[ANN] Shuggy : A Vampire in Distress

[deejay169]

Hello all, I'm looking for feedback about my XNA game, Shuggy. This game is my entry in Microsoft's Dream Build Play competition.





As you can probably see from the screen shots the game is an old skool 2D platformer. I've tried to include lots of variety in the levels. There are several different 'themes' with a few levels for each. There are time travel levels, levels where the player scales up and down, levels where the screen rotates,... and plenty of others.

Download the game here

You can use an XBox 360 game pad which is the best control option. If you don't have one you can use A, D and space to move around and return is the action key. You'll need the same stuff installed as you would for any other XNA game. Details of the exact prerequisites are on the home page for the game: www.smudgedcat.com/shuggy

I'd like to know which type of levels people prefer to know where to focus when I'm doing new levels. A few people have commented that the game is quite difficult so it'd be good to hear the opinions of some hard-core gamers. Any other comments/suggestions also welcome.

Cheers,

Dave J

[DayDream]

Welcome, deejay...

Nice to see you post here... The game is a lot of fun... even more so for me... seeing had the pleasure to give it a visual makeover... and credits to deejay - he stuck to it and took the screenmock I made as far as the xna would take it.

The game is still not complete but already a lot of fun... If you enjoy a good platformer with some nice twists you have to give it a go and Shuggy for a spin.

[Indiepath]

What do you need installed to run an XNA game?

[deejay169]

What do you need installed to run an XNA game?

.NET 2.0
DirectX 9c (needs the web installer, some DirectX 9 installations seem to be missing something)
The XNA framework

[ZuluBoy]

I am not a big fan of platformers but nevertheless from the video, I can say that the game looks nice (especially the gfx).
Good luck with the game.

[Indiepath]

I really want to play this with a mouse or at least redefine the keys. I could not find an options screen anywhere.

[deejay169]

I really want to play this with a mouse or at least redefine the keys. I could not find an options screen anywhere.

There's no way to redefine the keys at the moment because the game isn't finished yet. Can't imagine using the mouse though! How would that work?

Cheers,

Dave J

[Paul-Jan]

First of all, awesome game! The artwork is lovely and I really like the whole XNA look-'n-feel it's got going on.

Here is some feedback (ignore at will):

- I actually had played the first level 3 times before I realized I had to actively choose a different level in the 'map' screen... which I hadn't realized was a map screen, because the a-d keys didn't move me (had to use traditional cursor keys).
- The movement around the map screen is a bit awkward. I can move freely I want as long as I keep the buttons pressed, then get sucked back... feels strange, like I'm controlling a stubborn mousecursor with my keys. I'd rather have it gently restrict my movements towards room I still have to visit.
- The map screen should be more 'rewarding' when I clear a level. Those empty rooms (are they rooms?) feel a bit... empty.
- Speaking about empty, most of these levels do feel a bit empty. Love the artwork at the edges, love the main character, love the dancing lights and the diamonds... but the levels themself feel a bit plain.
- I like the big red 'mission goal' sign that pops in the middle of the screen at each level... but I don't like how I already had exactly that sign on the screen when I first picked the level at the map screen. Either show me new information, or don't show it again.
- I just learned the application doesn't like me alt-tabbing back and forth to the indiegamer forum. It crashes, but the process keeps running, screen stays in whatever mode it was in, and the music keeps running.
- The *yaaaay I win* and *boohoo I die* visuals and sound are the same (or at least very similar). I know this is a detail you'll surely still be working on, but this particular detail is extremely demotivating.
- I love the concept of these time-travel levels (I don't think I have seen those appear in game until very recently), but playing them is kinda frustrating.... but perhaps it's because it is friday night and I can't run those on autopilot like the rest (probably because we didn't have these in the 80's when I learned my basic platform skills ).
- I love the shmoo, but their sound-effect is a bit too loud. It makes them annoying (as opposed to cute). My girlfriend (on the other side of the living room) asked me to turn down the sound once I encountered them. Also, I was thinking perhaps their movement could be a little more ... bouncy.
- On the topic of movement, I also thought the musqito (transporter level) could do with a bit smoother movement. Sometimes it seemed to move along a my-first-attempt-at-pong trajectory.
- So... I'm a vampire, right? When do I get to bite people?

[Dan MacDonald]

out of curiosity what's the "XNA look'n'feel" ?

[jankoM]

I saw the videos.... I unfortunatelly can't play it because I am on win2k and I think the XNA coctail doesn't run on it... I just had to say this (timeslip, scale) are the best or at least the most interesting ideas I have seen in a while at a game. the whole feel to the game in and visuals are totally great too...

very interesting...

[electronicStar]

out of curiosity what's the "XNA look'n'feel" ?

Neon-glowing minimalism

[luggage]

I tried the 360 version, really nice game. Only annoyances I had was movement being too fast when at full tilt and the collision box could do with being thinner. At the moment it's pretty much the left and right edge of the sprite which feels a bit wide. Maybe making it about 3/4 the width of it now (but still centered) would help.

Nice job though and good luck with the competition.

[deejay169]

- The map screen should be more 'rewarding' when I clear a level. Those empty rooms (are they rooms?) feel a bit... empty.
- Speaking about empty, most of these levels do feel a bit empty. Love the artwork at the edges, love the main character, love the dancing lights and the diamonds... but the levels themself feel a bit plain.
- I like the big red 'mission goal' sign that pops in the middle of the screen at each level... but I don't like how I already had exactly that sign on the screen when I first picked the level at the map screen. Either show me new information, or don't show it again.
- I just learned the application doesn't like me alt-tabbing back and forth to the indiegamer forum. It crashes, but the process keeps running, screen stays in whatever mode it was in, and the music keeps running.
- The *yaaaay I win* and *boohoo I die* visuals and sound are the same (or at least very similar). I know this is a detail you'll surely still be working on, but this particular detail is extremely demotivating.

