37 replies to this topic

[NAL]

INNOQUOUS 3 BETA

I've pretty much completed the game - Unknown Gamer is now implementing the online features.

In the mean time, I would like to publically release the game in beta form. This contains, other than the online aspect, pretty much everything the full release will. The feature list (in the beta) is as follows:

• 30 brand new levels with level selection allowing you to replay any level you've previously completed
• Three modes: Standard: the basic type - get to the finish
• Three modes: Conditional: complete an objective for each level while completing it. These can be completing in a set time, hitting a set number of breakable blocks, etc
• Three modes: Fiery Floors: As Standard, but some of the floors are now deadly, forcing you to take different, harder routes
• INQS 30: A timed speedrun of the 30 levels of Innoquous 3.
• INQS 60: A timed speedrun of 60 Innoquous levels - all ten from Innoquous, all 18 from Innoquous 2, a couple bonus ones, and Innoquous 3's too
• Trophies - ten to collect
• Statistic recording - useful stuff like overall completion % and quickest INQS 30/60 speedrun times, and useless but interesting stuff like how many times you've used a gravity switcher during play
• Menu system - Easy to use, left and right to switch pages. Interface designed for easy user interactivity - only the mouse is needed to activate things on pages
• An easy-listening soundtrack by Nathan Wills, which can be switched off if you'd rather listen to your own stuff
• Saving/loading progress

What I need now is any reports of bugs/glitches you may find, as well as opinions on what is there and minor suggestions you may have.

Thank-you, and please enjoy the game.

DOWNLOAD THE BETA
YoYo Games link*

Please note: Any saved progress from the beta may not be compatible with the final version.
*may be down every so often as the virus checker checks updates




-- ORIGINAL POST (for conservation purposes) --

Hello, I've decided to make a third entry into the Innoquous series, addressing some faults, changing and adding things etc. This time though, I would like to get constant feedback to ensure the game is as entertaining as possible for you all.

One of the most striking differences at the moment is the addition of colour. The colouring is simple, and the game retains the effect where the ball "joins" to surfaces, I just believe it to add visual flair to the game.

The first build linked below contains the first two levels of the game, which essentially act as a tutorial and introduction respectively. They are fairly big levels.

I would appreciate any feedback you're willing to give, especially on the following subjects:

- Colour - Prefer the original white/black? Like how it is currently? Would like to see colour but in different styles?
- Levels - Modifications to current levels? Ideas for more levels? Many short levels? Less, bigger levels? Ranging from easy to difficult, or just a plain easy or difficult game?
- Obstacles - Like the current ones (razors, static, breakable walls)? Suggestions for more?
- Storyline - Make one up or leave the game without a story? If make one up, any ideas what it could be?
- Glitch, bug and crash reports
- Feedback on what there is currently
- Anything else?

Note the following are planned additions, but are yet to be implemented (so no need to suggest them):

- Automatic saving and the ability to load upon game startup
- Music and better balanced sound effects

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.

Newest build:
Build 5
YoYo Games link

Old builds
Build 4
Build 3
Build 2
Build 1

Screenshots:

[daspirit]

Ha, when I first tried it, I thought it would be like other gravity-shifting games. I was somewhat wrong. This one is a good start, the engine works really well and the sound effects are good on the ears. I found it quite weird though that the ball seems like it's in the ground when you're not jumping and I really liked how what you did after the tutorial. Now lets see here:
- Color - I like how it is currently.
- Levels - Short levels can be a way to go but then they get longer and harder as you go on.
- Obstacles - You should add something that moves...
- Storyline - It really depends on how you want the game to be like. You can add the story and you start it from something crazy and work your way up - heck, look at Mario!
- Anything else? Nope. Good luck on this game. I really hope to see it progress more!

[broken shadow]

Wow. I've never played the other 2, but if they're anything like this one, I'll download 'em right now. Hard to think of any critiques...

Color: I haven't seen it in b/w, but the colors are very easy on the eyes. I'd say stick with it.
Levels: Short levels would probably be better - it allows you to up the difficulty level without upping the frustration level. If you do make longer levels, a checkpoint system is a MUST.
Obstacles: Like the ones that you have. Can't think of any ideas for new ones, but I may edit later.
Storyline: Don't know what kind of story would fit into this kind of game, but if you can, more power to you. A nice story never hurt a game.

Overall, it was a joy to play. Keep it up.

[NAL]

I'm updating the demo to include four further levels. These aren't in any particular order. To narrow down the number of duff levels, if there's any level you feel needs improvement in these six, please let me know with suggestions. Also, if you've not posted before, answers to the questions in the first post are appreciated.

