Sticky Parkour
This is a prototype for the mechanics of a non-stop 2D platformer that implements sequential decision making to represent the mental gymnastics that may come with the physical gymnastics of parkour or free-running! It is, I think, a completely new approach to representing the sport!
Approach the obstacles and learn what the best decision is for each situation. Your stick-man never stops, so think quickly!
Sticky Parkour was made for week 133 of the Weekly Game Jam! (Theme "Wall Climb")
http://www.weeklygamejam.com/
But if you like the idea, please don't hesitate to post a comment, with any ideas if you wish. (Perhaps mentioning if you would like to see a longer, more robust version of this, or if you think these can only serve as mechanics of a much more complex game).
Most resources were designed by me, except:
Sky: Appearance of sky for weather forecast, Dhaka, Bangladesh.JPG on https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Music: "Lakkalia" by Blue Dot Sessions on https://freemusicarchive.org
Comments
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its a good game just like put more moves and some levels instead of one level
Hey I played your game , very interesting idea! You should definitely consider expanding on it more, it's an infinite runner with choices. That's a unique concept
Thank you so much! I'm glad, usually I think I have an original concept, and then find out it's got a whole genre lol
Hey, I just played your game and I think that it was really interesting and pretty fun aswell. Here I have a bit of a Game Design Review for you to help you on this and or future games.
Good Game Design:
It was a cool new idea I've never seen before which is always good!
It was also very easy to understand, after the first obstacle I knew exactly what to
do already!
I liked the music! It was pretty funny for this game (a bit creepy sometimes :D)
The controls were very simple to understand, I also like the stickman's animations
Bad Game Design:
The art wasn't very good, which is fine for a game jam game and maybe you don't
consider yourself as an artist. I think the biggest problem was that the sky didn't
fit in with the rest of the game. I know you got it from a website but really you
should've just used one blue color. That would probably have been better.
Game felt a bit slow (Look under at TIPS)
The Think Quickly sign is not necessary, it should be very clear to the player that he
has 2 choices (or perhaps you'll add more possible choices one day) and then he
should click on one.
There could be more diversity in the objects and jumps.
TIPS:
The game felt slow at times. You could try giving the player character more speed
and then giving the player a longer time for his choices.
More diversity in the controls. I want to see some more complicated controls that
work in only very specific areas. Also I have the feeling the Flip control always
fails. There should be specific areas where this is very useful (example there could
be trampolines where you can bounce on)
ONE MORE THING:
Okay so I was wondering what if the character would have a ragdoll? THis will probably be VERY hard to implement, it basically means that all of his arms and legs can move freely and can collide with objects and you move by actually moving the legs and stuff, you can look it up if you don't really know what it is.
So, overall I really enjoyed the game, most of the things in the bad game design area could be easily solved probably if it wasn't a gamejam game.
I truly think you should go on with this platformer! But then please do listen to the tips I have because I think that would make it a lot better!
If you will make it into a real game which is faster and with more diversity than please tell me because I am truly interested and would like to play it as soon as it comes out!
Thanks and sorry for this LONG comment
Thank you so much for your review, it was great! I am pleasantly surprised that you think there is more potential to this idea. I might dedicate some time to it!
Yes, the fact that it was game jam game (and I have a normal job, so very limited time) did cause many of the problems, particularly the lack of variety: I had planned also Jumping over gaps (like roof tops) and jumping forward off of hedges and walls, as well as more possible outcomes from Obstacle-Speed combinations. But I made a horrible Software Architecture decision in the beggining (I tried using the physics2d engine, which is pointless if the player does NOT control the run) and that wasted at least 50% of my time.
I loved the trampoline idea! That would be great! or maybe including things to soften a fall, like matresses, etc.
Your idea of speeding up the game I did not try because it would mean less decision time for the player... but now that I think of it, maybe making the player faster but then, as he approaches each obstacle or waits on a wall, making time slower, reflecting that in the music/ sound effects, or some animations in the background, would be a great touch!
And yes, you are right, I am obviously not good at art, and the sky decision was simply because I was already very late for submission and didn't want to try to draw clouds. Thinking about it, yes, a pure blue background would have been much more consistent with the minimalism of the stick man.
Anyway, thanks again and good luck and congrats on your game!
Thanks for the reply! Also sorry again for the long comment :D
Anyways since you have a job and wasted 50% of your time the game is great! My game is probably more polished but since I no-life game jams that makes a lot of sense.
I truly think you could work more on the game. If you're planning on making it into a "real" game I would like to say that if the "horrible Software Architecture decision" is still in the game it might be better to just restart.
Anyways thanks and cya later!