor, same philosophy overall. The overall game still comes off my initial graphic, even if the art changes.

As an aside, because I don't like pure text posts, I do plan to keep color scheme editing around. (My kids are really into it, among other reasons.) Here are some examples of different material effects for different colors of bricks.



That's sandstone, snow, stone, and greenery. Each case has its own core HSB. The same variety is applied across all. It's not perfect, but I think it will work well enough for some individual branding, so to speak.

My commitment was to change no graphics. Some people liked that story (and I really appreciate the kind words from those who did!), but no parties unrelated to me actually claimed to like the graphics, so I've been reworking things some. And I think I'm better at coding than art, so I've gone to my usual interest in procedural generation. After tinkering with some options, here is a look at how I might go with the bricks:



I've kept unchanged low res still for a few reasons, including some commitment to olden days.

One big question is whether I can make 8x10 pixel humanoids to match that style. I might have to make good animation to make up for lack of pixel expression.

Still no limited palette here, which is officially kosher for pixel art. But I like color, sorry.

As an aside, graphics are tiny here on purpose. I wanted to fit large (many-block, complex) levels without scrolling on 320x200 back in the day. I want this more about visual puzzle/problem/maze-solving and less about exploration.

Thanks much for the feedback. The repeated blocks for energy and steel (the bluish ones here) bother me the most. I'll have to decide how serious I am about my rule of not changing graphics. At what point do I lose my claim of using old graphics? How far can I go?

Basic energy block support is now in. This demo shows how I expect the gameplay to work:



Long ago, I'd imagined using a keyboard button to toggle the switch, but in my recent actual work on the project, I decided that puzzle solving gets more interesting if you have to approach the switch from the right direction or avoid it as needed.

All switches in a level toggle all energy blocks. Think of it like a room with one light circuit but multiple switches. Could be too simple for some things, but I still want to constrain the amount of hidden state in the game and also the complexity of level representation and editing.

The editor needs fancified a bit before showing how things look there.

Oh, and the final game also needs more juice: glowing blocks and fading in/out.

I think action RPG sounds cool for this one. Agreed on doing development in meaningful small chunks. Agreed with quixotic on keeping it easy to get into, not needing an account to start but providing the option.

Looks cool. I feel your pain on the 4-player thing. I tried to do that on one keyboard a few years ago, too. Lousy keyboards. Going back decades, I'm pretty sure I could read my whole Amiga keyboard as a big array. Still haven't reached those glory days again.

Okay. I just had time to try out the first two levels. Totally sweet idea with the leave the soul behind and teleport back thing. Maybe I'll get a chance to try out more later. Great work!

I was thinking recently about how too many games are about fighting, mine included. Nice to see some other focus here.