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Posted by sock [213.16.106.131] on 2007/11/07 13:16:37

http://www.simonoc.com/pages/desig...
Flipper is a wacky tile based puzzle game which I created last summer. I am hoping everyone will have a good time playing the game and maybe create some puzzles of their own with it.
If you played this game and want to let me know what you think of it, then contact me on the email address at the bottom of my website. If you create any level packs that you think are amazing, then please let me know.
Have Fun
Sims

Hrm
#1 posted by megaman [84.63.25.35] on 2007/11/07 14:40:11
-I don't really get your UI, especially the file loader.
-I accidently clicked (re-activated) the window on the tutorial screen and there was no immediate way to bring back the tutorial.
-The rotating (inactive) tiles could be annoying?
-The font is hard to read (esp in the tut)
-That i have to wait for the movement animtion until my click registers again totally sucks and made me stop playing the game almost immediately :(
-Having a 1024window on a 1024 screen is annoying
Oh God
#2 posted by Scampie [67.129.250.254] on 2007/11/07 18:39:44
i hate exploder tiles :(
Nice
#3 posted by ijed [216.241.20.2] on 2007/11/07 21:40:03
Looks a very clever puzzle game, but therandomly flipping tiles are annoying and distract from what you're doing.
Have only played on and off so far, will be playing more.
Cool
#4 posted by metlslime [71.202.113.29] on 2007/11/07 23:29:51
Congratulations on actually following through and making something. Looks pretty nice overall, and the puzzles are pretty well-designed. Sound and music would be nice, but you are smart to not add these until the end of production, since it's more important to get the gameplay and interface done first.
List of complaints/suggestions:
1. Get rid of the randomly flipping tiles, they are distracting during play (but they are okay on the menu screen.)
2. Put numbers on the tiles (except grey) and get rid of the key on the left. (may require a change to the "special tile" indicators.)
3. Don't require users to wait for the flip animation to complete before they click again; let them click again quickly if they want to. (If this means two animations have to play on the same tile, you could either queue them up or interrupt the last one to play the new one. Not sure which is best.)
4. The reset animation sequence should happen faster, i am impatient. Maybe flip them all at once or in a fast cascade across the screen or something.
Bonus suggestion: you did a good job with tutorials being strung in between levels, and the pacing is well done. However, my philosophy on tutorials is if players can discover the rules for themselves in specific levels that are designed specifically to introduce new ideas in isolation, then tutorials are not necessary. In your case, I think this is possible and you should consider it.
#5 posted by metlslime [71.202.113.29] on 2007/11/07 23:30:50
Congratulations on actually following through and making something
Oh, and I didn't mean to imply that you usually don't follow through, only that many people (like me) have ideas and don't actually do them. :)
Numbering
#6 posted by Preach [131.111.213.35] on 2007/11/08 00:28:44
As an alternative to actually numbering the tiles, you could just add 1-6 little red lights/dots around the edge of each tile. The number of these lights that are illuminated indicate how many times you can step on this tile before it turns grey. Again, keep the colours of the tile for once people are used to the idea. Hopefully putting them around the outside means you wouldn't have to change the special tile designs.
Also, is there a way you can make the arrow/facing direction more obvious on the tiles that only affect 3 squares? I often get confused which way they are going to fire and have to perform trial and error rather than plan for them. I'm sadly as impatient as metlslime when playing, but it's still very satisfying when you can see you've solved one - so congrats on making such an enjoyable puzzle.
I Tried It
#7 posted by Zwiffle [129.89.38.52] on 2007/11/08 21:53:02
But I quickly became bored. There didn't seem to be anything to hook the player really. I love little puzzle games, but this just seemed trivial. Not that it was bad, just that it didn't hook me.
Zwiffle:
#8 posted by metlslime [71.202.113.29] on 2007/11/08 23:03:50
I agree that it seems trivial in the first few levels.... I actually wondered if I could lose at one point :)
But, it does get puzzling once the special tiles are introduced.
Yeah...
#9 posted by Bal [90.2.104.61] on 2007/11/09 08:53:44
I think it's really nice, I agree with most of what metl has already said.
Now please make a DS version I can play with my stylus!
Hm
#10 posted by ijed [216.241.20.2] on 2007/11/09 13:03:36
That would be good.
Feedback
#11 posted by sock [213.16.106.131] on 2007/11/09 13:18:36
