Could I have a review please?

Link: LavaSwitch Platformer
Sections to review: It would be nice to have a review of each aspect like specifics of gameplay and how good it is as a platformer, as well as other aspects like graphics etc
Anything else: This got curated a couple of weeks ago so it would be nice to get a detailed review!

Thanks!

Graph Runner
Gameplay You move over to where the coordinates say to go. This is a pretty creative idea for a platformer that I haven't seen before. I found myself mostly looking at the coordinate and trying to make my coordinate match up with the goal. However there is no clear goal. It appears that you keep going until you get bored with the only motivation being to get the high score. The game play does get repetitive after a while. I suggest that after every few points the map changes up to keep the player engauged. By testing I see that you can move vertically by 3 blocks per jump if you are trying to get onto another block. I like it how you added WASD support into the game.

Visuals:The visuals are okay. I see your going for a simplistic style. I find it a bit inconsistent how the player has outlines but the platforms don't however it is not to noticeable. Maybe you should try adding numbers to the sides of the screen, so players can see the coordinates of the stage more easily. I like how you made it so the player spins.

GlitchesWhen you jump into a platform that is coming down at you, you glitch through the platform and end up at the top after a lag spike. I also found an animation oddity if you try to jump into the ceiling where the character just floats there for a few seconds.

Grass growing laws: I find the laws regulating grass growth rather interesting in the land of Graph runner. I am amazed at the amount of effort the government takes into making sure that all grass patches are at an uniform length. I can really feel the dedication to grass growth consistency in this land.

Music:The song in there is okay, however I personally don't like it that much. Maybe you could add in other songs on shuffle so people don't get tired of listening to Geometrical Dominator after awhile.

What I would like to see:I would like to see this idea more fleshed out. After every few points the layout could change, and after every few layout changes the setting could change. Having only one map to play on gets boring rather fast. Possible things you could have is a setting where falling to the bottom teleports you to the top, teleport blocks, a setting make up of near 100% moving blocks, blocks that you could fall through by pressing s/down, blocks that only show when using arrows, blocks that only show when using AWSD and multiple targets that have to all be touched within a certain about of time. You could also vary the visuals between settings.

Overall:The concept of Graph Runner is original. However the way Graph Runner plays out feels rather bare bones. There is only one level in which you play in with no end or feeling of progression other than the score. I give graph Runner a 4.5/10 for having a creative idea that feels like it is near the bare minimum of what can be done with it.

muellly wrote:

Graph Runner
Gameplay You move over to where the coordinates say to go. This is a pretty creative idea for a platformer that I haven't seen before. I found myself mostly looking at the coordinate and trying to make my coordinate match up with the goal. However there is no clear goal. It appears that you keep going until you get bored with the only motivation being to get the high score. The game play does get repetitive after a while. I suggest that after every few points the map changes up to keep the player engauged. By testing I see that you can move vertically by 3 blocks per jump if you are trying to get onto another block. I like it how you added WASD support into the game.

Visuals:The visuals are okay. I see your going for a simplistic style. I find it a bit inconsistent how the player has outlines but the platforms don't however it is not to noticeable. Maybe you should try adding numbers to the sides of the screen, so players can see the coordinates of the stage more easily. I like how you made it so the player spins.

GlitchesWhen you jump into a platform that is coming down at you, you glitch through the platform and end up at the top after a lag spike. I also found an animation oddity if you try to jump into the ceiling where the character just floats there for a few seconds.

Grass growing laws: I find the laws regulating grass growth rather interesting in the land of Graph runner. I am amazed at the amount of effort the government takes into making sure that all grass patches are at an uniform length. I can really feel the dedication to grass growth consistency in this land.

Music:The song in there is okay, however I personally don't like it that much. Maybe you could add in other songs on shuffle so people don't get tired of listening to Geometrical Dominator after awhile.

What I would like to see:I would like to see this idea more fleshed out. After every few points the layout could change, and after every few layout changes the setting could change. Having only one map to play on gets boring rather fast. Possible things you could have is a setting where falling to the bottom teleports you to the top, teleport blocks, a setting make up of near 100% moving blocks, blocks that you could fall through by pressing s/down, blocks that only show when using arrows, blocks that only show when using AWSD and multiple targets that have to all be touched within a certain about of time. You could also vary the visuals between settings.

Overall:The concept of Graph Runner is original. However the way Graph Runner plays out feels rather bare bones. There is only one level in which you play in with no end or feeling of progression other than the score. I give graph Runner a 4.5/10 for having a creative idea that feels like it is near the bare minimum of what can be done with it.

