The dive-score is based solely on how cleanly you enter the water. If you happen to enter the water cleanly after you've been "paralyzed" then I still give the same score. It's by design. :-)  The game is hard enough as-is. Figured I wouldn't penalize luck!

Yeah, but if I clear the level by blind luck then I really don't feel any sense of accomplishment.

Anyway, I seem to be the only voice of dissent in this thread.  In light of that I'll have to assume that any problems with the game are my fault, and not yours. It wouldn't be the first time I was the only person who didn't understand what was going on .  So I'll leave you guys to it, I don't want to ruin anyone's fun.

No, the problems aren't your fault. Others have stated similar concerns. It's just a design decision I made and it's one of those things that isn't black and white. Some have told me they like the "luck" factor other, like you, don't care for it.

Personally, I kind of liked it while playing it myself so I left it that way.

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback I do appreciate it.

Yes, the controls were taken from Ski Stunt.  That game blew me away when I played it and I always wanted to duplicate the controls.

Glad you like it.

I'll put the "zoom in" idea on my list of suggestions for a future release. No promises though.

I think the defining moment for me was when the little dude went flying off the springboard, smashed headlong into a rock wall, died, then continued to fly up and off the screen only to come back down and land in between the buoys with a perfect 10.  I had no control over what was happening, and in a very real sense failed utterly at making the dive, but I got a perfect score anyway.

The dive-score is based solely on how cleanly you enter the water. If you happen to enter the water cleanly after you've been "paralyzed" then I still give the same score. It's by design. :-)  The game is hard enough as-is. Figured I wouldn't penalize luck!

Great work! I really want a video of someone playing this. I'm having troubles with the first jump, but I find it easier to hop to the ledge and then jump after I tilt a bit than to do a backflip. 

Is there any way we could get this full screen?

I don't have any recent videos, but here is one from the alpha.

I really don't know what the issue is, but I couldn't control this game to save my life.  I can't even get past level three.  I've tried every method of mouse gesturing I can think of... fast arcs, smooth and steady arcs, slow and deliberate, quick and decisive, nothing seems to work.  I played that one level for ten minutes straight and got nowhere.  Hell, I can't even get the little diver guy to clear the face of the cliff.  No matter what I do he just sort of flops off the end and goes tumbling down the cliff face into the drink.

I wonder it this might be a mouse-sensitivity issue. If your mouse sensitivity is too low, it could affect your ability to jump off the cliff.  I'd be interested to know if turning up your mouse sensitivity fixed things.

I'm going to give some thought to a tuning factor I could add to the game that allowed you to adjust how responsive Diver is to mouse movement.

ok i did the level i was stuck on, and now my frustration is lengthened by the next level..

for the casual player, it acutally just comes down to luck, when you get to the hard section, its ridiculous.. i think youve playtested the game so much that you fail to see how annoyingly difficult it is.

You need to lengthen the diving board, or change the angle of it, so its easier to make that distance..

Still an awesome game though, i dont usually come back to play casual games again much

Who says it's casual? :-)

Yeah, I know that the long jumps are causing an issue for some.  It's true, that for me they are not difficult.  I may consider moving the long jumps closer to the end of the levels.

Glad you like the game. Sorry it's so damn frustrating!  I think if you keep playing you will find it actually gets quite a bit easier. The learning curve is very long... and not to steep.

ok.. this is either a brilliant game, or the most fucking annoying and frustrating thing on the planet!??

Nice, that's my favorite response yet!

I get a LOT of people that feel the long distance jumps are too difficult.  I may try to tweak them, but at this point that might just piss off a bunch of other people. :-)  The more you land toward the tip of the diving board, the further you will go.

The key is to land near the tip of the diving board, crouch down as the board flexes down, then move the mouse up and to the left to "leap" toward the buoys.

It takes some practice but once you get the technique down you will wonder why it was ever so difficult.

Glad you hmm like? the game?

Thanks, Dragonmaw.

This game will remain in Silverlight. I developed it in Silverlight because I know the language/tools (c#/.Net/Visual Studio) better than other platforms and I have limited dev-time for games. It was the quickest way for me to get something done. Silverlight, even in beta, was a nice dev experience.

