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[DeanAstley]

The game is work in progress, and can be played here:

http://deanastley.com/Parallel/web.html (Web version)
http://deanastley.com/Parallel/win.zip (Windows version)

Made with Unity

Any comments and feedback is appreciated. There is also a short survey to complete if you have played the game: https://surveyplanet.com/54f4e1c9648b0444475234c2

Some screens of the game: http://imgur.com/a/jW3Lm

[Quicksand-S]

Might be a good idea to put one or two screenshots here. You can do that using img tags or the "Insert Image" button.

-This is maybe a small thing, but I found it weird that the avatar selection didn't visually correspond to the stats. For example, the diamond could have top and bottom stats be low while the middle stat is increased (matching the shape of half of the diamond shape). Right now, the shapes seem completely meaningless, so it could be nice to have them give a hint as to what each avatar might be like.

-Character creation was very confusing. Why does selecting a color cause a random block to appear in the area? Why can I raise and lower the avatar? I couldn't understand what the purpose of that was. Is that just because you're using a special version of the normal game world for the character creation screen?

-When I clicked Continue, my entire computer froze for a good 15-20 seconds. (I was playing the web version, by the way.)

-I had no idea what the hexagon button was for.

-It was a bit frustrating to have full energy and have to purposely drain some in order to be able to lower a platform. I realize I'm never actually required to lower anything at the moment, but when I wanted to I was almost always stopped.

-If I'm holding the mouse button to raise/lower a block, the game should probably lock the cursor to that block. Multiple times, the cursor switched to a nearby block as the one I was trying to modify changed height.

-On a related note, it's tricky to select the square right above the avatar sometimes. It seems the avatar's collision box is much taller and skinnier than it looks, so any time I put the cursor above it, I select the square under it instead.

-Movement with a gamepad works pretty well. I liked it better than keyboard+mouse control, but couldn't aim using it (Not implemented yet, I'm guessing?).

-I'm not entirely sure what the point of it is. Do I just build walls and stairs? If your focus is on building, then I think the energy drains far too quickly. I can't even raise one block to a decent height without having to go get more energy afterward.


The engine seems to work well. I didn't encounter any technical issues, except for the annoying temporary freezing while loading.

[DeanAstley]

Thanks for the feedback. Is there a way to resize the images ? When I use the img tag, they are too large.

The meaning of the character creation scene is to allow you to see the changes you can make, and have a small space to play with the character before committing to it. For example the triangle character will have a higher jump, or the square character can build blocks quicker. The random block is also to show you are changing the colors on blocks in the world, not just the avatar.

There is a help guide, if you click the ? icon in the top right, which will explain the different mechanics including the hexagonal tool.

The idea is you are absorbing the energy from the blocks, and there is a limit to how much you can 'carry'. So that's why it will stop when you're energy is full. You can extend your energy capacity be completing puzzles.

I hadn't noticed that issue with aiming at the tile above the player. Thanks for that! (You can rotate the camera with C though)

There is a loose goal in the game, to build a lot of blocks in the world, and progress is shown by the progress bar at the bottom. And you can expand your energy capacity by completing puzzles.

[DeanAstley]

Might be a good idea to put one or two screenshots here. You can do that using img tags or the "Insert Image" button.

-This is maybe a small thing, but I found it weird that the avatar selection didn't visually correspond to the stats. For example, the diamond could have top and bottom stats be low while the middle stat is increased (matching the shape of half of the diamond shape). Right now, the shapes seem completely meaningless, so it could be nice to have them give a hint as to what each avatar might be like.

-Character creation was very confusing. Why does selecting a color cause a random block to appear in the area? Why can I raise and lower the avatar? I couldn't understand what the purpose of that was. Is that just because you're using a special version of the normal game world for the character creation screen?

-When I clicked Continue, my entire computer froze for a good 15-20 seconds. (I was playing the web version, by the way.)

-I had no idea what the hexagon button was for.

-It was a bit frustrating to have full energy and have to purposely drain some in order to be able to lower a platform. I realize I'm never actually required to lower anything at the moment, but when I wanted to I was almost always stopped.
-If I'm holding a mouse button down, in order to

-If I'm holding the mouse button to raise/lower a block, the game should probably lock the cursor to that block. Multiple times, the cursor switched to a nearby block as the one I was trying to modify changed height.

-On a related note, it's tricky to select the square right above the avatar sometimes. It seems the avatar's collision box is much taller and skinnier than it looks, so any time I put the cursor above it, I select the square under it instead.

-Movement with a gamepad works pretty well. I liked it better than keyboard+mouse control, but couldn't aim using it (Not implemented yet, I'm guessing?).

-I'm not entirely sure what the point of it is. Do I just build walls and stairs? If your focus is on building, then I think the energy drains far too quickly. I can't even raise one block to a decent height without having to go get more energy afterward.


The engine seems to work well. I didn't encounter any technical issues, except for the annoying temporary freezing while loading.

Also, would you mind completing the survey ? I am working on the game for a University project, and the survey will help towards that.

