Try my applet remake of Amidar/Triple Punch

WIP games, tools & toy projects Archived Projects
#1

Hello again.

Thanks a lot for playtesting my last game Spacerace to Timbuktu. The feedback was very usable and has greatly improved the game.

Here is a new one for you:

http://vredungmand.dk/games/erik-spillet/index.html

Just as Spacerace to Timbuktu, this is an older game, that I have finished just lately.

As always: I would like some feedback on my game design.

If you play the game a couple of times - then please tell:

  • How far into the game did you get the first time you played it?
  • How quickly (if you did) did you loose interest in the game? Did you get stuck?

(These questions help me to get an idea of whether the game has a good balance and progression.)

Any ideas on improvement of the game?

#2

Works great (OS X 10.3.2, JRE 1.4.2_03).

Plays nice. Good job.

#3

Only problem I have is with turning. Often when I go down and then press left just before branch, my mob goes back up, instead of finishing last part of step down and then going left. 6 of 9 deaths was caused by that.

On first time I gave managed to get to level 4 without death and loose all lives there, second time similar (with one accidental death before due to turn-bug), third time I got to level 5 without death, and lost all lives there (all due to turn bug).

I would suggest that you rewrite this game for J2ME - it can be a real hit there :slight_smile:

#4

On my first go I didn’t complete level 1. I got bored trying to work out the rules, and because pressing escape didn’t do anything I had to spend some time killing myself just to quit.

I spent a while trying to work out how I had killed one of the erics, but there’s no instructions so I got too bored of that too and couldn’t be bothered to play again.

#5

Abies: I have updated the controls and it certainly helped on MacOSX. I have a fairly complex set of heurestics to help the player to cut corners. Please tell me if the controls are any better now?

blahblahblah: There is a link reading “instructions” just under the applet. Is it too subtle or are the instructions not any good?

#6

Waaaay too subtle; you’ve got it “buried” inside a version and author line of text.

Normally you either have the instrcutions:

[] in-game
[] on a big graphical button saying “instructions” or “help”
[*] on a single link centred beneath/above your applet with nothing else in the main area, with a hundred+ pixels between applet and link. This is considered “obvious”.

I think most players prefer the first option, though :).

#7

Excellent little game. Love the graphical style.

Cas :slight_smile:

#8

Nice game :slight_smile:

Any ideas on improvement of the game?

Hum… no. It’s ok the way it is. Hm… well… make it webstartable ;D

#9

Great amidar clone (‘Erik vs Erik’; how could I not like that game? ;D)
The controls are good now.

Erik

#10
  • How far into the game did you get the first time you played it?

I died the first time on the level after the one with the time bonuses.

  • How quickly (if you did) did you loose interest in the game? Did you get stuck?

I quit the first time I died. (had to go back to work)

I havent’ played the game this is based off, but my first thought was “ah, pacman”.

Played very well and felt very solid. Nice job.

#11

Thanks you all. It seems like the game has a good progression. Allthough I have decided to easen up level 5 bit and then hopefully people will figure out level 6.

blahblahblah: I will do a redesign of the html on all my applets some time real soon, with better and more consistent graphics. The link is too subtle - I can see from my server log that a text link get approximately half the clicks a graphical buttons does. (Graphical buttons like this game have: http://vredungmand.dk/games/platfoot/index.html).