Update, 10/13/11:I’ve released version alpha 0.33 of the game. This adds a third area of the game after the city, a forest located a mile above the starting point. Also, green “organic” blocks were added. They retract into the wall when touched.
Update, 9/26/11:A new version of the game is up on the game’s website. This is a small update, mostly bug fixes and such. The most important change is that the code is webplayer-friendly again. You can play the game now, even without Windows.
Update, 8/29/11: I’ve uploaded a new version of this game to my website (version alpha 0.3). There is no webplayer for it yet, I should note. I’m eager to hear what you think of this game. I think that it could be a worthwhile product someday, just need some outside feedback to guide me a bit (working solo on this one). Thanks!
Original Post:
Hello everyone! I’ve recently posted the alpha version of my new game. It’s called “Against the Wall” and is set in a world that is composed of one infinite flat vertical surface. The people of this world live on ledges that protrude from the wall. The core game mechanic is the use of a magic wand that forms new ledges to allow players to advance towards their goal. The alpha contains this mechanic as well as an infinite procedurally generated world, but is rather empty otherwise for the time being. You can play it on the site that I made for the game. I would like to hear your feedback, initial reactions, gameplay suggestions, bug reports, etc. I’ve been making it solo up to this point, and could use some outside input to make this a better project.
(Also, the Unity community has been a treasure trove of information that pretty much answered every question I’ve had so far. Thank you for that!)
I love the man standing in the blue cloak. That small experience by itself made me love the game before it even got started. It really sets the mysterious atmosphere early on. I have not reached the top yet but will try again later. I really look forward to see where this is going. The fps performance was acceptable for the number of objects that appeared to be in the scene.
My first play through a ran when i used the wand/magnifying glass the in game character started accelerating to the left with no cause until i refreshed.
I smell a great puzzle/adventure game brewing here.
I played this in the latest Ludum Dare compo (#20, if memory serves me) and thought it was an awesome start to something. Have you fixed the bug where you couldn’t really reach the goal?
Also, is every block its own object? That seems like an awful lot of blocks to parse, but it seems to run pretty well.
Anyway, great stuff, hope to see this idea taken further.
Just wanted to pitch a quick idea that popped into my head. Possibly adding a timer to the ledges to retract back in would increase the tension in game play. After X amount of seconds the pillar pulls in, unable to be initiated again until it completely retracts.
This is perty neat! I wouldn’t go too crazy muddling it down with mechanics,…it’s simplicity speaks for itself.
I always wondered, but I am grateful, that people post good ideas so early in development.
Have there been many horror stories of people getting stuff ‘stolen’?
anyways,…you just cost the company I work lost time and money because I HAD to get up there! he hee
Thanks for the feedback! @Starpaq - That’s a good idea! Fewer opportunities for players to rest easy. I’d give them a generous amount of time before the brick retracted, and even then it would only move in slowly, but just the threat of losing their footing would make the game more thrilling. Glad you liked it! @twitchfactor - I’d suggest reading this thread about producing a minecraft clone. It’s full of hints on how to optimize procedurally generated worlds and such. I don’t mean to spoil the illusion, but the world is divided into chunks, and all the bricks within the area of each chunk are procedurally generated together as large meshes. There are actually only a couple hundred meshes in the scene at a time! (also, all the LD version bugs have been fixed, yes). @Welby - I agree, I should probably keep it simple and not bog it down with too much. Perhaps a Portal-level of austerity, just ledge manipulation? And yes, ideas can get stolen, but I’d rather be more open and share it with the community.
I’m happy to hear your thoughts about my work. Thanks!
An updated version of Against the Wall has been posted on my website. I’ve implemented a number of changes based on the feedback that I received. Keep in mind that it is still rather buggy, and the art is far from complete. It’s been a while since my last update, and I really wanted to get this out there and get your feedback. Thank you!
I love this game already! I’ve made it to the top!
You just WANT to know what’s up there, well done!
Good luck finishing the project, will there be enemies?
Thank you everybody. @zine: yes, there are a great deal of optimizations to put in, such as storing props to memory or a file when the player is far away from them, and removing unnecessary scripts. The biggest source of lag is the script that generates the “terrain”, but that is only noticeable when falling. Any specific areas where you encountered low framerates? @SEG: Enemies may be in the game, but I probably won’t make it easy/possible to kill them. I think they’d be there to raise the stakes give things a bit more suspense, in addition to the vertigo.
Ow, and btw, I could easily see this concept for a level in a platformer / hack 'n slasher like Dante’s Inferno or God of War… Kratos trying to climb the walls of heaven for a change?
It’s a little laggy.