Thanks!

muellly wrote:

Grass growing laws: I find the laws regulating grass growth rather interesting in the land of Graph runner. I am amazed at the amount of effort the government takes into making sure that all grass patches are at an uniform length. I can really feel the dedication to grass growth consistency in this land.

xD

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LavaSwitch Platformer
Gameplay: I see the main gimmick of the platformer is that you have to touch a switch before you can use the goal. While this could be used in interesting ways most of the time this means you have to complete the level or part of the level twice. Level 9 is nice how you made a different way for getting back then getting to the switch. I wish the game more oftenly had different paths for getting to the switch and the goal, and would spawn you somewhere other than right next to goal. The first chapter of the game, contrast, is rather generic. Jumping across platforms, and jumping over lava that will kill you has been done to death in platfomers. At this point visuals, mechanics and combining mechanics in creative ways is the best way to make a platformer original. Nearly every jump over stuff level ever will feel generic on it's own at this point. I like the projectors, especially the vertical climb in level 13. Projectors give a nice challenge of having to time your jumps to get past them. They fire in the same path with a consistent firing time which makes them a nice obstacle to plan to get over. I don't really like the evaders. I feel like they don't add anything to the platformer other than hardness. There is no telling when they lock onto you, and their launch times are inconsistent because their missiles only respawn once they disappear and the time they do disappear varies on where they fire. In 28 I feel like you added them in the top right part of the level just to make it harder. There are projectors which you have to time your jumps with, however there are also evaders which force you to rush. It would be okay if the player had room to evade them however I see that you put lava in the middle of the platforms which limits how much room you have to dodge the evaders. In the level you have to time your jumps, but also have to hurry and there is little room to dodge… A mechanic that I feel that you have but rarely play with is room size. It makes your jumps shorter. Places I see you used it is level 1 to make a hallway, level 6 to make the top part extremely hard, level 16 to make the room visually thinner and level 17 where you wait for the Projector to shoot in the open rooms then move quickly through the low roof ones.

I feel general frustration when playing level 6 this platformer. The low time to react when jumping, always respawning at the start, the same song looping constantly, and having to complete 3/4's of the same level over and over again to just get back to where I was is the reason why. I feel punished if I don't do things with exact perision sometimes. It is hard to even move slightly to get a better jumping position with some of these platforms. The low difficulty feels like a lie for chapter 1 with level 6 in it. Overall Projection feels like the most creative chapter by adding in projectors, Evasion is the second by having the most mechanics to use however adding in a mechanic that adds in nothing but difficulty, and Contrast is the least by only having the base mechanics of the game in it.

Music:While the song it's self isn't bad, it doesn't loop very well. That high pitched flute sound at the end of it makes it very obvious that the song is looping. The song is also short, which makes the looping constant. You also play the song throughout the entire platformer which makes the song loop a lot, to the point where I got tired of it. I suggest giving each stage their own song to help set them apart more, and to prevent someone from getting tired of hearing the same song over and over again.

Glitches: If an evader shoots a missile into lava the missile keeps going until it reaches land. Sometimes when you get hit with a missile it disappears without you being sent back to the start. I see the cause of this glitch being that the missile, and player react to being touched on their own. This glitch happens when the missile disappears before the player can sense that they are being touched by the missile. After dying if you spawn right next to lava and go towards that lava your player will disappear and deaths will rack up quickly until you let go of the button. You also sometimes spawn in an location away from the spawn point.

Visuals:The visuals are the 2nd most generic visuals a platformer can have(with black+white and red lava being the 1st). I like how you tried to set the chapters apart with different colors. I see there being some land over some of the lava. I see that there are other colored squares in the player costume. Why don't you use them(after making sure they are all the same size)?

Overall:This game is a platformer. It fails to make me feel that it is very original. It is less generic than the genericist platformer with colors and multiple mechanics however it is far from being the opposite of them. However the use of these mechanics are still limited with only the levels I mentioned in the gameplay section sticking out to me in some way. I see that you say this platformer is the opposite of a generic platformer, please tell me why you think so. I give LavaSwitch Platformer a 5/10 for adding in some new mechanics and colors to make it original however failing to set it's self apart that much.

