Need advice on game design

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6 comments, last by Orymus3 9 years, 8 months ago

You can try the game by

  1. click the download as zip ad the right side
  2. and open prototype.html

I know this is a very plain game, no music, barely no art, what so ever

and the map id dull too

This is due to me down scaling a few times over the year because it's very rare that I finish a game project

around 5 projects of mine have been discontinued whether it's a group project or private one ...

I have been a little bit busy with university paperwork in the last month so I stop coding games for that time

I am making this game multiplayer but before that I need to complete all the mechanics to reduce the complexity later on..

So,

what should I improve ?

what feature should I add or removed ?

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So slow!!

I guess the main features is the ability to blend in the background? Which is actually a pretty good idea in my opinion. And a lot of fun features can be added to the gameplay

- The game is too slow!

- A quicker change of the background color.
- The possibility for the player to manually change the background color (a switch somewhere on the level, an item, a flashlight, a flashbang grenade, etc...)
- The possibility for the player to change its color (a color pool, an item, etc..)
- More colors.
- More items (weapons, item to change the background color, the player color)
- The platform appear and dissapears depending on the background color. For exemple, white platform that were not activated when the background was white, become activated when the background is black. And It could also be walls or teleporter.
- Item to confuse your enemies, for exemple a teleporter hidden in a color. (White teleporter can only be seen by white player) This would allow fun situation where a black player run after a white player who disapear in a white wall and reappear in another location.

- For this game to be fun, I would make something really, really quick. With quick respawn and the score based on how many points you win in a certain time. (by killing other player, staying alive, taking bonus, etc...)

This is a really good idea, keep it up!

I'm not really much of a multiplayer gamer, so take my thoughts with a pinch of salt. ^^;

First, I agree with Navezof: the game would likely be improved by speeding up the players. That said, the central gimmick of hiding against the background is cool, and I could see people having fun playing it.

A few things that I'd like to see (some of which Navezof has already mentioned):

  • An indicator of how far my shot goes: given the long reload times, I'd like to have some idea of when a given point is within range.
  • More use of the central gimmick of hiding in the background:
    • An item that allows you to splatter an area with white, or shroud a region in blackness.
    • An item or in-game object--perhaps fixed to certain points on the level--that allows the player to set or toggle their colour.
    • An item that entirely--but temporarily--blacks- or whites- out the level.
    • A "sonar" item that allows a player to ping--just once--the momentary locations of all other players.
    • A flashlight/darkness-thrower.
  • More items! Teleporters, weapons, grappling hooks, shields, etc.
  • More and more interesting levels, especially if you find little gimmicks for each, such as moving floors or dangerous pits (that are perhaps themselves hidden against one colour or the other).

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

My Twitter Account: @EbornIan

I would agree to "the game is too slow"

The reload is 3 sec and isn't without reason

The reason is so that it's more of a stealth game rather than shoot everywhere so the enemy comes out...

But I will make it shorter or perhaps makes the player run faster or just both

An indicator of how far my shot goes:

A quicker change of the background color

I can change that ...

a switch somewhere in the level to change the background color

This will turn into a waiting game, I just thought about it that way ...

I just really dislike campers sorry

As for the other items @Naveof and @Thaumaturge mention

I could only agree to

  • the item that can splatter and change the background (granade)
  • An item or in-game object--perhaps fixed to certain points on the level--that allows the player to set or toggle their colour. ( a color pool )

Serveral Items that I am confused about

  • Teleporters ( how to to control the point where to teleport to
  • The platform appear and disappears depending on the background color. ( What happened during the transition ? And also I think this one is too advance for me but I really2 think that this is a great idea perhaps for later on )

Serveral items that I cannot add to the game

Sonar

I only have "BTOOM" as a reference here so if I imagine that's the way someone will play with sonar I think it's too advance and also, it may sometimes be annoying when one is hiding and someone ping you ( I assume someone being ping-ed know he is now discovered ).

A flashlight/darkness-thrower.

It really looks stupid if someone is hiding and turning on the flashlight or even asking for attention when not

but perhaps someone may mention why my statement is flawed

An item that entirely--but temporarily--blacks- or whites- out the level.

cannot really see the point of having this items, and the night day cycle will be quicker in the next version too

but I will perhaps add it in the future if there is a reason to

grappling hooks,

I think this require more skills than I have right now

shields,

it looks like cheating to me,

hey I found out where you are there, I shoot you but shoot You got a shield and you shoot back at me while I haven't finish reloading

Weapons,

haven't really got ideas rather than gun

With regards to the items, etc. that affect the other player--the "flashlight", the sonar ping, etc., it seems to me that while they might be briefly frustrating, with limitation applied to their use they could provide additional tactical options. For example, exposing an opponent prompts them to make a decision: stay in their now-compromised position, or move, and if the latter, to where.

the night day cycle will be quicker in the next version too

Actually, thinking about this one, I'm not sure that it's a good idea: you want to encourage players to hide, from what I gather, but I'm concerned that quickening the day/night cycle might make hiding infeasible simply by virtue of making hiding spots disappear far too quickly.

