Comments on: fl11630: Monkey Scared of Heights

By: miningzen

miningzen — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:51:36 +0000

I was not expecting the monkey to actually become subtly harder to control the higher you got, I love your implementation. I wasn’t expecting you to have a background you couldn’t access, as well as an invisible wall, but i appreciate those more than a reset key.

By: Kurtis Eveleigh

Kurtis Eveleigh — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 17:47:23 +0000

I really like the somewhat transparent platforms. It really added to the tree feeling and added a new element to the overall feeling of being afraid of height. I also think that the ability of the player to make the monkey more afraid by climbing higher adds to the experience. The monkey isn’t just scared; it’s scared because of your direct actions. Good feel overall, and the monkey’s gait really reminded me of a monkey.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 17:39:14 +0000

I like the textures and environment you have created for the monkey, they really help to convince me that this is a forest island, especially the semitransparent treetops. However, the extremely slow rotation and shifting camera is disconcerting, especially since the camera rotations are smoothed. It seems like you added too much stuff to convey this acrophobia, when perhaps something simpler, like a narrowed field of view and scary music would have sufficed, as well as communicated the idea clearer.

By: aa71

aa71 — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 14:07:53 +0000

I thought that the approach that you took was pretty cool. Trying to make the player feel the effects of acrophobia by changing influencing the movements of the camera created an interesting feel. I actually did feel a bit nauseous. While I don’t recommend releasing any fully developed games that make people feel like this, it worked well for this project.

The only thing that could have been improved is the tightness of the controls. They aren’t bad for a week long assignment, but sometimes I feel as if the monkey is a little slow to respond, and it can be hard to aim jumps into climbing trees at the lowest level.

By: bluederby

bluederby — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 01:26:59 +0000

I really enjoyed this project’s use of camera motion to create feel. By bringing the camera close to the shoulder of the monkey I think there’s a strong feeling of identification with the monkey’s perspective, which give you a better sense of being up high. In addition, the FOV change when running makes everything movement seem fast, like the scampering of a real monkey. Most important, though, is the way that the camera moves about jerkily when you get up high in a tree. This suggests the nervous looking about of someone who is afraidw, and also, practically speaking, makes it difficult to control where you’re going, something that emphasizes the sense of helplessness. Besides the camera, another highlight for me is the monkey movement animation. The main area I’d suggest for improvement is in the feel of the controls. To match the feeling of a monkey they should be fast, tight, and responsive, maybe even twitchy, but right now they feel a little cumbersome. Specifically, I think climbing is too slow, and running too slow to ramp up.