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sanscript: The sentiment is about the same, but yours isn't. If you two REALLY were married who did she get it from, if not from you? She must have been a bit unfaithful...

I wouldn't touch here, but each to their own liking as they say...
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Bookwyrm627: Not if she got it before we were married. Or a bad blood transfusion or whatever.

Regardless, I think we're agreed that we're getting beyond the scope of the thread here.
Agreed to disagree. xD
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huzzah!
Ok I tried the tutorial.
I think it's a good puzzle game that would be remunerative on mobile with a free2play approach (ads and/or microtransaction... I know I don't love this approach either, but for puzzle games it's the only remunerative approach... if you are not super lucky) and with some updated levels every once in a while. I think "cut the rope" game is a good example to what you should expect from a customer and to what you should offer.
The main problem I think it's the color of the background (at least in the tutorial), there is too much space and it's all grey, and the tutorial is too long and there are some real puzzle on it (a tutorial should only explain the basics and maybe prepare one real puzzle).
The first cutscene is so good... I think you shold try to use that background into the main game (I know, if you are a developer maybe you don't know how to do or use backgrounds but you should inform who do that part of the game).
The first time I start the game the tutorial should start automatically.

That's all.

I know you already released this game, I know probably you don't want to publish or work on it again. But since I'm a game developer too (with some old games published on google play) and since I'm working on a new game with everything I learned from my first mistake I think I can give you some advice.
- Details matter... the more the game is simple enough, the more the details matter. A puzzle game is simple (for a costumers point of view, I know it's not that simple when you develop it), so every detail need to be perfect.
- If you don't sell enough maybe you are asking for the wrong price or you are using the wrong approach. Like I said, a free2play approach on mobile it's perfect for a puzzle game.
- To get more costumers you should try to expand the game. When you have a good basic game you should try kickstarter and/or early access to expand the game but also to gain more people interested in your work.
And if you don't have good backgrounds you should ask for them on those platforms.

Good luck.


PS. I read all the posts. The only thing that I can add is that I don't think this is a bad game or a "first child paint". I think it's just a game sold in the wrong place with some thing to adjust
Post edited January 05, 2018 by LiefLayer
Some people really have too much time on their hands... (I'm talking about the troll obviously, not the dev ^^).

Thanks for the story.
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LiefLayer: The first time I start the game the tutorial should start automatically.
Apropos; I've always been fascinated how these tutorials have gone from a quick intro to something long, forced and tedious.

As a game dev, why do you think one need a tutorial in a game? Isn't the whole point in finding things out and explore every aspect of a game without being spoon-fed?
Thanks for the feedback.

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LiefLayer: The main problem I think it's the color of the background (at least in the tutorial), there is too much space and it's all grey,
This background was a conscious decision. We iterated through many different ones, and got feedback from testers who liked this one best. Apparently this makes you concentrate on mechanics without being distracted by other stuff.
All later worlds have different, more detailed backgrounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxmhzJSiWq4
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KasperHviid: I'm sorry, but my Avast antivirus says that video-renderer.dll is infected with Wind32:Malware-gen

Most likely this is a false positive. Avast antivirus seem to be really big on those. (and it appears that "Wind32:Malware-gen" is a fancy, made-up word that anti-virus progs use )

Sorry for spoiling this really nice post.
"gen" is short for generic, so that string basically means "we think this looks like it could be some sort of Windows [Win32/Wind32] malware, but can't actually determine whether it's a virus, trojan, worm, or really whether or not it's malware at all".
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sanscript: Apropos; I've always been fascinated how these tutorials have gone from a quick intro to something long, forced and tedious.

As a game dev, why do you think one need a tutorial in a game? Isn't the whole point in finding things out and explore every aspect of a game without being spoon-fed?
For a puzzle game a basic tutorial is not a bad idea. Also like I said the tutorial was too long... So I agree with you a really short tutorial with only basics should be ok.
Not mandatory is also ok (a message that ask you if you want to do the tutorial should be ok).

But if you don't want a tutorial is also ok, just start the game as soon as the player start the game, you will load the main menu the second time... but you will still need to make an "example level" or a really simple level.

Also if the game should be on mobile it's important to understand that a really casual costumer is different from experienced gamers.

I think you are right and wrong at the same time, as a developer I think that you need to understand who will play the game to understand what you want in your game.

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ZFR: Thanks for the feedback.

This background was a conscious decision. We iterated through many different ones, and got feedback from testers who liked this one best. Apparently this makes you concentrate on mechanics without being distracted by other stuff.
All later worlds have different, more detailed backgrounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxmhzJSiWq4
Ok I watched the video. I still think there is a problem with colors. Less detailed backgrounds does not mean that the colors should be so "grey".
You can use a bigger chara/elements in a less detailed but still colorful background like this one from the trailer:
https://i.imgur.com/Kn80iCI.png

(bigger chara design, simple background with really awesome colors).

this:
https://i.imgur.com/XHFO2MI.png
is small (almost too small for a big screen). there is too much wasted space. and the background is boring.

and here:
https://i.imgur.com/TXPZUhr.jpg
even with a detailed background there is still too much wasted space. colors are still not that great.

