Comments on: happypandafrand – P1

By: mjp14

mjp14 — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 10:42:26 +0000

This game definitely has a very pronounced feel in both of it’s modes. The contrast between heaven and hell is so well known that it only feels natural to be able to move the way the character can in each setting. It is very satisfying to knock away the demons in the first mode where the character is feeling dreamy and strong. The background music also does a good job of going along with the dreamy feeling of the mode.

The second mode is also very engaging with the setting and does a good job of giving a scared feeling with the way the character moves in such an abrupt way. I would maybe make the a jump for this mode go a little higher only so there are no issues potentially when colliding with the lava rocks.

Overall the game has a very clean finish and the attention to detail gives the game a thorough polish. Also punching away a demon is fun!

By: z-fighter

z-fighter — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:46:18 +0000

The difference between the two modes was very well done. The unique visuals and sounds of the two modes made them feel very different.

The controls of the two characters is the weakest point to me. The floaty angel has very little control of its movements in air. The scared angel turns a little bit too quickly to control properly as well.

Overall, the textures, sounds, particle effects, and movement controls contributed very positively to the game feel of each mode. Being able to knock away demons makes the character seem very powerful.

By: chromious

chromious — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 05:05:24 +0000

I think the strongest thing you have going is the metaphor of heaven vs hell as a premise for your game. It’s cool being the angel in his natural element and being strong on your home turf, but feeling weak and afraid in the enemy’s territory. I like the thought of being able to soar around in dreamy mode, but it also feels like I’m stuck in the air for a long time once I’ve jumped. A possible solution to this could be lengthening “hang time” if the player holds down the jump key, and letting the avatar fall if the key is released. Being able to knock the demons around in heaven is a nice ability too, though the force applied seems disproportionate to the speed of the angel. In the demon’s realm, it’s extremely frustrating to try to move around, due to the speed at which your avatar turns. It might be a good idea to slow down the turning speed some, so that you don’t lose players out of frustration. Overall though, you have a very nice selection of textures and choices of particle effects to accentuate the feel of your game.

By: norigantz

norigantz — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 04:23:40 +0000

In the Dreamy mode, I really like how everything is slow: the character movements, the gravity, the soundtrack, etc. It really makes it feel dreamlike, and your choice in theme contributes effectively as well. I like this take on dreamy because it has bad guys who can be punched into oblivion with what feels like a dreamlike amount of strength. There is a good dynamic between these two characteristics here.

It does feel a little frustrating to jump at times, due to how slow the character moves in the air and how long it takes to get back down to the ground. I did mention how I liked the floatiness because it has a nice effect, but perhaps it could be tuned back a little for the player character so they fall a little faster. Another solution might be to increase maximum velocity in the air and add more directional influence to at least give the player more control in the air so they aren’t just waiting to fall with nothing to do.

The Scared mode has some great atmosphere. The textures and the fog contribute well to the feel. I also really like the fast turning speed idea, however I feel like it could be tuned down a bit. Right now, the character can out-turn the camera, so I feel either the camera should have a quicker rotation or the player should have a slower rotation. Another thing is the jump height is so low that it can’t possibly be a sustainable game mechanic. My suggestion is to aim for lower jumping than Dreamy, but not so low that jumping is useless.

I’m not sure if this is something we are supposed to talk about, but one control thing that I would want to see worked out is that jumping causes the character to lose all velocity when landing. This happens in both modes. General game feel would be improved if this was modified, but it has little to do with the assignment prompt in terms of creating a certain “type” of feel. However, I would argue that the general feel of playing the game is more important than the assignment prompt.

By: nintendo424

nintendo424 — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 02:12:22 +0000

The first mood does exactly what it says it should do. It is a dreamy state, floating (quite literally) in the clouds. The character responds to jumping and moving in a very light way, falling slowly. Its also easy to tell you are more powerful than the demons – although they are bigger, they will be pushed out of your way.

The second mood is good too. I can definitely tell that the character is weak, not being able to push around the bigger demons. However, I don’t really feel anything scared coming from it. Perhaps some animation leading it to be jumpy, or a variation in movement speed would help. However, the fog helps bring some scariness to the scene.

I think the polish, the lava/cloud hills and the music, help a lot. However, the various sound effects like the punching and the laughing cannot be heard, at least on my player. That’s my only qualm with this. Other than that, I think this was very well made!