There are things like this that still need to be finalised, the plate that appears explaining the level will have the 3 best times to complete the level when you're on the map screen and the explanation when you actually select a level. It's good to hear what bits people notice though, I can focus on those first.

- I love the concept of these time-travel levels (I don't think I have seen those appear in game until very recently), but playing them is kinda frustrating.... but perhaps it's because it is friday night and I can't run those on autopilot like the rest (probably because we didn't have these in the 80's when I learned my basic platform skills ).

I'd be interested to know what other games you've seen the time travel concept in? As far as I knew that was unique.

- I love the shmoo, but their sound-effect is a bit too loud. It makes them annoying (as opposed to cute). My girlfriend (on the other side of the living room) asked me to turn down the sound once I encountered them. Also, I was thinking perhaps their movement could be a little more ... bouncy.
- On the topic of movement, I also thought the musqito (transporter level) could do with a bit smoother movement. Sometimes it seemed to move along a my-first-attempt-at-pong trajectory.
- So... I'm a vampire, right? When do I get to bite people?

Sadly, there are no biting levels yet, maybe in the next release!

Thanks for taking the time to play the game and comment. I'll probably be changing a few things round based on your comments.

Cheers,

Dave J

[Paul-Jan]

I'd be interested to know what other games you've seen the time travel concept in? As far as I knew that was unique.

Ahem. I was going to say "Knight Time" (which I only discovered recently), and then the penny dropped

[tau]

Neon-glowing minimalism

LoL, that's exactly it...

[VaderSB]

I've got this error:
EventType : clr20r3 P1 : shuggy.exe P2 : 1.0.0.0 P3 : 4686a86e
P4 : microsoft.xna.framework.game P5 : 1.0.0.0 P6 : 46154a9b
P7 : 128 P8 : 4 P9 : system.typeinitialization

.net 2.0, dx 9.0c and xna framework are installed. specs are: P4 2.4mhz, 1gb ram, radeon 9600, win xp sp2.

[deejay169]

I've got this error:
EventType : clr20r3 P1 : shuggy.exe P2 : 1.0.0.0 P3 : 4686a86e
P4 : microsoft.xna.framework.game P5 : 1.0.0.0 P6 : 46154a9b
P7 : 128 P8 : 4 P9 : system.typeinitialization

.net 2.0, dx 9.0c and xna framework are installed. specs are: P4 2.4mhz, 1gb ram, radeon 9600, win xp sp2.

Did you run the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer?

It seems that some versions of the DirectX 9 installer are missing some vital bits and bobs that XNA requires. This appears to be a common problem.

Cheers,

Dave J

[VaderSB]

Did you run the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer?

It seems that some versions of the DirectX 9 installer are missing some vital bits and bobs that XNA requires. This appears to be a common problem.

Cheers,

Dave J

Yeah, seems like that game crashed because of DirectX. I've updated it and game runs ok.

Keyboard controls are indeed inconvenient. Anyway, you said you'll fix it in final version. redefining keys will be also a good option.
I've found no more distracting or annoying moments - the game is just great! Gameplay is fresh and really FUN!
My personal favorite is Looped time levels. Just amazing! But be careful with difficulty - sometimes things get really crazy!
Other level types are great, too, just can't choose what's better. The enemies are nice and interesting, too.

I believe that you already have enough gameplay features to create 100 really fun and diversified levels.

Good luck in competition!

[deejay169]

Thanks Vader, it's good to see someone took the time to play it.

Everyone that's played the game seems to like the time travel levels, no doubt I'll add more of them for the final game. I'm still in the process of adding different level themes though, there will be more to come.

Thanks again,

Dave J

[cableshaft]

I'd be interested to know what other games you've seen the time travel concept in? As far as I knew that was unique.

Blinx for XBox uses pretty much that exact same concept for its 'record' time travel ability (you start it, you move and do actions with it, the screen rewinds, you're back to your old self and a green version of you does the same actions that you just recorded, allowing you to use switches to propel yourself elsewhere, or hold a switch with the recorded guy and get through the door with your main guy, etc) . Not that that's a bad thing, but you shouldn't ever assume any given feature is completely unique, because chances are you'll run into it if you play enough games. Prince of Persia has time travel elements also, but I never played it so I don't know how similar they might be.

Your game is really fun, though. I find it kind of interesting the best contenders for winning the DBP contest (in mine and most people's opinions), all seem to post on this forum :P.

I'm still debating releasing the demo for my entry publicly. It might be a bit too much for free, considering it's a board game with most of its functionality built in already. I'm not worried with the limited distribution these games are getting right now, but who knows in the future when the platform opens up more, maybe it will be too late. I've got a demo video, but it's not the best of quality and you really have to play my game (especially multiplayer) to get a good feel for it.

[Paul-Jan]

No, PoP's time travel elements are different, there is just a 'rewind past few seconds' to recover from a mistake (and bullet-time, but that's not really time travel). Well, there are some meet-yourself-from-the-future elements, but only in a non-interactive story development way, not truely part of gameplay.

[Paul-Jan]

Hey, just noted you guys are amongst the finalists at http://www.dreambuildplay.com . Congrats!