Feedback for Jack Flowers (3D platformer - early beta)

[clilian]

Hi everyone,

I'd appreciate to have some early feeback on my upcoming game Jack Flowers (http://www.javapause.com/games/jack).

"Game pitch" : help Jack the beetle in his quest to collect the most beautiful flowers. Follow him in his journey across four different lands (grass, desert, mountains, pond) populated by malicious insects.


For those of you who had tested it a while back, so many things have changed that you can think of it as a new game (no longer an applet), as you can check it from the following screenshots :
Main menu (http://www.javapause.com/images/screenshots/mainscreen.jpg)
World map (http://www.javapause.com/images/screenshots/worldmap.jpg)
Grass world (http://www.javapause.com/images/screenshots/grasslevel.jpg)
Pond world (http://www.javapause.com/images/screenshots/pond1.jpg)


The game is in early beta, so I haven't properly packaged it with an installer, however, anyone with a recent java install (1.4 to 1.6) should be able to test it from the following page : Game launch page (http://www.javapause.com/games/jack) (download size around 11megs). It also allows me to update parts of gameplay / content without forcing a full redownload for the players.

So far, the game has been tested on windows 2000/XP and mac os, but not yet on linux. It's based on OpenGL so a 3D card with recent drivers is required.

Feedback request

I'd like to have technical (fps / computer specs / bugs) and general gameplay feedback (fun factor , good-bad ideas, suggestions).

The game is targetted to casual platform gamers and it should be rather easy for you to complete the demo.

I hope you will like it !

Lilian :)

[clilian]

I guess the game doesn't appeal to anyone here... 50 views and no comments... :rolleyes:

Anyway thanks for those who have tried the game, feel free to post comments later, I'll be glad to read them.


Lilian :)

[electronicStar]

I didn't test your latest demo (sorry not enough time) but I'm going to give you feedback according to the previous web demo and the screenshots

1-I think the game appeal and fun would be greatly improved with better graphics and 3d models. Right now this games seriously lacks cuteness for a game based upon flowers. Maybe you should hire an artist or invest time to refine the models yourself (IMO it's easier to learn 3D modellling than traditionnal 2D art). You don't need to increase the polycount, just make everything cutter with huge flowers and bright colors.

2-I think the gameplay lacks something. Moving left/right and jumping can become a bit boring after a while, maybe you could add a gameplay element like things to collect or anything to add a tiny bit of strategy (not too much)

[clilian]

Thanks

In this version, most 3D models and 2D art have been reworked (but ot yet flowers and plants).

the levels also contain new gameplay elements such as collectible items (and moving ones, like butterflies), some of them are also hidden ... and bonus levels (the one in the demo features a space invaders clone).

Enemies have also been reworked with new movement patterns and behaviour triggers.

There are still many things to do... thanks for giving your input !

Lilian :)

[electronicStar]

Thanks

In this version, most 3D models and 2D art have been reworked (but ot yet flowers and plants).

the levels also contain new gameplay elements such as collectible items (and moving ones, like butterflies), some of them are also hidden ... and bonus levels (the one in the demo features a space invaders clone).

Enemies have also been reworked with new movement patterns and behaviour triggers.

There are still many things to do... thanks for giving your input !

Lilian :) Sounds good, I'll try to find the time to test it :)
You should also tweak the 3D backgrounds, they don't blend so well with the sky box and they are dry, it's abit ugly right now. Maybe you could add vegetation (sprites?)

[RohoMech]

cillain, I agree with electric, the game does look really nice, the flowers look great! but the levels do feel a bit ... bland, perhaps you could have some clouds moving in the background? also the ground is just a repeating grass texture, which doesn't look nearly as great as the detailed characters moving around.

Btw, I loved how the spider's eyes follow you around, its cute and creepy at the same time.

I did find the game pretty easy, and I found the controls a bit sluggish...I'm just used to running around at a quicker pace. The game ran at 40ish fps fullscreen, so pretty smooth, I ran into an odd issue when I tried running at "best quality mode", the screen zooming in a ton (I could only see the upper left-hand corner of the screen, everything else got clipped...) so that was kinda odd.

Overall its a neat idea, neat graphics and such, good luck with the game.

[clilian]

Thanks !

your framerate is rather low... what are the specs of your computer ?

about fullscreen : I'm also experiencing this on a mac g5... I'll have a look at that code path.

about the backgrounds : I agree, and it's on the todo list... the thing is I have to find a way to compute it to avoid increasing too much download size.

controls : I don't know, some "casual" testers told me the speed was enough for them, faster would be too difficult. for me it's a bit slow... I'll try other settings and see what it looks like.

Lilian

[RohoMech]

clilian, I'm running dual 1.6 opterons, but I have a geforce2 mx200, so I'm betting the vid cards the issue. But 40fps was playable, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

On the speed issue, I meant moving your character faster, perhaps adding a run button or something along those lines, also, your character is a bug...with wings...I wonder if holding jump in the air could let you glide? Perhaps you could add some balloons or something which let you float around? Just some random thoughts + ideas.

[Kestral]

The game window came up and played music, but the game never started. This was after the download had completed and I was very patient with the start-up delay. :o

[electronicStar]

The game window came up and played music, but the game never started. This was after the download had completed and I was very patient with the start-up delay. :o
I had the same problem with many java/webstart games until I turn anti-aliasig off on my graphic card. Maybe it's the same problem?

[clilian]

Was is started in full screen or windowed ?

I know there's a problem with FS on some computers (I will fix it later today), but I haven't heard of problems in windowed mode...

Anyway I'm going add a proper logging to debug these cases.

btw, what's your computer like (gfx card / opengl drivers) ?

Lilian :)

[clilian]

Hi,

The game prototype has been updated (more polish, smoother animations, speed increase) and there's now an installer for windows :
http://www.javapause.com/download/jackflowers_b6_setup.exe

Mac os / linux players can still play from the following link : http://www.javapause.com/games/jack

Many thanks for future feedback (if any :) )

Lilian

[RohoMech]

clilian, its looking better, I see you added some more levels to demo (you can skip to the pond, or desert etc)

you might want to add some instructions, also, most casual games have a profile system instead of asking people to enter their name for a highscore (they also auto-save/load games based of the profile).

I'd also suggest adding some nag screens...Dexterity.com has some great article on what to put in a nag screen.

anyways, no issues this time around, ran and played pretty nice.