I'm considering doing one of my future games in flash to see how I like it.

[Elevator Pitch:]

Hi, my name is Jeff Weber of Physics Powered Games (Formerly Farseer Games).  I posted a while back about the alpha version of my game, Diver.

I just released the final version here.

Elevator Pitch:
Diver is a physics driven, extreme cliff diving game. Use only mouse gestures to jump off cliffs and bounce on diving boards attempting to land cleanly between two marker buoys floating in the water.

Screenshots:
screen 1
screen 2
screen 3
screen 4

Other Stuff
The control scheme is somewhat unique so I encourage a quick run through the "How To Play" screens.

Just looking for general feedback that I might apply to future games and or releases.

(note: Diver requires the Silverlight browser plug-in. Silverlight is very similar to Flash and has the same low-impact install experience)

Jeff Weber

Well it's a good concept, but seriously, the controls are a pain. How can I even jump forward far enough to reach the buoys (dive 5) when doing a backflip?

You need to back-flip off the cliff, and hit the diving board near the tip. Then when you spring down, crouch and push off by moving your mouse down then up and too the right.

It seems impossible at some times, but trust me if you work on it for a while it becomes quite easy.  That, in my mind, is the great thing about this control scheme. It has a very LONG learning curve.

As noted in other posts, I think a lot of the learning-pain could be fixed with some better tutorials.

-Jeff

Love the concept, the controls are very tricky to begin with, the timing should definitely be emphasised in the tutorial. Maybe if it shows a mouse pointer doing the same gesture (plus the actual dive) and then you have to match its timing.

Some Bugs:
- You can actually make an error box come up if you are really quick on clicking after hitting the water. You both respawn and the score comes up. Then when you hit the water again with the box up -> error. Didn't actually die completely though .
- My feet seem to stick when they touch the very end of the board... its repeatable (as in it has happened more than once). It also 'unsticks' very quickly, but its definitely noticeable.
- This one I've not been able to repeat: I was on the fourth 'proper' level (the one with the pillar you have to jump over into the middle. I hit the board dived over the buoys and hit the second island. I pushed myself off that and hit one of the buoys (I think) and then shot directly up into the air. Luckily for me it let me land directly in the centre Dunno exactly how it happened though.

Hi, glad you like the concept. I agree about the tutorial suggestion.

Thanks for the feedback. The bug that through into the error is a known issue. I think it's my fluid physics.

The first bug you mention is new to me.  Good find.

I've seen the sticky diving board thing you mention. I think it's caused by the collison detection...  the feet are penetrating the board occasionally. I think that's an easy fix.

-Jeff

Whoa, wait a second, you made Farseer physics? Awesome.

Yep, that's me.   

Here's some tips:
-To backflip onto the board, follow the semi-circle seen in the tutorial. If you don't get a backflip, but a stumbling fall, try a faster or slower motion in your gesture.
-You can also backflip by moving the mouse from bottom left to bottom right, then arching to top left, bottom left and bottom right. Again, timing is crucial.
-Controlling your bounce is much easier when you land on your feet. Control your rotation speed (by coiling up and straightening) so that you land on your feet.

If you make a 3 step tutorial explaining the gestures AND the timing, the learning curve will be reduced dramatically. The difficulty beyond that isn't that great.

Yeah, I think for the alpha I should have concentrated more on better tutorials. I'm considering adding some "Replay" functionality in the future. I could then use this to show the different gestures and timing.

3b. Its kinda hard to see where his head/foots are when he make the loops. give him maybe a headband to identify his head during movement better. (I often to early opened my position and the dived with the foots ion because I thought that the foots were the head. )

I'll give that some thought. It never occured to me.

Why Silverlight? =)

Simple. Because it's what I know. I'm a MS developer for my day job. I don't have a lot of time so I use what I'm most productive in.

WOuld love some more Details (i know its WIP?!) Some flying birds and other nice stuff  (Level editor?)

