[NAGJam] FlatLand Racer

Thelangfordian

This is my contribution to the NAGJam.
Did this on my own over most of the 3 days between work and such.

I wanted to focus on a simple mechanic and point system, with quick replay-ability. I am pretty happy with what I got done.
Recommend to play with controller over keyboard.

Downlink (Win): https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9NZpQfI7jS2dmFBQ3dQTUFZR1E

Please, give it a play, let me know what you think. :D

Thelangfordian

Added vid and gif. Thanks @Tuism for the info :)

Thelangfordian

And some images :)
I would've liked to have no text, but ran outta time (and skill) with the UI. It's a good learning opportunity though :)

mkShogun96

Hi @Thelangfordian, I tried out your game. Pretty cool, here is some constructive criticism
(I know this was a game jam and done in 4 days but see this as maybe stuff you can improve on the game if you would work further on it)

What I liked:
- Like how it looks, kinda arcade'ish
- Makes it interesting since it is 3D
- Simple yet Challenging
- I like the sounds
what I would have liked to see:
- background music
- I think it would have been better if you kept the Camera fixed instead of swivel (I don't know if you purposefully put it in to make it more challenging, but it kinda makes it harder to judge where your ball is going to)
- maybe some more tron like colors
- A transition from Game Over or something, I feel if I die it is a bit abrupt. Like Overlay "Game Over" then to score menu.

Otherwise very cool idea, I think if you implement the right features it could make for a fun and addictive android game :)

Thelangfordian

Thanks @mkShogun96 for the feedback :) Some good points to consider.

PartyPanda

This was so much fun! I found myself swearing a lot :P I'm still not sure what the yellow tiles do?
Great game though :)

Thelangfordian

Thanks @PartyPanda ... Swearing at the game is what I was going for :P
The forward speed is constantly increasing and the yellow tiles slow this down a little, it isn't obvious enough though :( Something I can maybe spend time balancing in future :)

rustybroomhandle

Nice!

I'm reminded rather a lot of the old game Trailblazer. Was this an inspiration?

Thelangfordian

@rustybroomhandle Thanks :)
Didn't even know that existed :O But maybe I have some repressed memories that came out in the Game Jam :P
I didn't actively take inspiration but I think Sky Roads and a variety of endless runner games were in the back of my mind though

rustybroomhandle

Thelangfordian said:

@rustybroomhandle Thanks :)
Didn't even know that existed :O But maybe I have some repressed memories that came out in the Game Jam :P
I didn't actively take inspiration but I think Sky Roads and a variety of endless runner games were in the back of my mind though

Heh, it happens. This was almost 30 years ago too, so I'm not sure too many will remember. It had a sequel too called Cosmic Causeway, which added a bunch off really pointless stuff to what was initially a very tight design.

Thelangfordian

Perhaps this is an opportunity for one of them "spiritual successor" type deals :P
I think I may just go check out GoG (or other online retro game space) for Trailblazer.

rustybroomhandle

I'd say rather just keep doing your own thing and iterating on that. The similarities of your game to Trailblazer are mostly superficial. There have been unofficial sequels/remakes to Trailblazer that mess with the formula in ways that again don't really improve it.

NickCuthbert

I tried the game. I like the concept, though the camera made me feel a bit motion sick, the camera motion was a abrupt.
As @PartyPanda mentioned, before reading the posts on this page, I couldn't either figure figure out what the yellow tiles did.

As an aside, this game seems like it'd be a perfect match for accellerometer input.

Thelangfordian

Camera movement and yellow tiles keep coming up in feedback. It presents a good learning opportunity particularly for game design, as clearly my intention for why I made them the way I did wasn't necessarily the best approach.

Think I will spend more time on this, and adding the accelerometer is a cool idea.

Thanks @rustybroomhandle and @NickCuthbert. Lots of great feedback.