Game idea - with video - feedback please.

CannonFodder

Hi Everyone,

I have a game demo which I made for the PC, but never finished. I am toying with the idea of developing it for the iphone, as I think its well suited to the platform.

I have a video here of it running. It is 4.00 minutes into the video (only video footage I have of it, sorry.)



Description:

Colourful Disposition is a puzzle/platform game in which the player has to collect disks to progress through a number of set levels. There are five different characters the players can transform into, each with their own unique attributes.

Each level challenges the player into finding a way to use the five characters to overcome obstacles and to open the exit portal to the next level.

I would love to here what you guys think of if and if you can see any problem I might run into if I was to develop it with gamesalad (I myself cant see any).
Thanks,

Simon

goliath

Embed didn't work...

Do you have a youtube link?

goliath

Never mind...works good now!

JamesZeppelin

clever,
I think its perfect for GS

Takes advantage of thinking and gameplay rather than killer graphics and a green ogre in a car

quantumsheep

/abandons Green Ogre Combat Racing Extreme XZ-2

Seriously though, it looks like a great idea. Something a little different at least, which I personally always applaud!

Nice one

QS.

CannonFodder

Thanks for the feedback guys, glad you liked it. I fully agree gameplay over graphic for me every time.

Here are a few screen shots as its a little squashed in the video lol.

http://yfrog.com/jdnewcolourd3p

http://yfrog.com/jqnewcolourd2p

http://yfrog.com/0enewcolourd5p

@QS I have seen on previous posts you are a bit of a fan of retro gaming (me too). 3.21 seconds into the video is my old games logo its a bit of a homage to my favourite Spectrum game, can you guess what it is .

quantumsheep

Back to School? Or SchoolDaze?

Please tell me you're coming to the meet on Saturday. I have something to show you that will make your ****ing day - kinda

And no, it's not puppies.

QS

CannonFodder

lol wow your good mate! It is indeed Skool daze ( love back to skool as well).
Am gutted, I cant make it on sat am working

Am really intrigued to what this “something” is though, if it was not my three month probation on the 1st of may, I would of phoned in sick lol.

Ignis

Great concept! I imagine you could add alot of enhancements on how each player type/color could "manipulate" the environment and different things within it (not just doors). I'm still in the early stages of learning GS, but your concept seems well within the bounds of the GS engine.

CannonFodder

Thanks Ignis, I have been playing around with a few ideas.
Each character/colour has a unique ability:

Red: Double Jump
Blue: Duck
Green: move quickly
Yellow: Climb ladders
Purple: float on water

Along with colour coded doors, transporters, floor panels ect.
Also something I forgot to mention is there is a set amount of times the player can change character, this is dictated by each level.

This should make the game quite tricky and hopefully require the player to really take their time and think through each possible outcome before moving.

I decided to have no time limit on the levels as a though a change limit would be a sufficient challenge.

quantumsheep

This has a chance at 'The Braid Effect'.

As in, it makes you feel like a genius when you work it out

QS

CannonFodder

Hopefully it will have a little of the Braid magic. Don't think it will be as anywhere near as good as Braid is genius game/level design. But I can only try (and fail lol).

Ignis

LazyPixelGames said:
Each character/colour has a unique ability:

Red: Double Jump
Blue: Duck
Green: move quickly
Yellow: Climb ladders
Purple: float on water

Along with colour coded doors, transporters, floor panels ect.
Also something I forgot to mention is there is a set amount of times the player can change character, this is dictated by each level.

This should make the game quite tricky and hopefully require the player to really take their time and think through each possible outcome before moving.

I decided to have no time limit on the levels as a though a change limit would be a sufficient challenge.

I like all of these ideas! "Purple = float on water": I've been experimenting with a "water effect" in my own test game, in how it affects the objects that contact it. I wanted floating objects to look like they are floating, with a slight up and down movement. I eventually succeeded by applying a 90-degree upward acceleration to objects in the water, to counter-act the overlying downward acceleration of "gravity". After carefully adjusting numbers and testing, I now have the objects staying roughly on the surface of the water, without accelerating back up out of the water, and without sinking to the bottom. I hope to have a demo of my experiment completed soon; it's mostly polygons now, but the physics are getting more mature.

Limited number of "character changes", also a great idea. In strategy games of this sort, I think those kind of restrictions really take it up a notch, in player interaction and consideration of each movement, almost as if playing chess.

Overall timed level? I would find that very annoying, so I'm glad you decided against it. Personally, I have never been fond of timed anything in strategy games (as in a clock counting down toward failure or something). Clocks belong in racing games and such, where the entire point is to race against the clock, against another player, etc. At least that's my two cents on the issue.

CannonFodder

Hi Ignis, sounds interesting I hope it works out. Sounds like you have more or less cracked it, will be instersted in seeing your demo once its finished :-)

Also I fully agree with you, having a timer in strategy games is a bad idea, it just leads to Frustration.

quantumsheep

LazyPixelGames said:
Also I fully agree with you, having a timer in strategy games is a bad idea, it just leads to Frustration.

OR - you could have a separate time trial mode!

Hey, it's an extra mode and will double the player experience just by adding a timer!

QS

CannonFodder

lol Good idea QS, if I took out the change limit and replaced it with a timer that could work.
Also like you say, it's an simple way off adding an extra mode. The level design would need to be altered but it should change the whole feel of the game :-)

quantumsheep

See how you do with the main game, eh? If it's a simple addition, certainly do it

I'm obsessed with time (hence my avatar!) and find that doing something against the clock is pretty compelling to most people. Always trying to beat the best time, or get a good score within a certain time - awesome stuff.

I'm thinking Zoo Keeper's timed mode. While the main game was pretty good, having just 6 mins in time mode was just soooo addictive.

So it's just an idea, but one that fits into most games pretty easily

QS

Chaser

I like the idea! On another note I get migrains bad and your all checkered title screen about half Destroyed me. Maybe bigger checkers or a strip of them.

CannonFodder

@QS, I can see now why you like braid so much lol.

@Chaster, sorry about that, I will look in it playing around with the title screen, to make it more easy on the eyes lol.

Ignis

quantumsheep said:
I'm obsessed with time (hence my avatar!) and find that doing something against the clock is pretty compelling to most people. Always trying to beat the best time, or get a good score within a certain time - awesome stuff.

QS

QuantumSheep,
I think I spoke too soon... I think that a timer counting up would be a nice new challenge, even to people like myself who aren't so fond of timers! Then, even in a strategy game, the player could challenge himself/herself to complete the level in a new best time, and even compare their own personal best with friends. I think it's the notion of a time-bomb-like device that has never appealed to me... "2 minutes 35 seconds to failure!" or something similar; then the player is racing against the clock, not racing against their own personal best time. A subtle difference perhaps, but that's my feeling on the matter.

In either case, I like the idea of LazyPixel including a timer as a possible option, but not necessarily mandatory for all players in all levels. Maybe a "challenge setting" could be applied after the player completes each level: you've completed it, now see how fast you can complete it! I might consider this in my own game(s) at some point.

CannonFodder

Hi Ignis, I think a “rush mode” would work well. After the game has been completed it could be unlocked.
The goal being to race through a combination of previously completed levels, in the shortish time. The levels would be conjoined and lead straight on from each other. With the change restrictions disabled, each level could be approached in a fresh way, that was not possible before. With the emphasise now being on speed not strategic plaining, it would give the game an extra dimension in game-play and make QS very happy :-)

This mode would also have much more replay valve (beating the fastest time) than first mode.