TrapThem - creating a new arcade-classic

Edit history:

J_SNAKE: 2010-11-03 09:00:05 pm

J_SNAKE: 2010-10-26 05:06:07 am

2010-10-15 08:17:35 pm

I finally found some time to take my indipendent and first steps on the xbox live market. I thought to come up with a small but interesting and sweet game for the first.
Here are the basic prototyped game-mechanics. Visual content is only placeholders, of course.
The second video shows the intended art-direction. Can you already imagine it to be sweet and fun?

Edit: -Ok, sorry but I felt to delete the vid now. I fear some might steal the shown game-mechanics and bring out a game based on them before I do. So I will present it some months later.-

Thread title:

tjp7154

2010-10-26 04:45:17 pm

Bananas GOOD, Kremlings BAD

Looks cool to me, cutesy, good graphics, fair gameplay. Gameplay looks pretty standard to me.

Just remember to break out from the rest of the crowds of developers. Keep it up.

Quietus

2010-10-26 07:40:57 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

That's not what he was showing. He's removed his vid, and that one is displaying the graphical style he's going for. At least that's what he said before his edit...

kesvalk

2010-10-31 01:39:34 pm

Indie Lover

just remember to let players shoot down while jumping, it's makes the so much more dinamic...

Quietus

2010-10-31 05:22:03 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

I say again: That's NOT what he's making! Brick wall

That's a vid he used to show the art style. The game he's making is more like Dig Dug or something.

J_SNAKE

2010-11-03 09:06:33 pm

I removed the art-style vid to avoid obvious confusion. See you later;)

J_SNAKE

Edit history:

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:40:04 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:39:44 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:39:36 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:39:25 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:37:41 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-09 02:45:47 pm

2010-12-09 02:45:06 pm

I decided to release the first gameplay-impression. The game is intended to be finished in few months on pc. Dunno how much time porting it then to various platforms like smart-phones will take since they are new for me but I will try to utilize them to the best potential.
Ok, enjoy;) and feel free to tell me your impression. I hope you like something fresh that is not another clone of pac man or boulder dash.

Turtle

2010-12-09 03:33:14 pm

I like turtles.

I guess I'm a little confused as to how the game works. Which sprites represent what objects/functions, and what actions can the player take?

J_SNAKE

Edit history:

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:41:14 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-09 07:20:54 pm

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-09 04:28:57 pm

2010-12-09 04:24:05 pm

You can cut stones and place up to 4 igniter bombs (yellow,green,red,blue -like the xbox360-controller buttons). That's all for you.

There are simply two types of stones: unchangeable, destructable

There are 4 types of enemies: walking-crystals,(here green) monster, AngryJoe(bomb), thief.
(Every type of enemy has an extreme version but it is not shown here)

You have to collect all crystals available to exit. The bomb will explode the whole level so it is not allowed to kill it. The Thief is always looking for crystals(will also rob you) but you can kill him and take them all back. You should also prevent that he exits with some crystals.

The video was meant to give a brief impression on the things mentioned above, also you should get an impression of unique physics here. You can really cut out arbitrary shapes which are going to be physicalized and it is not a gimmick but a major gameplay element. That was never managed to be incorporated in games before. In dig dug, boulder dash derivatives and so on you had only discrete physical objects. They are a world easier to implement but reduce depth. They make different gameplay whether it is done on purpose or not.

Now very important is to know the A.I, especially those of the thief. It will be all explained in introductionary levels of the game. Nothing complicated, I assure. It is very important for gaming value to me that every gamer gets to know exactly how the game works so the introduction levels will be decent.

Now with this knowledge you might take a look at the vid again and you will see that it will make more sense.

I can proceed to further detail if someone is interested.

You can cut stones and place up to 4 igniter bombs (yellow,green,red,blue -like the xbox360-controller buttons). That's all for you.

There are simply two types of stones: unchangeable, destructable

There are 4 types of enemies: walking-crystals,(here green) monster, AngryJoe(bomb), thief. 
(Every type of enemy has an extreme version but it is not shown here)

You have to collect all crystals available to exit. The bomb will explode the whole level so it is not allowed to kill it. The Thief is always looking for crystals(will also rob you) but you can kill him and take them all back. You should also prevent that he exits with some crystals.

The video was  meant to give a brief impression on the things mentioned above, also you should get an impression of unique physics here. You can really cut out arbitrary shapes which are going to be physicalized and it is not a gimmick but a major gameplay element. That was never managed to be incorporated in games before. In dig dug, boulder dash derivatives and so on you had only discrete physical objects. They are a world easier to implement but reduce depth. They make different gameplay whether it is done on purpose or not.

