Bah, I don't like it. I'm okay with minimalist games, but in terms of content or graphics or sounds, not gameplay. Phasma is right though, it's quite hypnotic, especially with the sound.
It would make a mediocre screensaver, but doesn't make a mediocre game.
The effects on the clouds are neat, though.

Very nice.

I beat the game. You could make out the officer in the sub flash red when you got the homing torpedo to hit his sub.

Things I'd like:

a) Sound
b) Music  ( Would this be great at the start of the first boss fight? :D )
c) Scale option (so it's windowed, but larger)
d) Grenades ~ when the dust is settling ~ shouldn't really hurt you.
e) Make hero fade or disappear into the exit, instead of swirling into it, floating through platforms.

I second all the points above.    GJ JWAP

I don't know if I'm supposed too, but I got my sheep flying. 
edit: Played it again. Definetly a feature. :D Great game.

[Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa...]

replace quote sprite with ip, problem solved (do you see what i am doing here? (do you get what i am implying? (i am implying that the underside is a... well... you know))).

 

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

Seriously though, ip would be a great balanced character, with melee and ranged.
Now get to work mister podunkles.

Beat this little sucker on the most mediocre of difficulties. If I typed any faster I'd be redder than a tomato after a day at the beach, you dig?
My fingers' smokin' and that ain't 'cause I been scrathin' my head real hard. 

Haha, I can't write film noir style, don't know how you guys did it.  :D
Great game, the writing is impeccable!

Take a look at this flash skee ball game http://www.bigmoneyarcade.com/index.php?action=playgame&gameid=335 and give me your opinion. While I think it does many things well, I think it fails in others. I personally think the controls suck and really feels like it's based on luck. It is gimicky which I think is ok since it is for the web, but just doesn't feel tight to me.

That game, even though it is magnitudes of quality away from yours, does have the same kind of atmosphere yours does. And it's this atmosphere that's slightly bugging me: you have an empty, dark corner of some sort of carnival, with a looping, instantly recognizable, fair track. Although it might just be some sort of repressed childhood trauma involving carnivals and skee ball.  :D

Nevertheless, you're the one who's sweatin' away to make it so you have full right to do whatever you want and I hope you pull it off.

[desperately]

Bah, this kind of game is not really my favourite, but it was rather well executed. Here the complaints:

• This game desperately needs fastforward.
• Menu-wise there are way too many buttons. After the first level I pressed the "play again" button by mistake, because there are 4 other buttons on the screen and then couldn't find my way out of the first level and had to complete once again, which is a fairly lengthy process, due to the lack of fast forward. It would be more intuitive if the Next Level button was the button singled out because it's the one I'm most likely to click.
• On a general note, I find that there are too many things going on: too much text, too much graphics. The level select menu confused me to no end the first time I saw it; I thought it was the game! This is probably just a matter of personal taste.

Otherwise, great job.

Make it happen.
Placeholder art?  It's great by any metric.

Can you give us any details on the platform this game will be released on?

So how would I go about using Lua for my game code? Which part of the program should be C++? Just the loading, initializing and blitting?

edit: I replaced my maps with tr1's unordered_maps and everything was A-OK

edit2: Ah forget it. The moment I started making anything game-like and went out of my theoretical bubble I realized "I'm gonna need arrays, and vectors" and that I'd end up with more maps than I can point a pointer at. (pun totally great hahahalol)
Still interested in using Lua or maybe python, though, will look into that.

After careful deliberation I have decided to use unordered_maps, probably from the Boost library. If it gets too slow or buggy in the future I'll just toss it in the bin and use something wiser.

This has lead me to think about some deeper concepts of programming. Why isn't creating a variable just a function? What I'm doing with my admittedly moronic code is simulating the "remote" creation of variables. With this system I can call game.create_int("name_of_the_int", 5); and have an int. Why is this not a standard feature in C++.

On a deeper level, why can't I tell my program to execute any string, for example:

Code:

string test;
cin >> test;
execute(test);

And if test is "std::cout << "Hello world";" the program should output 'Hello world'.

Why can't I treat data as code and vice-versa?

Is this a feature in other languages? I have heard of similar things in LISP and other such mythical languages.

