Quote:Original post by Sadr
Well you see, that would kinda ruin the challenge in it. If you've tried that heli-game, you've noticed that you really have to time your ascents/descents really well in order to avoid the blocks.
Yeah, I noticed. I got sick of it after about thirty seconds (and a half-dozen tries), which is the other reason I suggested a different control scheme.
I think your game would have much broader appeal with more intuitive controls, and a more forgiving "loss" mechanism (i.e., losing one of your fish v. losing your entire progress). The essential challenge of avoiding obstacles would remain -- especially since you'd be trying to keep multiple fish out of harm's way.
Also... I assume the "Game Over" screen is when you're making your "save the fish, sign the petition!" pitch? If so, I
really don't think you want a game that kills the average player ten times in the first minute. Some people react to that kind of frustration by playing the game compulsively. Most people find something else to do.
Give them five minutes of less-frustrating gameplay, and they'll be more likely to give five minutes of their time to your petition. Especially if they've been trying to "save the fish" throughout those five minutes, and actually watched their little school of fish dwindle.
Quote:I think that with what is created for the first game, we could quickly create a sequel with similar objectives but different kind of gameplay, and I already have many ideas in mind for a steam-of-fish kind of game. But well, I shouldn't start talking about sequels at this point, hehe. We've barely started making this first game.
I think you should be talking about it -- in fact, I think you should skip straight to the sequel. Why clone a game with limited appeal, which doesn't particularly reinforce the point you're trying to make, when you could spend just a little more time to create something that's more original, more playable, and more on-point?
I'm all for keeping designs "affordable," even when you're measuring the cost in volunteer hours. Depending on the programmer's experience and interest, flocking might be out of reach. It might be a bit tricky to design suitable obstacles for it, too. A "stream of fish," though, really isn't much harder to code than
one fish, and leads to some interesting gameplay possibilities...
Tell you what. A prototype is worth a thousand words, and Flash is nothing if not amenable to prototyping. I'll throw something together, and you can decide if it has any potential.