Feedback request: A Game with a Kitty (Platformer)

[Bernie]

A Game with a Kitty is a freeware game I wrote during a 2 week period. It's a platformer that's supposed to play like older SNES games such as Super Mario and Metroid. I's been out for two months now, but I'd really like to get some feedback; critiques, suggestions, anything goes.

Features:

-World map
-Saving
-Nonlinear gameplay
-4 different moves to learn
-1 to 2 hours of gameplay

Screenshot:

http://www.origamihero.com/kitty1.jpg

Download:

1. http://www.origamihero.com/files/kitty.zip (newer version with original, but not very good music)

2. http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=5220 (Review/Download @ Home of the Underdogs, older version with unoriginal music)

Thanks in advance! :)

[Hamish McLeod]

I think this is pretty much pefect for what it is (a SNES style platform game) a few minor problems I had though:

- At the start it's difficult to figure out where to go and what to do, I had to spend a while messing about to find enough money to pass the first gate.
- Gets really difficult near the end, not hard enough to put me off but I can definitely imagine other people giving up in frustration
-Difficult to tell what platforms you can stand on and what you can't, especially in the Moon Base level.

The biggest thing I can suggest for potential sequel is making it 3-4 times as long, apart from that great job.

[Pogacha]

Hi, I like the game ... since I making a platform game too.
You made it in two weeks? It's hard to belive ...

Problems that I found:
Shift key trigger StickyKeys.
In window mode the keyboard doesn't response.

GL

[Adrian Cummings]

Very Wonderboy in Monsterland in a retro sort of way - looks cool!.

[WaveRider]

"Can I wear your glasses?"

Way much fun. Great job!

[Diragor]

Problems that I found:
Shift key trigger StickyKeys.

Is it possible to make your game NOT allow StickyKeys to be triggered? I know I've had it triggered by AAA FPS games after a fresh Windows install.

(Who uses that damned feature anyway? It's really annoying.)

[Pyabo]

(Who uses that damned feature anyway? It's really annoying.)


People with only one arm, or limited mobility in their limbs.

(OK, back on topic.... )

Cute game!

[Pogacha]

[QUOTE=Diragor]Is it possible to make your game NOT allow StickyKeys to be triggered?QUOTE]
Yes, but I'm not sure how ... DInput?

[tolik]

I bow my niece to the oldskool masters of the gameplay.

I'm going to spend few next days in spiritual rebirth enjoying the new creation, then singing complimentary songs and blessing the approach of Fallen Angel.

Let the oldskool powers follow you, don't drop your skills. Forget about issues in uncontrolled core engine, while your gameplay rules and revives the truly forgotten art of proper games. Kirby will never let you down.

[Dock]

This is awesome! After completing 'Cave Story' recently, I can definitely see the logic behind working with such restrictions. Everything looks much more slick like this. Some excellent gameplay elements here, like the balloon springs and the fans, it's great work.

How was MMF to work with? You were obviously able to work pretty fast.

[Bernie]

Thanks for your comments!

Hamish: I completely agree with you on all points. I'll try making longer games when I'm more experienced with finishing my projects. My finished projects/dropped projects ratio is quite disappointing, so I still want to keep things short so I can actually finish them.

Pogacha: The sticky keys issue is a little annoying, yes. To play the game, people are forced to deativate it; that's not good. I originally planned to make keys definable, but the extension allowing me to do so decided not to work on a few levels, so I dropped it. My next game will definately have at least an alternative keyset.

Diragor: I'm not sure if I can deactivate that feature with my software, I'll need an extension of sorts. I hope that an alternative keyset will fix most issues.

Adrian Cummings, WaveRider, Pyabo, emuLynx, Dock: Thanks for the kind words!

Also, thanks for playing my little game! :)

[Bernie]

Sorry for the double post, I thought I could edit my posts.

Dock, regarding your question about MMF: It's pretty easy to work with once you know how it ticks. A programmer should be able to get into it pretty fast. The only drawback is that it only supports global code (over more frames) on a restricted level. That, and maybe the fact that the games do require quite some CPU power (P300+ is a must for Kitty).

Overall, MMF is easy to use and quite flexible, but some may find it a little too limiting. It's perfect if you want to make 2d games up to PSX quality, though.

[JoKa]

A Game with a Kitty is a freeware game I wrote during a 2 week period.

Great game! It took me more than 2 weeks to create my own platform engine with MMF. So I'm wondering: did you use a finished engine or create it all from scratch?

Btw, here you can find my platformer :)
Frutti Freak (http://www.freewarefun.com/shareware-game-fruttifreak.htm)

[Bernie]

JoKa: I gave your game a try, it's fun! Nice work on the engine, too. I created my own engine as well and am going to use it for my future games. I usually keep a basic engine for future use. Saves lots of time.

[JoKa]

Yes, good to have a basic engine for future use, I hope it will be possible to use it in MMF2, too. Still impressed by your development speed, do the 2 weeks include everything like creating the story, bug hunting, etc.?

Maybe there are some pills you can recommend? I feel dumb and slow when I look at my own working speed ;)

[Bernie]

The two weeks include everything except for a few parts of the engine, which were from some of my older projects, such as the enemy and dialog engines.

