147 replies to this topic

[classicgamelover1985]

No people here are just a bunch of snobs. What you say makes sense to you, but you don't see how ridiculous your being. I'm defending my topic in case you can't tell. I'm Trying to get you people to stop focusing on trying to tell me off and just focus on helping me make this game better. The only person who really belongs here is Satyre so far. This is the only person I want here. You other people: get off my topic. If your just looking to flame me and make me feel bad with your smart-ass comments, sarcasm, and smug retorts, just stick it in your ear. I'm not replying to you anymore.Unless you change your attitudes. I have a right to be anyway on want to on this topic, its MY topic. Its my game. If you got a problem with me, I don't care. And yes, sixteen years old, you are just a kid. Not enough life experience to back you up. Don't lecture me about "professionalism" or what a "real game is" cuz your only sixteen. I'm twenty six. I've been around the block more than you have. I remember when I was sixteen I thought I was smart then. Boy was I wrong.

To anyone new on this topic, if what you are about to say isn't intended to build a person up, and enlighten them, then you don't belong here. If you believe that my game isn't a "Real Game' like Captain Co Co suggests, then don't be rude about it like he did. Please just explain to me why you believe this game isn't good enough yet. But be nice about it. Don't get rude with me. Nobody deserves to be treated like a low-class nobody. Lets all just get along. My topic so far is RUINED!!!! Thanks to some kids. I'm going to keep my game at what it is right now.


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Okay I'm calm now. I think the fire is out. So let me express to you what I believe some games are.

A game is a game. People only care about having fun while playing it. That's all that matters. If its kids and "Family Friendly people that I am able to reach out to, then so be it, THEY will be my customers then. Who cares if I don't impress the hard-to-please? I don't care about fancy crap, all I care about is making a game that I myself created. Its my expression. Its an art. Its not right to cut down the artist for expressing himself to his audience. His "image" is valuable to him. We need to be sensitive to that fact. An artist puts all his feelings into one wonderful creation or design, and that's always special.

Some people may not see it this way. Some people may believe I should compete better with the rest of the world. Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation. But really, I don't care about all those extra details.

Think of the woman who sits in her home knitting. She puts all her heart into what she weaves. Should she not have a right to put the price tag on it she feels is right for it? The person who works on their creation, states its value. Unlike Xbox and those big-name companies, i'm not like them. I run a different business. A business that isn't really business, its more of a mere passion that's not out to just make money. Games are my passion, and yes, I do put a high price tag on my games. Because they are that valuable to me. Maybe not to someone else, but to me, they are very valuable. My games are like precious gems I find buried somewhere. Nobody has to buy it, but everyone is just going to have to except the fact that the price is what it is, cuz Its not going to change.

Its kind of hard to explain really. I'm not trying to compete. I'm not really sure how to explain it. I don't even care to consider myself a businessman. I try to live a SIMPLE life. Without concerning myself with where the world is going and their madness. To everyone else, they criticize my game is priced too high, but try to think outside the box a little. The price isn't a rip off, because the value is in the artist. The artist isn't out to rip anyone off, he's out to share it with the world, but at the same time, trying to make ends meet too. I'm sorry if the price on my game offends you. But its not like other games where i'm trying to please everyone. Its my own special creation, its my baby, Yes! It is THAT valuable to me. Just try to understand.

Basically, some games are out to compete, while other games, we need to let go of what we think is "Quality" and try to see the "Quality within" the artist. We need to see other games as an "art" not a "product." My game is NOT a product out to be a good deal for your buck. Its a creation of mine. And its well worth what I was originally asking for it. Besides, I am offering updates anyways cuz I love just working on it whenever I have free time.So the game will always keep getting better.

The only people who should post here are people who also take tons of passion into their work and don't declare it a "PRODUCT" to have.

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Hey I just made 3 sales just now... how about that. My web store sent me an email of the people who just bought the game for the price I was asking. Not the outstanding one, but the lowered one. I have their emails. How nice of them I'll send those people a link to where they can download it. Its 11:26PM right now. Funny how the very day you told me I wouldn't make a sale, I did. I hope I make more tomorrow... and no i'm not using copyrighted Nintendo music. I know better than that. I did compose the music myself with Anvil Studio. Its just midi music but I'm sure I can sharpen it up. More ignorance from the know-nothings.But hey I should advertise my site too, right now its not advertised. But as soon as I do I'm sure i'll do great. And no i'm NOT making this up, 3 people just bought my game just now... that's SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Replies

