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[Brian Wilbur]

LOVE! is now available for download!
Click here to go to the download page!
For information on v1.1, please view this post.

Hi guys,

(I hope this is the right place to post this!)

I was told by another person to come here in order to get my game out there -- I'm assuming this is the place to do it. It's not quite finished yet, but we are releasing on the 14th.

It's LOVE!

You are Maily McMailerson, and it's your job to deliver LOVE to the tiny, sad little Effelants to cheer them up again!

The game is a casual one, and control revolves entirely around the mouse. Maily does not run across the ground -- instead, he slides down walls automatically, while you jump back and forth, utilizing different types of tiles to reach the bottom of each level. Essentially, we took the standard platforming formula and turned it on its side.

Website |

| Facebook Page

A few gameplay screenshots:

I would really, really like a lot of feedback and constructive criticism. I am a third-year game design student, and I'm trying to learn as much as possible -- this is only my second major project, and the first one that I am (somewhat) attempting to market.

The only other place I've posted this is 4chan, and I didn't exactly get the best feedback from there...hopefully things go a little better (or at least more constructive) here.

Thanks, all. And please let me know if I did something wrong/posted too early after registering/etc., I don't want to make a fool of myself.

[eigenbom]

nice job for only your second game project!

the screenshots looked quite interesting, but when i watched the video i saw that the sprites aren't animated (besides the couple of frames when you shoot an elephant). i think you could add a lot of life by adding a few extra animations.

also, the elephants look cool, but there is a clash of styles in there. you've got the cartoony elephants, the rough texture of the blocks in the last screen, and the huge pixels when you shoot the mega elephant at the end of the video. stick with the cartoony look (the blocks in the 3rd screneshot fit this style, so you're half way there).

gl

[eigenbom]

oh, and also 'love' is pretty generic (and taken), how about:

elovephant
love thy elephant
trunk of burning love (actually that sounds really gross  )
elephanatic

..

maybe i shouldn't quit my day job

[Raku]

Just watched the video. wow, that's actually a pretty interesting concept!

[Brian Wilbur]

nice job for only your second game project!

the screenshots looked quite interesting, but when i watched the video i saw that the sprites aren't animated (besides the couple of frames when you shoot an elephant). i think you could add a lot of life by adding a few extra animations.

also, the elephants look cool, but there is a clash of styles in there. you've got the cartoony elephants, the rough texture of the blocks in the last screen, and the huge pixels when you shoot the mega elephant at the end of the video. stick with the cartoony look (the blocks in the 3rd screneshot fit this style, so you're half way there).

gl

I totally agree with you on the styles. The problem is, I had two artists, both relatively inexperienced -- one was decent with character design, and the other with tiles, scenery, etc.. So most of the game is done in the style of one artist, but the Effelants are done differently (as you've pointed out). And again with the animation -- would you like to see how the Effelants were originally animated? They were animated when they were sad, but I thought it looked awkward so it was removed -- and again, my character animator seemed to enjoy disappearing, so that presented me with more problems. One suggestion I've gotten that I like, however, is that maybe Maily should swing from side to side just a bit when he's got the balloons -- that could add a little life. I'm trying to think of what I can do in code to spruce it up a bit.

As for the title...I really felt like LOVE was the best we can do. I know it is:

- The name of a flash game
- The name of an MMO
- The name of a game engine

But does the all-caps title set it apart enough? Does that even make a difference? I feel like we've come too far (and, of course, my personal attachment doesn't help) to change it, but at the same time I don't want to end up getting sued...

Any suggestions as to where to go from there? I'd really like it to be great, but I keep needing to stop and tell myself that I won't be making any award-winning titles any time soon... 

[eigenbom]

I totally agree with you on the styles. The problem is, I had two artists, both relatively inexperienced -- one was decent with character design, and the other with tiles, scenery, etc.. So most of the game is done in the style of one artist, but the Effelants are done differently (as you've pointed out).

Hmm, yeh this sucks a bit. But you could still salvage the tiles which have clean lines and flat colours, and offer colour variants of them. The first three screens of tiles are pretty good actually, its just the last that erks me a bit.

One suggestion I've gotten that I like, however, is that maybe Maily should swing from side to side just a bit when he's got the balloons -- that could add a little life. I'm trying to think of what I can do in code to spruce it up a bit.

Yer this would work I think! Although be careful not to make it too mechanical, rather sway slightly in response to changes in momentum.

Also, you could just make the elephants jump a little (say 5 pixels), just so they don't seem like cardboard cut-outs.

As for the title... does the all-caps title set it apart enough?

Eskil uses all caps for his game: LOVE.

Does that even make a difference? I feel like we've come too far (and, of course, my personal attachment doesn't help) to change it, but at the same time I don't want to end up getting sued...

You won't get sued. I don't think you can trademark such a short word, although Tim Langdell definitely tries.

How about just: Effelant Love?

Any suggestions as to where to go from there?

• Make sure the character is easy to control.['li]
  
  • Make sure the difficulty ramps up appropriately.
  • Make the font a bit bolder, and the font background thing a bit darker.
  • And lastly, don't hang out on 4chan.

[Brian Wilbur]

To the above poster -- thanks a lot, that's a whole bunch of really useful advice. I'm going to see if I can use my limited knowledge to play around with the Effelants, etc.