[Quicksand-S]

Your explanation of the avatars makes sense. I was thinking of the shapes themselves, but looking at them more as symbols like an hour glass (speed) and arrow (jumping) clears things up. I still find it strange that the block moves around when I pick a color. It seems to strongly suggest that the position means something even though it doesn't.

Is there a way to resize the images ? When I use the img tag, they are too large.

You know, I actually wasn't sure so I looked into it. It turns out you can type "width=### height=###" (with the numbers being pixel counts) inside the opening img tag, before the closing bracket, and it should resize it.

That said, the more considerate option for users with bandwidth caps or slow connections would be to resize the image in Photoshop or whatever and use that smaller version instead.

There is a help guide, if you click the ? icon in the top right, which will explain the different mechanics including the hexagonal tool.

Ah. I remember seeing that mentioned and I somehow forgot about it. Why not tool tips when the cursor is over a button? I realize there's still a need for a more complete description, but tool tips are nice to have.

You can extend your energy capacity be completing puzzles.

I see. That makes it seem less like a sandbox game, since the player has to do a lot of work to get to that point. In something like Minecraft, for example, you're always able to do something. Maybe not something you want, but you never lose the ability to create and destroy blocks without being particularly limited. This focus on puzzles in your game is not a problem or anything, it just doesn't fit with the original impression I got of the game from both the appearance and the title of your post here.


One thing I noticed when I went back to look for puzzles based on the instructions was that the character moves faster diagonally than horizontally/vertically. I know a lot of games are like that, but it doesn't really seem correct and it might be something a professor could dock marks for. I guess that depends on the prof, though.

Considering how limited energy is, it might be a good idea to not let the player grab energy pickups when their energy is already full. It would also be nice if destroying a "hotspot" gave me some energy back.

I didn't understand how to activate portals. The help window talks about building a block on a colored tile, so I looked around for one. I found one that looked very similar to the other colored tiles (too similar?) but slowly lowered anything I built on it. Reaching the teleporter before the block disappeared did nothing, though. What am I missing?


As for the survey, I would fill it out if it didn't ask for an email address. I could use a fake or temporary one, but I'd rather not do that without even knowing what the address is being used for.

[DeanAstley]

I still find it strange that the block moves around when I pick a color. It seems to strongly suggest that the position means something even though it doesn't.

Currently the block will choose a random tile to spawn to. I agree, I should make it the same tile each time.

I see. That makes it seem less like a sandbox game, since the player has to do a lot of work to get to that point. In something like Minecraft, for example, you're always able to do something. Maybe not something you want, but you never lose the ability to create and destroy blocks without being particularly limited. This focus on puzzles in your game is not a problem or anything, it just doesn't fit with the original impression I got of the game from both the appearance and the title of your post here.

Yeah, maybe I could add the ability to destroy blocks at any time, but require energy to build them. The issue there is the net amount of energy in the world would decrease. Another solution would be to have a colour of energy you can always use to build and destroy blocks, and others that are limited.

Considering how limited energy is, it might be a good idea to not let the player grab energy pickups when their energy is already full. It would also be nice if destroying a "hotspot" gave me some energy back.

Great suggestions, thanks. I did play with not removing pick-ups unless you use the energy, but thought it looked weird. But it makes more sense not to let the player use them unless they are having an effect.

I didn't understand how to activate portals. The help window talks about building a block on a colored tile, so I looked around for one. I found one that looked very similar to the other colored tiles (too similar?) but slowly lowered anything I built on it. Reaching the teleporter before the block disappeared did nothing, though. What am I missing?

Nearby a portal (within 10 tiles or so) there should be a colored tile. Build a block on the tile (it will gradually lower), which will activate the portal. Then just run into the portal and it should move you into a new area. There are 3 portals in the level, one which is always active and takes you to the puzzle area, one which has one tile to trigger it to activate, and another which requires two tiles (of different colours) to be built on to.

for example: Here I can build blue onto the tile, which will activate the teleporter

As for the survey, I would fill it out if it didn't ask for an email address. I could use a fake or temporary one, but I'd rather not do that without even knowing what the address is being used for.

Ah, sorry about that. I was using that to reach back to people if I had any additional questions. I have made the email optional now, if you would still like to complete it.

Thanks for all the feedback and great suggestions.

[Quicksand-S]

The issue there is the net amount of energy in the world would decrease.

Isn't that already the case? Activating a portal, for example, seems like it causes energy to be lost.

Nearby a portal (within 10 tiles or so) there should be a colored tile. Build a block on the tile (it will gradually lower), which will activate the portal. Then just run into the portal and it should move you into a new area. There are 3 portals in the level, one which is always active and takes you to the puzzle area, one which has one tile to trigger it to activate, and another which requires two tiles (of different colours) to be built on to.

for example: Here I can build blue onto the tile, which will activate the teleporter

That's exactly what I did. I tried it multiple times. The block was slowly shrinking and I ran to the transparent block (the portal) but nothing happened. I should also mention that the colored tile doesn't really stand out as being special. Maybe it should have a symbol of some sort on it.


I filled out your survey. I'm not sure how much control you have over how it works, but at one point I thought of something I wanted to add to a previous answer. It would've been nice to be able to go back. I think I may have just tacked it on somewhere else, though.

