Dood Jump - new free game

SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
edited November -1 in Working with GS (Mac)
The canabalt style game I made is now out.
Have done it as a free game (with ads)

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dood-jump/id412488778?mt=8

http://www.flamingmitten.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/doodshot.png

http://www.flamingmitten.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/shot1.png

Comments

  • UtopianGamesUtopianGames Member Posts: 5,692
    Congrats on release the character looks really cute:)

    Darren.
  • HunnenkoenigHunnenkoenig Member Posts: 1,173
    In this case the title may result in the reverse effect.

    People would assume a doodle jump clone, but this game is obviously not.

    People who are tired of doodle jump clones may ignore your game right by the title.
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,394
    Excellent, have downloaded your game today and also clikced on an add for ya :)

    I also launched an iAd game today, would you mind doing mine please?

    http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/doodle-volcano-full/id412453926?mt=8
    Warning There was an error rendering this rich post.
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    Thanks for the comments guys.

    I must admit, I came up with the name before I came up with the game. (Dude Jump was already taken though).
    @Hunn. Yeah man, you might be right.
    Anyone got any ideas for a better name?

    @Beefy...grabbing now.
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Hey Sparky!

    I liked the look of this, so gave it a go :)

    I'm working on my own runner game, and thought this might be useful:

    The enemies spawn in the middle of the platforms - which is problematic as that's where you usually land.

    What I'm doing in my game is altering the length of the platforms when they go off-screen, so when they come back there's some variation. This might help your character land before or after the goblin, so you have a chance to avoid him. You could also experiment with spawning him to the right a little or to the left - maybe put in random element so his position will vary? Avoiding him right now seems too hard.

    The pace of the game seems a little slow to me. It's just not exciting enough. Does it speed up later?

    I thought the music was the wrong way round - the menu music should be in-game, and the in-game music on the menu! The faster pace of the menu music would suit the action better in-game is what I'm trying to say!

    Hope you don't mind these observations. Like I said, I'm working on a similar game right now, so these things stood out for me as probable issues.

    But hey, it's free, right? :D

    QS :D

    Edit:
    More stuff I noticed:

    There's no 'grace' period if you fall off a platform. You respawn immediately and can fall down into the gap you've already fallen down - which kills you a second time and can be frustrating!

    Take another look at your icon - it looks very washed out for some reason. I imagine it's supposed to look a lot more colourful!

    The iads that appear 'stall' the game for a second or two as they load. Which means you can make a mistake and die.

    Hitting an enemy kills you outright - despite having three lives. I laboured on how to do this on my own game and have played a lot of runner games (I love them!).
    Rogue Runner will lose you a life if you hit an enemy or fall to your death.
    Monster Dash loses you a life if you hit an enemy and kills you outright if you fall to your death (this is the method I'm personally going for)
    Robot Unicorn Attack (all of them!): You lose a life if you hit scenery, the star obstacles or fall to your death.
    Canabalt: No lives! It's game over if you fall to your death or hit an enemy obstacle (though you can slow yourself down by hitting crates).

    I guess what I'm saying is that the death mechanic feels wrong in your game, and stops play far too soon.

    Anyway, hope that all helps!

    QS :D

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    @sheepy thanks for the feedback.. tis always much appreciated.

    I too am varying the lengths once they are offscreen, but I am limiting it to 4 distinct lengths (just because of the way I have done the graphics really).

    Also... yeah, I agree about the green fella. I have it coded in that it should be offset from the centre by a random amount....hmmm.... maybe it's not working properly :o(
    As it is at the mo, you have to land on the platform early, then jump over him, and then spring off the end of the platform to the next one.
    It's the thing that bothers me most about the game as it stands.

    Yeah, I've been thinking of changing the in game music to make it more.....pumpy :o)

    And as for the speed. It does speed up over time. It maxes out at "500", which felt like the most playable speed whilst I was testing...but I might have an experiment with some more speed.

    Anyone got any thoughts on a better name than "Dood Jump"?
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    Just had quite possibly the worst review we have ever had........from than Rotstik fella.

    I don't mind that he's bashed the game (somewhat rightly ^^ see above), but when he starts highlighting Gamesalad shortcomings in a review, it gets a bit much.
  • expired_012expired_012 Member Posts: 1,802
    Awesome game.

    I think you should make it so that the jump height depends on how long the finger is kept on the screen. For example, if you just tap the screen the character should jump just slightly, and if it is kept longer on the screen the jump should be higher
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Mate - I just wanted to say 'nice one' on the update. The game is vastly improved! Congrats!

    Now all you need to do is sort out the respawn mechanic so you don't die, and you're sorted :D

    Well done fella!

    QS :D

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    Thanks man.
    Yeah, I don't really know why I didn't do the jumping like that in the first place....aaaaanywys. Thought it best to get that small update out first before fixing up the respawn thingy.

