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[charliedog]

PROJECT UPDATE:

A while ago I made a game called "Snaky Jake". The game was available for download from quite a lot of different portals and got some rather good reviews. Unfortunately I had some problems, with copyright issues, which meant I had to withdraw the game from sale.



I've made a few minor changes to the artwork, changed the name, tightened up the game play and released the game as a free download from my site. The game is now called "Go Ollie!"


I still think it's a good little game and now that it's free it represents very good value for money

http://www.charliedoggames.com/?page_id=62





I'd love to get some feedback!

regards,

Tony

Original message:

Hello,

I'd love to get some feedback on my game "Snaky Jake".  It's a point and click sideways scrolling platformer - with a match three puzzle game built in

You can download it from here:
http://CharlieDogGames.com

Or watch a YouTube movie here:
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=snaky+jake&search=Search

It's my first Casual/Indie game but I hope to do a few more over the coming years.

regards,

Tony Oakden
http://charliedoggames.com

[charliedog]

And some screen shots...

[ravuya]

Maybe it's just me, but I find it hard to pick out the red platforms from the background in that last image. If you added a two or three pixel black outline around them, that'd make it much more obvious.

Other than that, I'll try playing it and let you know what I think.

[charliedog]

Thanks for the feedback Ravuya

In most of the levels the screens scroll on parallax and the platforms scroll faster than the background so spotting them isn't a problem.  I agree though that in screen shots they don't "pop" as much as they should.  I'm not sure a black outline is he answer though as it wouldn't be in keeping with the rest of the graphics. I think probably what they need is for the top surface to be lighter and more obvious.  Incidentally they aren't just platforms - their trampolines.  When Jake is jumping on them they animate.

I look forward to hearing your feedback on the game.

regards,

Tony Oakden

http://charliedoggames.com

[Guert]

Hello there!

This game surprised me.When you said point and click plateform, I thought it wouldn't be much of a challenge and would bb potentialy slow. Actually it's quite the opposite. The game is quite fast and you have to make quick decidion. At leats for the more plateform-type levels.

I'm not going through a very exhaustive critic of the game at this point but here are few comments I had while playing it...

 First I think the game would've need some special goals, such as collecting a certain amount of coins or fruits or finding a special item. I always felt like the best plateformers were those who let you use two ways of playing. The first one is the speed play and the other is the collector way. A player who just wants to finish a level can do it very fast and another who wants to find search everywhere can also spend more time within the level. Adding hidden or special elements here and there on top of the already available elements (the fruist, coins, gems etc). For example. putting invisible elements on plateforms that reveal themselves when you land on them or others that are dropped from certain enemies. For instance, the only slug in a spider filled level could drop a special item. This could add to the replay value and to the puzzle challenge. A player that zips through the stage won't notice them but the one who searches will enjoy all the little secret places.

 Is it possible to pick-up everything in certain levels? So were quite hard and I didn't not take enough time to replay those level proberly but I was left with a feeling that at some point, I had to choose between two route and that one had more elements than the other.  Does the player can acually get everything on a single run?

 The gem powers were interesting (at least the one I got) but I felt that maybe, instead of jumping on the enmy, the snake could've eaten the bug up? Just an idea that popped through my head while trying the game out...

 I also felt like something was missing. I felt like my avatar, the fairy, could have done more than just point. I dunno, something like hold plateforms or rotate something or collect special items... I haven't thought this through but I felt like the gameplay could've been more diversified that way. It would've been more interesting than "point and click" all the time. Of course, if the full game requires that kind of intervention later on, that comment can be thrown out the window
 
 Anyway, the game is nice and the full version seems to have alot of levels and variety.

 Take care and good job!
Guert

[charliedog]

Hi Guert,

Thanks for the feedback Sorry my reply is so tardy.  I've been distracted with other things.  I've completed another project for a different pub and hope to talk about it soon in these forums as it was very interesting and a bit different.  In the mean time some feedback on your feedback...

I deliberately kept the goals fairly simple because I didn't want to over complicate the game.  So the primary goal is always to reach the finish platform.  That said on some levels the finish platform is hidden until you collect all the coins - these levels are the ones which don't scroll.  Also if you can collect all the coins on a level you get a 2 times multiplier to the score and if you kill all the enemies you get another 2 times multipler.  The game has multiple endings and you only get the special ending if you successfully collect all the coins in all the levels.  It's pretty much impossible to do that until you have all the power ups, and the last one isn't available till the end section of the game, so there is a fair bit of replayability in the game.  I think it's actually quite good fun to go back and play the earlier levels with all the power ups whilst trying to collect all the coins.

So in answer to your second question, Yes but you'll need to play through quite a way first then revisit those earlier levels.

Yes I agree with your third point.  Trouble is my funds where very limited and I couldn't stretch to the extra animations.  I did the best I could. 

The fairy is only ever used for pointing.  I did toy with the idea of giving her special powers and one idea was that she could reveal hidden items.  But I didn't have time to implement that.  If I do a sequel then it would be a good addition I think.

Thanks for the positive comments!  The game has had some excellent reviews including 95% in a British mag called Retro Gamer.  I'm pleased with it as a first independant attempt (well this century) and hope to do some more indie/casual games soon.

regards,

Charlie Dog
http://charliedoggames.com 

[Guert]

Congrats for the good feedback form the public! I'm very happy that it's working out!

Show us your new project when you can!
Later!

[Lachie Dazdarian]

charliedog, your site is down. Hmm...probably temporary. How big the game in question is, anyway? Just wondering if I should bother.

[charliedog]

Hello Lachie,

My site is up again now.  The Snay Jake demo is approximately 15 Meg in size and I think you should definetely bother   I'd love to hear your feedback.

regards,

Tony
http://charliedoggames.com

[Guert]

Project updated, see first post

[charliedog]

Thanks Guert,

I never thought to dig out the old thread and add to it.  I agree it's better to keep all the posts about a project in one place.

I'm thinking of doing a Flash version of the game.  Do people think it would be worth doing?  It's quite a big and complicated game for Flash which might mean it's not worth the effort.  I don't know much about the Flash game market?  I'm hoping to get a flash version of Atomic Worm done too.

The game is downloading well at the moment.  In response to what another poster said about selling the game I tried that with SJ and sales were poor.  I'm not sure if it was the product or if they were just typical of indie games sold through websites but it really wasn't worth the effort involved in setting up the commerce and secure download.  My plan now is to get a number of free games up on my site and once I get a reasonable amount of traffic through the site start putting adverts on it.  Maybe also pick my most popular games and make deluxe versions of them which I can sell.  I hope it's a matter of finding the right game, one which is cheap to make, original but still has mass appeal, rather than the fact that there isn't a market there, but finding the right game is a problem in itself...

regards,

Tony

[Craig Stern]

My plan now is to get a number of free games up on my site and once I get a reasonable amount of traffic through the site start putting adverts on it.

If that's your plan, you're best off sticking to browser games, since they encourage repeat visits. Flash is a good option for that. Make sure, though, if you're going to make your games exclusive to your site, to protect them.