I was just reading a thread on another board here about the "Ugly baby" theory/games...and I totally see where it's going. I think what we have is decent -- it may not have been as amazing as we hoped, but I think it's best to just fix it up as best as we can in the coming week or so, and then go ahead and release it anyway. Besides, as far as I'm concerned...if ten people enjoy my game, I'll have done my job.

What do you think about switching the name to "LOVE, Starring Maily McMailerson" or "Maily McMailerson's LOVE"? Or is that too close, still, since it really acts a subtitle?

Thanks again for all your help & advice. I've only been here for a few hours and this place is already great.

[i wanna be the guy]

Dear sir,

I am writing this to inform you that we of WunderBaros Inc. have a copyright and trademark on the name Mailman Man, Maily, and the entire world of Mail. We would like to inform you that if you do not cease and desist your use of the name Maily McMailerson we will bring down a reign of terror on you and your world not unlike that seen by the god Thor. We plan to cause lightning, break houses, cause earthquakes, all of that nonsense, and whatever else the Postal Service will allow us to do. We thank you for taking the time to read this and wish you luck on your game when the main character is in possession of a more appropriate and less Thor-angering-copyright-infringement state.

Sincerely,
WunderBaros Inc.

[eigenbom]

no worries, glad to be of help.

I totally sympathize, it would be awesome to make everything, well awesome, but you've got limited time, and there's plenty of other projects just waiting to be started! on the other hand, you've spent a lot of time so far on it, so it'd be good to tighten everything up and make sure its fun.

I had major time problems with my game: guardian. I only worked on it for about 3 months, maybe 1-2 hours a day. Then, because I've got other commitments I had to really just stop adding nice things to it, and make sure it was stable etc, and fix all that other boring stuff that improves the players experience without them noticing. Turns out its a boring game, too difficult, and very laggy, but I've had over 300 people log in the last two weeks, which is a great feeling (even if they quit after dying once!)

LOVE, Starring Maily McMailerson
Maily McMailerson's LOVE

Given the choice of those two, I would stick with "LOVE".

[Brian Wilbur]

Dear sir,

I am writing this to inform you that we of WunderBaros Inc. have a copyright and trademark on the name Mailman Man, Maily, and the entire world of Mail. We would like to inform you that if you do not cease and desist your use of the name Maily McMailerson we will bring down a reign of terror on you and your world not unlike that seen by the god Thor. We plan to cause lightning, break houses, cause earthquakes, all of that nonsense, and whatever else the Postal Service will allow us to do. We thank you for taking the time to read this and wish you luck on your game when the main character is in possession of a more appropriate and less Thor-angering-copyright-infringement state.

Sincerely,
WunderBaros Inc.

  I am not sure what is happening right now.

no worries, glad to be of help.

I totally sympathize, it would be awesome to make everything, well awesome, but you've got limited time, and there's plenty of other projects just waiting to be started! on the other hand, you've spent a lot of time so far on it, so it'd be good to tighten everything up and make sure its fun.

I had major time problems with my game: guardian. I only worked on it for about 3 months, maybe 1-2 hours a day. Then, because I've got other commitments I had to really just stop adding nice things to it, and make sure it was stable etc, and fix all that other boring stuff that improves the players experience without them noticing. Turns out its a boring game, too difficult, and very laggy, but I've had over 300 people log in the last two weeks, which is a great feeling (even if they quit after dying once!)

LOVE, Starring Maily McMailerson
Maily McMailerson's LOVE

Given the choice of those two, I would stick with "LOVE".

See, this is my problem...I spent a while searching a month or two ago when I realized there were so many things called "Love" already. But I just couldn't think of anything better. Effelove? I don't know.

[eigenbom]

I am not sure what is happening right now.

 

See, this is my problem...I spent a while searching a month or two ago when I realized there were so many things called "Love" already. But I just couldn't think of anything better. Effelove? I don't know.

Elephant heart shooter 2400. There, done. 

[Brian Wilbur]

Ended up going with a relatively simple change from LOVE to "LOVE! (Starring Maily McMailerson)". I think it's enough...I hope it's enough.

Prepping for release now...My honest hope is that I can get a lot of feedback (and hopefully a few compliments here and there...) We would like to learn a lot from this and do a much, much better job on our next project (and so on and so forth).

EDIT: Unfortunately, despite my many struggles we could not get any of the graphics redone. Ugh. I really wanted to carry out these suggestions too. Oh well, more for the postmortem.

[eigenbom]

good luck!

[Brian Wilbur]

Bumping one final time -- LOVE! has been released! Feel free to download and provide as much intricate criticism as possible -- we're college students and this is our first major project, so any opinions are appreciated!

[eigenbom]

You should post in announcements.

Also I'm downloading right now ... 103mb seems pretty big!

[ink.inc]

You should post in announcements.

Also I'm downloading right now ... 103mb seems pretty big!

This is almost as big as the filesize for Braid (119MB). Not that it's an issue for me, but it might be for a good number of your potential users.

[superflat]

Wow, elephants all over the place...  Colour me intrigued!

[eigenbom]

I really like the art in the story at the start of the game!

I only had a quick play (i'm at work) but its play nice, and i like the menu system. Congrats on finishing a game!

[Brian Wilbur]

Thanks all, I really appreciate it.

I understand the concern about the file size (and the download time! Had a bit of an emergency with the FTP server, and had to put some mirrors up!) Unfortunately in my limited knowledge, Game Maker + Audio Files generally = disaster. 80MB of the file size is probably the audio (which is embedded in the .exe).

[superflat]

Doesn't GM support .ogg or .mp3?  Or are they already compressed?