How Not To Make a Platformer
Ғылым және технология
Play the game: vimlark.itch.io/knight-light
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Tools used in this video
Construct 3
- Construct theme by mitsuhashish - mitsuhashish.itch.io/procss
Photoshop
Aseprite
Music by Drewpy
biglink.to/drewpy
Пікірлер: 59
I like this new Vimlark that uploads videos!
i would make the torch a consumable pickup! that way the player needs to run around to grab more torches, and if you don't let them stack, then you encourage the player to save "easy" torches for when they're in a bind. you could even remove the HP system for the player and just make the enemies make you drop your torch so you need to find another one. great video, fun topic, my blessings for your algorithm! ❤
one thing you could do is to add more enemies that require the players attention, here are some as example: 1) slime: it leaves a trail behind that prevents you from jumping (or just when the slime is killed) 2) fireball: it jumps around and you can use the enemy to temporairly boost the torches but it does 2X damage 3) ice gollum: it's an slow moving enemy with a lot of health that can 1-shot torches 4) builder: it places walls at random that block the player (you could also add an hammer power-up to destroy those walls) 5) lava: lava flows through the bottom floor and fireballs spring out of it 6) wizard: if he catches you, he teleports you to a random corner or the centre 7) spikes: spikes appear from the left and/or right while wind blows the player towards the spikes you could also add an scoring system and other items like health to also make it more engauging
The movement incentive could have been as simple as something as a darkness meter that requires at least 2 torches to be lit, and busted torches could be repaired but would take time (and maybe a collectable resource that ghosts sometimes carried)
you should try a game remaster series where you take old games like this and apply improvements to see how much it changes, that would be a super cool series
@TimConceivable
2 ай бұрын
YES! i think critiquing and theorizing about the mechanics is cool, but it would be even more interesting to test those theories by actually implementing them!
Nice video! I remember when you made Knight Light. I think it wasn't a bad game idea, and you can only do so much for a game jam. You're right about the game mechanics just getting a bit boring after a while, and that sadly means that it's not so fun to play again. I feel like there is a similarity you can draw here with this and 'Survivor' games that got popular in the last couple of years, in that you move around, maybe a little, maybe a lot, and the idea is that it slowly gets more difficult with enemies all around you and you try to stay alive as long as you can. What makes those games more interesting is the powerups the player gets during a run (and potentially permanent upgrades carrying across different runs) as well as the difference in enemies. Of course you can't expect something too elaborate from a game jam game made in short time, but I appreciate you using your own work and turn it into a teachable moment for us all. Hey, and other than that, the pixel art was quite good and the menu and sfx seemed pretty good too. I'd love to see you do this for maybe other things you made in the future.
Good to see you back here on KZread!
9:35 I can feel the sarcasm from that sticky note XD
I think adding an oil refill mechanic so that you have to grab oil so you can’t just do figures 8s or stand on top of the final torch would have made a difference.
A wider array of enemies that behaved differently could help, especially if they don't show up until you reach a certain time to help change up gameplay.
Adding levels would definitely help. Allowing to make it easier in early levels and ramp up the difficulty, without having to start over at the beginning, where it's easy and forcing the player to replay the easy part that they are no longer challenged by.
What about an indicator of torches that need to be lit? Like an edge of the screen thing so you know which one to go to instead of looping through all of them constantly
Great video, I like this concept! Always fun to look back at old projects and understand how you would've made it better now!
It might've helped to also just have more variety of enemies. Like a ranged enemy that only targets players whos projectiles don't collide with the fire. The enemy would always stop just far enough that the player has to leave to kill it. so you have to leave to kill the enemy otherwise multiple projectile enemies will build up making staying impossible. Kinda like the hard mode but forcing the player to leave without it being a predictable jump.
I can see the issue with your old game. If I were to update that game, I would: 1. Increase enemy's HP per broken altar, +1HP at least 2. Spawn deadlier enemies after more altars are broken 3. Have altars drop coin/item which gives score if player collect them.
Thanks for the video! Nice insights!
Yay we love uploads!!!
The degenerate strategy is very similar to the Cuphead bonus levels where you protect the urn and those were limited on time, so definitely think you’re onto something there
I am @ 13:15 and maybe you'll touch on this later, but I also feel like the game would have benefitted from all being on a single screen. There's not really much point to the screen scrolling when the level is so small anyway, it just seems like an inconvenience to make it a bit trickier to see the current health level of each Altar, which does perhaps make the game a little harder (or would, if more than a single Altar actually mattered, as you mention), but as I am sure you know these days, making a game harder through deliberately inconveniencing the player unnecessarily is bad design, and is also lazy and unfun design if it's essentially being used to modulate "false difficulty". Having the requirement to scroll the screen to move the camera to see how each other Altar is doing really adds no benefit to the gameplay, so it really should have just all been on one screen. It's not like there's any surprise hazards to cross or anything each time the camera shifts, it's just the same path to each Altar over and over again. *EDIT:* Different levels would definitely help.
it would be cool to see a series where you remake old jam games within the same time frame (just an idea I had
The changes I would make, in order of complexity to make the change are: - Change the loss condition to losing after three lights go out - Make the level asymmetrical - Add a "wave" system where every 30 seconds, a wave is triggered where all enemies for the next 10 seconds target a particular light I think these changes would keep gameplay fresh for much longer.
the difference between the knight sprite and the fires is giving me an aneurysm
You are on a roll!