[DeanAstley]

The issue there is the net amount of energy in the world would decrease.

Isn't that already the case? Activating a portal, for example, seems like it causes energy to be lost.

Nearby a portal (within 10 tiles or so) there should be a colored tile. Build a block on the tile (it will gradually lower), which will activate the portal. Then just run into the portal and it should move you into a new area. There are 3 portals in the level, one which is always active and takes you to the puzzle area, one which has one tile to trigger it to activate, and another which requires two tiles (of different colours) to be built on to.

for example: Here I can build blue onto the tile, which will activate the teleporter

That's exactly what I did. I tried it multiple times. The block was slowly shrinking and I ran to the transparent block (the portal) but nothing happened. I should also mention that the colored tile doesn't really stand out as being special. Maybe it should have a symbol of some sort on it.


I filled out your survey. I'm not sure how much control you have over how it works, but at one point I thought of something I wanted to add to a previous answer. It would've been nice to be able to go back. I think I may have just tacked it on somewhere else, though.

That is really strange about the portals. Does it visibly change colour when activated? If its the portal for the green world, it should change to green for example.

Also the portal to the puzzle world is always active, so that should work. There is no trigger tile around that one.

I'm not sure if I can change that about the survey, but that's fine. I tried to add several places where you can type answers.

[Quicksand-S]

I figured out what was wrong. I never considered that I might have to raise two different blocks in order to activate a single portal. One reason for that, I think, is just that I wasn't aware of what colors existed in the game, so I didn't know that the grey square was actually one of those types of tiles. Maybe the colors should show on the HUD from the beginning.

It seems there are some slight math issues. I created a grey block by raising ground. Later, I tried to lower it and it would not go down all the way even though I had not gotten any grey energy anywhere else.

Anyway, I went to the area with grey stuff, and the area with yellowish stuff. I feel like I explored the entire main map at least twice before noticing the puzzle portal. These things really don't stand out very much.

The "puzzle" didn't seem much like a puzzle at all, but it was nice to see the hotspot in action.

[Zorg]

I tried to test the game but after the character selection, the screen went dark for a really long time. later, i did not really know what i have to do. I'll play it again later and read all the descriptions carefully.

You should put the platform (Unity) in your start posting to get more feedback!

I'm curious, did you get good feedback with the survey?

[DeanAstley]

I tried to test the game but after the character selection, the screen went dark for a really long time. later, i did not really know what i have to do. I'll play it again later and read all the descriptions carefully.

You should put the platform (Unity) in your start posting to get more feedback!

I'm curious, did you get good feedback with the survey?

Maybe try the Windows version if the web version wasn't loading.

[Zorg]

It was loading, but it took a long time.

This is what happened on the second attempt:
- purple energy everywhere
- walking around
- finding one purple portal i can simply use without activation
- four purple plates to build purple blocks result in more purple energy
- now i can build a purple hexagon thing
- infinite purple energy
- twelve blue plates pop up
- i guess i have to find blue blocks
- returning to hub
- walking around
- finding another portal i have to activate with blue and purple energy
- i have no blue energy
- walking around
- finding a portal i can activate with purple energy
- finding an island filled with blue energy
- returning to hub
- use first portal again
- building twelve blue blocks
- blue hexagon
- infinite blue energy
- returning to hub
- activating blue and purple portal
- third energy type, turquoise
- walking around
- not finding any use for third energy type
- stopped playing

I have the feeling i did not "get" the idea of the game. It felt straight forward and then i did not know what to do anymore. What did i do wrong? I guess i could have built a turquise hexagon anywhere, which would result in infinite turquise energy? I did not test this.

[DeanAstley]

It was loading, but it took a long time.

This is what happened on the second attempt:
- purple energy everywhere
- walking around
- finding one purple portal i can simply use without activation
- four purple plates to build purple blocks result in more purple energy
- now i can build a purple hexagon thing
- infinite purple energy
- twelve blue plates pop up
- i guess i have to find blue blocks
- returning to hub
- walking around
- finding another portal i have to activate with blue and purple energy
- i have no blue energy
- walking around
- finding a portal i can activate with purple energy
- finding an island filled with blue energy
- returning to hub
- use first portal again
- building twelve blue blocks
- blue hexagon
- infinite blue energy
- returning to hub
- activating blue and purple portal
- third energy type, turquoise
- walking around
- not finding any use for third energy type
- stopped playing

I have the feeling i did not "get" the idea of the game. It felt straight forward and then i did not know what to do anymore. What did i do wrong? I guess i could have built a turquise hexagon anywhere, which would result in infinite turquise energy? I did not test this.

The area with the 'plates' to build blocks on, will randomly generate after you complete each puzzle. So if you continued to build blocks on the plates, or the 'hexagon' tool if it required it, then one would have popped up requiring the turquoise color.

Each time you do this, the energy capacity will grow, meaning you can collect more and more energy.

The goal with the game is to give the player mechanics and tools to play in different ways, and essentially create their own goals. The puzzles are a way to expand their abilities. There is also Creative Mode which gives you unlimited access to energy.

Thanks for playing, and completing the survey. I appreciate you taking the time