[Kvalsternacka]

- Muon -



A platformer with randomly generated levels where speed, creativity and the ability to adapt comes in handy.

Size: 1.64 mb
Version: v1.00
Resolution: 640X480 - Does not change resolution.

Download Link: Rapidshare YoyoGames Page

Controls and such are explained ingame.

[DarkFlame]

very very nice

9/10

[fuchuzz]

the graphics are really amasing and the gameplay was interesting. it was a little to easy and once it was impossible, but other than than that it was really good

[Sulfuric]

My score was 73730. Probably not to good.

This is a very cool game. Nice mild effects, neat but simple game play, great simple graphics, and some smooth sounds, it's perfect in almost every way! There's one thing it needs though:

Some soothing background music.

[Newly Discovered]

pretty fun. I like the graphics even though they were really simple, the fit well. the effects very pretty fancy as well. extremely easy...I didnt even need my booster. maybe some maze type levels? I really like the concept of this game though. very original ideas here.

great work.
good luck.

[Kvalsternacka]

Newly Discovered, on Jul 23 2007, 07:09 AM, said:

extremely easy...I didnt even need my booster.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're not the first one to think so, but I'm afraid you're missing the point of the game. The player is supposed to complete all the levels quickly to achieve a high score, not just complete them. As the levels in the game is randomly generated, every player won't play on the same conditions, however, the boosters allowes you to reach and craft shortcuts throughout the levels to even the odds. And thats what it's all about: the ablility to adapt and find creative ways to complete each level as quickly as possible.

But like I said, I did something wrong as almost no one plays the game like it's supposed to be played

Anyway, all comments is much appreciated. Thanks.

[Sulfuric]

Kvalsternacka, on Jul 23 2007, 07:03 AM, said:

Newly Discovered, on Jul 23 2007, 07:09 AM, said:

extremely easy...I didnt even need my booster.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're not the first one to think so, but I'm afraid you're missing the point of the game. The player is supposed to complete all the levels quickly to achieve a high score, not just complete them. As the levels in the game is randomly generated, every player won't play on the same conditions, however, the boosters allowes you to reach and craft shortcuts throughout the levels to even the odds. And thats what it's all about: the ablility to adapt and find creative ways to complete each level as quickly as possible.

But like I said, I did something wrong as almost no one plays the game like it's supposed to be played

Anyway, all comments is much appreciated. Thanks.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I did. I used the power ups to make things faster. It was my first run through, though, so obviously I didn't do too well.

New score: 128450

New, new score: 136880

This post has been edited by STARFOXROX: 23 July 2007 - 02:06 PM

[x_arre]

Amazing and addictive. 9.5/10

I just played through the levels the first time, but the second, third and fourth times (yes it is very addictive) I was playing it properly. Using my boost to cut through the floor and blast up making the runs as quickly as possible.

[Kaleta]

Very nice! I like the graphics... Did you make any special algorithm for the level generator? The cubes are not placed randomly at all, there must be some work behind it.
I see the quality of GM games is dramatically increasing this year. Now almost every time I come to this section I find something very worthy of playing. Sadly, the rest of public is overwhelmed by noobs and their thrash.

My score: 21100
I think I probably didn't play it as you intended, I used boosters minimally and creatively searched my way...

This post has been edited by Kaleta: 23 July 2007 - 08:27 PM

[Nachician]

Good game. I just jumped improvisedly trying to reach the boosters. My score was 111840.

[Melly-Me]

I really like this game. It's very simple, but very addictive. The random level generation code you used here is fairly robust, allowing for interesting level after interesting level to be generated. And the gameplay mechanics are smartly designed to keep levels from being impossible with the boosters and block breaking.

The fact that people don't seem to play the game as you intended is understandable simply because the game gives us no clue as to the fact that speed is essential to score higher (most people don't read information texts and readme's ). In fact, most people will play it having no idea whatsoever how they can improve their score. If you also put a timer on the end of the 10 levels, showing you just how long you took and how much you scored because of that time, people would be able to think "Hey, maybe if I go faster I'll score higher?".

I personally think, though, that a game like this doesn't go well with a scoring system. It's fun to try and score higher, yes, but it's very reliant on luck to get easy levels (one of the levels I went to had all 5 targets packed close together and near the exit. I beat it in around 7 seconds) instead of nearly impossible ones, which makes having a very high score not exactly determine the player's skill, just his luck.

It's still fun to try and improve your platforming skills, but the score isn't a very reliant source of feedback. I'd advise you to try and find another way. One interesting one that comes to mind is replays. That way players could see how other people's platforming skills really are.

This post has been edited by Melly-Me: 23 July 2007 - 10:35 PM

[Troutmonkey]

Fun, no glitchs, but too short

[thetagames]

I'll begin with a question: Is this game referring to the subatomic particle muon, whose half-life is minuscule, because it consists of a quark paired with an anti-quark, destined to decay into gamma rays within nanoseconds? If so, then is that why you are timed?

This is very fun. The random level generation is definitely one of the higher points of the game, and for the most part, it was glitch-free. It's a very cool idea, and was implemented with smooth gameplay and good graphics.

The sound effects were actually very good. Some music would be nice, though.

Also, the number of boosters that you have, as well as the level timer, should be displayed on the screen.

Excellent work, though!

