Dark Bit Factory & Gravity
GENERAL => Projects => Topic started by: benny! on February 01, 2009
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Hi,
played around with some physics engine today and came up
with this little game (still in early beta).
Maybe you want to have a try and give some feedback - that
would be highly appreciated.
PLAY ME
(link removed)
Thanks,
benny!
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I've been playing this for twenty minutes and I have to give up cause it's too addictive! Got 21 blocks. All the polishes that you've suggested on that page would be good but other than that it's a great little web game!
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In a world of bland match 3 puzzle games this is a great original concept!
I've made a few games so perhaps you might like my thoughts.
First the simplicity is GREAT. I do feel that some of the best concepts are things you can pick up and play, things that one does not need a 14 button controller to play.
I feel that right now this feels like a test concept. It would help the player immensely to add a graphic wind direction indicator because otherwise it feels that the player does not have enough information to make the drop decision. Provide the information to them, the game should lie in the reflex and decision making with all information known. This would allow players to actually develop some accuracy skill and 6th sense ability. Give them the information they need but tax their processing and choice making ability under pressure.
Ideas to further the concept.
Why limit the game to a single trial? How about a timer that counts down for each level? This way players will always be able to improve while building their ability to process the final resting place. Now the players can almost always get better. When the timer is finished, all blocks are destroyed in an exciting way. Giving the player pleasing feedback via sound or explosion graphics is a nice "good job" and pat on the back. Perhaps you have a series of levels, maybe each level plays a bit faster than the last increasing the challenge. The nice thing about faster falling blocks is more time to improve score for each further level. In this way the game has a natural difficulty and reward level. Perhaps the player has 3 or so lives and a life is lost when a block tumbles off the table. This rewards accuracy and developed skill. The game can end early now. Does the player have a chance to get an extra life from score every so often? Having well defined chances to recover is also a very nice thing. It might also be neat to have a special block that deletes the first block it touches, this way you can get rid of the ones that did not land right. The catch would be having the skill to drop this deletion block where you need it. Perhaps the game evaluates the blocks and if there is a block that has landed incorrectly there is a 1 in X chance that a deletion block will appear.
These are just some thought from somebody who enjoys modest and simple but rewarding games, but please consider what I've said.
GOOD LUCK hope to see more.
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I've been playing this for twenty minutes and I have to give up cause it's too addictive!
Got 21 blocks. All the polishes that you've suggested on that page would be good but
other than that it's a great little web game!
Yeah, thanks for that Yaloopy. Try to beat 22 blocks ;-)
In a world of bland match 3 puzzle games this is a great original concept!
I've made a few games so perhaps you might like my thoughts.
First the simplicity is GREAT. I do feel that some of the best concepts are things you can
pick up and play, things that one does not need a 14 button controller to play.
That's right ... I think a game like that should be as simple to control as possible.
I feel that right now this feels like a test concept. It would help the player immensely
to add a graphic wind direction indicator because otherwise it feels that the player does
not have enough information to make the drop decision. Provide the information to them,
the game should lie in the reflex and decision making with all information known.
Yup, that's true. Any ideas on how I could improve the visualization of the strength and
direction of the wind ? I am quite unhappy with it, too - don't have any idea how to
improve it though right now ::)
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Ideas to further the concept.
Why limit the game to a single trial? How about a timer that counts down for each level?
This way players will always be able to improve while building their ability to process the
final resting place. Now the players can almost always get better. When the timer is finished,
all blocks are destroyed in an exciting way. Giving the player pleasing feedback via sound or
explosion graphics is a nice "good job" and pat on the back. Perhaps you have a series of
levels, maybe each level plays a bit faster than the last increasing the challenge. The nice
thing about faster falling blocks is more time to improve score for each further level. In this
way the game has a natural difficulty and reward level. Perhaps the player has 3 or so lives
and a life is lost when a block tumbles off the table. This rewards accuracy and developed
skill. The game can end early now. Does the player have a chance to get an extra life from
score every so often? Having well defined chances to recover is also a very nice thing. It
might also be neat to have a special block that deletes the first block it touches, this way
you can get rid of the ones that did not land right. The catch would be having the skill to
drop this deletion block where you need it. Perhaps the game evaluates the blocks and if
there is a block that has landed incorrectly there is a 1 in X chance that a deletion block
will appear.
The rewarding mechanism is a very very good point. That's a fantastic idea and this re-
flects the most feedback I got so far. My girlfriend (usually doesnt play computer games) asked
me:
- What is it about ?
- What happens if a block drops ?
- When have I won the game ?
I had no answers to those questions because I haven't at all thought about them. You made some
good points about them. Now I wondering what would be the best way. Limiting time and/or
the amount of blocks. Adding a level system to it might also be a good idea, although that
might extend that game a lot.
But I really have to think about that rewarding stuff you talked about.
