A droid story

Showcase
#1

Hi everyone! I’m here to show you my last creation, A droid story.

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Features:

  • single player puzzle game
  • built in 7 days
  • made with libgdx
  • 25 levels!
  • opensource !

Play it now! - requires Java to run

Long story

In past months I’ve tried many times to start a new project without any real “win”. So I’ve tried to test my programming abilities on this small puzzle game and learning libgdx. The experience was really fun, so I’m here to share my project and get feedback.
This time I’ve worked a bit on pixel art and I can say I’m not a good artist at all :stuck_out_tongue: Seriously, the point is to get player all visual elements to understand what’s going on and I’m satisfied on that side too!

Any feedback is appreciated, thanks!

Note: updated to version 1.2

#2

Hi everyone! I’ve updated a droid story to version 1.1, here the small changelog:

  • added 5 more levels, now 25 !
  • fixed some small bugs!
  • improved game over and win screen

Play it now! - requires Java to run

#3

Hi, nice game. I haven’t finished it yet, but I like the old style graphics and the gameplay is also good.

After game over I have to restart application to start to play again, is there any option to avoid restarting application?
There is no button or any other information how to start playing.

You can also improve your game by adding codes to levels.
For example, if somebody reaches some level he gets a code key to that level and has not to pass through all the levels from the beginning again.

The character has two stripes one above and one bottom. Above is health but what does the bottom strip mean?

#4

thanks meva for feedback!

[quote]After game over I have to restart application to start to play again, is there any option to avoid restarting application?
[/quote]
you need to press ESC do you played version 1.0 or 1.1 ?

[quote]There is no button or any other information how to start playing.
[/quote]
On the first screen there is written “Press SPACE to start”

[quote]You can also improve your game by adding codes to levels.
For example, if somebody reaches some level he gets a code key to that level and has not to pass through all the levels from the beginning again.
[/quote]
I don’t like this solution, maybe is better a level selection, where you can unlock levels and start from the last one you played ?

[quote]The character has two stripes one above and one bottom. Above is health but what does the bottom strip mean?
[/quote]
bottom one is the number of keys for doors :smiley:

#5

Thanks for explanations.

I played version 1.0 and I missed ESC button:).

[quote]I don’t like this solution, maybe is better a level selection, where you can unlock levels and start from the last one you played ?
[/quote]
Yes, it is also a good solution.

[quote]bottom one is the number of keys for doors
[/quote]
Thanks! It makes sense:). I was not sure.

Game in 7 days, nice work:). How much time a day did you spend working on it?

#6

Hi nice game. Overall I’d say the level design is good I like that you don’t try to introduce all they types of objects to the player at once. Also, I think the art works for this game; I had no trouble figuring out that the red spidery things are mines/bombs, and generally determining what’s what. So you need to re-evaluate your artistic skills :P.

A couple of bugs/fiddly things
There doesn’t seem to be a red door-key inventory. that is to say if I pick up 1 key I can open 1 door, if I pick up 3 keys I can open 1 door. This is problematic on the level with 3 doors that need red keys.

I have trouble entering narrow corridors like the one in level two leading from the start location to where the red key is. The character get’s off by 1 block and the typical character step is 2-3 blocks; so after moving up/down I’m now off by 1-2 blocks in the opposite direction. I have the same issue with the door on level 2, and probably other places.

I second meva’s comment about not wanting to play every level from the beginning again. I’d settle for something that lets me try the last level I was on over again, and resets when the game closes.

#7

I’ve developed this game in 2-3 hours for days, not too much really, because I’ve made some other games in the past ( hint… see my blog!)

Thanks, is something I really like to see more in games. As designer, I don’t like to use all my gameplay ( in this games puzzle elements :stuck_out_tongue: ) together. Anyway is a strange balance to find between all gameplay elements in first levels or introduce every X levels

First time anyone like my pixels, thanks!
What do you think about doors ? For me are weak point for graphic in this game

About level 3: on level 3 there are no doors ??? Maybe is on another level ?
Thanks for the feedback, sometimes collision is strange for me too, I think I should have some kind of “magnetic” grid, so every time player moves, always stay inside a block of the grid, what do you think ?

I’m working on level selection, so these problems will be solved, thanks for feedback guys!

#8

Hi everyone! I’ve updated a droid story to version 1.2, here the small changelog:

  • added transitions between game states
  • added level selection

Play it now! - requires Java to run

#9

It was a bit challenging to see doors at first due to the color contrast (pretty close to the floor color). Maybe an switching the image to more of an ‘I’ or ‘H’ shape would help clear things up? Changing the color could also help locate them, but would probably ruin the industrial look you’ve got going on.

I was thinking of Level 15, which has 3 doors. I couldn’t remember the level number so I attempted to describe the level.

I don’t know… I actually like the more ‘analog positioning’ where the player can straddle multiple floor tiles since you have to pay attention or you’ll run into a mine. Having the character always completely in a tile would solve the problem, but would make the game loose some of its charm for me.
You might consider having the robot accelerate instead of move at a constant velocity. That is for key presses <0.5 or 1 s the robot moves at 1/2 speed, and for longer key presses moves at full speed. Making the hallways a little wider or the robot a little smaller would also work I think.

A few additional things:
the frame rate on the robot walk animation seems low (~4 tiles of movement to take a step).
I’m not a fan of replacing unlocked doors with inactive mines. initially I wasn’t sure if I was going to take damage or not.
Pretty sure transporter pads and end pads got mixed up in level 25.
This might be intentional. The moving mines detonate when the player tries to move into their space but not when the mine tries to move into the player’s space.

#10

Hi, I played version 1.2, it looks nice.

However, I found strange behavior and I dont know if it was intentional.
It is when the character is very close to a red moving bomb and only the health stripe is touching it, then it is possible to shorten path of that bomb.
This situation is not observed when the bottom stripe is touching a bomb.

#11

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I’m not sure how to reproduce the collision problem, so I will try and if I find a solution create a new version :smiley:

did someone finished alle 25 levels ? Do you want more of them ?

#12

Hi everyone! I’ve updated a droid story to version 1.3, here changelog:

  • fixed music issue, now music works!

Play it now! - requires Java to run

#13

Hi,

For example on level 6, when you set character in the way like on the picture below, the bomb doesn’t kill you.

640×508 8.54 KB

#14

I finished all 25 levels.

I would probably skip more levels unless you’re planning on adding new puzzle elements.

I noticed this too. Is it intentional?

#15

thanks for feedback again!

No it’s not intentional, I will fix it ! Thanks!