Reply With QuoteYoutube says "This video is private" ?
http://henke.itch.io/stilt-fella
It's done. Done a few changes to the gameplay and most of the levels. Easier at the start and harder at the end. Now includes a brand new level called "Physics Hassle", which, in retrospect, is what I could've called all of them.
Have fun with it! Tell your friends! Follow me at @Henrik_Hermans! (just created an account)
And most of all a BIG THANK YOU to all of you who played the Beta and told me exactly what you thought of it. Your feedback was invaluable, and the game would not have been nearly as complete as it ended up being were it not for you. <3
Last edited by henke; 5th Jul 2017 at 07:08.
Youtube says "This video is private" ?
Aww I'm at a cafe with no gamepad, but excited to check it out when I get back
Thanks for the heads-up Shadowcat. Should be visible now.
Waiting for Steam EA release.
First thoughts:
* Intuitive control scheme. Easy to learn, hard to master.
* Keyboard may not work, but maybe mouse controls could? Left button/right button for raising the sticks, move the mouse forward and back to swing. Might be atrocious, just a thought.
* I beat the first level after I already had "Y" to reset appear. Is that allowed?
* It's really frickin' hard!
* Reset time - in a game like this, the reset time needs to be instantaneous to avoid frustration (think Hotline Miami or Super Meat Boy). Even the couple of seconds of camera pan at the start of the first level is enough to start grating if you're failing a lot.
* Time limits - 30 seconds for the first level is a very short time limit. 40 seconds for the second level, impossible as far as I can tell so far. The only way I could get under 30s was by face planting the guy at the end and hoping I was close enough to brush the ribbon. To be honest, in a game like this, I would make all the time limits optional bonuses. Nothing would be more frustrating than getting through an elaborate obstacle course perfectly but slowly, only to be told you can't move on because you took a second too long. Have a time bonus at the end, maybe with other bonuses like amount of moves made, flip/stunt bonuses etc., and calculate a score from that, but let the player move on regardless if they get to the finish line at all.
* Considering the graphics are quite basic and there's not much sound, it actually "feels" really good - it's satisfying to get a rhythm going. With some punchier effects and a lot more sound, it could hit that Popcap, Angry Birds sweet spot of feeling really rewarding (addictive!) to play.
Oooh! Hadn't thought of that at all. Will test it.Originally Posted by nicked
The "Reset" prompt appears whenever the characters body is touching the ground, it's not a game over state.
About the time limits, dang. I've gotten so used to playing the game over the past 3 months I'm probably underestimating the difficulty. Will increase the times, and yeah I have considered outright removing the limit. What does everyone else think?
It's only the first level that has a bit of a longer reset. But I guess I should have the camera jump into place immediately upon reset, and only have the longer animation the first time the level starts.
You shut your mouth! Stilt Fella is a great title - I'd buy it for that alone.
That could do with clarification in the UI. The fact that it appears when the player touches the ground makes it seem like that's 100% a fail state.
And yes, Stilt Fella is an excellent title. I feel like the guy should have an Australian accent and corks hanging off his hat.
When it goes platinum, you can use the money to make a higher budget, darker sequel called Stilt Fella: Origins.
PC version updated, link in first post. Left work early today and rushed home to update it, because here at HENKECOM, we care about you!
Like I said I'm still looking for a game studio name.
Hey this looks great! I shall try it later.
Congrats on the beta!
Studio Name: Moist Hanky Studios
Or some humorous play on your TTLG name.
Hidden Hanky Games
Hanky Panky Studios
Hey henke, I played your game! I think it's a piece of fun!
My first impressions:
"oh god, this is QWOP with stilts."
"jesus christ, how am I supposed to get all the way to the finish when I can't even move two steps forward without falling?!"
"oh lord, this is the most annoying game ever... argh... but I must try again...
"argh!! okay, one more try, and that's it..."
And then, about twenty-seven more miserably failed attempts later, the controls suddenly started to feel quite intuitive and fun! It wasn't anything stupid like QWOP after all. I still don't know how exactly it works, I don't really think about it when I'm trying to walk, it just feels somehow logical. It just works, you know. (Does that make any sense?) The game provided me with a few good laughs when I tried to save myself from falling, but my pathetic attempts at regaining balance just made me fail even more dramatically. Anyway, it felt like I had actually achieved something when I finally learned to walk with these damn stilts.
... okay, not really.I think it was still challenging as hell at times. The level where you have to survive those big falls ("Big Steps" or something) especially was frustrating and took quite a few attempts. I survived the first two jumps quite a lot of times, but for some reason always failed the very last one. I'm not sure if it's a "feature" or a bug, but I landed on my face in that level a lot of times, but still managed to "crawl" to the edge of the platform and drop down to the next one by scrambling the buttons. I even managed to stand up again once by leaning against the wall! Please don't fix that though, I think it was a pretty fun way to finish the level.
The time limits seem pretty good to me now, I never had too much time left in the end, and my attempts at rushing to the finish when time was running out always ended up in failure. Just surviving each level was challenging enough and I have a feeling that a lot of people wouldn't even get through the first level. Maybe award a gold/silver/bronze medal according to the time?