Just try to remember super mario... Simple background but good colors. You don't need a grey background to know what's part of the interface and what's part of the background.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think this is the first big difference between an awesome initial cutscene and the gameplay part of the game. The first thing that will stop a player from loving your game.

Look at Cut the rope background:
http://is2.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple/v4/1d/81/3b/1d813b7d-3cc0-e3eb-23c4-874d735ac368/source/800x500bb.jpg

Angry birds:
http://www.angrybirdsnest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Angry-Birds-Seasons-Easter-Eggs-Golden-13-Location.jpg

Fruit Ninja:
http://moviehole.net/img/fruit-ninja.jpg

Now look back to your game backgrounds.

I'm sure that after a player know your game he/she will not care anymore about that and everything will depend on the quality of puzzles but before that the eye need a good looking game.

Also take a look at the main menu. To get to the actual game a player should only click play... Instead you ask to click Play->select Game Mode (the first time)->use a joystick-like confusing interface to select the levels where the first one is "tutorial....".

I assure you that I say this because I have made many similar mistakes the first time and I don't want to make them again (I'm studing every game interface I play to understand how to make a good and user-friendly interface).

Look, here there is my first "game":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_66zzzDE6c

Apart from the fact that it is not complete (there is no goal, no level... it's just an incomplete mess created for school and published because I was really happy with my first game), you can see that there are too many elements on-screen for a touchscreen device, I'm asking to assign points to a character without explain why and what.
Re colours: you could be right. I won't argue the point; I wasn't the graphics guy, as far as I was concerned it could just be a black square on a white background.

However, regarding this:
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LiefLayer: Also take a look at the main menu. To get to the actual game a player should only click play... Instead you ask to click Play->select Game Mode (the first time)->use a joystick-like confusing interface to select the levels where the first one is "tutorial....".
I know it is the way many games run nowdays, but personally I hate it when you run the game the first time and after intro it takes you straightaway to gameplay. Maybe it's just being used to 90s games, but I prefer when my game has a main menu, from where you can select a new game, start a tutorial or whatnot.

I know lots of players want what you suggested, and if I were a developer I might do that if lots of beta testers want it, but personally I would prefer a normal selectable menu.

Also, not all recent games take you straight to tutorial. I recently played Ironclad Tactics, and there you have to click "New Game" then select tutorial level.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time. I appreciate the feedback.
Post edited January 05, 2018 by ZFR
Having played the game for a bit... I honestly thought it was pretty good for a first-time three-man indie project. Certainly better than a majority of the "My First Unity Project" schlock that's getting pushed out nowadays. I think it really just lacked that little extra "something" to catch people's attention, and got lost in the noise of all the other shovelware getting pumped out. I also agree with the suggestion that the game probably would have been better targeted for a mobile platform and should have taken advantage of more vibrant colors and backgrounds. The general game concept seems solid. But a solid concept also needs a punchy presentation to really stand out. I know this sounds petty, but I think simply cranking up the vibrancy of the colors would go a long way to catching people's attention.

Regardless of whether you actually made any money on the game, the fact that you designed, completed and released a commercial software product (that is not simply a re-skin of a Unity demo project with stock assets, slapped together over a weekend) is a huge accomplishment. Your project demonstrates that you have solid skills in software design, project management, coding and quality assurance -- as well as a demonstrated ability to "deliver on a vision" (as a professional IT manager, I can assure you that is a VERY valuable asset to have). That is fantastic resume material -- whether you intend to stick with game development or move into more mainstream IT work -- as well as being a very cool personal accomplishment.
Downloaded it today planning to just take a brief look, then got hooked and finished it in one go. I really like the game. A well-balanced challenge, a fun blend of platforming and unique budget-based puzzle mechanics.

The last tutorial stage had the difficulty curve abruptly going up a bit too high I found, and while controls work well, whenever I wanted to jump straight up, place a block beneath me to then land on top of that one, it seemed an almost one-frame affair to have the game register my block-placing input.

The soundtrack offers some good tracks. Also dig what you did for the final level, I was cursing just the right amount for my taste there; meaning, it was an enjoyable experience. A fair amount of different worlds and puzzle set ups too. Thanks for providing your game on here for free, and congrats on finishing/publishing this project.

What was used in the development of The Adventures of King Croc, as far as language, tools, etc.?

By the way, since some reported having anti-virus bells going off, I had Malwarebytes take a look at the installation file and got a clean result (zero issues).
Thanks for sharing. Sorry you had your personal troll.

Something about the time around 2012 had a lot of people being dicks. I did a charity drive where 50% of proceeds from album sales went to a local shelter, and had regular users on here tell me I wasn't doing enough. This was after I switched it from 20% to 50%, because those same people accused me of being greedy, or something along those lines.