Thanks!

[HappyGiraffeStudios]

i like the color looks really nice
i would suggest mayb some fans so if you are falling it blows you in a different direction or mayb some switches that open doors
Also i would like longer harder levels

[banov]

Another Innoquous, eh? Color's a pleasant addition, I have to say. And of course the simplistic platforming of the prequels makes a welcome return.

Suggestions:

I found it odd that you had the title introduction after the tutorial, it would have made sense to combine the two. The last couple games worked with barely any tutorial, no reason why this one shouldn't either. A button explanation on the title intro would be adequate.

This is actually a problem I had in the other two games, but never seemed like a big enough deal until now. Maybe I'm going crazy, but it seems like sometimes the ball keeps moving in midair even after I've let go of the side arrows--this was particularly frustrating on the Lazarus stage.

I liked the length of levels in prior games, but I always thought they needed a few more mechanics, as the game would start to become predictable after a little while. HappyGiraffe's fans sound like a cool idea, I'd like to see perhaps some moving platforms, and maybe blocks destroyed by switches (for some more complex levels where the switch and destructo blocks are far apart). As for storyline, I'd say don't bother; if you try and invent a story to cram into the game, inevitably it'll just end up feeling empty and without any purpose to the game.

Edited by banov, 05 June 2009 - 03:14 AM.

[NAL]

I had switches in mind, so I'll almost certainly implement those. I'll probably make switches reusable, with doors alternating between open and closed.

I could see fans posing a problem, however. Moving left and right is done with x/y transitions as opposed to h/vspeed, and fans would require the latter. If I rework the engine a little, I could add them, but I can foresee quite a few glitches emerging.

As for moving platforms, they'd be doable but difficult to do without an array of glitches. I'll look into them.

@Banov: About the ball moving in midair, it shouldn't. As stated above, left and right movements are done with x/y, so the moment you stop moving left/right the ball will immediately stop. The only other reason the ball would keep moving sideways would be gravity not being correctly reset, but after the stuck-to-walls glitch in Innoquous 1, the possibility of this happening was eradicated. I'll look into it.

I'll update the file once I've implemented switches, tried moving platforms, and added a few levels to demonstrate them. After that, I may try modifying the engine to make fans possible.

Thanks for the feedback, HappyGiraffeStudios/Banov!

[qwertyuil390]

That was fun, just like the other two.

- Colour - This color is perfectly fine, not having to strain your eyes
- Levels - Should get more difficult in later levels. a mixture of short and long levels might be nice. then again, look at Karoshi games. They have many shot levels and are much fun to play.
- Obstacles - Definitely moving objects. there should be certain bricks that you can only go in one way, any other way would stop you.
- Storyline - I can't think of a story...i think this would be fine without one anyways

Hope to see you continue this

[IceMetalPunk]

Very fun, actually. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it .

- Colour - I like the color scheme. Simple shading might be a nice addition, but only if you think it'd be good; the colors are fine as is.

- Levels - Short levels for a game like this, definitely. Long levels would drive people insane. Stick with adding to the puzzle, not the length, as difficulty increases.

- Obstacles - Walls that can only be passed through from one direction (these are essential in gravity-shifting games); Walls that are solid/intangible depending on the direction of gravity; powerups (don't ask me what kind; that's up to you . Powerups always add variety to games).

- Storyline - Considering the main character is just a ball, I'd say stick with no story. A story for this would need some inclusion of a ball, which (unless you're very creative) will always be juvenile.

-IMP

[banov]

I could see fans posing a problem, however. Moving left and right is done with x/y transitions as opposed to h/vspeed, and fans would require the latter. If I rework the engine a little, I could add them, but I can foresee quite a few glitches emerging.

Not necessarily, just have the fans modify its x and y o.o

Step Event:
if point_distance(x,y,ball.x,ball.y)<64 and ball.y>bbox_top and ball.y<bbox_bottom{ball.x-=1}

@Banov: About the ball moving in midair, it shouldn't. As stated above, left and right movements are done with x/y, so the moment you stop moving left/right the ball will immediately stop. The only other reason the ball would keep moving sideways would be gravity not being correctly reset, but after the stuck-to-walls glitch in Innoquous 1, the possibility of this happening was eradicated. I'll look into it.

Again, maybe I was mistaken, but that's what it seemed like.

Edited by banov, 05 June 2009 - 05:13 PM.

[Watzels]

That was quite good. With lots more lvls i would play that for hours.

