A new experimental game

[axcho]

I submitted this game to the portal a couple days ago, but didn't get much response from it. Would you like to try it and let me know what you think?

The gameplay is pretty experimental, with minimal graphics and stuff. I'm curious what makes people like it or dislike it. Any thoughts?

play _dRive

Here's a description:
Create your own glitch music in this experimental dodging game. Collect points to upgrade your tracks and control up to three ships at once!

Thanks in advance! :)

[Maxib0y]

Just left a review. Very positive at that.

[axcho]

Just left a response on your review. Thanks. :)

So do you have any ideas you want to share for the sequel? I'm thinking it would be cool to have more music tracks and songs by different artists, and maybe make the glitching fit the rhythm of the song, but I don't have any specific ideas yet. Gameplay ideas? Sound ideas? Graphics ideas?

I'm thinking color changes would be a nice and easy thing to do. It might also be nice to make the gameplay a little more freeform and varied, though I'm not sure how I might do that. But anyway, thanks a lot for your comments so far. :)

At 3/20/08 05:11 PM, Maxib0y wrote: Just left a review. Very positive at that.

[Maxib0y]

My opinion is maybe a way of collecting genre blocks or something, like in a top down shooter you get the same gun over and over and it upgrades, getting a different kind puts you to the start. Like that but then say you have a drum channel and you can collect sixteen beat powerups or heavy crash style drumming, and then every time you get the same powerup to what you already have it becomes slightly more complex. Reply to that please and say if you understand it, cheers =D.

[axcho]

At 3/20/08 05:42 PM, Maxib0y wrote: Like that but then say you have a drum channel and you can collect sixteen beat powerups or heavy crash style drumming, and then every time you get the same powerup to what you already have it becomes slightly more complex.

Wow, that's a great idea! I'll see if I can find a composer who will do that for me. :D Really cool, thanks.

Any more ideas?

[Arab]

Definitely a good concept, its just not very fun. work on that

[axcho]

At 3/20/08 06:24 PM, Arab wrote: Definitely a good concept, its just not very fun. work on that

Hmmm, any ideas on what would make it more fun?

It might help if you could say what games you do find really fun, and what's fun about them?

[Maxib0y]

The concept is great so like I said in my review it just needs to be more aesthetically pleasing. It has a lot of potential if you focus on the sound and maybe you could make the falling blocks a lot more colourful/include some visualizations.

[axcho]

At 3/20/08 06:57 PM, Maxib0y wrote: The concept is great so like I said in my review it just needs to be more aesthetically pleasing. It has a lot of potential if you focus on the sound and maybe you could make the falling blocks a lot more colourful/include some visualizations.

Okay, so more interesting graphics would help? Is it good to keep them abstract, or should I try and think of a theme?

Oh, and by the way, there's an easter egg that lets you change the color scheme.

[axcho]

Any more ideas for the sequel? :) Interactive music ideas?

[Sk8erGirl14]

It's well programmed, I'll give you that, but you gotta take your talent into creating a masterpiece that isn't boring.

[axcho]

At 3/27/08 07:24 PM, Sk8erGirl14 wrote: It's well programmed, I'll give you that, but you gotta take your talent into creating a masterpiece that isn't boring.

I'll keep that in mind for my next project, thanks. :p

Still, it's all about experimentation. You don't know what's going to boring or fun until you actually make it. I'll just hope to make more fun stuff than boring stuff in the long run.

[videogamer0810]

I like the idea behind the game, but I think it could be a little better designed. I have a few random suggestions you could use for your sequel.

For instance, I found the three-track interface to be much too distracting and difficult to play with. One way you could solve this is by putting all of the movers in one screen. By putting them together, it actually becomes easier to see how their movements all relate to one another. So the playing field would be set up like this:

[Top of screen: objects fall from here
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[Position mover slides on this line
[Velocity mover slides on this line
[Acceleration mover slides on this line
[
[Bottom of screen

Also, the sound each falling object creates depends on which mover hits it: Lead for Positional, Drum for Velocity, and Bass for Acceleration.

There is also only one type of powerup, but powerups have different effects depending on which mover hits it. If a powerup hits the acceleration slider, the acceleration rate is increased, meaning the position mover will speed up and slow down more rapidly. If a powerup hits the velocity mover, the positional mover will have a higher maximum speed. Finally, if a powerup hits the positional mover, the playing field will expand horizontally.

[blackchaos93]

At 3/20/08 05:02 PM, axcho wrote: I submitted this game to the portal a couple days ago, but didn't get much response from it. Would you like to try it and let me know what you think?

The gameplay is pretty experimental, with minimal graphics and stuff. I'm curious what makes people like it or dislike it. Any thoughts?

play _dRive

Here's a description:
Create your own glitch music in this experimental dodging game. Collect points to upgrade your tracks and control up to three ships at once!

Thanks in advance! :)

Wow thanks for posting this on the forums or I would've never seen this game. It's actually really creative... but read my review. It's very positive. Just a few things you could possibly fix.

[ngmastah]

Really fun, just fived it.

[HotActionYiffFur]

The music was atrocious.

[axcho]

It's great to hear that some people really like the game, thanks! I guess it was worth making after all. ;)

At 3/27/08 08:08 PM, videogamer0810 wrote: For instance, I found the three-track interface to be much too distracting and difficult to play with. One way you could solve this is by putting all of the movers in one screen. By putting them together, it actually becomes easier to see how their movements all relate to one another. So the playing field would be set up like this

Thanks for writing up those suggestions! I really like the ideas and I'd definitely use them for the sequel. Putting all three ships on the same track is a suggestion I've heard from a few other people so I'm pretty sure it would be a good one. Making the powerups do different things (and sound effects) depending on which ship they hit is also a cool idea.

I'd be glad to hear more of your suggestions if happen to have any. :)