Mathemagic, An educational platformer Options

[J-Factor]

MatheMagic





One of my uni projects involves designing an education game using Game Maker.

In MatheMagic you take on the role of a young boy who's transported to the maths dimension by an evil mathemagician. You must stop his evil plan to divide by zero, simultaneously breaking the laws of mathematics and destroying the universe. The target audience is 5~15 yr olds living in a children's home in India.

This is the current work-in-progress version lacking many more levels, a completed game engine and main menu.

Enjoy!

Download

[Grego]

Dividing by zero won't destroy the universe. It will just cause your calculator to return "Math Error"

Review:
Very impressive. Nice graphics which suited the game. Music wasn't too annoying. Gameplay was very nice. And quite different to others I've seen. Simple, yet effective. It was surprisingly fun, even for a 15 year old who's taking his maths GCSE in three weeks

Edit: I've got to get on this Uni course

This post has been edited by Grego: Apr 29 2007, 02:42 PM

[BleachFan]

Wow great game! 10/10! This is very useful, since my little brother is in first grade now and this'll be great to teach him about math! You never cease to amaze me J-Factor!

This post has been edited by BleachFan: Apr 29 2007, 02:44 PM

[Grego]

I would happily give this to a child so they could practice their maths. Very happy. It's one of those nice games that doesn't look like it was made in GM. There are little tell-tale signs and this doesn't have them. (Except the icon, but meh)

[Takagi]

The target audience is 5~15 yr olds living in a children's home in India.

You'll need differential equations in your game to entertain the 10-15 year olds in India.

[-0NL1N3-]

This game looks great. I loved the effects. This game has got a lot of potential for a young audience.

Thanks,
-0NL1N3-

[J-Factor]

You'll need differential equations in your game to entertain the 10-15 year olds in India.

I'll admit that the game is focussing more on the lower end of the target audience. The majority of students are actually in the range of 5~12. However, you have to think about the circumstances that these kids are growing up in. A census showed that only 55% of adult females and 77% of adult males in the district are literate. What I was attempting to do with this game was focus on basic arithmetic that'll help them in everyday life, along with simplistic linear algebra (e.g. 2x + 4 = 12, x = ?).

The short timeframe also limits how much I can implement.

[rup13]

It is a very good game so far. It has very nice graphical effects and sounds which give it that togetherness feel. At first I found the controls a little frustrating especially when trying to jump and place at the same time but gradually got used to them (sort of). The maths problems, while pretty simple, are varied across the levels. However I do hope as the game would progress, more complicated maths problems would arise giving the user that feel of progression as the difficulty increases. I would like to see quite a few more enemies (like I am sure you have planned) that involve the player to do more than just jump and collect numbers (e.g. dodge bullets, move quickly, etc).

The gameplay is solid for what it offers so far, but I did notice the FPS dropping a fair few times especially as other programs in the background (MSN Messenger, Internet Explorer) ran at the same time. Not that this is your fault, just take into account how older computers may experience some slow down during some of the effects on screen.

Music and sounds were interesting and didn't get boring during gameplay in my opinion. They created the atmosphere of the game and kept the player addicted (well it did for me).

It has quite a lot of potential and I wish you the best of luck with it. It should certainly help those who are not too mathematically confident. Overall I give this a 7/10 because there are some elements which can be improved and things added, but I know it is a WIP and there will be more to come. I am sure that with any future versions and more features, this rating will increase. Just keep it interesting and add more variety like something more challenging to fight again, boss battles while doing the problems, more effects and perhaps upgrades for your attacks. Double-jumping could be a possibility, but as you can see there is lots I could suggest. Only you can decide what is right for this game, but I hope to see a lot more in future which will both help and entertain .

[Pwnage_Kirby]

Hmm... I saw someone said dividing by zero won't destroy the universe, but WILL get an error. If They meant an error in the universe, then yes. Dividing by zero destroyed my best computer.

ON TOPIC:

Very nice game, it has potential. I think falling down on Sine Sky should reduce your grade, and the grading scale itself is messed up.


WIP:
gameplay:is this the first version? If so, 10.
Graphics:9
Sound: I dunno, My comp is on mute

GAME:
gameplay:8 For a super-short game
Graphics:7
Sound:see above

[cactus]

Very nice presentation, and well chosen music (I use one of those tunes in a game as well ). However, the gameplay isn't very fun. The levels are too small and they get rather repetitive really fast.

I have a hard time seeing through the eyes of the target audience when playing, though, so kids might be more easily entertained. I'm not really sure.

Suggestions:
-Make larger levels
-Make it so that when you solve the math problems they dissappear forever, and that something happens when you solve them. Like unlocking doors or treasure chests.
-The tutorial felt unnecessary in it's current state
-NPCs that "teach you" or something
-A storyline
-A time limit on the levels?

[bigshoe]

that was actually pretty interesting. you could probably sell it to schools. My brother's elementary school has a program where they all get laptops and play educational games. the controls are kind of weird though... maybe up arrow to jump, space to fire, and c to pickup/drop letters?

This post has been edited by bigshoe: Apr 29 2007, 11:05 PM

[TechnoSuperguy]

Wow, cool game. I mean, it's not much fun for me since I'm 17, but it could easily keep a younger kid entertained for a long time. The graphics and everything are great, but I don't like the controls; I'd prefer if the attack and hold buttons were switched around, since jump and hold are the most commonly used and should be next to each other. 8/10!

[Carnivac]

I just came here from it being linked to on the Indygamer blog and I've just enjoyed playing this a lot. I ain't too bright with maths like I used to be so I actually struggled on some sums (like a couple in the castle) but it really did entertain, partly also due to the whole feel of the game where the graphics and music and simple gameplay reminded me of some highly polished Amiga public doman games and I love that feel to a game.

OK it's meant to be a kid's game but this 27 year old sure enjoyed trying to brush up on his tired old maths skills. Nice work.

[PointOfLight]

This was a very nice game. The presentation was clean, graphics good, and audio quite nice. Having 3 little kids makes it a challenge trying to find suitable games to play, and this is one I definitely would give them. Since this is under the WIP section, I hope you're still working on it and haven't abandoned it. I would make one suggestion, though. In the tutorials section, you might want to actually explain what you need to do, since that's what tutorials are supposed to be for

[TerryAllred]

Anyone know where MatheMagic or J-Factor is? Can not download code nor find the author.

[PointOfLight]

The thread hasn't been updated in 5 months, so I'm guessing the project is probably dead. Plus, I think he did this for school, so maybe that page was somehow related to where he went to school.

[-wolfprograming-]

Dowload is down I know it is old... but still

[Dan1]

Link is dead
Shame, I want to see this game

[AC-426]

Working download found here:
[Page]
[Download] -- 2.3 MB

No idea if it's the latest version.
Cute game.