Bump entry 39: What makes a good game?
What makes a good memorable game? Is it gameplay? Is it story? I think it is engagement. Getting the player to feel something other than apathy is what I think makes for a good game. Engagement is a good thing to consider when making projects. Often RPGs will have grinding in them. Let me compare the random encounters of 2 RPGs, Final Fantasy X and Undertale. In Final Fantasy X you select commands to fight random encounters. You slowly get moves over the game. You start out with near nothing but over the course of the game you get many moves. A FFX battle usually is you choosing to attack,heal,steal, or switch. Many enemies are not very memorable as they all have the samish damaging moves and sometimes status effects. This can get boring after a while especially with weaker enemies. When running to earlier areas you usually only attack once which isn't that engaging as a fight. In Undertale you have to chose options to spare the enemy. The closest thing to this in FFX is choosing different attacks to cause more damage to foes. However unlike FFX enemies attack you in a box in which you have to dodge their attacks. All enemies have different patterns to memorize and dodge which is more engaging than FFX enemies doing different amounts of damage to you. While in FFX random encounters can give you status effects, Undertale's can slow you down… and um… do blue and orange attacks count?

Overall Undertale's enemies require you to think even when back tracking to earlier areas and they have more variance in what they can do than FFX's enemies so in conclusion Undertale is the better game has more engaging random encounters. Maybe I should measure two game's engagements another time. That's all for this bump entry, bump you next time!

Bump entry 40: changing mood
A few things can drastically change the mood of a game. From the player's speed, to the music, to even the color pallet. Every aspect in a game can contribute to mood. Let's take a random place. Darken the color pallet and add in a creepy, slow song. In almost any place it would give the feeling that something is wrong or that it is haunted. Now take the same place, brighten the color pallet and add in a cheery song. The place suddenly seems much more welcoming doesn't it? I remember seeing a project whose mood was pretty much completely changed by a song, and number of bullets you could shoot change. Anyway that's all for this bump entry, bump you next time!

Hey there - thanks for the review from a few weeks ago, just a little response to your feedback

Jumping across platforms, and jumping over lava that will kill you has been done to death in platfomers. At this point visuals, mechanics and combining mechanics in creative ways is the best way to make a platformer original.

It fails to make me feel that it is very original. It is less generic than the genericist platformer with colors and multiple mechanics however it is far from being the opposite of them.

By the “opposite” of generic platformers, I was more talking about how the level design itself was different. Most platformers would have some form of jumping over platforms and something that kills you when touched. Whilst most of the “genericist platformers” seem to have quite limited scope of level design (like just getting to the right side and jumping over individual walls and lava) I tried to make the levels themselves more complex and different.

Cub56 wrote:

Hey there - thanks for the review from a few weeks ago, just a little response to your feedback

Jumping across platforms, and jumping over lava that will kill you has been done to death in platfomers. At this point visuals, mechanics and combining mechanics in creative ways is the best way to make a platformer original.

It fails to make me feel that it is very original. It is less generic than the genericist platformer with colors and multiple mechanics however it is far from being the opposite of them.

By the “opposite” of generic platformers, I was more talking about how the level design itself was different. Most platformers would have some form of jumping over platforms and something that kills you when touched. Whilst most of the “genericist platformers” seem to have quite limited scope of level design (like just getting to the right side and jumping over individual walls and lava) I tried to make the levels themselves more complex and different.

I see. Looking back at your platformer many of your levels are more complex than an average platformer. However I mostly see chucks of other generic levels put together to make longer levels(which is jumping from one platform to another and jumping over lava). But yet again I usually try to avoid platforms that look like they may be generic so I may not recognize what truly makes a platformer original; and then there is the square character, one color simple object aesthetic that may have made me look for more genericness than I would have otherwise. I didn't even think about the originality of not having the end point at the right of the stage. I personaly found Lavaswitch to be somewhat generic but I guess everyone has different ideas on what is generic and not.

Bump entry 41: Deciding game length
When making a game(or any project really) there has always been the question of how long it should be? Is it better to have a longer or a shorter game? The answer is to make it as long as it needs to be. A longer game is not always better, padding or stretching a project out to make it longer can dilute the better parts in the padding which can lead to people getting tired that things are going no where or lessen the impact of the better parts as their mind is numb from the padding. An example of this is grinding in RPGs. You fight the same enemy over and over again just to get stronger. While it makes the experience longer it doesn't add anything to it, in fact to much grinding can remove interest in the RPG as people get frusterated at doing the same thing over and over again and slowly forget plot points. On the other hand making a game shorter can be bad if you cut out parts of the story that the project would be better with. If you think a project is getting to long add a checkpoint where someone can leave the project and come back latter instead of cutting the story down just so it can all be played in one session. But yet again the stuff you want to cut out could be padding or filler which doesn't add anything or even removes something from the experience. Anyway that's all for this bump entry, bump you next time!