I have a lot of ideas, including flying birds and fish. I eventually want to do an online level editor with ability to save and share levels but that will probably be a ways out.  Currently I'm thinking of 60 or so levels: 20 single board levels, 20 2-board levels, and 20 3-board levels.  I'll probably target that and release then decide where to take if from there if anywhere.  For the first release I'll have things like ragdoll effects, damage sounds, better tutorials, and just general polish. Some of the more elaborate ideas will need to wait otherwise I'll be developing for years.

Regarding your last comment, the diving boards spring forces are fully adjustable so it's just a matter of tuning.

Thanks for the feedback.

What is Microsoft Silverlight?

It's Microsoft's competitor to flash/flex. 

What made the Ski Simulator so fun was the hilarious crashes, I think. You lose that in Diver. And Diver also has an extremely steep difficulty curve - I could never complete the first level. Seriously, this is hard.

Agreed.  My physics engine does support ragdoll, I just haven't got that far yet.  That should add some more interesting crashes but I get what you mean.

I am a bit worried about the learning curve. It is steep, but at the same time it is loooonnggg which I like. It takes a long time to master.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Game-Control Mechanic]

Diver is in an alpha state at the moment and many of the obvious things aren't there yet.

Here is a direct link for the impatient
It's a browser game: http://www.farseergames.com/Diver/DiverPlay.aspx 

Currently I'm looking for feedback on the following:

Game-Control Mechanic: The control is similar to Ski Stunt Simulator. Is it intuitive? Does it "feel" right?  Any suggestions?

Game Play Ideas: Currently I'm thinking the game will be a "Complete All Levels(Dives)" game. At the moment, to complete a dive you need to:

• Use any and all diving boards.
• Land between the buoys
• Get a dive-score above 7.5.

I'm also thinking of a free-dive mode, achievments (are they over-done these days), and a running dive-score. Thoughts? Ideas?

Difficulty
Is the game too difficult. I know it takes a bit to get going, but is the learning curve to steep?  I do plan for some better practice levels but do you think that will be enough? Any other ideas to keep people from being put-off by the initial difficulty?

Platform/Requirements
Diver is a browser game built on the Silverlight framework. It requires the Silverlight 2.0 plug-in. (Microsoft's version of flash).  The game-site will prompt you to install it if you don't have it. The insall should be pretty pain-less just like flash.

The game should work on Windows XP or Vista using Firefox (not the 3.0 beta though) or IE or on a Mac using either Firefox or Safari (interested to get feedback from mac-users as I don't have one for testing.)

video and screens









Thanks,

-Jeff Weber

I downloaded and tried the game. I think you need to include some more instructions or a tutorial level.

I didn't have a clue what to do. I just clicked around for bit and hit some keys.

Did I miss the instructions somehow?  I saw the Info button but that didn't help me much.

I do like the game's look.

-Jeff

Hey All.

My name is Jeff Weber. I currently live in Appleton, Wisconsin (USA)

For the last 6 years, give or take a year, I've considered myself an indie game developer hobbyist.
Recently I got my mind right and started taking the steps to nix the 'hobbyist' part.

Over these last 6 years I've developed a whole crap-load of demos, experiments, prototypes, and unfinished games.
 
I've spent the last year, give or take a year, getting more focused and actually completed development of a free open source 2D physics engine called the Farseer Physics Engine.

The physics engine was just a necassary pre-cursor to my ultimate goal: make some damn fun physics games! Which I'm doing currently.

My games will not be AAA, have jaw-dropping art, or win a pulitzer for story, but they will ooooooze physics out of every orfice!

As far as playing games goes, I'm sure to be in the minority. While I'm obsessed with game technology, development, and the industry as a whole, I don't play a ton of games.

I do play some, though, and here are three that have had the biggest impact on me:

Another World
Ski Stunt Simulator
Elasto Mania

Here's a small screenie of the game I'm currently working on. It's called 'Diver'. I should have a playable Alpha version ready in mid to late March. It's being developed for Microsofts new Silverlight platform.



You can vist my website/blog for more info about me and what I'm up to. (see sig. for link)

Finally, here's what I look like when I'm riding a donkey with my 1 yr old son.



This post concludes my 'ManBaby' status.

See you around!

I've used nprof in the past. Worked pretty well but it's been a while so I'm not sure if it's compatible with the newest .Net framework

It's free, though so give it a try.