teknogames
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« on: February 05, 2008, 10:13:25 PM » |
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Gravortex is not a fan game or a demake, it is essentially what happens when you make something cool and splice it into a platform engine... This started out as challenge to make a graivty vortex, and once completing said gravity vortex, I added a platform engine just for kicks. What do you know, inspiration to make a game. Immediately after thinking about the words "gravity vortex" I thought: portal. And I wanted to challenge myself with that famous portal thing where you can see the other side of the portal blah blah. Anyway, I borrowed a buttload of elements from portal, but my ultimate goal was not to make a remake, but to create my own puzzles utilizing different aspects of portal but with different gameplay. So now that it's clear that this wasn't started because I wanted make a lovechild with Portal, I give you: Gravortex. There are 18 puzzles >>>Download GRAVORTEX here<<<
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moshboy
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« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2008, 11:46:00 PM » |
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I liked it. Don't have a lot of complaints really.. I've played to level 7 so far and the difficulty is rising at a fair level. The physics 'feel' right, the controls are simple and responsive and the graphical appearance is simple but nice - all of which is a good sign. I liked the blurred effect when objects were getting sucked towards the first portal. The only thing I did notice was that when I had the two portals in the air and an object was flying inbetween them repeatedly, the object seemed to fade out below the lower portal (unless my eyes are deceiving me) - is this intentional?
I suppose the only other complaint I would have is that the window you play in is pretty small. Not that I'm worried about fullscreen but something a bit bigger would have been nice.
No doubt this may be compared to Flash Portal.
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« Last Edit: February 05, 2008, 11:49:13 PM by moshboy »
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deadeye
First Manbaby Home
Level 10
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« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2008, 02:53:08 AM » |
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Not bad. The portal system takes a little getting used to... on the first few levels I kept getting my incoming and outgoing portals mixed up. After that it was fine. I'm also not usually a big fan of "press up to jump" controls, but since there really isn't any other way to do it with the mouse aim, it's forgivable. Plus there really isn't all that much jumping in the game. I made it up to level 18 and couldn't get past. Up until then the biggest hassle I had was with the "Escort" level. There's something weird about the way the balls move, like they're not quite physicsy enough or something. I kept expecting them to bounce a certain way and they just wouldn't. It also seemed like they broke free of the portal's influence a little too easily at times. The only other issue I had really was that in fullscreen mode I'd lose my mouse pointer pretty easily. If the screen was 4:3 ratio that wouldn't be a problem. I found normal resolution to be a little too small to play, so I agree with moshboy that a x2 window size option would probably be best. I also think that the game could benefit from some kind of background track. Maybe not music per se, but something ambient would fit pretty well. Overall a pretty good game. I think I'll keep this one around a while (especially if you have any tips on getting past level 18 )
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moshboy
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« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2008, 03:17:17 AM » |
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Yes I forgot about mentioning the soundtrack. Some more sound would definitely benefit the game I think.
I didn't have any issues with getting the portals confused, although I did keep expecting it to have the same system as flash portal, where you press the left mouse button for the first and then the left mouse button again for the second and then jump between the two. So it took me a little to figure out that the right mouse was used for the second portal. Not a major issue though - I think most people are smart enough to figure it out for themselves.
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alphasmart
Level 1
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« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2008, 04:29:35 AM » |
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hey, I like this! It certainly works well and the puzzles are nicely designed. There are a few quirks though, like the vortex fizzles out sometimes if you put it too near to the floor. The block breaking other blocks (like on the 'don't jump' level) is a bit hit-and-miss but it does the job. I'm currently stuck on level 15, there doesn't seem to be any way of getting to the exit which is a bit frustrating, but it's great! Oh and I notice you did it in GM6, you should probably patch it with the vista patch.
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oliv
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« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2008, 09:17:02 AM » |
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Great game, I beat it! Nice titlescreen cookie :p
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team_q
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« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2008, 09:48:04 PM » |
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I tried to play, but it just didn't load and drank my CPU cycles.
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teknogames
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« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2008, 10:35:15 PM » |
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mm level 18 is broken. You are supposed to teleport bullets and kill the gaurds without them noticing you, but they dont die. I'll release an update asap.
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ThetaGames
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« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2008, 03:06:25 PM » |
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I like it a lot. I have not yet played Portal, so I don't know how similar it is. From a purely gameplay standpoint, this has some very nice puzzle elements, coupled with a smooth engine, and simple, clean graphics. Like others have said, it could definitely use music. Also, the transition between rooms seems a little slow.
Great game!
~ Theta Games
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Boder
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« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2008, 02:18:35 PM » |
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This is a very good game. I'm glad to see that game maker can be used properly (menu screen, ESC doesn't instantly quit, resolution change, save games, cool effects). You must have reached gamedev master rank with all these neat effects and polish to the game.
I did beat it and the last level seemed very easy and out of place?
The only thing is the fullscreen doesn't take up the full height, it only seems about 75%.
That stealth level was tough :D
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Akhel
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« Reply #10 on: February 09, 2008, 08:28:29 AM » |
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Finished it. It's very cool! I love the weird little character, and having the white portal attract the blocks is a very neat idea. I had some difficulty climbing the ladder, though. I could get the character to go a few pixels up if I held the up key (not W, but the directional up key) right after touching it, but he'd soon fall. I had to make a portal close to the top to climb it successfully. That's not on purpose, right? Also, a very minor bug: you can make a jumping sound without actually jumping if you press W right after landing from another jump. It's hard to time it and does not really make much of a difference, but I thought you'd like to know.
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v-rus
Level 0
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« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2008, 07:09:42 PM » |
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That was fun/cool. I only wish there was more of it.
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Tex Pine
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« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2008, 03:02:24 PM » |
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A fun game this one. Pretty much like Portal, but still fun. Some thoughts:
1. Like moshboy said, the portals could alternate on the left button. And you could offer the alternative of the arrow keys to control the character also. That's the first thing I try on a platform-like game.
2. Couldn't exit the application but through the Task Manager. The close button of the window didn't work.
3. The sound effects annoyed me a bit... Guess it's just me though.
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