Now very important is to know the A.I, especially those of the thief. It will be all explained in introductionary levels of the game. Nothing complicated, I assure. It is very important for gaming value to me that every gamer gets to know exactly how the game works so the introduction levels will be decent.

Now with this knowledge you might take a look at the vid again and you will see that it will make more sense.

I can proceed to further detail if someone is interested.

tjp7154

2010-12-09 06:51:45 pm

Bananas GOOD, Kremlings BAD

What is the target audience of your game, J_SNAKE?

J_SNAKE

Edit history:

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:38:41 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:38:11 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-10 06:09:13 am

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-09 07:51:47 pm

2010-12-09 07:43:55 pm

shall be fun for kids and adults aswell, providing puzzle and dexterity gameplay

Mista_Smegheneghan

2010-12-12 08:31:06 pm

Ready to internet!

Seems like an interesting game.

J_SNAKE

2010-12-14 06:58:34 pm

This video is dedicated to music composers first place, giving them some inspiration for a kick-ass action/dexterity-levels track.
But I share the fun with all of you so enjoy;) Feel free to comment your overall impression. Keep in mind it is work in progress and the visuals are not final.

ryu

2010-12-17 08:51:24 am

starts looking really good. don't expect too much though, i doubt puzzle games easily get a lot of recogniton.

do a shitty "hard" 2d platformer if you want to be indie-famoues

tomatobob

2010-12-17 03:46:56 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Quote from ryu:

i doubt puzzle games easily get a lot of recogniton.

Bejeweled.

J_SNAKE

2010-12-17 06:47:57 pm

What tbob says, smart-phones-market works differently.

But other than that I don't want copy concepts(despite I know how they work and why they work) or become an "indi-star" for its own sake.
I want to stay true to my ideas and vision of quality and share it with gamers. So what happens next, happens. I also don't need to be a millionaire to live a happy life. But at least a compensation for the work would be fair.

ryu

Edit history:

ryu: 2010-12-18 08:43:00 am

2010-12-18 08:42:27 am

Quote from tomatobob:

Quote from ryu:

i doubt puzzle games easily get a lot of recogniton.

Bejeweled.

huh? i only once heard of that, checkd it out, and it looked like a generic shitty browser game from a genric shitty browser game manufacturer, so i left it alone.

but then, generic shitty browsergames may sell these days.

of course i'm only talking about the presentation, and not the actual game-quality.

J_SNAKE

2010-12-18 11:15:00 am

Here you go. Ishoot looks like a shitty worms clone or something close and it made the person a millionaire. But it is some time ago already and I guess there were not like million apps available.

Also sterile puzzler like Trism had great success.

Quietus

Edit history:

Quietus: 2010-12-18 11:18:20 am

2010-12-18 11:15:54 am

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

Quote from ryu:

Quote from tomatobob:

Bejeweled.

huh? i only once heard of that

It's similar to Tetris in that its simplicity is its attraction. It's had so many clones in such a short space of time that it's ridiculous. Treasures of Montezuma is my favourite.

J_SNAKE

2010-12-18 11:33:34 am

Anyway, what is your TrapThem-vid-impression, Quietus?
It probably looks a bit complicated on the first glance but rules and player-actions are simple. (Everything will be introduced later in detail)

Quietus

2010-12-18 11:48:39 am

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

I like that you have the drive to complete such things. I lack the motivation to complete nearly all things I start. I wish you the best for your project, but I really don't play any games of this type, so it won't be for me.

J_SNAKE

Edit history:

J_SNAKE: 2010-12-18 12:14:53 pm

2010-12-18 12:08:18 pm

Perfected controls...you can also speedrun it. Also many rewards like pro-ninja if you make it unnoticed :P:P

On another note: I am confident that if you really see some value in what you want to accomplish, you will accomplish it. If you don't accomplish something you started, then it is not really what you like. You have to search for things with visible value to you, that is the key.

tomatobob

2010-12-18 05:02:39 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Quote from ryu:

huh? i only once heard of that, checkd it out, and it looked like a generic shitty browser game from a genric shitty browser game manufacturer, so i left it alone.

Bejeweled actually owns. It's a fantastic timesink.

Quietus

2010-12-18 05:14:40 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

tbob, try Montezuma. It's a really addictive twist.

J_SNAKE

Edit history:

J_SNAKE: 2011-01-05 07:33:08 am

2010-12-30 06:27:38 pm

Perfected Gaming Quality Example: it was deleted since it serves no purpose to show it yet