Gear Land is a unique puzzle-platformer that uses 360 degree gravity, where the player navigates on circular gears which move beneath his feet as he walks. The game has 40 levels to beat and 140 diamonds to collect, in addition to a fully-functional level editor.
The game works very simply: when you walk around a gear, the gear will turn beneath you. Gears that are connected will move together, in opposite radial directions. You can jump inside gears with gaps in the floor to walk around on the inside, and then jump out of the gap to catapult yourself to a distant target. You'll find that these simple rules allow for a surprising variety of gameplay.
I created this gameto test out the functionality of GM4Mac. The purpose of the project is primarily to convey how a robust game can be built out of a very simple idea, with minimal features to clog up the level design potential. This was partly because I'm also working on a much larger game on the PC, so I didn't want to have to shift commitments. Nevertheless, I poured a lot of imagination and passion into this game, and I can honestly say I've learned a lot about level design in the process.
Since GM4Mac's sprite editor was sorta buggy, and it's really hard to make good art with a laptop trackpad, I used a simple art style, with the gear sprites generated by an algorithm I wrote in Game Maker. I started this project in December 2010, and finished the engine and the level editor before January. I spent the next two months making levels and polishing the game. The music was created by Duncan McPherson (Gamereality) from the Game Maker Community, specifically for this game.
PC version
Mac version
Edited by C3PO the Dragon Slayer, 14 March 2011 - 10:25 PM.
