RunnerX [Closed]
So I got really frustrated with my 7drl fail and just needed to separate myself from making games a while, so I took a month off and then a few days back I made this to try and test an idea.
The aim is to make something like Canabalt but with guns and a little slower lol.
RunnerX - Old
Ok here is the updated gif
Here is the newest build:
RunnerX.zip - 9mb download
What do you guys think, any potential?
Edit: Ok I updated the game the download is up top.
The aim is to make something like Canabalt but with guns and a little slower lol.
RunnerX - Old
Ok here is the updated gif
Here is the newest build:
RunnerX.zip - 9mb download
What do you guys think, any potential?
Edit: Ok I updated the game the download is up top.
RunnerX Play Test.gif
512 x 385 - 684K
RunnerX Play Test1.gif
512 x 384 - 559K
Comments
Karl
Mechanics seem simple and clear enough, and I understand that its important not to spend too much time prototyping an idea. That being said, I get the impression that not enough time was put into this one before releasing it for feedback. I.E. it doesn't really illustrate some sort of unique take on the mechanic so its hard to say if it does, or does not have any potential at this point.
My two cents is to keep on iterating though, and you will probably find a direction with this.
Also as a side note. It really bugged me that the ninja moved so slow, has very strange gravity and there was no feedback that the player is shooting. I initially thought you were just clicking on the boxes. Also touching the boxes doesn't really seem to have a major impact on the player?
@karl182 I will have a look at double jumping, it felt unnatural for me as well not being able to double jump. But doubt kept me from putting it in.
@shanemarks It's good that the mechanics are clear, you are right I need something extra unique that I want to bring to this type of game. With the movement speed where you hopping for something like CANABALT where you gradually keep building momentum? Can you maybe explain how the gravity is strange, does the character not jump fast/slow enough or fall fast/slow?
Will keep iterating :)
Download link - 18mb windows build
I sometimes landed against a stack of crates, but would get stuck, and after a 1-2 second pause the game would say that I died, which felt rather unfair. It also felt inconsistent how my knives would hit certain things and become a "knife" icon that I could pick up, but it'd hit other things and bounce off, and if I ran over the knife I threw, it wouldn't pick up.
There was a really cool thing that happened once, where I landed on a beam as it was falling, and a crate seemed to hit the other side (behind me), causing the front to lift up, and I ended up getting a ramp that crossed over one of the jumps. That's the only glimpse I got of something that could be cool, where there's potentially some physics-related stuff that can add to the gameplay in a way that Canabalt doesn't.
Things aren't really feeling as if they work together. It's a runner game, but it's not trying to be fast. It places obstacles in my way that slow me down -- and many of them don't only slow me down if I run into them, but stop me completely, either because they're too tall for me to jump over, or because I'm forced to use the limited resource that is knives.
I feel as if you should decide what you want this game to be communicating. If you're trying to make a game about speed, then I feel the game should keep you moving, getting you moving faster and faster, and thereby making obstacles more and more difficult to dodge as you play (though this is what the vast majority of runner games seem to do). If it's about jumping, then I imagine the jump should have more control (light taps jump lower than holding the jump key in), and that there'd be obstacles that require increasingly accurate timings to make it. If it's about shooting stuff, then the shooting should matter somehow, though currently that feels like a completely separate mechanic to the rest of the game. If it's about the physics, then you'd probably do a lot better having each obstacle be something that you can turn into an advantage somehow, that whether it propels you over a large distance without having to jump, or allows you to access other areas that are otherwise difficult to reach.
In Canabalt, speed is important. The game gets faster as you play, but the gaps between obstacles is such that if you hit an obstacle and get slowed down, your speed might not be enough to clear a jump. You're also never completely slowed down either, because the moment you hit a box or whatever, it gets knocked away, so it doesn't stay and keep slowing you down. And you get to jump higher depending on how long you hold the jump. And the game's speed reaches the point where you've sometimes got to be smart about not actually jumping too high and having your momentum carry you straight over one platform into the gap after it. These things all work together.
I feel as if you're currently taking Canabalt as a base, but changing it into a slower game, and one that has shooting, "just because", rather than having some theme, some design you're trying to distil or some questions you're trying to answer). I feel as if, if you're exploring the shooting, then there should be a LOT of reasons to shoot for you to test which ones are fun or not, and to try and find ways for the shooting and the running to work together (running/jumping in a certain way allows you to shoot better, or shooting in a certain way allows you to run better). It's fine to make stuff for the sake of experimentation or learning, but maybe thinking of it in terms of problem-solving can give you some direction in which to take this (or lead you to try building some other prototypes that better answer some new questions you come up with).
I wanted to explore and learn what made it a fun game and add to it, it was also a learning experience for me with the Unity 2d physics, with this I think I have a clear idea what I want to aim for.
Thanks again for the input.