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[TheBlackMask]

My First post!  I really like the community here, and feel that its somewhere I would feel comfortable showing my game.

I have been working on a platformer called Tomb Jumper.  I really want this to be more of a difficult game, and Im probably narrowing down my market by making the levels as hard as I am, but that's the point.  I really want Tomb Jumper to be a test of true platforming ability.

Future plans for the game include an almost-finished level editor, which will allow the player to edit levels in real time, and play the level as they build it.  I also plan to include a whole time keeping metric to the game, and making the game also stress the time it took to complete a given level.  I will probably throw up a nice set of leaderboards online to add some more community flavor.

Let me know what you guys think!



http://www.gamesforfree.net/files/tombjumperdemo.exe - Three Level Demo - 3mb

[Derek]

Cool concept!  I love Indiana Jones / Rick Dangerous type stuff.  Right now I think you should focus on the controls and also the main player's animations, which are both rather stiff.  The way the character looks / feels to move around are going to make or break a game like this.  Difficult is fine, but I don't want to die because my character doesn't handle well.

I'd recommend taking a look at Paroxysm, which does a pretty good job with how the player character controls.

I made it through all three levels and died maybe half a dozen times total.  It was fun!  I'm looking forward to seeing more from you, and welcome to the boards.

[handCraftedRadio]

Yeah, I played it and I thought exactly the same thing as Derek. The main flaw of the controls is the response time with the jump. The player does not jump instantly after the key is pressed and caused me to die many times. Pretty fun and challenging game though, keep working at it!

I made it through all three levels and died maybe half a dozen times total.

Half a dozen deaths? I died that many times on the first level alone! I guess I'm not a true tomb jumper yet.

[Guert]

I added the game to my "to critic" list. I hope to post it tuesday...
Later!

[Radnom]

I made it through the first two levels without dying at all, then stopped playing on the third in that part where you can't tell where you're supposed to fall to. I don't really like it when that kinda thing happens in games, you should at least have seen it previously in the game, so that you have to remember where to land - at the moment (at that point of the game) it's almost random whether you live or die (until you play the level again). In my opinion, every level of every game (this genre, at least) should technically be possible the first time via skill and skill alone.

The sprites are pretty good, but like Derek said, some more animation would be nice.

[___]

Um, well I ran the game, and it changed my primary monitor to 640x480, then the game showed up on my secondary monitor.  Maybe this is an issue on my end... :I

[spellcaster]

Um, well I ran the game, and it changed my primary monitor to 640x480, then the game showed up on my secondary monitor.  Maybe this is an issue on my end... :I

Nope, have the same problem.
Changes the resolution of my main monitor and displays the game in the upper left hand of the 2nd monitor. For some reason after exiting the game, all windows are on screen#2 as well.

Quite irritating.

[Guert]

Hello there! Here's a couple of comments about the game...

As mentionned in early posts, the game's control are a bit stiff and weird, making the game harder than it really is. I'd remove the air control and make the jumps fixed. You could make it so we can break a bit but not control completly. I suggest you study how other games, like the one Derek suggested or simply the classic super mario bros 3 did it. Having the controls down is crucial if you want something hard.

Speaking of jumping, I like how you cna control the height of the jump but perhaps you can jump too high. Perhaps you should limit it to 2 blocks high so we wouldn't hit ourselves on other blocks when we jump too high. Besides, there's not alot of 3 blocks high jumps so there are no need for very high jumps. 
 
The fade in and out when you die should be faster. Make it twice as fast and it'll be great.

In the second part, the fading block don't come back after they disapear. I had to kill myslef. I know you want something extremely hard but you still have to give us a couple of chances. I think ti would be harder if blocks moved around or disapeared/reapeared continouesly rathe rthan just disapear once. Beside, if someone misses, there's almost a 50% chance of death (if not more), so it's alreayd kind of unforgiving.

The first level is way too hard compared to the second one. I'd switch them. Speaking of the first level, the burning torch is missleading. it looks too dangereous for what it does (nothing).  I say us it as a trap or put it in the background and make sur we know its harmless.

You should make it that we can switch form full screen to windowed and at leats see what are the controls in the option screen. Add confirmation on quitting. Hitting the esc button can happen so easily you have to make sure it was wanted, specially if you want this game to be very hard...

You could create a first level that is smaller and that would help us know what we're suppose to do. For instance, just teahcing us that, to win the game, the player must pick up the treasure with piles of gold coins (or something I don't clearly remember).

Speaking of owhich, why would we pick up stuff around the map? Does it give points? Powerups? Anything? Either tell us between levels or during the game but give us a good reason to risk our virtual life for them Try to give the player seocndary motivations beside finishing the game. Have you thought of shortcuts to favor explorations? Just make sure that we want to play the game more than once and not say "Good, the game is hard, I finished it and I'm not touching it again cuz there's nothing new to do"

Well, that's pretty much it for right now. Talk to you later!
 

 

[DrDerekDoctors]

Ooh, I remember when this was a single-level thing on indiegamer. I'll give it a squizz.

[TheBlackMask]

Firstly, thanks to everyone who provided feedback.  I appreciate it!

Due to the majority of criticism centering around the controls, I will be focusing on revamping that.  The character animations are pretty much nonexistent, and Im aware of that.

The fade in and out is changed, and I do like it better now, so thanks Guert!  I have also implemented a windowed option.

As far as gameplay elements go, I plan on having the treasures midlevel be there as kind of optional items that are a bit hard to get, but will prove to everyone else that you are more hardcore, lol. (With maybe a handful of unlockable levels based on how many treasures you find)

I want the game to eventually center on the amount of time it takes to complete a level, and I hope that implementing online leaderboards will help to create that aspect.

I should have an updated version with new controls and a couple new levels in a few days or so, so keep any eye out!

[Guert]

I tried it again but I felt like it was the same version. Did you speed up the fade time alot of only slightly?

Anyway, if you want to focus your game around speed, make your levels show it. Add design elements that will push your player to risk himself in order to go faster. For example, you could have a time bonus when grabbing your treasures. Right now, you reward the player with something he doesn't care: points. Unless you plan on making points more important, this is not a reward worth the work for. Show the time on-screen and add ways to save time and have time bonuses. You'll really focus on the competition elements.   

Anyway, you already have some moves made in that directions, like when we have to choose between 2 or 3 different paths to pass one obstacle. I'd just make my levels even more "mazier" to allow player to search for the best route.

Good job and keep it up!
Guert 

[TheBlackMask]

That'd be because I haven't uploaded the current version, lol.  I don't like to set dates, but I would say within the week I should have something worth updating.  Since the main complaint I have seen is the controls, Im spending the extra time to make them perfect.