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Dungeon.Sec

@Kaludan Thank you :)

@Venetia Sorry about the level of difficulty. While I was making the game I honestly didn't think I was making it to hard to play. I guess Tuna might be right this might limit my playing audience. Maybe I should make a YouTube video walk through or something. I think the best way to play this game is with short controlled movements, always thinking one step ahead of your next move. I really hope people can make it to the ending. I tried to give it a ending that gives you a rewarding feeling of satisfaction.
 

Nikou

Member

Great game! I love the tiny graphics and cute sound. Gameplay is fun too; a bit difficult but far from "Super Meat Boy" :)

Good work!
 
Yeah don't feel too bad about the difficulty. I can figure out the level fine, I just can't seem to keep myself out of the spike traps >.<
 
Nice game! sometimes it makes nervous to not try to fall or get stabbed, but i enjoyed it.

I don't see anything what it needs to be improved, it's well done and i don't have to say lol. Maybe you can add special features like rope, hack databases, secret agents as enemies, etc.
 
@Nikou Thank You :)

@Venetia Thank's I was a little worried, and yes I did put quite a few traps in the game kind of like all the mouse traps that corrupt government's put in there databases when you try to backdoor them :D lol

@joannesalfa Thank you :) Yes special features is on my to do list I had made some little computers and a hacking animation for the little Anonymous guy that I wanted to implement into this game but the event limit would have meant fewer levels. So maybe in future releases. Ropes, and secret agents as enemies are great ideas I just might have to do that to. Thanks again :)
 
Look forward to seeing more when you update - having talked about C64 games in another thread and your mention of hacking terminals reminded me of an old game call "Impossible Mission" - the character in that had to navigate a series of levels in a huge underground base and hack into terminals, was almost as challenging as Dungeon.Sec

There were patrolling robots that zapped you and lift shafts that didn't always have lifts in them, which you'd fall down with a blood curdling digitized scream.

Are you planning to add some huge sopa propaganda posters in the style of Alan Moore? "Strength through Security, Security through SOPA" or something. :)

On a usability front - I would suggest possibly changing to spacebar for jump, and taking out the scrolling on the container page, or maybe show a small icon/graphic in the corner of the loading screen with pictures of the buttons used perhaps. When playing through the games in the competition back-to-back, I found myself often assuming 'default' controls Up/Space to jump etc - so if you're going to use Z or something - maybe just something quick to let them know.

Quick paintover -

keys.jpg
 
JohnnySix":23a4d5da said:
Quick paintover -

keys.jpg
you can do even better by swapping the buttons out for doors and making the title screen into an intro room (require the player to jump to reach the doors); the player gets the chance to get used to the controls, which would help to compensate for the difficult first level.

this is impressive, wink. I'm not averse to difficult platform games, but if you take that route it's important that the player doesn't feel cheated by death. when the player is killed by the very tip of a spear (or by the end that isn't pointed) or misses a jump by a few pixels, the game goes from being challenging to unfair. Construct 2 gives you tools to fine-tune hit-boxes (see Set collision polygon). if you're already using this, consider making it more merciful. this shouldn't require any events.

a lot of the difficulty for me came from difficult-to-control jumping; I would jump, lightly tap an arrow key, and still overshoot a moving platform. :x or I would tap the Z key and jump just as high as I would holding the key down. because jumping is the player's principle form of interaction with the game, making its physics intuitive is a very high priority.

I died many times. >_< this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it means that there shouldn't be much of a delay between death and a room restarting. canonical example is i wanna be the guy: there is a death animation, but the player is immediately given the ability to restart a room by pressing the 'R' key. the wah-wah-waaaaah is amusing the first time, but you shouldn't give the player more than a second of down-time before letting him try a room again.

level design:

diagram.png


this is a quick diagram of the last level. something stands out: the player runs laps back and forth through the two spear-corridors. in total, the player crosses through those rooms five times. I would consider this fake difficulty. jumping through a hoop once is interesting, but being told to do it five times consecutively adds playtime without making the challenge more meaningful. I understand you want to make the final level stand above the rest, but you should approach it as a culmination of mechanics instead of an exercise in frustration.

I can tell you put a lot of work into this! if you're interested in expanding on the concept before winning a license, or if you want to have more control over the engine, definitely read up on native expressions. they are a lifesaver, particularly the ? operator, which lets you evaluate conditions within in action, often allowing you to consolidate multiple events into one Every tick or Every X seconds. familiarity with their use means you can do a lot with very little, which is generally a good skill to have regardless of an event limit. I notice you were having trouble putting together a timer, but most of the functionality is already implemented for you. I put together a quick example of a one-event timer. it isn't perfect, because construct's idea of what a second is isn't perfect either. that said, there are ways to make the timer more consistent without requiring more events, using native expressions: I leave this as an exercise to the reader.

