Quote from: FlyingHamsta on September 07, 2008, 05:28:13 pm
I played the demo, and it was pretty refreshing. One suggestion I had was, on the last part of the demo where you could lose, if spotted by the guard you would go to game over screen. I think you should simply restart the level instead of going to game over, because the game over screen is very long in terms of time. And if you intend on having some hard levels later on, this could go from frustrating to flat out annoying and unenjoyable to sit through game over every time.
In fact, the part with guard should be changed slightly. Part of what made Portal fun was the constant action despite it being a puzzle game. I felt the guard area slowed down the action considerably. Perhaps have timed traps instead that you must navigate through.
Oh, and not relevant to the gameplay but the comparisons to Portal are inevitable. Perhaps try and give the 'voice' a more distinct personality. The sterile computer persona with a dark sense of humor worked for Portal, why not try something different for your own 'voice' to make it a little more interesting. Just an idea.
Overall I liked it a lot and can't wait for more.
they are the tutorial stages, they're not meant to be fast paced, cool your jets and wait until you get to the actual game.
Also, I found the parts with the sentries in Portal to be slow sneaking portions, rather than fast paced flinging portions, so even Portal had its balance between fast and slow game progression.
Not only that, but the idea of a tutorial is not to challenge the player with fast paced traps and puzzles, but to introduce basic gameplay structure and basic gameplay mechanics in a simple and clear way. Notice the first room clearly establishes the switch as an important object, then the crystal as your key out. the second introduces the crystal's movement, the third adds on the warp tiles, and so on and so forth. It's not meant to be fast paced, it's a tutorial.
I know comparisons to portal are inevitable, in fact I stated the game is inspired and influenced by it in more ways that one. I'm going to keep the disembodied voice the way it is for now, I have my reasonings.
As far as the game over goes, when you died in portal there was a distinct PAUSE/STOP, I just used the game over as a quick way to demonstrate that. I'm working on it.
glad you liked it so far, keep in mind it's only an alpha.