Megaman: Good point on the tutorial screen, I can fix that my adding a tutorial icon to the relevant levels. Flash it a couple of times so people are aware of it. The file menu is only really used if you are editing levels or want to go to a level quickly. Yep I know its bad having the game fixed on 1024 but it can still work full-screen on a laptop. Thats what I have at the moment.
Scampie: You Suck! ;)
Metlslime: Best feedback so far! :)
1. I will add an options menu and people can turn it off in there.
2. I love Preach's idea, I will put some subtle dice dots on the coloured tiles instead. I hated the side bar as well, I included it because people wanted to know the numbering.
3. This will require alot of work to fix but its been bugging me for a while. Originally I did not wait for the spin to finish and it was more fluid, but this caused problems with the special tiles. I wrote a single queue lock to fix the special tile problem but in doing so reduced all player movement to one tile at a time. I will need a proper stack to fix this.
4. I can put the spin/reset/random thing to an options menu for all the impatient people that seem to exist nowadays! :P
5. The tutorials are terrible! After a lot of focus testing with various friends I discovered that most people did not read them, just clicked past. Which is a shame because they are full of good tips and even a damn demo of what happens. (Demo system took ages to write) I asked a lot of people about why they clicked over them and most said they wanted to learn by trial and error and then get help if stuck.
What I plan to do is write some mouse-over help system instead so people can get hints if stuck (mainly level/timer based) The game already has help on special tiles but did not take it far enough. Just wiggle the mouse over a special tile and it will show you what area they affect.
Preach: Yep will add the numbers, very cool idea thank you. All special tiles have mouse-over context help, just wiggle and let the highlight show you what they do.
Zwiffle: You call it trival, I call it introduction to the basic game mechanic's. During testing I found people failed on the early levels and then got annoyed. Generally people like to start simple so they can see something complete and see what to expect. (its all about the feel good factor)
If you find the level too easy or boring, just use the SKIP button at the bottom of the screen. That is why I included it so everyone can choose their own pace to the game.
Bal: What is a DS!?! :P
Sims
DS - Nintendo
#12 posted by RickyT23 [217.44.37.26] on 2007/11/09 13:30:14
Or were you taking the piss!
You probably were... :P
Tutorials
#13 posted by ijed [216.241.20.2] on 2007/11/09 13:39:37
Are difficult to get right - generally players ignore them then complain that the game is too hard to understand.
The mouseover / timed idea sounds better, so that the player learns what they're doing early on, with the tutorials embedded in the first couple of levels.
I already used the skip option once, and its bugging me now that I did - good feature.
Ijed's Right
#14 posted by RickyT23 [217.44.37.26] on 2007/11/09 14:07:31
Erm - I was thinking about Half Life 2 - Episode 2 (360), where you get given instructions while playing through the first bit of the game...
Obviously its not a fps, but the principal remains!!
Yeah
#15 posted by megaman [84.63.20.212] on 2007/11/09 20:44:18
I was messing with the UI when i was trying to find the tutorial again, so the usual player probably won't use it. But then again, maybe tuck it away even more?
hm, how do you start it in fs?
3. This will require alot of work to fix but its been bugging me for a while. Originally I did not wait for the spin to finish and it was more fluid, but this caused problems with the special tiles. I wrote a single queue lock to fix the special tile problem but in doing so reduced all player movement to one tile at a time. I will need a proper stack to fix this.
Hm, why would the gameplay / input be related to the graphical animation at all?
Full Screen Switch
#16 posted by sock [78.131.23.33] on 2007/11/11 12:38:20
To switch between windowed and full screen use the ALT+ENTER, it works both ways.
Later on in the game you will encounter a special tile called the Vacuum which reduces colour, the opposite of the exploder tile. The game has to finish working out all special tiles before letting the player move, hence the current delay. Plus in the earlier versions the tile flipping could be interrupted and go out of sync with the level data, not good.
I really need to look at player the movement/tile queue locking system more but I wanted to see if the gameplay is any good before investing more time.
So far I have seen very little feedback on the gameplay besides the first couple of levels being trival. I know the GUI is not perfect but I am really looking for feedback on puzzle / game play mechanics.
Sims
Gameplay Request
#17 posted by ijed [216.241.20.2] on 2007/11/16 21:52:03
To switch the controls (optional) to keyboard; either WASD or the arrow keys would be good, and more intuitive than the mouse, which is really better for freeform movements.
Still playing; as stuff occurs I'll post.

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