Thanks a lot, I really appreciate your ideas.
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Just got an idea, from reading your feedback. Why not have people really test the game and get a feel or the average ability? You then can construct "levels" in which the player must complete a certain number of stacks to get the the next round. If you decide to keep score from round to round, the player can still beat the game (finish all levels) and always work for a better score. I think the key is to find a good difficulty curve from completing level 1 to the final level. Perhaps it takes a stack of 5 blocks to finish the first level but maybe it takes 30 blocks to finish the final level. You don't really need to program each level but rather play the same scenario with maybe increased speed of blocks and interpolate the level clear value based on a fitted curve interpolation based on the easiest level clear and the most advanced level clear. In this way your game is a bit procedural in the ways the levels play, each level plays the same as the last but you just change one or two settings to naturally increase the difficulty from start to finish.
I think a key point in all this is make the game have a definite end point after a handful of levels, but also allow the skilled player to always come back for a better score. The skilled player is made through his practice with the game. He is able to place blocks QUICKLY and ACCURATELY. The advaced player always has more time to place blocks because he can do his job FASTER. Higher speed end levels are to his advantage if blocks fall faster. In faster paced end levels the poor player is punished while the good player thrives. Just make the difficulty curve such that there is always improvement, make it smooth and gradual.
A note about reading the wind graphically. How about some particles that are acted upon such as snow or rain? They don't need to look like either but it will help provide more visual information that numbers. You could also provide a vector arrow to describe the wind, make the length of the arrow show how strong it is. People are able to make sense from things like this.
A parting thought: I think your coloring the blocks that touch is a great touch it is part of a visual reward that I mentioned earlier. If your program is fast enough it might even be fun to cause them to have some sort of connection when they touch like a web looking effect with a ding or tone each time they touch after a drop. I can imagine it might be fun to see them go red go *ding* then connect visually.
More ranting I suppose but like I said this game has a lot of potential.
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This is the kind of game that could make money on the internet.
It's benign but strangely addictive too.
I managed 16 blocks before I had to leave the game to do stuff.
Maybe some level structure could be introduced where you have to balance a certain amount of boxes within a time limit, and at later levels have some different shaped boxes thrown into the mix.
I really like it.
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Thanks again for your feedback. Its much appreciated.
Concerning the level approach, I also got an interesting suggestion on
another german flash forum. One suggested to do some levels with
different platforms to place the boxes on. I really like that idea. Although
I do not want to go too crazy with it, I thinking about the following atm:
Adding some level mechanism with rewarding system like you already
suggested. The levels differs concerning:
- positions/amount of platforms
- the number of blocks which needs to be placed there
- the number of blocks that are allowed to be dropped off
I will think about it some more moments and then will see.
Thanks again for the great feedback - you guys are great !!!
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This has all the makings of a classic.
I wouldn't be suprised to see a DS developer steal the idea, but not do it as well as this.
K++
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This has all the makings of a classic.
I wouldn't be suprised to see a DS developer steal the idea, but not do it as well as this.
K++
Wow .. thanks for the kind and motivating words, ck0!!!
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Ok, I got 26. this is going to be a great game when it's finished. Really addictive!
Edit: 39.
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Hey Benny dude nice little physics game in Flash dude!
For those using IE8, you will need to select the compatability option; in order for autostart of the flash player plus game.
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I was thinking along the same lines as Shockwave. Are you going to monetize this game?
I found a small bug. When you close the game (X in bottom right corner) and reopen by clicking on the image of the game. The words score and wind are overlapping, instead of wind being on the right hand side.
I have been learning AS3 recently. This is a really cool project.
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@Voltage:
Thanks, mate. About the bug - seems to be browser related because
I couldnt reproduce it using FireFox/Mozilla. Which browser are you
using.
Monetizing ? Yeah, I thought about adding some advertisement on it
using MochiAds (http://www.mochiads.com/) - or are there any better ways to
make money with flash games ?
@Clyde:
Thanks, dude. Interesting note about IE8. I will check this.
@Yaloopy:
Wow ... 39. Not bad!
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It happens using IE6 and IE7. At home and work. Hang on a sec.... thanks for waiting. The bug doesn't occur using Google Chrome.
Wow, we actually found a bug that only appears in IE, but not the other common browsers! What a surprise! /sarcasm
To reproduce the bug:
1) nagivate to your game page.
2) Let the game auto load. (Very cool by the way).
3) Close the game by clicking the X in the bottom right hand corner.
4) You will now see your blog page behind the game.
5) Click on the static image of the game to reload the game.
6) The word "Wind" is now on the top left of the game screen, overlapping the word "Score".
Regarding monetizing, I've read a couple of different blogs about guys running experiments to see how much they can make from monetizing flash games. I wouldn't do them justice by repeating them here, but do a google search for monetize flash game. I'm very keen to try the same thing.