Realizing that I couldn't get rid of global state I at least tried making a god class that wouldn't need rewriting every time I decide to change the name of some variable, for example if god class is as such:

Code:

class Game {
   private:
      int player_x, player_y, player_health;
   public:
      functions
      functions
};

If my next awesome hypothetical game needs no variable player_health I'll have to go down in to my framework and change code around. What I mean is that I would like to completely isolate the generic engine part and the specific game part of the code. Is this possible?

For long I have struggled on how to keep all my game data in a place the whole program can access it, without succumbing to the inherent evils of global variables.

A few days ago, I had an idea. I have a game class. This game class has a lot of maps. A map for ints, a map for floats, a map for strings, a map for sprites, etc.

Every map consists of a key which is a string, and a piece of data.

There is also a map that contains pointers to functions, each of which is a state. Every of these functions is of the type: string Example_state(Game* game); and when they are called they are given as arguments a pointer to the game class that called them (this) and they return a string that is the key for the next state to be called.

I'm using all those maps so every time I start a new project I don't have to create a new "game" class with the data that project needs.

I guess my question is whether this abusing of maps will cause any significant slowdown in my program or whether there is any better way of doing what I'm doing (creating a flexible, robust state machine that can handle data).

[Concept]

Just tried the game (the first version you posted, though). What I'm about to say is just my personal opinion and might be a little "mean" 

I think this game is failing both in concept and in execution:

• Concept - First of all, as was already said, skee ball doesn't seem to be a sport that lends it self well too simulation, but I guess if bowling simulators exist, this could too. What's bothering me is the atmosphere/tone of the game. It seems to me like you're going too much for realism and not enough for a "crazy effects casual game" kind of thing. What exists of the game is just dull.
• Execution - This sort of games (bowling simulators et al) depend heavily on very well thought out, polished, intuitive control schemes, which this game is lacking. At the moment it feels like a game of luck.

Overall I advise changing the atmosphere of the game entirely, forget about the simulation business and go for a fun, flashy and colorful game. Also, you really need to make a good control scheme.

He might be one of us! 

I have no idea on how to activate the translucent golden tiles, am I supposed to know?

edit: There's a button on the seventh level

Hehe, if Paul would like to contribute some of his favourite questions, I would be happy to take them.

There are about 100 questions in Stage 2 (learning stage) right now.  I can always add more!

Daium, that's a lot of questions. I have one:
"How can you survive a fall from a 20 story building?"

yay. more designing!

so I have sat down and made a list of all the different things I want the Player to be able to find.

I am still working on the sub design and allowing the player to exit for exploring.

1. the main player Pilots a sub, and has a set status of divers. you start with 3 divers, that will go out to explore. if they die you would need to go back to the base to reload. (basically thing of you running a ship and these are the sailors)

2. I can use the same idea above but instead of divers it can be small drones, this would make more sense as how everything fits in the sub. (the sub is about Van sized) also I can perhaps give the player different types of drones to send out.

4. the main player is the only person on the sub. he leaves just like Blaster Master but if the player dies its game over and back to the base.

sound off everyone.

Bah, I have to say I hate all these ideas. I think it would add a lot of atmosphere if the player was all alone in the sub, or out of it.

I like the idea of the sub being a source of light while all the player has is a small flashlight. Also if you add a finite air suply no one should wander too far out of their sub.

Also, death should be very punishing. The player should act with caution, just like in La Mulana. It shouldn't be "Oh look, a big scary crevice, let's jump in to see what's there" and more "Hot damn, a big scary crevice, I should go in slowly, anchored to my sub... I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE! "

The ocean floor is dark, silent and scary, you should use that awesome potential. 

I love the sprites you have so far!

Massena, there was one quite recently. A week ago, in fact 

You dare correct me? You dare imply I have not read this thread in it's entirety?! I slap thee with my e-glove.

A 96-hour game making duel starting tomorrow at noon GMT. The theme can be of your choosing. Let the lesser of contestants be called a twat 'till the end of his days.

P. S.: 96 hours are four full days, in case your skull is too thick to do the math

edit: I didn't, in fact, read the whole thread with the fullest of my attention, I didn't realise you were a participant in the latest duel :D
Consider yourself unslapped, if you still haven't caught your breath since the last duel.
Sorry mate

Great concept and great execution. The tower building is a great incentive for getting all the coins.

I can't get two coins on 4  The ones on top right

edit: Nevermind, got'em (you have to skid jump towards the wall, then wall jump and then double jump). Having great fun .

136.57 ºC

edit: Totally forgot my negative, there.