My favourite level? It may have been the one with the bridge. It was nice and short, and it took a little bit of skill to knock the bridge down. Perhaps one or two little gaps before the finish line would have added a little more variety in it. Or actually, "Shoddy Roadwork" was even better. It was the only level that felt like a little puzzle, I really had to think about the timing and plan ahead where to step with each stilt. I liked how all levels were rather short but still challenging - please keep it that way. The catapult one at the end was kinda silly, it wasn't that hard or anything, but I thought it was all about luck. Then again I suppose that it was only supposed to be a fun way to end the game (and it was, although the camera angles could have been a little better there) so it's alright.
The game looks pretty good already! Stilt Fella himself is nicely animated and looks cool. I used the side-camera most of the time (it didn't really work in some levels though, for example Big Steps or the catapult level), I found it to be the easiest to play with, but unfortunately most of the details (I didn't even notice the cactuses in the background until I switched the camera angle) can't be seen in that one.
To answer the rest of your questions:
Stilt Fella is a great name! Don't change it.
I played with a X360 controller, it worked perfectly.
Is it any fun? Yes, it is a lot of fun.
Game studio name? Dunno, I'm terrible at coming up with any sort of names.
It took me a bit more than an hour to get through all eight levels, and even though I was frustrated for most of that time, I was frustrated in a good way.
I have no legs and I must walk (on stilts!).
DLC: Oscar Pistorius Extension (Guns!)
Maybe just score 'em? Have three tiers based on time, or some such (bronze, silver, gold). So, no limit, but maybe some pointing and laughing.
Henrik L. "Slater" Hermans III Esq. In Association With Killdozer Industries Presents Fun Games Involving Physics And Most Likely Trucks At Some Point Studios.
Or if you want to go with something short and sweet: Helicopter Town Studios.
A few thoughts: If you cannot make this fella a realistic human, make him a two legged robot. The learning curve for just walking is frankly too steep. I suggest to create several versions of that walker bot, with varying degrees of hand holding, so you can start with one that is super easy to control but limited in some ways, eg it can only move back and forth. With harder control schemes comes more freedom to move, ie the ability to turn. Next: Getting from point A to point B through terrain with obstacles. Next: Some simple enemies and guns with rising degrees of kickback.
//And before anyone throws their hands up and says: "Nooo! This isn't what it's about. This is a physics puzzle game!" I have to say: At this point it is a more an interesting test for a control scheme than a game. It's extremely hard to control and not much fun. But it could become something more playable and fun.
Last edited by Kolya; 14th Mar 2015 at 08:44.
Thanks for the feedback all. Especially thanks to Tomi for that huge write-up and sticking with it all the way to the end.
RE: Bronze/Silver/Gold times, this is something I've considered but never got around to implementing. I think it'd add to the replayability as well so I might add it.
RE: making it easier. I might add a second starter character that's easier to handle. Stilt Boy or something.
But half the fun is laughing at an apprently legless cowboy falling down repeatedly!
BTW I like the game, I've only spent five minutes on it and passed the first level but I'm definitely coming back soon for more.
Ooh, I missed the "gamepad required" bit. You might consider adding an easy way for people to exit the game from the menu via keyboard :)
Better yet, I'm gonna try adding M+KB support within the next few days.
edit: got the keyboard controls working! Now for the hard part: getting the controls-display to switch between gamepad and keyboard controls depending on which you're using.
Last edited by henke; 15th Mar 2015 at 07:17.
Is the first post download working with mouse and keyboard controls? When it is, I'll give this a whirl.
Updated! Check first post.
Nicked earns himself top spot in the Special Thanks section for giving me a good tip on how to get M&KB support implemented.
RE: Mac & Linux versions. Could someone please try these out? I still have no idea if they even run. I just hit Build in Unity and it made something called a .app folder for Mac and a .x86 file for Linux.
Last edited by henke; 15th Mar 2015 at 12:46.
Finally got to it and I have to agree with others - the game is brutally hard at first. Even making a single step without falling on my ass took my a good ten minutes. I think what you need is better in-game tutorial. Not just keys, but actually showing you the technique. Videos would work somewhat but they don't convey what the player is actually doing (I imagine it involves a lot of minor/fast key presses).
Maybe it's not a bad idea to do a 3 or 4 legged one, or have some kind of a stabilizer (think extra bicycle side wheels). Get them used to the control scheme and develop muscle memory before you unleash the full difficulty.
Tho, I will say, it does feel that once you overcome the initial hurdle this would be pretty fun, especially with some of the more interesting levels in the trailer.
Here's a big gameplay tip that helped me with controls: It actually makes it a bit easier if you look at the hands, not the bottom of the stilts. since your controls are mapped to hands, it actually makes it more intuitive. It made "sense" to push with one hand while pulling with the other to re-stabilize, for instance. Maybe it's worth mentioning that to the player?
Also, repeatedly tapping stilt keys while holding the opposite one forward is a good way to stabilize and narrow down a gap.
Little technical issue: first time it ran after 20 seconds it threw me to desktop with a "Would you like Win7 to change the color scheme?" window. But the cursor was invisible so I couldn't click. I hit enter and the window went away, but I couldnt alt-tab back into the game (crash?) I had to ctrl+alt+del to kill it, but now it doesn't show it anymore. Not sure if it will when I reboot tho.
Also a suggestion: better impact noises (particularly when you fall on your ass) would enrich the feel of the game.
I'll need to toy with it more but here's my 3 cents. I generally suck at physics puzzles so I may not be the best tester
Last edited by Yakoob; 16th Mar 2015 at 03:20.
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