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[Bennett]

LOL - I'm not sure my emulated 8-bit engine could handle that massive Skeletor sprite...

Well, at the moment, the shurikens get fired at you in a random range of angles, when the ninjas are within a pre-determined 'shuriken zone'. But it could definitely afford to be a bit more complicated on the shuriken AI front.

So, how would it be if:
1) some of the ninjas threw a horizontal shuriken or kunai when crouching. This could form the easiest difficulty level as per Guert's suggestion
2) some would throw a vertical shuriken when flying high above the player
3) some continue to throw randomized ones from a distance, with some missing
4) trick shots: some ninjas throw a shuriken at an angle away from you, and then their friends fire a second shuriken at the first one to deflect it toward you.
5) other ideas?

[Derek]

I think it'd be cooler to have red ninjas that appear ~level 3 that come in like the purple ones but instead of jumping they throw a smoke bomb down and then *poof*... reappear either on the other side of you for a sneaky slide or drop on you from straight above (forcing you to slice upward).



Alright, I promise that's the end of my stupid images... oh wait, no I don't!

[Nate Kling]

I think you should be careful of making the learning curve too gentle. I thought that the learning curve was decent but i think if it was too easy it would just be boring to start back over when you die. When I'm trying to get the high score i don't want to have to sit through a long period where the bad guys are so easy its not even fun i want to be able to get back up closer to where my score was before.  Maybe you could have an easy mode or learning mode.  That could be kinda dumb though I'm not really sure but i think that if you make it too easy at the beginning it will turn off more advanced players.(the newbies need to suck it up and practice haha just kidding, im not very good at all)But great game , i thought that the difficulty added to the retro feel, like all of the original Nintendo games where learning curves were for suckers haha. I do think the ninjas should change colors. Maybe you could add in bad guys that are more difficult every once and a while. one other thing before i finish.  Is it just me or do the enemies look like monkeys? I honestly thought that they were monkeys at first , like little purple monkey ninjas. but then i figured out that those tail looking things were their swords.  Maybe they are bent just a little too much for swords, or maybe its just me, still a great and fun game. oh and a score board would add even more incentive to play.

[Guert]

As I mentionned earlier...
"Speaking of levels, you should allow player to select the starting level."
And voila! Pros will be able to start at the level they want to play and the new players won't get irritated from the incredibly hard step to take just to understand the game.

For every player you're turning on with a very high difficulty, 20 others are turned down. Aiming for everyone or at least some way to please more than one public will offer a pleasing experience to everyone. And, if a handful of players wnat an extra hard game, give them a HARDCORE version that only those pros can play to make them happy.

"Some continue to throw randomized ones from a distance, with some missing"

I like the idea, but make the firts level not random. As the elvel goes, make it more randomised to keep the player on the edge.

"trick shots: some ninjas throw a shuriken at an angle away from you, and then their friends fire a second shuriken at the first one to deflect it toward you."

Ha ah! Good idea, I like it.

"...but instead of jumping they throw a smoke bomb down and then *poof*... reappear either on the other side of you for a sneaky slide or drop on you from straight above (forcing you to slice upward)."

This, I like too! I'd even add some who rush on you with a spear. You hit it first to destroy the spear and a second time to kill the ninja.

Later!

[handCraftedRadio]

I think the game is good just the way it is now. If you add to much it will take away from the simplicity of the game. I don't think you should make any major changes to the gameplay.

[Terry]

HCR is right - though I'd make it a little faster at the start - for me the slow introduction is the only thing that hurts it.

[siiseli]

well tried it a couple times got 57 points. nice game, addictive as pie.

[Bennett]

Wow, so many conflicting opinions!  Thanks, everybody.

Well, I'll have a bit of a play with it over the next week. If the changes make it boring for me, it's a safe bet that it will be boring for everybody else.

I don't want to offer a front-end difficulty selection though. Browser games should dump you right into the action and not bog you down in guff. If I am willing to do things like select options or type in my name, I'm probably not going to play a game in my browser.

[Derek]

I don't want to offer a front-end difficulty selection though. Browser games should dump you right into the action and not bog you down in guff. If I am willing to do things like select options or type in my name, I'm probably not going to play a game in my browser.

Word up!

I do agree with Retry and HCR that there's already a beautiful simplicity to the game.  But I think adding one more type of ninja (and a reason for the player to press up or down) or a variation in the scene as you get further wouldn't detract from that simplicity.  It would sort of enhance the progression into the more difficult levels, in my opinion.

Adding like a boss or giving the player an alternate weapon would be an example of something that crossed the line (adding for the sake of adding).

[MattC]

This is a really great game and I've been playing non-stop since you posted it. I really like the whole look and feel of it. The colors fit the style and the ninjas kinda remind me of Ninja Gaiden (and yes, I see how they can be thought to look like monkeys). Something that I should mention is that the music never really got old or on my nerves (and I played for, uh... a long time) which is great and can often go unappreciated. Many games that get you hooked like this have grating audio and it can make you want to stop playing for a while.

When I first played it, I couldn't score past 12. My biggest gripes were the issues with the arrow keys (which has since been fixed to control great) and that you often can't really tell where the stars are going to hit until they are much closer to you. Lucky, the second issue has been largely fixed by the correction of the first, as you can now easily change your blocking direction quickly and without fumbling over the keys.

I'm on the side of people who think that the game is fine the way it is, though I don't think I would mind a different enemy if he was implemented right. A more recognizable star trajectory could also be useful as some others have mentioned. A

and a cool, black, sidekick cop would be ideal as well.