I would offer more specific advice on events, but I can't see your code! consider going open-source in the future so that we can offer more specific advice.

I hope this helped, and I hope you continue to develop your game. c:
 

onzephyr

Awesome Bro

Ok. I suck a whole lot less at your game once I fire up JoyToKey and use a controller.
awol_sadface.jpg


  • Using a spoiler box to hide content that could spoil things.= one
    Code:
    posting an end game/scoreboard screenshot in a spoiler box = one [code]
    An outburst of ensutheasim in png form for a game well made=[s]priceless[/s] one step to far
    
    [/list][/spoiler]
    Good game sir.  Like the level design, like the story concept very much.  Feedback wise,  Like others have said if possible shorten the time between death and next play.   Beyond that, maybe experiment with color, cause you got shades of gray down pat.
    cheers
 
^^, i just want to say, your game is so good. love the pixel graphic style, comfortable control and most of all, it's challenger :)) well done mate. Hope you will win the contest . Cheers.
 

Tuna

Awesome Bro

@onzephyr You should really remove that screenshot. Reaching those fireworks is the whole satisfaction of the game, and posting an image of them kind of ruins them. :sad:
 

onzephyr

Awesome Bro

fb_whs_tag.jpg

@Onzephyr. Yeah seriously what were you thinking! Ban him!

you have got to stop opening these things up its a bad habit. :biggrin:
 
@JohnnySix Yes, I originally wanted to add more subliminal messages to my game in the form of graphics like posters on the dungeon walls but the amount of time we had didn't allow for this. But yes after the contest I will.

Also thank you for the suggestions ;) I was going to use the space bar for jump but I was thinking of adding more player actions in the future like maybe knife throwing, and rope climbing. So I went with Z for jump this way I can use the X, and C keys for these actions.

Thank you for the paint over example. I think I will implement something like that into my next build :D I should have did this on the Info page instead of writing the game controls out. Great idea it makes it look more professional.

@seven Thank you for all the great feed back, and improvement ideas :) You sound like a professional game tester :)

I actually did make a "room (require the player to jump to reach the doors)" But I had to take it out of the game for this contest because it took up to many events to implement properly but I plan on adding it back for future releases.

Thanks for pointing out the "Set collision polygon" on the spear tips. I was in such a hurry I completely forgot to tighten them up. I will also go back, and play around with the jump physics again, I did spend a lot of time on this but I guess I just ended up setting them to how I would like them. This is were having game testers would come in handy.

The wah-wah-waaaaah is to annoying? I had to set the time between death, and start to 3 seconds because that is the length of that sound. I tried to give it the illusion that it wasn't taking that long with the fade out effect but I guess it didn't work as I planned. I will have to see if I can find a different death sound that is shorter.

I didn't mean to give it "fake difficulty" on the last level maybe I could add newer traps, and obstacles instead of making you go back , and forth.

Thank you for all the constructive feedback, and links :) You gave me a lot to think about for future releases.

@onzephyr Thank you :) And congrats on finishing the game! I will work on shortening the time between death and next play for the next release :)

@farsmile90 Thank you for your kind comments :)
 

Tuna

Awesome Bro

Wink,

Thanks for the good fight! You actually received a vote from both Jason and myself for the public vote. It was excellent to see you place fourth, and I hope to see more projects from you in the future!

With love,
Tuna
 
Thank you Tuna :)

Yes it was competitive but a lot of fun :) Thank you for the public vote, and pleas thank Jason for me. Also congratulations to you, and Jason for winning 3RD! You guys deserve it :)
 
Wink this was a worthy top three entry. I hope you add to this. The ending made me smile when I beat it while I was judging it. To be honest this was the best game in terms of completeness. You were the only one to have a real finale. Everyone else on beating their game had a thanks for playing :thumb: type ending.
 
Also took me a bunch of times to beat it, but I didn't think it was ridiculously difficult.

As far as posters and other stuff you may want to consider wanted posters of the dungeon.sec guy. They would be a cute little Easter egg. To vary things up you may want levers that do other things like move certain blocks, change traps, etc. Also other cool things would be the good ol staples of platforming like moveable jumpers.
 
Thank you very much So fist :)

I'm really happy to here you liked the ending :) I put a lot of though into it. When I play a game I like an ending that makes me feel good.

Thank you for the ideas. I like the wanted poster idea :) And yes I will defiantly take your advise on levers that do other things. The past few days Iv been busy sketching out some new ideas like this, and I would also like to maybe add some cut scenes to the game as I add more levels.
 

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