Sidescroller platformer

by

This is a prototype for a platformer I'm making with more advanced basics than my previous game Cowboizz

Roast me!

Shoutout to my friend BTC for making the music for the game. Soundcloud

Art by Samu. Deviantart

Roasts

WarpZone 6 years ago

Physics Mechanics
The physics need work. Yes, I realize I listed physics as my favorite aspect. That should tell you something about the curve I use.

* When you fall off a ramp on a floating ledge, (I.E. the upper ramp sections) you snap abruptly down to where the ground level is. (I'm guessing this was the character's "natural" y position before accounting for the curved surfaces, which are just some sort of offset? Detect if they're grounded or not and lerp that shit.)

*Pressing E on the sign didn't show me a page of information. Instead, it sent me back to the title screen. If this was by design, it's a dumb idea. Nobody will ever get that. Just make a door you press up to use like everybody else.

*I noticed the enemies are pink. This gives the impression that the teams are boys VS girls. If this was not an intentional thematic choice, use two less psychologically loaded colors (splatoon) or traditionally psychologically loaded colors (Red for enemies, blue for player.) If it IS a deliberate thematic choice, DO something with it.

* If the game uses mouse aiming, the mouse should also work the menu. You can leave the keyboard menu controls in there, too, they worked very nicely, but there's no excuse for me to give up on my mouse, use the arrow keys, then discover I need to pick up my mouse again just as I was getting used to the idea that this isn't a mouse game.

*Putting aside the placeholder graphics and questionable premise, what's the theme of this game? Who is this for? I honestly can't tell. The doofy green MS-paint cyclops in your last game at least made me feel something. This is just like. What is this? Is it a Happy Wheels reference? Because you realize the whole point of Happy Wheels was the physics engine-driven gore, right?

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Henrik_Pontoppidan 6 years ago

Right now this is just a prototype to test some of the mecanics but I will be making a game out of it.
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Henrik_Pontoppidan 6 years ago

I have now added / changed a bunch of stuff, please if you have the time try it again.

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jimlacube 6 years ago

UI Graphics Game Graphics
Although your menu was fairly basic, I liked that all of it worked well and the sound effects on the button clicks was a nice addition and made the click feel like they had impact.

I struggled with the first time I encountered wall jumping. It took me several attempts to get past the first wall because it felt like half the time I wasn't even jumping off the wall. I would have preferred if the jump key was bound to the space bar as it would have made jumping easier.

I really like the character design and idle animation but it would have been nice to see a different animation state for walking/moving. The guns sprites also look good but an animation or some kind of kick would be a nice addition.

Overall I liked the game although it was a bit short but it still has room for improvement such as visuals.

I look forward to more updates.
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nitinkumar25195 6 years ago

UI Graphics Level Design
It's really broad to just say level design, but you mentioned that it is prototype so that may be the case.
UI is cool. Controls felt good and responsive.
I am not a good critic so do take this one lightly. The physics felt jittery at times. Could be many reasons for that.
I think it is a good prototype to build upon.
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HarryCourt 6 years ago

Physics Game Graphics
The physics is pretty good, I enjoy it. But the graphics are a bit... Off...

Instead of random swirly line son the signs, some thick straight lines will do just fine in my opinion. Also, the player, compared to everything else, looks like you took a sprite out of Google Images and used that. Other than that, it was fun playing ^^
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NightZardProductions 6 years ago

Physics Game Graphics
This game plays great and was a lot of fun. But the wall jump mechanic needs some improvements. The shooting worked great. It would be nice to know how much health you currently have as well. The graphics were fairly basic and the background was just a plain color. But aside from that, it was a good game. Well done! :D
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jdeuce 6 years ago

Physics Game Graphics
This definitely seems like a game you should go forward with, keep at it bud.
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GameDevJames 6 years ago

Animation Mechanics
I enjoyed the players animations, although basic they worked well. Just a shame the other characters did not have more animation. I also liked the basic AI of the enemies, with more work they could be really cool.

It's very hard to make an interesting platformer as they have all been done before. If you can create some awesome mechanics which are fairly unique then players will have a lot more fun with the game. EG: fun ways to kill enemies

I understand it's a prototype and not a full game but it's annoying to get to the last bit and just be a huge flat area, should have just ended the game when the last enemy died, or add a boss and end it after that.

Good luck with development!
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Henrik_Pontoppidan 6 years ago

Thank you!
The second room was mostly just to test the new enemies, I will probably make better levels later.
Making your platformer unique however is the one thing i struggle the most with, if you have any ideas at all please message me.
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PseudoFanboy 3 years ago

Level Design
walljumping felt unnecessarily difficult, when you jump it takes your vertical movement into account which meant as soon as you reached what would have been the apex of your jump into the wall and start sliding downwards, you don't get any upwards movement from any walljumps you attempt. that combined with needing to hold the direction the wall is in to walljump again made it infuriating.
bouncing up the walls felt cool the one time i managed to do it but it was such a pain to get there reflex- and timing-wise i'd had it. also, the enemies in the second area take too many shots to kill and i just kept dying there. might be the responsiveness of my mouse but it was still a pain.

similar to what one of the other comments said, try to figure out a theme, message, concept or 'point' for your game before you get much further in development. if you don't know what you're making (in the deeper sense than 'a platformer'), you aren't really making anything.
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