Shortly afterward, I posted giveaway codes to my albums for free, and not a ton of people downloaded them. I'm no Beethoven, but it was amazing how full of shit trolls can be when you try to do something nice for people.

Point being: I think any of us who try to create something, have experience with trolls. Respect to you for trying to nip it in the bud.

EDIT: Also, sorry if I seem bitter. I was just getting into music and was deciding if I wanted to continue doing it or not.

I was told at the time on no uncertain terms, that most people no longer pay for music, and also via tells, was told my music wasn't good enough to sell (Not so much on here, but some people I used to know on Steam mostly). I was also much more symptomatic with my schizophrenia at the time than I am now, so I took things much more personally.

I would have thought, given I was struggling mightily with money at the time, that no one would begrudge me keeping part of the sales of my music since I'd created the pieces myself. I was wrong.

ZFR, people will begrudge you just about anything. I don't know what your coworker did to piss the troll off, but it might not have even been anything that bad. The guy was probably just bored. Good luck with everything!
Post edited January 07, 2018 by CymTyr
Sorry it took me so long to reply, but between my PC needing a new mobo and Windows reinstall and being busy in real life I didn't have much time to look into it. So...

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chevkoch: Downloaded it today planning to just take a brief look, then got hooked and finished it in one go. I really like the game. A well-balanced challenge, a fun blend of platforming and unique budget-based puzzle mechanics.
Thanks. Happy you enjoyed it. Budget-based puzzles is what I initially mainly went for, and those levels that use them are my favourite ones, though as the game developed, I included some platforming/skill based puzzles too.

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chevkoch: The last tutorial stage had the difficulty curve abruptly going up a bit too high I found.
I know, and this was the only level-design issue where I think I failed. Or at least wasn't happy with the result. LiefLayer touched upon that too.

Initially the last 2 levels of the tutorial were part of a separate world, preceeded by 2 or 3 easy levels. But then, testers found the initial levels of that world too easy, especially since they followed the tutorial.
Anyway, I moved those last 2 levels a lot, trying them out on different worlds. In the end though I just couldn't find a 100% satisfactory solution for them. I couldn't put them in a separate world; there were just 2 of them. I couldn't think of any good levels to add to them, and I didn't want to just remove them from the game; I liked them: they were very simple but clever; just a tiny change to the second one and you have to solve in a completely different way.

In the end they ended up where they did, and I added more levels in the tutorial before them to try and impress into the player the trick needed to solve them.
After releasing the game, we actually had one reviewer stuck at the tutorial, so that's why we created the tutorial walkthrough video.

Incidentally, ther are some levels that were cut from the game. Initially the tutorial consisted of 4 levels that were identical (a hole in the ground), but in each one you get a different ability so you had to solve the same problem using different abilities. Once we expanded the tutorial we removed those levels, because the testers found they made the tutorial too long. Also there is a final "level" that we used as a placeholder before we had the boss level and the final cutscene done. Those hidden levels are still there, but you have to use the level skip cheat code to reach them. If you're interested I could dig those up.

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chevkoch: Also dig what you did for the final level
Thanks. Given that the game was more puzzle based, and you had no weapons, I wasn't sure if I could do a boss level properly. But I liked what we ended up with. It was just hard enough and fitted nicely with the previous levels.

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chevkoch: What was used in the development of The Adventures of King Croc, as far as language, tools, etc.?
Gamemaker studio. We chose it because it made it easy to create installers for different platforms, though in the end we only released it for Windows. Though if you're looking for game-development tools, I cannot recommend it with a clear conscience.
I used only the gml language, not the drag-and-drop options it gives. Back then, the language was like a poor man's version of a OO language with C-like syntax. Really limited when it came to data types for example. From what I know though, it was improved lately.
I don't know how it looks from a non-programmer's point of view: they might find the drag-and-drop easier, but I really, really, really wouldn't recommend doing that. Better use the language.
Also, what Gamemaker is good for is game-jams, where you have a day or 2 to complete a game.

Anyway, this brings me to the next point...
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ZFR: Wait a bit for the fixed version then. Maybe on itch.io.
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Ghorpm: Fair enough. Let me know when it's released
Seeing how we created that in a 5+ years old of Gamemaker, there are some obsolete functions. It will take some time to update the source code, and since I'm unfortunately a bit busy at the moment if I do it, it won't be in the near future.

So if you want to play it go ahead and download one of the two versions I posted.
Post edited February 02, 2018 by ZFR
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ZFR: Anyway, this brings me to the next point...
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Ghorpm: Fair enough. Let me know when it's released
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ZFR: Seeing how we created that in a 5+ years old of Gamemaker, there are some obsolete functions. It will take some time to update the source code, and since I'm unfortunately a bit busy at the moment if I do it, it won't be in the near future.

So if you want to play it go ahead and download one of the two versions I posted.
I've reached Castle level but now I have some work to do. The game is okayish, certainly not GOTY but quite enjoyable