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[letsap]

I guess you can look at it that way too.

[nayon]

Oh yeah I forgot Jumpers and FLail (is the capitalization correct?). But there's something I dislike a bit about thsoe games. They aspire too much towards pixel-perfectness... I mean at that point it becomes a little unfunny. But Catmario and IWBTG are hilarious in my opinion. I mean, the sheer amount of ways you can die ridiculously is too funny. I don't want to have a game that takes itself too seriously. But of course I don't want a game which is too un-serious.

In this kind of gaming, I like to have recurring jokes and annoyances. Like the moon in IWBTG. Or, there's this ridiculously ahrd sequence of jumps at the end of one screen, which annoys the player but gives him a sense of accomplishment, but when the player goes to the next screen, he/she discovers that for the next 3 screens it's the same jump repeated over and over.

So I believe in a bit Jumper-style, a bit IWBTG-style. And I always have the rule, "If I can't play through it, it's not cool", and considering I'm pretty impatient and horrible at platformers, it usualyl turns out well, see Alone.

And about that blue key in Alone, I had tested its accessibility several times before releasing, and I'm sure it was reachable, but thinking back, I accidentally might have misclikced the screen and moved a block one tile to the left... Which would suck. But I still love that level, it's one of the best things I ever made and one of the funenst things I've ever played and watched my friends play :D

I was on vacation in a room with 4 of my friends at a hotel somewhere in the mountains, a friend had a laptop and I made everyone play the level, and they almost ganged up on me to beat me up :D I love this kind of thing. And Alone exemplifies what kind of game I'd like to make since it is (nearly) as close as possibleto my vision of perfection of the genre (as much as my limited skillset of KS level-making allowed), so I'd advise anyone here to play that to see what kind of game I want to make.

Of course, there's going to be differences, because the game mechanics are coded by me, and since one other game whose difficulty I love is Megaman Zero 2 (3? 4? I don't remember which one) I also want to have a similar combat system with the occasional battle, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time style(another game I love).

Right now I have:

Double jumping
Attacking
Down+attack while jumping to charge diagonally downwards to the ground kicking (is there a short name for this?)
Dashing
Crouching

Todo:
Sliding
Wall jumping
Maybe more


Then I'll get to the levelmaking.

[letsap]

Down+attack while jumping to charge diagonally downwards to the ground kicking (is there a

Drop kick?

[nayon]

I think so :D

[null & void]

It is my opinion that there is no REAL frustration platformer until there is a game-unit precision first-person platformer and all of the enemies in it are armed with explosives. For bonus points: take away air control and set the gravity low and player movement fast.

Actually, is there a game like this already? Normally I hate these sorts of things but I'm actually psyched for this idea. Maybe it's because I'm the only person I know who consistently can jump like that in first-person games.

[ChevyRay]

I'm collaborating on one right now with the master bring on the deaths!

[nayon]

It is my opinion that there is no REAL frustration platformer until there is a game-unit precision first-person platformer and all of the enemies in it are armed with explosives. For bonus points: take away air control and set the gravity low and player movement fast.

Actually, is there a game like this already? Normally I hate these sorts of things but I'm actually psyched for this idea. Maybe it's because I'm the only person I know who consistently can jump like that in first-person games.

Either I misunderstood you or you are mixing fun-frustration with pure annoyance :D

[nayon]

I want to get to spriting, so I'd like to ask, what kind of setting/protagonist is appropriate for this kind of game? Remember that the protagonist has a ranged attack.

Some might believe plot/setting in this genre is as relevant as it is in porn movies but I believe in having some coherence.

[SpaceBrance]

Hm, Owata? I know what I'm doing today.

Also, I've beat IWBTG, and Cat Mario. I haven't tried Jumper...But I'm playing An Untitled Story, but I think it's more exploration oriented then frustration platforming...But YMM made it, and getting to the 'no-hit' doors is a fairly tough platforming challenge.

[nayon]

I epic fail at spriting. I'm in desperate need of help.

[Valter]

But I'm playing An Untitled Story, but I think it's more exploration oriented then frustration platforming...

Wait until the final boss.

[Lucaz]

I still owe myself to play An Untitled Story. I like Jumper! an those, I lack the patience and will for it, and likely the skills too, and An Untitled Story seems more relaxed, and for sure easier. Actually I think I'll start it right now 

For others like Syobon Action and IWBTG, I like the idea, and find them funy to some degree, but I never feel like playing those.

[null & void]

Nayon, for anyone else in the world it would be "KILL ME NOW" pure agony. But I am a new, superior breed of human being that can make those jumps that everyone complains about in Half-Life's Xen and System Shock 2's Body of the Many.

I can make them. Every. Time.

Without looking down, either.

God I feel like a badass.

[Renton]

What's so hard about Xen jumps?

[null & void]

Don't ask me, I have no clue. All I know is everyone I know complains about them and looks amazed when I pull them all off perfectly.

[Gold Cray]

But I'm playing An Untitled Story, but I think it's more exploration oriented then frustration platforming...

Wait until the final boss.

Particularly the section leading up to the final boss, which, on a CRT, is completely black. I spent the longest time thinking that was intentional and then finally watched a video of it on an LCD screen.

[Tanner]

I'm collaborating on one right now with the master bring on the deaths!

How did no one else see this?
 

[nayon]

I decided to turn my weakness into a strength for the game.

I haven't fleshed it out yet, but it's about a dude who wants to become colorful.



I don't know how to make these loop:



Keep in mind the fact that this is all WIP.

[Matt Thorson]

I'm really flattered by all the mentions of me in this thread, but I think there's a distinction between games like Jumper or N and games like IWBTG.

Some might call it irony, but I really don't enjoy IWBTG at all.

I really dislike unfairness in games.  My goal with my difficult platformers* (if I can call them that) is to make them 100% fair to the player at all times but still incredibly hard.  The goal being that when the player dies, they always know they died because they just couldn't cut it, not because a random apple hit them with no indication that it is (A) even possible to interact with or (B) lethal (apples in games are usually good!  Come on!)

Whether or not I succeeded in making my games fair, that was the goal.  I think that's an important distinction between my stuff and IWBTG.  I would sooner compare Jumper to N than IWBTG or Cat Mario.

(I hope this post didn't come across too self-serving.)

*I prefer the term "difficult platformer" to "frustration platformer" because I've always regarded any frustration involved in playing my games as a flaw that I've tried oh so hard to reduce as much as possible.

I'm collaborating on one right now with the master bring on the deaths!

How did no one else see this?
 

 :D

[letsap]

I like how YMM said it.

Also, sketchy characters can loop, it's just a matter of keeping their shapes generally right.