My Stecnyl Jam 2013 Game Pixel UP

mfaa990

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  • Posts: 7
hi guys ..
this is my game for the stencyl jam competition ( and the second game i made so far ) hosted by newgrounds ,  my main inspiration was super meat boy and the awesome skullface...

i know it's not the uniquest game out there  ::) , but my main goal creating this game was to make it enjoyable , challenging and complete .

it's a platformer game supporting the theme of " Rise "containing 30 levels in 3 acts ( i included 3 more challenging levels for those who seek real challenge  ;) )

i used music from a well known band called : 8 bit weapon .  ( with permission )
here is the link : http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/616666

please enjoy  :) ...
game designer, i make games since childhood
twitter : @mohfunk

mfaa990

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  • Posts: 7
game designer, i make games since childhood
twitter : @mohfunk

Jon

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  • Posts: 17524
Could you upload this game to the Stencyl Arcade? We'd love to feature it as a staff pick.

mfaa990

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  • Posts: 7
of course i would love it :)
http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/18949

thank you guys
game designer, i make games since childhood
twitter : @mohfunk

Jon

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  • Posts: 17524
Thanks. You may want to adjust the icon, so it's more appropriate for the Arcade page (which in turn attracts more views).

http://www.stencyl.com/game/

Photon

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The soundtrack is absolutely GREAT. FANTASTIC. WOOHOO. The overall style of the game is very appealing. It has a very sound presentation in that regard.

I felt like the controls were not nearly as tight as I would have liked, though. I get the feeling that was maybe a little intentional, but still. That unfortunately brings me to the point that I actually felt like the gameplay was only good. Not fantastic, just good. I think its worth bringing up because the presentation is amazing and, in my opinion, overtakes the gameplay a little. Again, I think it comes back to the controls. Just too loose for my tastes. They don't break the game, but it did make it significantly more frustrating for me. What probably motivated me to keep playing more than anything was, again, the stellar presentation.

But all things considered, its still an emphatic thumbs up. :)
Do NOT PM me your questions, because I likely will not respond. If I have replied to your question on the forum, keep using that topic. Thanks!

mfaa990

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  • Posts: 7
thanks mate , i really appreciate your review .
in my next games i will make sure that the game is made for a player not for myself  ( i wanted the game to be hard at the first place  ) unfortunately the results were  that i ended up with me alone getting A+s in the levels  :(
and yea i care a lot about how the game is presented , but i care even more about how the game is played , honestly i made a big mistake , about the difficulty and the controls .
actually this game wasn't a jam game , i made a small prototype of the game to teach my friends at school how to make games with stencyl . the thing is they liked the prototype and they told me that the game could be really enjoyable so i started developing the game for the jam only 2 weeks before the jam's deadline so i didn't have enough time for adjusting .
anyway , i won stencyl studio in another competition  :D and i'm going to release a fixed version of pixel up for the android please if you could tell me what really bothered you with the controls i will be more than just thankful  :)
also i have played pixel ninja , you sir impressed me  :D keep up the good work .
game designer, i make games since childhood
twitter : @mohfunk

Photon

  • Posts: 2691
OK, so I went back and played some more so I could really try and wrap my head around some of the control issues. Some things I noted:

  • I don't know if its because your actor has friction or something else, but you slow down very fast when pressing up against a wall and going up. This is particularly noticeable on the very first level; moving fast through there for an A+ time is made complicated by the fact that you lose upward momentum so quick if you press up against the wall. There isn't much vertical room to navigate there, so a quick wall jump is important to avoid hitting the spikes.
  • The character is very floaty in general. This is very notable in the air; I'm not sure he slows down at all when in the air unless you press left/right accordingly. This is important, because a player may want to make slight adjustments to their position to fall and fit through a gap (such as in level 15); if pressing left/right for a split second makes your character move so much, then making those fine-tune adjustments to your position become very frustrating.
  • This next one is partially control-related and partially level design-related. Some of the challenges are so precise that you feel like your fighting the controls rather than the level itself. For example, look at level 19. You jump so high that you have to have such precise positioning when you jump to clear that first wall and not hit the ceiling. Those kind of quirks can sometimes be intentional and add a layer of challenge to a game, but in this instance it feels like it gets more in the way because of the control issues I mentioned earlier.

The basic feel of all of this is that, to me, it doesn't feel as fluid as it should be. It needs sharper controls and movement.

But hey, like I said, the game still has a lot going for it. Like you said, gameplay is typically more important than graphics and music, but certainly not something to take forgranted. You certainly did a great job there and its very compelling. That was a big part of what made me want to keep playing; it was the control issues that eventually turned me off. But if the gameplay would have had no merit to it, I probably wouldn't have gone as long as I did; like I said, its good... its just not at that superb level for me yet. But I definitely think it can be fixed.

Finally, thanks for playing Pixel Ninja. I really appreciate that!
Do NOT PM me your questions, because I likely will not respond. If I have replied to your question on the forum, keep using that topic. Thanks!

mfaa990

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Thanks photon , i really really appreciate your time ( getting to level 19 is not that easy i'm sure you died a lot XD)
honestly this is the most important feedback i have got .
all the reviews I've got were about the difficulty and that i should have a special place in hell
i will redesign the player movement and controls from scratch i'll make sure it's sharp , comfortable and smooth .
btw .. add more aesthetics to pixel ninja then bring it to the smart phones , i fell in love with it already .

finally I'll make sure to mention you on the special thanks list , and thanks again mate
game designer, i make games since childhood
twitter : @mohfunk

Photon

  • Posts: 2691
Thanks photon , i really really appreciate your time ( getting to level 19 is not that easy i'm sure you died a lot XD)
honestly this is the most important feedback i have got .
all the reviews I've got were about the difficulty and that i should have a special place in hell
i will redesign the player movement and controls from scratch i'll make sure it's sharp , comfortable and smooth .
btw .. add more aesthetics to pixel ninja then bring it to the smart phones , i fell in love with it already .

finally I'll make sure to mention you on the special thanks list , and thanks again mate
No prob. Glad to help.

Bring Pixel Ninja to smart phones? Hmm, I'd have to do some research there (and get Stencyl iOS). I'd have to figure out how to facilitate the controls.
Do NOT PM me your questions, because I likely will not respond. If I have replied to your question on the forum, keep using that topic. Thanks!