- Colour - Prefer the original white/black? Like how it is currently? Would like to see colour but in different styles?
I like the colours
- Levels - Many short levels? Less, bigger levels? Ranging from easy to difficult, or just a plain easy or difficult game?
Many. Was i supposed to right more? Ok many easy, medium, and hard ones... mainly hard ones.
- Obstacles - Like the current ones (razors, static, breakable walls)? Suggestions for more?
They are good, cant think of anything. But i dont think it needs a million different obstacles.
- Storyline - Make one up or leave the game without a story? If make one up, any ideas what it could be?
Storyline? What do you need that for!
- Anything else?
Fullscreen... why was it fullscreen, its only a small resolution so why not start in windowed mode? I cant stand games that make you play in fullscreen (i just tested and f4 fixes that). Some sort of menu also and all the usuals.

Very fun game.

EDIT:
I didnt quite make it through

Edited by Watzels, 05 June 2009 - 06:04 PM.

[daspirit]

I like the new version. I think that you should have a level selection and I would like to to put more stuff! If you remake the engine to have v/hspeed and you ever need help with it, you can ask me, I started a working engine using v/hspeed for my current WIP.

[NAL]

I've uploaded the third build now. This version adds switches which activate/deactivate walls. Two levels have been added which demonstrate this. The levels are at the start of the game, so if you want to play through the tutorial/other levels, either complete the switch levels first or download the second build instead (given in the first post)

Moving platforms are pretty much ruled out now. I've yet to accomplish glitch-free vertical moving platforms. I've no idea whow I'd manage to get them working perfectly and THEN get them to work for all four directions.

Fans are next, although they probably won't turn out to actually be fans, but something with a similar function (eg arrows that move you in the direction shown).

Edited by NAL, 08 June 2009 - 05:30 PM.

[Zack064]

I liked the game, just seemed like it was glitchy when you jumped while moving left or right and hit the ground. Anyways, I would stick to b/w, or add a custom color system like in netochezpas 3. the font for the tutorial doesn't really fit in with the theme in my opinion, but that isn't a big deal. I liked how you added the new feature for changing solids.

overall, i enjoyed it and hope to see a full version soon.

Edited by Zack064, 10 June 2009 - 12:45 AM.

[daspirit]

Your game keeps bringing me back for more. I like the switches, I see the puzzels just getting slightly harder and require more retrys lol. I've had some problems though, I got stuck inside the blocks that come with the switches... more than once...

[NAL]

A progress report and screenshot.

I've nearly done with arrows that move you (from hereon in, "movers") in their direction (they function similarly to fans). They're shown below:

<screenshot removed>

They look better in action since they move in the direction shown. I'll post a demo with a level including them once I've fixed a couple of minor bugs, which shouldn't take too long.

@daspirit: Thanks for that report. The bug you mentioned should now be fixed - switches can now only be activated when the ball is clear of any "empty" walls. I'll upload this fix along with the mover update.

Edited by NAL, 11 July 2009 - 03:11 AM.

[michael pw]

Great, i prefere the game play of this one.

-The colour is good all i can say is maybe you could add like a grass effect and build a form of story around that, you could also have different stages to boost the story.

A story idea:

- Square shaped aliens captured the president of ______ in ______. agent ______ needs to travel and get him back, start off on simple ground then go to buildings then space then other planet then secret building.
The Mission is called Operation Innoquous.

This is just an idea for a story.

- objects: you could add keys that need to be collected so you don,t go directly to the exit.

- other features:

health bar: a health bar, you loose health when you touch objects that don't kill you straight away.
Menu: the menu and the intro could be auto levels, like what you have but in an auto level.

anyway the game is a very good start, no bugs

[NAL]

Build 4 is now available from the first post. This includes a level with the movers in, and an extra level that's last in the demo, which will be one of the more difficult ones. It also fixes a glitch where you get stuck in switch walls while pushing a switch. I'll update the YYG link as well.

health bar: a health bar, you loose health when you touch objects that don't kill you straight away.

There... already is one. Right underneath the level names... the tutorial even tells you that static hurts.

Menu: the menu and the intro could be auto levels, like what you have but in an auto level.

There will be a main menu in the full game. I doubt the tutorial or intro levels will be auto levels, since I personally like their interactivity.

Thanks for the ideas though, I'll take note and if people agree I'll take action.

[daspirit]

Cool, I like the new build. The Precision level is very hard though, I can't beat it. I can't wait for the next version!

[Watzels]

Cool, I like the new build. The Precision level is very hard though, I can't beat it. I can't wait for the next version!

Once you work it out its actually quite easy.

Its coming along nicely, needs lots more lvls expecially hard ones!