skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3734
Registered: 12-28-2004
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Developement (I can't stop adding e in this word!) of my current project is on such a level that I think it could use some input from other people. And is there a better community than this?

Slimower is a flash game, requires Flash Player 10.0.0+. It is a platformer shooter - jump, fire at enemies and collect coins.

Play the game here - http://files.mauft.com/private/slimower/

Things to know:
- Controls are Arrows for movement, Up for jumping, Mouse for shooting
- Blobs of slime as well as slimes themselves are hazardous. Blobs lying on the ground are safer than a newborn baby though.
- Escape takes you to a pause menu, where you can change stuff!
- You can double jump!

Current Version 0.4 Beta:
- 5 Levels are implemented
- Time added
- Mouse aiming and shooting + autofire
- Level wrapping (more below)
- Sound Effects

This version introduces some changes. I will honestly admit that I had no idea where to take this project, so I turned it into a simple neverending game which gets harder and harder with each iteration - every 5 levels the game loops back to the first level and gets a bit harder. The timer is in place instead of lives. Every level you get 30 seconds of time (60 on expert and 90 on Suicide). Dying subtracts one minute from it. The one and only objective in this game is to get as big score as you can. Menus are still missing, the same for music.

The most likely scenario is that I will release the game, in terms of gameplay, as is and be done with the project. There is also a chance that I will leave it be for a few weeks/months and come back to it once I can think of how to make it more interesting. The first thing is much more likely to happen though, and I will appreciate any kind of well-though suggestions

Known problems:
- Game over was not tested even once!

Next version will appear sometime around next weekend and, hopefully, will be a much bigger update. Link remains the same.



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[Last edited by skell at 06-28-2011 12:36 PM]

Rat Man
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 121
Registered: 07-10-2010
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I love it! I love the graphics and am feeling so nostalgic right now, which is strange considering I'm way too young to remember those days. I was going to say you should change the jump button to the up arrow and fire to space, but then I took a second to get used to it and this way is better. I do, however, find it annoying that sometimes when you just jumped it takes a second before it lets you jump again, which is a common problem in platform games. Overall, it's an awesome game and hope it turns out well in the end!

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RoboBob3000
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1978
Registered: 10-23-2003
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Death by falling into a pit doesn't reset your health bar.

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skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3734
Registered: 12-28-2004
IP: Logged

Rat Man wrote:
I do, however, find it annoying that sometimes when you just jumped it takes a second before it lets you jump again, which is a common problem in platform games.

That is weird. However much I try I can't reproduce this problem. Can you try isolate the situation in which you can't jump immediately? Thanks for praise btw

RoboBob3000 wrote:
Death by falling into a pit doesn't reset your health bar.

Good catch, thanks.

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Rat Man
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 121
Registered: 07-10-2010
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I started playing it again and I didn't have that problem anymore so I guess it was just my computer. Sorry for the false alarm.

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Snacko
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 448
Registered: 06-08-2006
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The controls are fine as they are, as are the graphics.

It would be nice if the objective was stated more clearly.

Taking damage from the slimes' chunks is incredibly frustrating and really takes all the joy out of shooting them.

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Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1315
Registered: 06-14-2005
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Ha! I managed to succeed in getting all the coins only losing one health point! I quite enjoyed it.

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1501
Registered: 09-16-2004
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File: architect.gif (937 bytes)
Downloaded 557 times.
License: Public Domain

Hmm, my only complaint is that double jumping is a 50-50 thing for me for some reason. As in, half the time when you press jump in the air, he will double jump and half the time he just won't. I have no idea what's causing this.

Snacko, the objective is clearly killing coins, collecting slimes, and jumping into the Mothingness. How could you get confused about that?

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Paint the sky in crimson red!

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[Last edited by Maurog at 06-29-2011 09:25 AM]

skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3734
Registered: 12-28-2004
IP: Logged

Snacko wrote:
It would be nice if the objective was stated more clearly.

Taking damage from the slimes' chunks is incredibly frustrating and really takes all the joy out of shooting them.

I suppose, because it is more of an engine-test version, there is no real objective. In the game, the objective will be to destroy all slimes, simple as that.
I could make those chunks safe, but then the game would be ridiculously easy... That, or I am just too good player and can't make easy levels anymore .

I will consider difficulty modes on next version then.

Maurog wrote:
Hmm, my only complaint is that double jumping is a 50-50 thing for me for some reason. As in, half the time when you press jump in the air, he will double jump and half the time he just won't. I have no idea what's causing this.

My only guess is that instead of doing a real jump you do a double jump, when trying to jump in a quick succession. Since they are graphically identical it's sometimes difficult to see the difference. Try holding the jump button for a repeated jumps. I will try to add some visual effect for double jump which will, hopefully, be a good solution... Plus a debug console.

Gratz go to Someone Else . There are 4 more types of slimes, which are much more devious

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TripleM
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1373
Registered: 02-05-2003
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Snacko wrote:
Taking damage from the slimes' chunks is incredibly frustrating and really takes all the joy out of shooting them.

Have to agree with this. Normally in games like this you have two options:

a) Go very slowly, stay as far away from the enemies as you can but within shooting range and take them out painstakingly one by one.

b) Take lots of risks and jump around amongst all the enemies, shooting them all as quickly as you can.

Here the only option is a), since b) (which is more fun in a flash game) kills you due to all the blobs that fly around.

Perhaps you could somehow adjust the blobs to be slower and more dodgeable or something like that?

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[Last edited by TripleM at 06-02-2011 10:50 AM]

skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3734
Registered: 12-28-2004
IP: Logged

TripleM wrote:
Perhaps you could somehow adjust the blobs to be slower and more dodgeable or something like that?

Hmm. I could make them move in a more vertical fashion... I will try to post a new version today with some changes and one or two more levels .

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Rat Man
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 121
Registered: 07-10-2010
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I am definitely not in support of stopping the blobs' chunks from damaging you. It's a unique way of adding difficulty and it's a large part of what makes this game so fun for me.

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TripleM
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1373
Registered: 02-05-2003
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Definitely not saying they shouldn't hurt you. Just that you should be able to avoid them with skill, rather than having to take out the enemies so slowly.

Rat Man
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 121
Registered: 07-10-2010
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I do avoid them with skill. But then again, I play games completely differently than most people.

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skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3734
Registered: 12-28-2004
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da rogu3 wrote:
Graphics are okay, but the animations feel a bit rough in comparison to other games. Didn't find any bugs, apart from the pit one already mentioned above.

Rough as in not-smooth or something else?

da rogu3 wrote:Most platformers need something spectacular to elevate them above the thousands of others lingering around on the web, and this one doesn't really have anything special, yet.

I don't think there will be anything spectacular in this game, it's more of a simple, coffee-break platformer shooter. Maybe sequels will be more spectacular...

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skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3734
Registered: 12-28-2004
IP: Logged

da rogu3 wrote:
not-smooth, the jumping doesn't really feel right.

Well, as I pointed in the first post, I am a newbie in pixelart. Apart from jumping (which is just one frame) I think the animations are smooth, at least it would be pretty much impossible to fit any additional mid-frames.

Game froze when level 3 loaded (mabye it's not complete?)

Indeed, only levels 1 and 2 are done so far.

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skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3734
Registered: 12-28-2004
IP: Logged

*points with his finger at the first post which contains an update*
Pretty much everything is in the first post.

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