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"Fantastic Contraption" has done very well, If I was to monetize this game I would offer only a couple of trial levels with all levels open to people who pay a couple of Euros.
Perhaps a level designer would be a great idea too?
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@Voltage:
Thanks a lot for detailed bug report. Much appreciated. Very strange
indeed how different browser make a flash application behave/look
differently. Never thought this could be possible to be honest. I will
investigate this more.
@Shocky:
Thanks for the idea. Will think about a good way when I finished the
game. It's more like an experiment for me, too - and I do not expect
much to be honest. But will be interesting to see perhaps. I'll keep
you updated!
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Ok, I closed beta testing phase now.
Thanks for all your great ideas and suggestions. I made my
decision (http://www.weltenkonstrukteur.de/2009/02/beta-phase-closed-game-dev-in-progess/) of what I will implement. Even if I didn't implement
some of your suggestions - I will keep them in mind for an-
other follow up version maybe.
Will keep you informed about the progress.
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Nicely done. This would indeed make a great little mobile game. You ought to see about selling it to a mobile developer.
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@rdc:
That's an interesting aspect, rdc. Thanks for pointing that out.
Indeed I am investigating mobile scene since some time. And
glad that you like it so far. Hope to have the final version finished
soon.
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Hmm I really feel that it should tell your ability level. I think just having scores without saving to a server would be the best way. I'm not saying you need to upload data to a server but how can a player know if they are better than their peers?
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Ok. The compromise without saving score would shrink the
work of having scores to about 20%. Personally I would not
care about score - but you might be right. I have to learn
that there are other player types than me ;-)
Thanks for pointing this out again, PO. Will re-think it!
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Online competition would give the game even more appeal imho.
If you wanted to make a test version for our arcade I'd be happy to test it here :)
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Thanks for the offer Shocky. If I decide to implement a scoring
system, I will surely comeback to that offer, mate!
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I am having a problem with a maximized IE7 Browser window - latest flash player. Only a portion of the top of the game is shown. I can see the score and the percentage then a bit more of the play area.
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Clyde, dude. The game itself should be deactivated at the moment. I edited
first post. It will be available again when I finished it. sorry for any inconvenience.
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Ah ok, sorry dude didnt realize.
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Looking foreward to it. :)
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Finally, I picked up the project again this weekend and finished the
game. At this point I like to thank you all again for your great support,
input, suggestions and help.
I called it :
Phlocks - Physical blocks
(http://www.weltenkonstrukteur.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/phlocks-icon-compressed.png)
Try it at:
http://www.weltenkonstrukteur.de/games/phlocks/ (http://www.weltenkonstrukteur.de/games/phlocks/)
Have fun!
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Very difficult, very addictive :) Level 9 here so far.
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Brilliant game and I really enjoy it. ;D
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Very cool little game.
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thats just genius dude, welldone indeed :)
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Thanks guys. I just checked the stats one hour ago - and after 10 days
I already got 100.000 plays (although daily plays are decreasing :-\ ).
Damn, I like viral marketing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing) ;-)
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One hundred thousand plays in 10 days? :)
Wow!
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Pretty cool, great popularity :D
Ever thought of doin' stuff like this for profit?
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If you added some sort of theme you could probably make this into a mobile game. Tower Bloxx (http://www.addictinggames.com/towerbloxx.html) sold for around $5.00 US on my phone and it is very similar to your game.
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Ever thought of doin' stuff like this for profit?
Well, to be honest - I was thinking about it. I use Phlocks at the moment as a
test to see which distribution channels I can use with a flash game and how
attractive they are. Right now, I just earned roughly $30 with Phlocks so far.
But I already learned that I could have made a lot of stuff better to optimize
my conversion rates. Hopefully, I can optimize that with my next little game.
All in all, at this stage this is only a hobby and fun experiment. I am not planning
to generate a real income with it. But this field interests me a lot.
If you added some sort of theme you could probably make this into a mobile
game. Tower Bloxx (http://www.addictinggames.com/towerbloxx.html) sold for around $5.00 US on my phone and it is very
similar to your game.
Thanks for the link. An interesting game indeed. What cellphone do you have -
does it support Flash lite and if so, which version ?
Already thought about releasing a flash game to reach a lot of ppl and to advertise
for a mobile version of the game.
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Most of the apps on my phone are Java it seems. Still, there must be a market somewhere. Good luck.
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Kind of off topic here but how powerful is the newest version of flash?
How many objects can I put on the screen and do collision checks with another object?
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Does flash support object collisions? I didn't think it did..
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Does flash support object collisions? I didn't think it did..
AFAIK you could use hitTest (http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/action_scripts/actionscript_dictionary/actionscript_dictionary534.html) on MovieClip objects.
However, I see a lot of ppl writing their own collision detections for better performance
and usage.