Menu card for my platformer game

gyroscope

Hi, as some of you might know, I'm working on an adventure game called Ancient Ones Discovery ( http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=13484 ) and I'm also designing a platformer, based on Darren's (utopiagames) excellent platformer template (well worth checking out). Both are for the iPad. I'm kind of jumping from one project to the other and back again; it seems to be working out OK.

The adventure game should be ready for beta testing about May/June next year, and my platformer, Glub and the Organitron Caves should hopefully be finished by Feb/March time.

Anyhow, I'm getting there with the first two levels, others mapped out, but yet to finish a small cut-scene intro (OK, not even started it yet...) Here is just the menu card for the game for your interest. As always, any constructive crits/comments appreciated, thanks.

gyroscope

Hi, no comments for this; is it because there's no gameplay shown perhaps? Maybe you think it's a bit too odd for a platformer (although it gets even odder in the actual game); or perhaps you don't like it. If so, why please? Maybe you think the title is a bit too long or doesn't sound right? Any thoughts?

beefy_clyro

Hi. I did see this but never commented before. I think the menus good, a lil odd and im sure the game is going to be very odd ... still, i like it though. My only problem is i think its slightly too long too have 2 wait to get into it! May just be me, patience was never my strong point!

gyroscope

Thanks muchly for your comment beefy, it's appreciated. Glad you like it, even though it looks slightly odd! Good point about the time to wait; I'll get onto that and shorten it some time today, thanks again. :-)

Martin14

Wow !!!! very good menu! I hope the game is just too good!

gpyles

Maybe it's just me but I can't read the text on the center button?

The buttons actually seem a little small for the amount of text but it may be better on the iPad.
The title and graphics look good.

debugdesign

hhhmmmm

Not sure on the font choice. Glub looks like Glue and then you have squashed all the text on the Organitron Caves and bevelled Glub so it looks like 3 types of font... This is a little confusing on the eye and looks a little messy.

Can't really tell much from the screen... Glub seems to be a ducks head frozen in carbonite and the weird spinning thing must be some kind of alien cave dweller.

There's a lot of elements but the spacing/alignment needs addressing. The Glub icon is not aligned (centrally, top, bottom) to anything. similarly with the spinning thing. Try and imagine an invisible grid box over it keep things aligned.

Hope this helps

gyroscope

Martin14 said:
Wow !!!! very good menu! I hope the game is just too good!

Thanks Martin! I'll try my best!

Hi gpyles; pleased you like the title and graphics also; the buttons could perhaps be made slightly larger, although they do look sharper (and larger of course) on the iPad; also the YouTube video compression tends to smear colours a bit. I'll still check that out, thanks.

Hi debugdesign: I see what you mean that, if you try hard enough, Glub can look to read Glue! The "B" needs a nick in its side then, hopefully that'll solve that one.

debugdesign said:
Glub seems to be a ducks head frozen in carbonite

Ha! One way of describing the character! I'm getting the impression you don't warm to it; fair enough, but I'm hoping some people will. The weird spinning thing is indeed one of the cave dweller "baddies". The game is/will be quite weird overall anyway (a conscious decision) and so for that reason, I'm certain it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

I'll have another look at the graphics placement to achieve more balance, as you suggested. Thanks for your comments.

:-)

jonmulcahy

Looks nice, but it's too slow, you'll need to add a rule that says when touched, goto full menu. People hate waiting for stuff like that

gyroscope

Hi Jon, I think it only takes 12 to 14 seconds to get to the full menu, but as you say, users might get fed up even with that short amount of time, especially if they're playing a continued game. Good suggestion of yours then, thank you.

jonmulcahy

12-14 is still a really long time. I had a game that had a 5 sec animation and then the menu popped up and people complained they couldn't skip the opening.

Most peoplel want games they can pickup and play for a few minutes, and if they have to wait 10-20 seconds for it to open, on top of gs's loading screen, its going to come back and bite you.

Yu should maybye only show the Full intro the fist time it opens.

gyroscope

Hi guys; thought I'd post the menu update ; to show I do listen to your advice! It's certainly snappier, I've made the labels bigger, amended the typography and changed the intro music (different with much shorter loop). Hope you like it. (I'll be posting the intro and some gameplay in a few weeks time if you're interested).

jonmulcahy

very nice, i like how much quicker it is to get to the game

beefy_clyro

Ya, much better

gyroscope

Thanks Jon and beefy; I'm glad I'm on the right track now. :-)

iswim4Him

Wow! you did a great job! Love the music:)

gyroscope

Thanks muchly, iswim4Him! :-)

I'm on my way to finishing the intro now (about half-way) so I can get back into the main gameplay after that.