Maybe there are some pills you can recommend? I feel dumb and slow when I look at my own working speed.
I had a vacation and thus lots of time when making kitty. :D

[Nexic]

This game is really good.

Now, why don't you make all the graphics higher res, and sell the game? It seems like a terrible waste to make it freeware! Really I can see no reason why this game wouldn't sell with slightly newer graphics. I'm not talking about mega graphic redesign for the game, just take what you have and redo them in a bigger size.

Really great game, good job :)

[Anthony Flack]

Do you really think that the difference between freeware and commercial comes down to pixel size? The choice of graphics is obviously deliberate.

[Ricardo C]

Yeah, the 16-bit console look is part of its charm. I don't want a higher-res version, just a bigger adventure :)

[Anthony Flack]

Something I have been thinking about recently, which is sort of related:

One of the nice things about freeware games is that you don't have to give a damn about what anybody thinks - you can please yourself. So you can make chunky retro graphics if you want to, for example. And many people do like that (me included). But if you were trying to make money, that might be considered a risky move. You'd probably not be accepted by any major portal if you did that, I'd imagine.

Similarly, freeware authors make games in whatever genre they choose, they make short games if they want to, they make difficult games if they want to. Keyboard only games if they want to. Complicated games if they want to. They make whatever games they enjoy.

This game looks like another example of a freeware author making something higher quality and more interesting than most comparable commercial offerings out there.

Maybe it's just because freeware games are generally made for love, so they will often come out more lovable. But is it possible that the desire to please as many people as possible (and maximise profit) is actually hurting our games?

[JoKa]

Maybe it's just because freeware games are generally made for love, so they will often come out more lovable. But is it possible that the desire to please as many people as possible (and maximise profit) is actually hurting our games?

I don't think so. We, the developers, probably have a different view than many customers. We have grown up with these classic retro stuff and learned to love it. Someone without our experience may not understand this.

Example: Dune, the first RTS game. A great game. But someone who only knows CNC Generals and not the older games probably would be disappointed, hate to move each unit separately(!) and would not like the graphics, because he's not familiar with the old style.

[Nexic]

Do you really think that the difference between freeware and commercial comes down to pixel size? The choice of graphics is obviously deliberate.

I know it's deliberate, but I don't see what that has got to do with my point. My point is that the only thing stopping this game from being of commercial quality would be the graphics detail.

Are you saying that the game would be no good without it's retro graphics?

[Anthony Flack]

No, but I don't think it would be an improvement. It's sad to think that a simple stylistic choice could be the defining factor here, especially when the game already looks better (I think) than most. I imagine that, if you continued this process to its logical conclusion, you would end up honing out everything that's interesting about the game. The difficulty would have to be adjusted. The game would have to be made really long. The snide comments at the start would have to go. Etc.


I don't think so. We, the developers, probably have a different view than many customers. We have grown up with these classic retro stuff and learned to love it. Someone without our experience may not understand this.


So it's our misconception that these games are better than boring old portal dross? That's getting a bit post-modern. Perhaps the customer really is always right. But speaking for myself, I'm really getting bored with indie games. It seems like the world of freeware still has some life in it though.

Man, I am becoming so disillusioned with this business, I am almost starting to feel that making a successful commercial game is something that disgusts me. I know, it's weird, but I'm actually feeling like I'd rather make less money in order to retain some kind of integrity. I almost feel like I don't want anything to do with this dirty casual money.

Maybe it'll pass.

[Nexic]

For me improved graphics wouldnt make the game better, just as it wouldn't for you. But for the average gamers in our indie world, it would by a large margin. Infact they probably wouldn't even try the game if they saw those graphics. Yes this is wrong, and they are silly for thinking like that, but its how they think, and we can't change that.

Yes you could totally portalize this game, and yes I agree that doing so would ruin it. But I'm not suggesting he totally portalize it, I'm simply suggesting making the graphics better but keeping everything else the game as is. Making all the silly portal changes will make it sell a bit better, but not wildly better. Where as updating the graphics would have a massive effect on potential sales in my opinion.

[Anthony Flack]

Ah, you misunderstand. I meant to say that making the graphics higher res wouldn't make them look better. I don't think people are wrong to want good graphics, I totally agree with that. But this game does have really nice graphics. If I were to change something, I'd give it more animation frames.

Interesting though, that it seems like all the pixel lovers have gone to freeware. I'm thinking of games like this, Cave Story and Push Push Penguin. Although there's always Charlie II - but then again, most of Mike's games are freeware too...

Interesting too - I would consider all of these games to be of a higher visual quality than most indie efforts.

[tentons]

I almost feel like I don't want anything to do with this dirty casual money.
That assumes that the casual market is the only market. What a dire thought, indeed! :) I would be highly interested to see what happens with this game if it was made available for sale without any changes to cater to the "soccer mom" gamer. There must be a market for games other than casual ones.

[Bernie]

Oh hey, there's quite a discussion going on in here!

I have no plans to go commercial at the moment. My games are for those who like oldschool games and won't mind tiny, pixelly graphics. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying 20$ for a game like Cave Story. The resolution of a game has never been an important factor to me. I grew up with low-res games (DOS & NES), so that might explain it.

By the way, Push Push Penguin is a lot of fun, thanks for mentioning it.