Grapple - Android 2D platformer (finally released to Google Play)

Count on me to start testing from the beginning again when the new controls are ready. I moved to a new phone, so I lost my progress anyways!

Started all over. Jump feels much more precise now, I die less silly deaths. I just noticed something… I have the ā€œall key fragmentsā€ achievement, but I am pretty sure I didn’t get them all.

Sweet, thanks for letting me know it’s gotten better.

Yeah, I managed to get that as well on completing my first door after one of the patches. I must have screwed something up. :frowning:

Hi

I have downloaded the game and have completed about 7 or 8 levels so far, Its quite a fun game to plan and the last update made controlling the character much easier. Some game play comments from me :

Having controls on the left and right side is very confusing, I’d prefer left-right on one side and jump on the other. I keep getting confused as I see both sets, my fingers also move around when not looking and I press unwanted button

Stepping on pressure pads doesn’t always make the platforms keep moving. I know some need boxes on them to do this, but the ones that don’t seem to have issues (example the first one I saw which told me about them)

When you need to put boxes on the pressure pads, its a total pain to try and get them on, I can’t push them on, I need to jump on the box then fall off a corner in the hope it might topple. Its not consistent. I am not sure if moving a box on to a pressure pad is meant to be one of the challenges aspects in the game (could be wrong :))

Its not immediate obvious how to get off a ladder, you need to hold left or right while going up the ladder. When I try and jump off (like a lot of other games) nothing happens.

Cool, I am glad you enjoy it.

Yeah, I agree this is confusing. I made that that way because when you get the grappling-hook you fire it wither with your left of right thumb (depending on the direction you want to fire it in), and that means I had to double the controls as you always need to be able to jump and move whilst firing the hook. Or so I thought. I am working on a different solution for the controllers, suggested by @DavidBVal, and will hopefully soon have a first draft of this.

You are absolutely right about this, thank you for pointing it out. I’ve just released a fix for this so when version 1.08 filters through Google Play pressure plates should be a lot easier to navigate.

This is also something I am working on. I haven’t got a good solution for this and what ever solution I come up with depends on what I do with the controllers. Rest assure I agree with you though and I am trying to fix it.

Thank you for taking the time to provide me with this feedback, it is very much appreciated!

Just sent a crash report.

Also, made the impostor flee but didn’t get the achievement :frowning:

Changes look good, some more feed back

The grappling hook graphics - They block the help text when you go past help sticks. I can’t therefore read all the help, it might be the size of graphics for the controls that I have on, the level that introduces the grappling hook is a prime example.

The grappling hook length is fixed, to me its intuitive that if I jump closer to a ceiling the length of the rope is smaller. when you need to use the grappling hook to open more doors the rope is too long to get on the next platform. I managed it but I am not really sure how :wink:

This might be just me, but if I press the right grappling hook button I expect the rope to go right (Its just how my brain thinks). I know why you have done it (so the aim part works) but with out other visual clues my brain is fixated on things going in the same direction as where I press on the screen.

Oh joy! A native crash with pretty much nothing indicating where it went tits up.

This is dissapointing, I will have a look.
In other news, work on your proposed changes for the controllers are moving ahead at a slow-ish pace.

Great! I am eager to see how you actually design it, because I can’t come up with a perfect interface that allows movement, jump, AND the ability to throw hook while holding any of the other two. ???

Other than that, I agree with ziozio. The lenght of the hook shouldn’t be fixed, if you throw it to a closer wall/ceiling, I’d like it more if it resulted in a shorter chain.

About the crash, I am sooo curious. Can you share the stack trace? ;D

I am not sure I’ll get it the way I want, but with other changes such as the one suggested by you and @ziozio, it might work anyway.

I’ll try to implement this before finishing the new controls.


#00 pc 0002034c /system/lib/libdvm.so (dvmPlatformInvoke+112)
#01 pc 00050fcf /system/lib/libdvm.so (dvmCallJNIMethod(unsigned int const*, JValue*, Method const*, Thread*)+398)
#02 pc 000297e0 /system/lib/libdvm.so
#03 pc 00030c6c /system/lib/libdvm.so (dvmMterpStd(Thread*)+76)
#04 pc 0002e304 /system/lib/libdvm.so (dvmInterpret(Thread*, Method const*, JValue*)+184)
#05 pc 00063431 /system/lib/libdvm.so (dvmCallMethodV(Thread*, Method const*, Object*, bool, JValue*, std::__va_list)+336)
#06 pc 00063455 /system/lib/libdvm.so (dvmCallMethod(Thread*, Method const*, Object*, JValue*, ...)+20)
#07 pc 00058133 /system/lib/libdvm.so
#08 pc 0000d248 /system/lib/libc.so (__thread_entry+72)
#09 pc 0000d3e0 /system/lib/libc.so (pthread_create+240)

This is most likely something going through Box2D code at some point. I just love errors like this.

I guess we’ll never know… on the bright side, the game is really stable, only had that one crash in all the versions I tried, and honestly, almost every game I’ve tried on Android has had one crash at some point.

Tried the game. Works fine on my oneplus one.

At first congratz for the nice, great art in your game. I really like it. And it is a game: easy to learn hard to master.

Some thoughts:

  • it is a speedrunner but why is the main character sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow?
  • the get off the ladder you need really the second thumb … mhhh I dont like it. I like to play a game with one hand. But when you know it is ok.

Thank you for trying it.

I wish I could take credit for the sprites, but I got them off opengameart.org.

The character is slow (or slower compared to other platforms) because of the complexity of the controls. I felt that the player needed a slower game to compensate for using onscreen-controls to do complex actions. I know it seems like he’s unnecessarily slow in the early stages, but as you progress the game get’s a lot harder and it helps that the pace is slowed down.

As for the controls and the issue with the ladders, all I can say is I am working on something else for this, but it will never be a perfect solution I think. It’s an ambitious task coming up with a control scheme that allows for the actions required, whilst still suiting most players.

Thank you again for trying the game, and thank you so much for taking the time to provide me with much needed feedback.

@abcdef, I’ve moved the text that’s displayed when you read a sign higher up on screen, hopefully that alleviates the controls hiding the text issue.

I’ve also changed the way the King grabs onto the grappling hook chain, so that he doesn’t always grab hold at the very end. If it attaches to something early, he will grab hold higher up, leaving the extra bit dangling below him. This should fix the concerns of @abcdef and @DavidBVal.

It’s all in version 1.09 which should be with you shortly (when it has filtered through Google Play).

I just realized I’ve left this here in WIP, does anyone know what I need to do to move it away from the Work in Progress board and onto the Showcase one as I am considering this one done?

You should probably message an admin to do that for you. Ask Riven, he’ll move the thread :smiley:

Moved :slight_smile:

Much obliged.

Played this one after seeing it in wip… it’s well done.

Interesting concept, well implemented. I liked it.

Uses box2d right?

Did you do the art yourself?

Where’d you get the music/sounds?

(I’m assuming you’re solo or small team)

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback.

It does, yes. It’s built with libGDX and the physics is Box2D.

Most of the art is from OpenGameArt (A Platformer in the Forest and deadEarth’s music), I can’t really do any graphics or music so I’m relying on Creative Commons assets. Some of the sounds are done by me but most are from freesound.org.

I am just me. By myself. On the train to and from work. :slight_smile: