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[Dark_Oppressor]

Hubert's Island Adventure: Mouse o' War is a 2D platformer. It is my first commercially released game, and it's out now!

You can learn more about the game/buy it/see the demo/etc. here: http://cheeseandbacon.org/huberts-island/

It has 3 different characters: one is fast and floaty, one is heavy and slow, and one is in between. You have a stun gun with 2 firing modes: a regular shot and a homing shot. You zip and zap your way through the game using these tools. (Actually, that zip and zap thing sounds like a good marketing slogan)

The game uses SDL+OpenGL and is currently just for Windows, but I want to get it on Linux and Mac as soon as I can. I wrote the engine myself in C++.



. This is the most recent video.


. This is from a couple of months ago, but it is still a decent show of the gameplay.

You can also check out the website.

And of course, some screenshots:











Thoughts?

[capn.lee]

the presentation looks a little cheap, which is fine for a free game but i'm not sure about a $10 game. If the game plays well, the presentation won't matter of course but first impressions can mean a lot to people.

I'd say make sure to have a demo ready for launch if possible and rather than just throw in the first few levels, try and give people a taste of everything you have to offer. Perhaps a level as each character showing off the different ways different levels play out.

Other than that, try and get the attention of youtube reviewers, small games sites, anyone you can, send them copies of the game and try and get some publicity that way, a good review means so much more than trailers and posts on forums

Best of luck for your release on the 27th

[Alec S.]

Yeah, this game is way too unpolished to do well with a $10 release, which is a shame since it looks like you put a lot of effort into the level design.

My suggestion if you're serious about this would be to delay the release and work on your sprite art.  Find some good tutorials on color, form, shading, ect... (here and here are really good tutorials) and redo your art.  Releasing commercial indie games is an uphill battle and a polished game is pretty much the price of admission.

[Dark_Oppressor]

capn.lee: You can be any character in any level. As for the demo, I've definitely been noodling with what it should be.

Alec S.: What exactly do you mean by "unpolished?" Does that apply to anything aside from the (admittedly) amateurish artwork?

[Alec S.]

I mean mostly the graphics.  I can't really judge how smooth the gameplay feels from the video alone.  The music has a bit of an obvious midi sound, but that's not as big of a problem as the graphics.   

[Dark_Oppressor]

I mean mostly the graphics.  I can't really judge how smooth the gameplay feels from the video alone.  The music has a bit of an obvious midi sound, but that's not as big of a problem as the graphics.   

Yes, I know they are a bit simple. This represents the apex of my abilities, I think, haha. Honestly part of my future projects includes either finding an artist or designing games that don't need too much art. Or at the very least, a nice simple art style that I can pull off.

I don't know if this is something easy to put into words, but could you tell me what specifically is "missing" from the artwork, that makes it seem amateurish?

[Alec S.]

Trust me, I've been there.  I'm a designer/programmer first and an artist far last (pixel art is the only art I'm decent at.)

First of all, your main character is kind of strange looking, and doesn't really look as much like a mouse as a small elephant (unless that's what they're supposed to be, then I would make the trunk curve downward).  Round out the nose, make the ears smaller.  Make the jumping pose more active (his legs shouldn't be together when he's jumping.  See:  http://gamerfitnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/mario-jump.jpg)


For the tiles, try to give them more texture.  Rock patterns are probably the easiest pixel art thing to do.  Outline a bunch of shapes with your darkest ground color, then put your darkest ground color along the edge of each rock, then your lightest near the top.  Similar applies to grass tiles, but you need to be more careful with the shape.  The point is textures are made up of discrete objects (rocks, grass, ect...) which each have mid-tones, highlights and shadows.

That cheese is clearly a re-sized sprite.  Redraw it to fit with the scale of everything else so that it doesn't have that blocky look.

That bottom screenshot is by far the worst looking.  Bright colors, no shading, sloppy gradients, weird particle effects (I assume that's what they are).

I'd recommend giving those tutorials a try.  They're pretty easy to follow, and will help you improve the polish of your game.

[Dark_Oppressor]

That bottom screenshot is by far the worst looking.  Bright colors, no shading, sloppy gradients, weird particle effects (I assume that's what they are).

Oh, the particle effects are fireworks! They look pretty cool in motion. But ya, obviously if you don't know what they are, you can't tell from a screenshot, since you just mentioned them. Oops  



I just made up of the fireworks in motion.

Oh, and the main character is supposed to be an elephant, so I'm at least glad you thought that he looks like one, heh.

[Alec S.]

Yeah, the fireworks look better in motion.

You should make the character sprite a bit clearer.  Make the trunk longer, and curved more like an elephant's trunk.  Draw lines across it.  Give his head more texture.  Look at pictures of elephants and try to recreate some of the shading and texture.

[eyeliner]

Just from the look of the pictures, I don't feel inclined to even try the demo. The art is bad, lack of detail and ugly sprites.

The playability, though, seems to be top-notch. I feel that the character moves to much while in the air after jumping/falling. And did I see the elephant disappear at times when he is climbing the ropes/vines?

The game seems quite fast and frantic. With better clothing, you might have success.

[Dark_Oppressor]

I've edited the main post with release info, as the game is now out!

eyeliner: Where did you see the elephant disappear?

Alec S.: Thanks for the links on sprite art, I'll be reading these before my next game for sure.

I'd also love feedback on the music. I have less experience making music than I do making artwork.

And, if anyone can be bothered, I would really appreciate some feedback on the gameplay, too. Here's a link to the demo.

Thanks for all the feedback guys!