- Fixed up the goal boxes so they fade out quite a bit more once they've been achieved. I toyed with removing them altogether but I kind of like seeing your achievements stay on the screen.
- I made a (very) rudimentary random level generator. Switch levels with the square brace keys: [ ]. There are now over 2.1 billion levels! How's that for content? After playing with it quite a bit I found that the random levels make the gravity seem like... Well, like it doesn't really matter. I'm going to have to experiment more with maximum and minimum planet sizes and mass values for everything to see if I can get it back. Maybe random levels aren't the way to go? Maybe my generator just needs some tuning?
- I made the squid size vary a bit (60-120%) randomly with the level. Because the forces don't scale properly, the larger the squid is the slower it handles. Conversely, the smaller squids are zippy little jetfighters! I really prefer playing with the small squids because of the fast responsiveness, but they are very touchy. Because I don't want to scare people away I made sure level 1 starts with the chunkiest squid. Level 6 has one of the smallest squids possible. Perhaps one day the smaller, lighter squids will be unlockables?
- I put joint contstraints on each of the limbs. This has had some interesting side effects. I find the squid looks a bit more natural now - the legs attempt to stay aligned. There is even some natural motion, like the feet springboard off of walls to help propel you away from danger. The downside, though, is it drastically changes your vector on rotation. This seems to make the squid a lot harder to control (for me, anyway). I'm curious to see how other people find it, especially on the larger/smaller squids.
- The goal areas have little countdown clocks on them, based on your keypresses. This adds another dimension of challenge to the game. After the game gets tuned I'll set these to a mildly challenging setting - they are mostly random with the level but will scale with your CuteFactor (to help you deal with the added obstacles).
- There is no Victory message still. I think I might make it around CuteFactor 10, but again will have to tweak once I see how well people deal with the levels.
And there we go, up to Build 25 already. Don't forget to click on the SWF to give it keyboard focus.
My best score on any level so far is CF13. :)
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The joint constraints -- is there a hard limit to how far each joint rotates? Or is there some kind of gradually increasing "return torque"?
ReplyDeleteI like the springiness of the legs. With some refinement, it could be that jumping or springing off of walls and other things would be part of the core gameplay.
I may be in agreement that gravity is not needed. What if the planets were just obstacles and didn't suck you in? One of the things that makes the game really hard now is that the "no go or you die" area is invisible -- it's the point of no return of the gravity wells. With gravity eliminated, you'll be able to see where you shouldn't go.
On the other hand, gravity is physics, and physics is cool!
I like how the squid handles.
ReplyDeleteI partially agree with Rob. Maybe some planets have gravity and some don't? You would need an indicator on the planet however.
Although, a planet without gravity would be breaking the law of universal gravitation. Obey gravity! It's the law!
Maybe just tone down the gravity, because on some planets it gets hard to peel away before your health is leeched out.
It's up to you, ultimately. Great work so far though!
I enjoyed build 21 and the gates opening and closing with ink used. Maybe re-introduce the ink bottles?
@Rob: There are hard constraints in place right now, as it's the easy way to do things. I'm getting mostly positive feedback on these limits though, so I might just convert them to proper torque-joints.
ReplyDelete@Rob & Afronanny: The "inescapable well" of gravity really sucks. I'm trying to figure out the math so I can minimize it, while still retaining some sort of gravitational pull halfway across the screen.
I think going gravity-free might be a good idea for this first version, just to get a game out the door. If I end up doing that I'll revisit some hand-placed level functionality with gravity enabled for a follow-up game.
I like the newest build. One thing that I might like to try out is having the head/body return back to "straight" instead of maintaining the curve from the previous arrow key inputs.
ReplyDeleteI also wish that there was a dampening on the side to side arrow keys, so that you don't spin out of control to quickly.
(I also would love the use of a back arrow key to slow down, but maybe that would be too easy). Right now my strategy is to hit objects using the side/front of my torso.
I personally like the gravity, though I wouldn't be opposed to having a gravitational max, so it can always be escaped.
I think there's a few different play styles you can get from flying these squids around. My personal method is to fling myself in the general direction of the target, face away from it, then make minor course adjustments. I can use that to slowly drift into the goal and keep my arms from flailing too wildly.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a lot of practice though, and I've played this game quite a bit :)
Simplifying the control method and making the barrier to entry easier is top of my list still.
I like the gravity but dislike the well of death. Two ideas:
ReplyDeleteOne problem is that the gravity is invisible. You could make lots of faint little flotsam floating around, affected by the gravity. You'll be able to see what will happen to you in various areas before you get there.
The other problem is that the well is inescapable. You might consider using magnetic “planets” instead of gravity-based ones. You could make the head of the squid a north magnet and the tentacles south magnets, so that the way to escape would be to turn and orient yourself just right (which would take skill).
If you combine the ideas, make the flotsam colored by magnetic pole.
I found a flotsam-related video that might be fun to watch; I suspect you don't need nearly as many particles as this to convey the gravitational areas, and you don't want it to be this distracting. http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~rbridson/movies/curlnoise.mov
ReplyDelete