I never used the crouch because I never had a need for it, but that's not bad or anything. I did try for a while to only use two buttons for right, right-up, default (as left), and crouch (as left-up) to change it up and try a different method to controlling, but I had gotten too used to the normal, logical key movement. The only real use for the diagonal down blocks is to hit stars that wouldn't even have hit your feet (though you can get some good multi-point star hits that way). An interesting change to that might be to give them a longer range of attack, so you can hit guys on the ground that would be just out of reach with a normal left/right.

Now, I know I said I liked the music, but a mute button would have been really great when I wanted to listen to my own music during longer sessions. Though, I admit, the ever increasing tempo of the instruments kept my heart rate high, ready for another game. Another music related niggle: when I die, I want the music to stop. Often I'd keep it open in my browser and switch to another tab to check something before coming back to the game. All the while the game music is pumping fast because I died at an INCREDIBLY HIGH LEVEL. At this point, the faster the tempo, the more annoying it was. Admittedly, this wasn't during gameplay, so you don't get docked for it. I guess the mute button could handle this as well. Speaking of the after-death experience, I'm glad that the space bar works immediately after getting hit. This is great and just keeps the ninjas flowing.

So, anyway, I think that's all I had to say. Now to demonstrate I know what I'm talking about:



The next rank better be "Cheater."

[handCraftedRadio]

The next rank better be "Cheater."

Wrong. The next rank should be HandCraftedRadio.

[Guert]

In the end, I think it comes down to a matter of taste. I think a game should start slowly and then rank it up as the players get good at it so the challenge comes form mastering it and not learning. Others like it hard so they are challenged to learn it and mastering it is less important. Both type of games can easily exist and actualy must exist, you just have to decide on what side you want your game to stand.

I think the same way then Derek on this topic. Add a variety on enemies but that's it. Just to add a level of complexity that is just right to make the game even more fun.
Well, talk to you guys later!

[Derek]

In the end, I think it comes down to a matter of taste. I think a game should start slowly and then rank it up as the players get good at it so the challenge comes form mastering it and not learning. Others like it hard so they are challenged to learn it and mastering it is less important. Both type of games can easily exist and actualy must exist, you just have to decide on what side you want your game to stand.

I think it depends on taste, but also on the game.  And in this case, because each game is very quick, you don't want too much hand-holding.  This is a game you play over and over again, so the more slow it is in the beginning, the more frustrating it gets when you get better.

[Bennett]

Oh I'm totally there with you on stopping the music when you die. That shit is ANNOYING. Especially since I tuned up the music to be more urgent and stressful to listen to. I'll fix that up right away.

[Guert]

True, there's that to this game too...

[LineOf7s]

What about stopping the music just before you die (like, milliseconds), so the 'chewch' sound effect when you get hit (and the sphincter-tightening death associated with it) is emphasised?  You'll get to know that as soon as that music stops, you'll be full of fail.

Oh, and I think my best score to date has been about 22 or so, speaking of "full of fail".   

[edit] 55.  Having reached the soaring heights of mediocrity, I may now go to bed.  ...after one more go.  [/edit]

[Pigbuster]

Is there any rank above Shogun?

Because there should. That's your chance to let fly the ridiculous rank names.

[Derek]

Is there any rank above Shogun?

Because there should. That's your chance to let fly the ridiculous rank names.

Musashi?

[Monothu]

I have found a few bugs in your game.  If you hold left and then press right, or vise versa, and keep the the you originally held in while doing so, the stance switching sound effect will play over and over and over again while the ninja battler guy will hold his sword in neither the left or right direction.  Also, if you press space before the bit of music that is heard when you die is finished, the rest of it will continue on to the next time you play.  I think it should stop when you hit the spacebar.  Also, if you die in a certain stance like the one where you hold the sword to the left, and you have any key held in the next game you start, you will be in the stance you died in.

EDIT: Also, I think that if you move your sword from the left to the upper left, the sword guy should just rotate the sword until it is at the upper left.  He should not pull it back to his chest and then move it to the upper left.

EDIT: Also, when you die, if there are any shurikens in the air, they will simply spin around in mid air until you start a new game.

EDIT: Also, when you die, if you press space before the blood graphic goes away, it will be on the screen at the start of the next game.

EDIT: Also, the sound effect that sounds like something is popping needs to go.  I believe someone called it the jumping sound effect.  It's awful to hear.

[Bennett]

Is there any rank above Shogun?

I made ranks up to the score of 100. But I'm now thinking I should do more, even though the game is well beyond impossible at that point.

It's interesting - at the beginning I thought it was a flaw that it gets so hard when you get past level 5. I thought it would mean that everyone would have the same high score. But as it turns out, it's actually a benefit in terms of addictiveness.

In real sports, there is very little separating the top athletes. Think of the 100m sprint... at an amateur level the spread between first and last might be 5 seconds, but at the elite level the spread is more like 0.1 seconds. I think the narrow spread gives the losers this kind of 'aaaagh... ALMOST' feeling when they lose.

@ Monothu: Thanks. I can fix the music bug easily, but the other ones I'm going to have to think about. I'm still new to this programming thing.

<edit> Oh one more thing - what do people think - should I add code so that it's never the case that you get hit simultaneously from both sides? What would be the best method for doing this? I suspect that if the ninjas have to 'know' when the other ninjas are going to strike, it will slow the game down enormously.