Game sketch - Running Free

[davidn]

After a huge lull, I seem to be entering a new era of enthusiasm and productivity! It'll probably last another day or two. But at least I got another Flash sketch out of it:


Running Free - a mini gravity-switching platform/puzzle game

Almost uniquely among my experiments, this one actually has a title, so hopes are high for it actually becoming something. The idea is that gravity is the only thing you have any control over at all - use the arrow keys to switch its direction and guide the stick figure into collecting the red stars (to be rewarded with nothing happening just now). He'll turn when he hits a wall, but after a gravity change, he'll always continue in the same direction he was going - play about with it for a bit, you'll get the hang of it.

This could turn into a game limited by your number of lives, to collect stars within a time limit, complete levels with a limited number of shifts available - or a variety of all three of those and more. Already I find it quite satisfying to just zoom around, which feels like a good sign.

You can drive yourself mad working out where the sound effects are from if you choose to. (I've just downloaded a new sound package.)

Comments

[davidn]

Minimalism and particles are always my first solution to disguise my lack of graphical talent :) They're a very quick way to make something look more alive and appealing... the ones in the very background that indicate the direction of gravity came last, and I hope they look as subtle to everyone else as they do to me, but they really made the level look a lot less static.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how much of a difference the things that people will almost never pick up on consciously can make. :)

The one suggestion I was tempted to make about the particles was, they should take just slightly longer to change direction, especially given how 'light' the gravity feels..

[davidn]

I always find it amazing just how much... more there is of anything at all - music or games or anything - if you stop and look at each piece individually. Normally, we just take in the entire thing as a whole, only actively noticing the most obvious features, but it takes much longer to isolate each part mentally and follow it as a separate component.

One thing that I can recall is my brother talking about "the bubbles" in Final Fantasy 8, and my having no idea what he meant - but if you pay attention during the fights, you'll see that the characters leave a trail of bubbles behind them as they run across the ground when taking their turn. It sounds ridiculous as I write it out, but I promise they're there!

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

"I always find it amazing just how much... more there is of anything at all - music or games or anything - if you stop and look at each piece individually. Normally, we just take in the entire thing as a whole, only actively noticing the most obvious features, but it takes much longer to isolate each part mentally and follow it as a separate component."

I know exactly what you mean... though I'm always so afraid that people won't believe me when I try and talk about it! It's such a crucial thing in everything that touches human lives, but it's always so ineffable (and seemingly inconsequential) until you learn distinguish between the things that have it and the things that don't.... I guess I'm speaking of "polish" in general, but the presence of seemingly inconsequential details that bring "texture" to an experience if they're done right is surely one of the most common examples of that quality.

I feel like there's a lot more to say about this, but I'm tired and I can't think of what and I already feel like this reply is getting self-indulgent, so, anyway ;)

"One thing that I can recall is my brother talking about "the bubbles" in Final Fantasy 8, and my having no idea what he meant - but if you pay attention during the fights, you'll see that the characters leave a trail of bubbles behind them as they run across the ground when taking their turn. It sounds ridiculous as I write it out, but I promise they're there!"

I know the ones you mean! I had a similar experience; FF8 was the first time I put my finger on the fact that additive blending is what makes their effects (especially their particles) look so good... until then, it had just been a mushy soup of "man that's cool", but once I figured out that that's what I was seeing, I started being able to tease it apart into its component pieces....

It's funny, because the moment you do that with something, you burst the bubble of magical 'wow' around it, and at first it always seems like such a shame to deprive yourself of that sense of wonder... but then, the joy of truly appreciating, consciously, how much effort and artistry went into it, it's...... different, but at least as wonderful, in its distinct way. (And, in my experience, I've usually been able to will myself back into the 'wow' zone if I decide I would rather go back to appreciating it on those terms...)