The reload is 3 sec and isn't without reason
...
But I will make it shorter ...

Actually, I think that the long reload works for this game: it acts against spamming shots, and thus introduces a little more thought into when and whether to shoot.

For me, at least, I think that the sense of slowness came from the movement speed, not the firing-rate.

a switch somewhere in the level to change the background color

This will turn into a waiting game, I just thought about it that way ...
I just really dislike campers sorry

An item that entirely--but temporarily--blacks- or whites- out the level.

cannot really see the point of having this items

(I see these as more or less the same concept, although they may describe different implementations.)

Hmm... Again, I'm not really a multiplayer gamer, but I'm not seeing why it would encourage camping, especially if the change is temporary; instead, it would act as a brief moment of "invisibility", or a means of briefly exposing the opposing player, both of which seem to me to have tactical value.

Teleporters ( how to to control the point where to teleport to

The simplest option might be to have each teleporter send the player that enters it to a pre-defined position; they're essentially shortcuts around the level, providing more routes through the level and thus more options for the players.

Sonar

I only have "BTOOM" as a reference here so if I imagine that's the way someone will play with sonar I think it's too advance and also, it may sometimes be annoying when one is hiding and someone ping you ( I assume someone being ping-ed know he is now discovered ).

I... Have no idea of what "BTOOM" is.

Let me describe what I had in mind: the "sonar" item spawns in the level (or is there when the level starts). The player picks it up; this shows it on the HUD, and allows them to activate it with a key-press (if there are other items in the game, then it might go into a universal "item" slot, and be activated by a universal "use item" key). When activated, it creates a brief, expanding ring at the position of each enemy player; this ring exists for less than a second, then is gone. Once activated, the item is lost (although it may respawn in the level): players don't get to ping repeatedly.

In fact, you mentioned a dislike of campers: while the changing background does prevent long-term hiding places, this "pinging" item might provide an additional means of flushing out campers.

(And indeed, I would expect the enemies to be notified of the ping--for simplicity's sake, perhaps just let them see the expanding rings too.)

As to being discovered being annoying, are players not uncovered by changes in the lights? Is being killed not annoying? I'm honestly not convinced that it would likely be annoying in a way that hurts the experience.

It really looks stupid if someone is hiding and turning on the flashlight or even asking for attention when not

but perhaps someone may mention why my statement is flawed

I was thinking about it as a means of uncovering enemies; however, you may be right--it does somewhat signal one's position, even when hunting.

shields,

it looks like cheating to me,

hey I found out where you are there, I shoot you but shoot You got a shield and you shoot back at me while I haven't finish reloading

Hmm... Fair enough, and good point. If the guns took longer to fire the player who shot might have time to escape, but as it is shields might not be a good idea.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

My Twitter Account: @EbornIan

I forget to say thanks before, so thanks you for all the reply so far

Actually, thinking about this one, I'm not sure that it's a good idea: you want to encourage players to hide, from what I gather, but I'm concerned that quickening the day/night cycle might make hiding infeasible simply by virtue of making hiding spots disappear far too quickly.

I think you are right

For me, at least, I think that the sense of slowness came from the movement speed, not the firing-rate.

Ok, I have changed that and adding sprint ( activated by pressing shift ) to check things out,

Hmm... Again, I'm not really a multiplayer gamer, but I'm not seeing why it would encourage camping, especially if the change is temporary; instead, it would act as a brief moment of "invisibility", or a means of briefly exposing the opposing player, both of which seem to me to have tactical value.

The problem is when you find the object or worst the lever to do this, you will just sit there and camp while other tries to activate it or so I thought it would be camping

but perhaps that's a good strategy too

About sonar

after thinking about it for a while, it seems to be not so bad of an idea

but on the technical perspective I think it is a bit difficult to synchronize

I don't know never really try making this kind of feature before

I will try ..

and thanks again for the reply,

a few more question if I may ask

How large should the map be ( in pixel or in screen size ( e.g. 3 screen wide ) ) so it wouldn't be too large for 2 players to play not too small for 10 players to play?

Does the game feel jittery ?

( this is due to the fact the my laptop is 6 years 3 month old, with it's dual core T5750 and no GPU, it can run the game best around 15 FPS and on average 8FPS, it's ok for debugging but not really playable in my own laptop, so I cannot test the fluidity of the game )

The problem is when you find the object or worst the lever to do this, you will just sit there and camp while other tries to activate it or so I thought it would be camping

I'm not sure that camping so would be a good idea: in a game that revolves around hiding, you're pretty much broadcasting your position. After all, if the lever keeps getting pulled, then there's a good chance that someone is standing near it.

However, you could always implement a cooldown for its use, or a set number of uses after which it becomes completely inactive.

I fear that I'm not in a good position to answer the other questions--sorry!

(Regarding level size, have you considered making the characters smaller? That would make hiding a little easier, and allow players to see a little more of the level around them, relative to their size.)

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

My Twitter Account: @EbornIan

As most of everything was pointed out, I'll say only this.

If I walk and jump right, and then click shift, I move faster. - What sick physic is this? :P

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