Game sketch - Running Free
Aug. 30th, 2011 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davidnAfter 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.)
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.)
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-05 07:54 pm (UTC)It took me a few moments to realize that I didn't have to drop the little guy just perfectly to get him to collect the one star right beside the spikes in the middle of the stage, but rather, use the right-hand gravity side.
I like puzzles like this, because aside from appreciating feeling smart in solving it, I have to give props to those who created the puzzles in the first place :)
no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 03:42 pm (UTC)I'm glad that an element of this took you a moment to work out! Designing puzzle games is a difficult task, because you have no concept of difficulty at all - once you've laid out a level, you already know exactly how to solve it. Though in this case, judging the reflexes to make a turn is a part of the difficulty too.