This new guy makes some great videos
Yay I love these!
I feel like having to keep at least a few altars alive would ve been a simple fix, But tbh the gameplay loop seems kinda dull so far and I feel like a more advanced combat would ve made it better (imo)
It would be cool as a top-down tower defense.
One thing I think is worth mentioning about increasing the spawn rate is that I don't think it actually solves your problem, at least not on its own Like yeah it makes camping the middle flame a lot more difficult, but it also makes playing it the "intended" way more difficult in a way that I'd bet camping the middle is STILL the optimal strategy, the game just ends much sooner. The other thing is that, while tracking altars as your score is probably a better idea, it does mean that there's a very attainable "maximum score" you can get, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but its worth thinking about with you talking about replayability
Oh new video
Sweet. Ooh, is that a Wolverine jacket?
@angelfire9622
3 ай бұрын
20 hours ago when it was released 7 minutes ago ?
@findot777
3 ай бұрын
@@angelfire9622 me when I forget most youtubers have someway of supporting them that gets you videos early
ayo this man is alive and healthy.
Just like the game this video is pretty repetitive and I could leave it, go to the bathroom and come back with you saying the same stuffs over and over. Don't wanna be mean, just love the good old contents. Happy to see you back on yt anyway❤
Strikes me as a Bubble Bobble, DigDug, or even Bomberman kinda game, all of these being arcade/score attack standards. _So this might have been better framed in one, fixed screen, no scroll._ That way you could see all the lights, and introducing new elements and layouts would go a little smoother. Then again, Mappy and Flicky are fixed and endless scrolling left-to-right (respectively), so it's an option, not a rule. Also, yeah, most people don't appreciate 'endless' games. I do, for some odd reason; this totally would have been a side mode, but not the main one. I found out, see, that most people like these silly things called 'goals'. Must make them feel nice or something... 🤔 (/hj) Meh, just needed more enemies or a secondary goal, more layouts/stages, like you said. I dunno, wasn't me. I don't blame PastVimlark. I had been curious about this one, but never got back to it, so thanks for covering it. Good object lesson. :3
knight light is such a cute title
Guys, don’t listen to him! He’s an evil robot!!!
New vimlark probably hates old vimlark
I disagree with avoiding having an easy mode. This idea that you have normal(actual easy) and hard(normal, intended way) to avoid hurting feelings is something from last decade when the culture of "gitgud" rose. I think misleading labels does not help, sometimes people want easy game and are not ashamed of that. (and sometimes people want a harder challenge than normal (or what you labeled as hard)) I have a mod for a game in steam that simples adds an easy mode for the game (that had only normal and hard before) and it is a popular mod. I'm from the hardcore generation gaming in the 90s, I'm used to games being difficult (well, not anymore), and sometimes I just want an easy mode for the sake of it, not needing to put blood and sweat into it, not having to restart multiple times, I see it more like a time saving feature, you can enjoy more of the game, faster, this way, and then decide to later revisit it on harder difficults.
What guide egine is this game made ?
@alu2901
3 ай бұрын
Construct 3, I think.
@watercat1248
3 ай бұрын
@@alu2901 i check the Construct 3 and this sounds game engine good for only beginner's also at least in the video i check the say the online version is the only free one i don't know if the is old or whatever and if those rules still apply or not but the sound like game engine that is beginner friendly but not good for larger projects that you need networking and stuff like that.
For incentive to keep the player moving, make life regen if all lights are lit... it would be a nice incentive...
am i the only one thinking he is doing all nighters for these?
How bout you remake your old games to show how much progress u have made and i guess its a good video idea
i liked the video
Commenting for the algorithm
Hey youtube Algorithm! This is a comment!
Yeah, game looks boring. Sugestions: make torches spawn on map that you need to grab; make walls so pathing need to change or map more diverse; smaller character and map; Altar HP; disable no-jump kills; less bounce on hit; weapon swing.
I wanna be like you. I just watch "How I starded make videogames..." and i'm exactly like you!
Real answer: don’t make a platformer. The market is over flooded with them. For comparison, the median platformer makes around a thousand dollars. The median roguelike deckbuilder makes 40 thousand.
@brotherdaniel1524
2 ай бұрын
Those flood the market too. It's not that the market is oversaturated. It's that people enjoy rogue like deck builders more than platformers
Well, actually you never should be doing a platformer, at least if you want to put it on steam.
@HoodedOlive
3 ай бұрын
What's wrong with making a platformer? They're just as valid as any other game type. It's all about polish in the end
@onlysmiles4949
3 ай бұрын
Why not?
@greenheart5334
3 ай бұрын
@@HoodedOlive dont listen to this idiot kid. look at Valfaris or Lords of Exile. these are only examples.
@dawidbujak
3 ай бұрын
Please see 'How To Market A Game on Steam' by Chris Zukowski