Pixel Runner

[Noel]

Hey.
I'm remaking a game of mine from 2008 called Pixel Runner, in Flash Punk. The original game was created for a 3 hour competition at the Poppenkast, but I was really happy with the game and thought that it would be fun to recreate it in Flash Punk.

I currently have another project on the go, so I wont be updating this for about a week, but I thought I would post it here to get a bit of feedback.

The game is probably a bit too hard at the moment, and I haven't added a lot of things I plan to.. such as
 - More enemies and obstacles
 - A better difficulty curve (right now it's mostly random, though it does create more enemies based on your score)
 - An online highscores table
 - Maybe some Kongregate API if I can figure out how
 - A credits  page!

Anyhow, the game can be played here, and you can expect to see some updates in about a week.
http://www.drazzke.com/projects/prj8/PixelRunner.html

Controls...
Move around with arrow keys, up to jump and double jump. X to use your power jump to get a 3rd boost in the air.

Goal: Don't get hit by anything.

Cheers!.

[Alexitrón]

I lasted 43 seconds . Fun stuff , nice pixels . Needs a jump pose instead of air walking , but I'm sure that's on the plans .

[Gornova81]

i like it, good idea

maybe first 10 sec less difficult? Obstacle are randomly generated?

[amidos2006]

The game is nice but I am suck at it I couldnt pass more than 1st two obstacles then I died but Its cool game

[ChevyRay]

I like the game so far, pretty hectic but fun when you get the hang of it. What I don't like is how you slide forward with the screen. It would feel more natural if, when I wasn't moving, I would move with the obstacles and not the screen, so I would slide backwards with everything. Then I'd be able to be more precise with my jumps.

It's kind of fun judging the jumps when the still-state is moving forward, but it's also kind of annoying at the same time. So I guess you could really go either way.

Should make the landscape more interesing, though! Give some parallax-greys background layers and maybe some ground texture. It's pretty simple but fun so far anyways.

[BorrisMoose]

Really fun game so far, I got 38.

I also think that the player should not slide along with the screen, just let the screen push you along. Is a bit off-putting as it does not push you along when on a platform.

The changes and extras you have laid out sound good, I look forward to seeing more enemies to avoid. Perhaps some that come from the other side of the screen.

[Noel]

Thanks for the feedback everyone

Gornova81 and Amidos:
I plan to make a better difficulty curve. Right now I'm really just testing out the different enemies. When I update this next, I intend to make it start of relatively easy and begin to get harder over time.

ChevyRay:
Thanks! I'll try making the player move with the screen and see how that feels.
I'll also try and make some interesting backgrounds and such. I'm not a great pixel artist, but I'll try to get something interesting

BorrisMoose:
When on top of a platform, you should slide along with it.. only when on the ground will you not slide. I'll try making you slide with the floor as well though, and see if that improves it.
And yes, I intend to add some enemies coming from the other side of the screen as well (such as spikes that slide along the top and fall off when over you, etc)

[Noel]

update

Spent 20 minutes today making a few small updates:
 - New background with builds and clouds that move around
 - You now slide along the floor with the walls
 - Difficulty curve has been improved, and now depends on your current score. Different enemies are introduced every 20 seconds, and they appear faster as your score increases (note that there are still only 2 enemies).
 - The spikes on walls are not added at the start of the game, and slowly start to appear as you progress.

I'll get another update in a few days

Cheers.

[ChevyRay]

Cool! Backgrounds really make it look much better, I love the transparent clouds too, it's real neat for some reason. I still don't think that you should slide with the camera when in the air though, all it seems to do is throw off my timing.

Suggestions:

- Give bonus points/time/whatever for jumping over those ships as they fly by. Maybe more if the ship is higher up, to give incentive to collect more points by taking small risks.

- Pillars that move up/down a bit, to make you think twice before jumping

- Spikes on the top of some of the shorter pillars sometimes, so you have to clear them instead of jumping on them. Would have to make sure these are placed correctly though.

- Bonus for touching the ceiling?

Anyways, this is starting to come together nicely. If you can give the foreground graphics all the charm that your background has, and make it feel like a bit more than shapes/spikes, and give the scenery some animation and flair, it'll be definitely worth a good several thousand plays.

Cheers!

[amidos2006]

nice updates the cruve become much better but I think making short climbs in the begining will b better

But I dlove the background looks nice

also I could last for 21 seconds which is a miricale (comparing with my old scores )

Nice game I think making the player sprite like running will be nice while I dont press anything to make the person feels that moving ground is becz he is running and u may make him faster by pressing any left or right keys

[ChevyRay]

Another idea for a possibly fun way to expand on the gameplay would be to make the screen slowly start climbing up, combined with alternating the width of the appearing platforms. That way, eventually you won't be able to land on the ground anymore, and you'll have to stick to just the platforms. The tank rockets can still come flying upwards, but maybe there'll be other obstacles as well.

I think this has potential to be a fairly popular flash game if you give the game some growth to it, a good set of discoveries and changes that are slowly produced as the player stays alive longer and longer.

It's quite addictive already.

[Broxter]

That way, eventually you won't be able to land on the ground anymore, and you'll have to stick to just the platforms. The tank rockets can still come flying upwards, but maybe there'll be other obstacles as well.

Maybe you could jump on them, like Bullet Bills.

[Gornova81]

now learning curve is perfect for me

i've played today but i'm not able to send my score

[Noel]

Thanks guys

I updated the game today with a few new improvements...

Chevy: thanks for the great feedback. I really like the moving platform idea, and the plane idea, so I've added both of those to the update. There are now sparkly planes that you can jump over to get +5 score, and occasionally (about 1 in 10) there are platforms that move up and down. I may put spikes on top of some of the platforms, but I'm not certain yet.
I could also try making the screen move up over time, but I'm going to try to get the main gameplay here done. If it still feels too empty, then I'll try and add some things like that.

Amidos: Thanks I'll see about making him look like he's always running a bit, though since he moves with the floor now that may not be necessary.

Broxter: That could work, but it might make it too easy?

Gorvona: Thanks You still can't submit your score online yet. I haven't made an online highscore database or anything, and probably wont until the game is fully completed.

Thanks for the great feedback.. and.. just to recap on what I updated:
 - Added sparkly planes that you can jump over to gain points
 - Adding moving platforms
 - Probably something else that I've already forgotten.

http://www.drazzke.com/projects/prj8/PixelRunner.html
or http://www.drazzke.com/project/8

EDIT: added some more stuff
 - Spikes on the ceiling that either sit there, or fall down
 - Upside down walls with spikes

My record is 135. Can anybody beat it? 

[Osmose]

I find it weird that the player stops moving with the ground when you jump. I think it'd feel much more natural if he kept moving with the ground until the player moved sideways.

Also, sometimes when jumping into/on top of moving platforms the player gets pulled into the ground and is stuck.

Cool game though. I like it.