    Thanks for the nice comments mate.

    I just wish there wasn't such a performance hit when the ads are displayed. There seems to be a good 20-20 fps (at a guess) drop when an ad is displayed as opposed to when there isn't.
    But to keep the ad requests up, I really have to have them on the play screens.

    I have another game with just ads on the static screens, and the request rate is around 5 times as low.

    Either way, with a fill rate of around 3%, I won't be retiring off of my phat iAds cash just yet ;)
  • MagoNicolasMagoNicolas Member, PRO Posts: 2,090
    Aweosome! Congrats! Im downloading now! Will leave a Review.
  • MagoNicolasMagoNicolas Member, PRO Posts: 2,090
    Already Play it, Very nice game! I wanted to do a similar game, there is a lot of people making this style of game lol.
    I would love to see a template for this!

    Keep it! HEar the sheep, i think the same, Update it and improve it.

    Cya!
  • PortgasPortgas Member Posts: 71
    Why there is no instructions? Tried 10 times, can't even jump on another platform. Tried to hold tap for long, but it's not working. Nonplayable for me (iphone 3g 4.2)
    Load times are very high at respawn.
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    There are no instructions because I didn't think it would need any.

    You tap the screen to jump...that is all.
    Short/tiny taps do little jumps, longer taps do bigger jumps.
    You can collect shiny things for extra points, and avoid things that look bad (spikes/monsters/not the ground) to not die.

    Sorry to hear you are having trouble @Portgas
    Can you not jump AT ALL??? (anyone else tried on a 3G and had similar issues?)
    I tested on 4 different devices before we launched (3GS, 3G, 4 and ipod 4th gen)
  • AjBlueAjBlue Member Posts: 215
    im using a itouch 2g, and i get extreme framerate issues. it makes the game unplayable
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    @AJ I'm thinking that will be the iAds.
    The frames drop even on a 3GS when the ads are trying to be displayed (Even if the ad doesn't fill the frames still drop a bit)

    When I disable the iAds, I get a pretty solid 58-60 fps on the 3GS. Am thinking once I have tweaked this free version for long enough, I may well stick an ad free version up for 99c/59p maybe.

    (This was my iAd experiment game btw....just to see how it was in the real world.

    So far, I'm not a big fan.
  • expired_012expired_012 Member Posts: 1,802
    @sparky, you can use Tshirts method to detect which device it is, and if its a newer device then display ads, and if its an older device then do not display ads.
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    Yeah. Thing is, even on the newer devices, the frame rate hit is pretty unacceptable (imo). It was still pretty noticeable on the iPhone 4

    I'm thinking of just having ads on the static screens.
    Will make my request rate drop dramatically, but will make for a better game for the punters.
  • gazjmgazjm Member Posts: 578
    Had a few goes on my 3GS and it plays fine, no framerate issue at all. I do clear out my background apps quite often though! nice game!
  • MagoNicolasMagoNicolas Member, PRO Posts: 2,090
    I have played more and more, And you definitely need to Fix that issue when you die, sometimes I die twice in a row because i appear to fast in a empty space.
    But is a game with a LOT of potential.
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    @Nicolas
    yeah, that "insta-death" is next on my list of things to fix up.
    I deffo want to keep the idea of re appearing pretty much as you die to keep the momentum of the gameplay up...but it needs to be a little more friendly ;o)
  • PortgasPortgas Member Posts: 71
    Sparkyidr said:

    Can you not jump AT ALL??? (anyone else tried on a 3G and had similar issues?)
    I tested on 4 different devices before we launched (3GS, 3G, 4 and ipod 4th gen)
    i tried everything i could and char. just jump little by little and occasionally jumps very high, but just one time(
  • laxking97laxking97 Member Posts: 114
    can you send me the template to lacrossemonster @ live {DOT} com . If not that's fine though.
  • THRSTNTHRSTN Member Posts: 178
    Hey man I just downloaded and it's awesome. I also saw the review that doosh rotstik left and I left a good review after it calling out his negativeness and the fact that he singles out Gamesalad games and that he paid nothing for the game so what the he'll is his problem. I really like the game, good job man and I clicked on a couple ads for ya. I really like that more of these running jumping games are out and love that you can make this in gamesalad and I would LOVE tosee the code on how to do that thurstongames@gmail.com. Again great job man
  • HyryttyHyrytty Member Posts: 39
    I'd suggest you change the name of the game or something. I clicked the title because I was curious how Doodle Jump would look like using gamesalad. But your game is much better
  • jaymo1678jaymo1678 Member Posts: 1
    hello
    i enjoy everything bout your game except the jump button... you say longer taps do bigger jumps but they actually dont rarely do i get any big jumps even if i hold it down every single time. theres something wrong with this. iv tried countless times to master the jumping but i get the same results everytime. plz help me figure it out or jus fix the jumping.
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