Author Topic: Over the top game design!  (Read 4136 times)

Vincent

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Over the top game design!
« on: 2010-07-01, 03:59:27 PM »
Hi guys!

I just stumbled upon this today.  :o Take a look at this game (btw, sorry for advertising another gaming web site.) http://www.nitrome.com/games/faultline/
Since I've played it, I'm scratching my head to find a way to do this in SGDK2, I guess it would require to modify the mapbase class at least, to allow to "bend space". 

Tell me what you think guys! (about the game and about making a look alike project in SGDK2)
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bluemonkmn

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Re: Over the top game design!
« Reply #1 on: 2010-07-02, 05:13:10 AM »
I played the first 5 levels and it looks like an interesting gimmick, but still kind of a gimmick.  Some games are entirely centered around one technological "gimmick" it seems.  Someone comes up with one interesting idea that is such a new/different thing that they can base a whole game on it.  And sometimes that works, especially if you incorporate a few other elements into the game (like the game "Portal").  I played the first 5 levels of this game, and I am impressed by some of the technical feats they have accomplished here -- quite remarkable, especially in Flash.  But it does seem to be entirely based on this one idea.  It's good for little games, but as far as playability, I prefer epic games, with some more variety and maybe some story.

When it comes to SGDK2, I think you have the power to create many ideas combined into one game to make a much bigger game with a much wider variety of gameplay.  And when it comes to SGDK2, I think technical gimmicks like this cost more effort and give less reward.  I suspect that many technical gimmicks start with someone going "Wow, look what happens if I do X with Y! I could make a game out of that!"  But if you start with the idea and try to figure out how to implement it with another technology, it's much more difficult.  I think you will get much bigger bang for your efforts if you explore what already exists in .NET and SGDK2 asking the question "What X can I do with SGDK2 that will make people go 'Wow'?" :).  That's what I'm trying to do with "Clean Game" (which will probably change name to something like "Gene Therapy" or "Nanobotix").  Create a wide variety of interesting interactions and sprite behaviors all combined in one game, so you can get a lot of gameplay out of one game, without having to put too much effort into creating new levels.

Oh, and I remember being quite impressed by Durnurd's weather effects add-on for SGDK2. :)

SmartBoy16

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Re: Over the top game design!
« Reply #2 on: 2010-07-02, 06:50:24 AM »
They did something similar on Kirby Epic Yarn.
Looking to the skies.....

Vincent

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Re: Over the top game design!
« Reply #3 on: 2010-07-03, 06:51:14 AM »
Yeah that game give me the same feeling than Portal.  Still, I'm mighty impressed. :P
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tprime

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Re: Over the top game design!
« Reply #4 on: 2010-07-03, 10:24:27 AM »
I like this game!  :)

durnurd

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Re: Over the top game design!
« Reply #5 on: 2010-07-03, 12:19:55 PM »
I can attest to the fact that it is easier to design a game with SGDK2 in mind than it is to look at a game design, then try to figure out how to implement it using SGDK2.  The only project I've spent any real time on, TVSGDK2, was based on an older game with a very similar platformer style that looked like it would be easy to port to SGDK2.  But there were a lot of little hiccups and strange behaviors that were difficult to duplicate.  Making a different game with the same style, though, that would be much more interesting in the end anyway.  Why re-make the same game when you can make a new story instead?
Edward Dassmesser

bluemonkmn

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Re: Over the top game design!
« Reply #6 on: 2010-07-03, 01:14:33 PM »
I played all the way through that faultline game.  There were some interesting challenges in there, and things did get interesting later on.  There are beams that destroy blocks that they hit, and beams that only turn on when the other end is near enough (so warping space affects how close it is and whether it's on or off).  This game has a remarkably clean design and solid gameplay.

Vincent

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Re: Over the top game design!
« Reply #7 on: 2010-07-04, 09:55:32 AM »
I'm glad you liked it finally bluemonkmn.  Indeed, only bending the level would have been very basic, but it gets very clever when you must bend the level to get laser beams to destroy blocks and such.  :)
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