~ thetagames

[DarkFlame]

i thort i would post again because i actually played a game from this forum twice...very nice 9.5/10 this tym

[JamesGecko]

Excellent concept. I like it. Here are some things I noticed about the game during my three playthroughs.

- It's not immediately apparent that the game is being timed. Likewise, it's not apparent how the scoring relates to the timing. A timer during gameplay and a short, skipable score panel after each level would help with these aspects. It worked for Sonic the Hedgehog.

- For a game about speed, it's a bit difficult to size up the situation immediately. The eye is quickly drawn to the player (because of motion), but more than once I've had to stop for a second to scan the level and figure out where the exit was. Some sort of flash or effect to show where the exit gate is immediately would be nice.

- I've missed the exit gate a few times because I boosted off the top of the screen to clear a wall and went too far. An arrow that appears when the player leaves the screen (like in super smash brothers) would be nice.

- Upon death, the level completely regenerates. I don't get the satisfaction of going back to try to make that tricky jump again. By the same token, I don't get the same impossible level, but that's what the reset button is for. ;-)

- You get a score, but there's no scoreboard. I know the default Game Maker scoreboard thing is pretty annoying for minigames because it always asks for a name, but you can manipulate it though code, can't you? Just a list of times displayed after you finish with your most recent one indicated would be killer.

- ...it's bare. The random level generation is rather impressive, but after playing it three times, I don't feel much inclination to revisit it. Linking time into the gameplay more strongly would help, but so would the inclusion of some random powerups. That might imbalance things too strongly though, so I dunno.

Overall, it's a very nice minigame. All the stuff I listed is just polish. But hey, polish is good, right? ;-)

I shall follow your future games with interest.

[69poomaster69]

Very nice, I dont see what the random red lines are in the game, but I assume the quicker you finish the better the score, heres my score

[Kvalsternacka]

Thanks for a lot of very interesting feedback! Here's some answers:

Melly-Me, on Jul 23 2007, 11:34 PM, said:

snip<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah, yes... never underestimate the restlessness of gamers. Assuming everyone actually will read the info or readme was a bad move. Lesson learned.

And the scoring, well, I do not agree that it doesnt belong in the game. However, it was poorly implemented for reasons mentioned. I think there are a number of possible solutions for this though:
- Choosing the random seed before you start a session.
- Online highscores that display the seed and total score.
- If using online highscores: the possibility to download a replay of a run. Replays is way out of my ability, though, I've been wanting to explore it for quite some time.

thetagames, on Jul 24 2007, 02:29 AM, said:

snip<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Haha, I'm sorry to dissapoint you, but the game was in the beginning actually named after a synth. I did google the word though, but I never fully understood the info I got from wikipeida .

The number of boosters you have is actually displayed on screen in those things orbiting the player. Displaying the level timer seems to be a good idea though. I didn't think it would be neccessary because of the short length of the game, but poeple have been requesting it. I guess players want to see how well they fare more frequently.

And I like the sounds too. I think my "sound guy" did a really good job.

JamesGecko, on Jul 24 2007, 04:01 AM, said:

snip<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A lot of good points. All actually crossed my mind, but never was implemented/modified for various reasons. Mostly because I made the game to try creating something that generated it's content, something I find very fascinating.

I in a way succeeded with that in the first day of development, and the remaining three days I spent with the game was just thinking of gameplay that could fit the generator and a game this small, creating graphics and polishing. At the fourth day I was starting to become bored with the project and just wanted to finish it up enough to be able to post it. You know, instead if putting it in a folder with the rest of my incomplete projects.

But yeah, if I continue with this, all those suggestions will probably be in the game in one way or another.

[Kapser]

Pretty awsome game. I was actually impressed how random generated levels could work so well. However, the game still lack of a good level design and the design of the game itself is good. The game is interesting, but we just have nothing to compare highscores to, and levels are very easy. I'd like to see some difficult level design in this game, even if it's not the point of it. The block breaking and boost aspects could make some pretty interesting levels. Anyways, I think the game succeed well to what it's trying to do, but it could be exploited for even more fun. I still love the idea of generated levels tho, and I know you can't balance like a time challenge in something generated.


Anywyas, nice game style and gameplay, and I love how you did that double jump graphic, nice idea

edit: I just tough how fun, challenging, balanced and replayable would this game be in multiplayer

This post has been edited by Kapser: 24 July 2007 - 03:42 PM

[rinkuhero]

Fun, professional, but too short and lacking variety. I finished it in about 15 minutes, which was nice, but I wish there were more to it (more traps, more types of floors, more types of abilities, music, that kind of stuff).

[Orc Leader]

Do you want a high score or a low one?... Like is the score how much time in seconds it was? I got 102,650 but back to the point. I really liked the game it felt so arcade and I am a fan of most arcade games, I also liked the special effects in the game made it cooler. B)

Where did you come up with name by the way?

;Game Rating;
Graphics=[10]
Sound Effects=[8]
Music/Background Music=[0]
Easy-to-use Controls=[10]
Originality=[8]
Replay Value=[10]
Your Overall Game Rating=[9]

;Rating Scale;
0=Very Poor
1-3=Poor
4-6=Average
7-8=Good
9=Very Good
10=Excellent

This post has been edited by Orc Leader: 25 July 2007 - 01:25 AM