Here's another bump for this shop. Sometimes I find that Vearus is sort of my mascot. It's my profile pic. A recolored one is the shop's mascot(sort of, it appears in the banner so that counts, right?). Even on these minibumps I have a sprite on a Vearus recolored to the colors of this shop's mascot.

Here's another bump since my shop is on the second page. Two bumps in one day, hmm… Well it looks like I am being more active. (I hope I can keep it up) I feel like I should say “That's all for this bump entry, bump you next time!” however it's more of a minibump… Wait I got an idea! That's all for this minibump, bump you next time!

Here is another bump for another day! Let's see where I am the sun is blocked by clouds, there are no birds chirping, the grass is growing, so in other words a great day to sit inside all day and play videogames! Well that's all for this minibump, bump you next time!

Here's one last bump before I go off for the night. I have a cat with me right now so that's good. Does anyone ever say cat on keyboard after their cat causes them to type gibberish because they lay on it. I may never know. That's all for this minibump, bump you next time!

Here is another mini bump! Man 4 minibumps in a row. I feel like I should plan out some more entries sometime but I'm not 100% sure what to bump about. Anyway I need to update the making projects and telling stories tips so I guess I should do that now. Anyway that's all for this minibump, bump you next time!

Bump entry 42: Deciding game length part 2
Looking back at the first part of this bump entry I realized I forgot to mention something in there. When designing a game it isn't the total game length that you should take into account, it's the play session length. A play session is how long someone plays the game at one time. When designing a project it is important to keep in mind how much time someone has to play it. For longer games it is a good idea to have a saving system. Making codes so people can come back latter is a good way to make sure people can see the full game. Put the code in a list. This way people can copy their code so they can paste it somewhere for next time. You can also have people export their code so they can import it next time. The placing of the save points is important. On one hand you don't want people to leave in the middle of a plot intense moment but on the other hand you don't want them to go hours without a save point which could lead to them losing their progress or giving up on the project all together because they don't want to redo a huge section. Anyway that's all for this bump entry, bump you next time!

Here is another bump for this thread! Spring break is soon so that means a load of free time. Feel free to send me those 12 part story heavy projects that take hours to complete then! Or well any time really. I like story based projects… Anyway that's all for this minibump, bump you next time!

Well I got my shop reviewed at ŜĤỖƤ ᏒᏋᏉᎥᏋᏇᏕ

neeb132 wrote:

neeb132 wrote:

muellly wrote:

Username: Muellly
Your shop: Neverending Dreams
Certain aspects to give feedback on: I would like feedback on the formatting and content of the first post. I would also like advice on how to improve my reviews.
What kind of review: Both
Notes: (If you want to bump more than once a day try writing more in your bump then just the word bump, that way there is content in your post so it is not spam.)

Order accepted! Review in process.

Review is finished!

I give it a 8/10.
I LOVE your shop. I thing it's very cool and reviews almost anything! Your orders are completed fairly fast, and I found no real grammar/spelling mistakes. I do see that on the notes for some of them it's like this, “Notes:the notes” without a space. Otherwise, your shop is great! I'd definitely recommend it to someone looking for a review.

I guess this is sort of a bump but at the same time it's an announcement/activity thing. Practically every post I make that isn't clarifying something or giving a review or idea is a bump with the quality my bumps are. I'm pretty sure this also includes the first post. Sometimes even I don't know what is and what isn't a bump on my threads sometimes. Anyway that's all for this bump… wait this isn't a bump and a bump at the same time. The confusion!

Here is another bump. I do have an actual bump entry planed however I am not really in the mood to type a 11 sentence paragraph right now. I wish I could think of something a little more creative to write in this minibump. Anyway that's all for this minibump, bump you next time!

Bump entry 43:Rating system revamped
Hello I have an announcement to make. I am revamping the rating system. You know, those numbers hidden at the end of reviews no one cares about. I have realized I am probably never going to give an 8 or a 9. Because of this I am changing the total scale from 10 to 8. Because I have never given above a 6.5 this affects no one. However something that is going to affect people is another rating. The numbers system rates how good a project is made compared to all the other projects in Scratch, this rating will be how much I enjoyed the project. Here is the scale.

Frustration: The project somehow made me feel a worse emotion then boredom. I did not enjoy the project.
Bored: I was bored when playing your project. I had to push myself to finish the review.
Stares:I felt apathy when playing your project
Good: I found some enjoyment in the project.
Great: I enjoyed the project and got somewhat into it.
Extreme: I loved the project. I got really into it.

Anyway I will be editing bump entry 5 to update the scale and add in the new one. That's all for this bump entry, bump you next time!