• Reply with compliments or criticism but do not flame or insult the author. Rude or offensive comments may result in your account closure.
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Dj Trackmania and Captain Coco. See this? I have had nothing but frustrations since I started this topic. All I wanted to do when I started this topic was hear people express in detail honest opinions on how to make this game better. You guys were breaking rules. You were flaming me, and judging me. Not even giving the game a try. I said many times, I was going to fix bugs, but as I was saying this, You kept replying that I "wasn't" going to fix bugs. So you weren't even listening to me!!!! I even said that I was going to later make the graphics better, and you were totally ignoring me!! You weren't very respectful on my topic that's for sure. And you are no longer welcome here! I did put in the wish though and spoke to the administrators, I'm hoping that one day, they will add a feature to forums, to allow people who create topics to BLOCK people from posting anything!! People who don't stay on topic. And don't follow forum rules. Kind of like and "Extra" administrator. Or an administrator working with the administrators. It'd even be nice to delete posts that don't belong. Those pictures you put up, Captain Coco? Those don't belong here, they need to be removed!!! That is SPAM!!!
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Anybody have anymore suggestions? AND PLEASE just follow forum rules!!! I know I double posted before but that's because this website has problems. I clicked on edit and it counted it as a reply instead. i have no idea why it did that. But I try very hard not to double post and I want to apologize to Nocturn for doing this. I am sorry for that, I try to follow rules.

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Thank you SO MUCH to whoever removed those posts!!! Even the things i had to say, I wish I never had to say it!! I don't want my precious topic cluttered with a bunch of bull-snot. That stuff was certainly undesired.

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 20 July 2012 - 06:14 AM.

[Johnjwj]

I downloaded the demo in hope of trying this much controversial game, but like many others I too received an unexpected error during the end of the loading screen. Nothing happened to my screen resolution or anything, which can be seen as an improvement I suppose. In any case I must congratulate you on your achievement of selling 3 copies of this game. In my opinion, that's way too low and I expect this game to really do good on the North American market, where games of this excellent quality are really unusual. As for feedback, I'd wish to see some more screenshots of the game, as I can't really experience the game any other way. Also, in contrast to the other posters, I don't think you should change the name from "Pointless Exploration" to something else. The title captures exactly the essence of this historical cultural masterpiece of our time.

[Captain Coco]

Its impossible for one individual to criticize their own work.

Are you serious? I criticize my own work all the time. I want to get better, you know. Self-criticism is an essential element of critical thought. If this concept is so foreign to you, then I don't know what to say to you. Hell, have a link.

I'm going to post a wish to the administrators to allow users of their forums to block users they don't want posting in their topics.

No forum I have ever visited does that. It would get abused for sure.

Show me your game! Let me see your game. I'll check it out.

I'm not sure what my own abilities have to do with those of yours. It seems to me that it's a weak attempt to brush away what I'm telling you, but I'll go ahead and humour you anyway. I'd love to see what excuse you have for me in store. I can't give you a copy, but I can show you a screenshot of the project I'm working on. If Headsmalls is, for whatever reason, not okay with it, he knows how to contact me.

That's why they have "TESTERS" to examine it first before they release it.

That's... not what a tester usually does. To quoth the holy Wikipedia: "The primary function of game testing is the discovery and documentation of software defects (aka bugs)."

that's why you need an outsider, who can look at it and speak more accurately of it.

I certainly don't disagree with you on this point. I still think you should be able to criticize your own works at the very least.

An artist puts all his feelings into one wonderful creation or design, and that's always special.

I think this is the most intelligent thing you have said so far. I am genuinely impressed.

3 people just bought my game just now... that's SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations. Coincidentally, one of those is me.

All I wanted to do when I started this topic was hear people express in detail honest opinions on how to make this game better.

I would love to help you or give honest opinions. My honest opinion is that the game looks amateurish, and that's all I can say. You didn't leave much in the way of trailers, screenshots, or anything else. The game itself does not work for me.

So you weren't even listening to me!!!! I even said that I was going to later make the graphics better, and you were totally ignoring me!!

Now this is certainly an oddity. I know of bug patches, but I've never heard of a purchasable game that got finished after its release.

That stuff was certainly undesired.

Ah, yes. The infamous picture. I was probably drunk at the time I posted it, or I did some other stupid thing, I don't remember. Nevertheless, I apologize for ever having posting it.

Edited by Captain Coco, 20 July 2012 - 01:32 PM.

[ShaunS]

I have to say, the GMC has some of the most patient, helpful, friendly and civilized people I've ever encountered in an online community. Continued attempts to give real and helpful feedback to this guy is pretty admirable.

On the note of "pricing things how you personally value them", I think your price tag is actually a little bit insulting.

I currently offer Perspective, a full game that I poured my heart and soul into for the price of either completely free, or an optional price tag of $1 or more for those who want to support me in making games.

I've made a point of cleaning the game up to make it presentable and polished. I feel that it is my responsibility to do this kind of thing if I ever hope people to see my games as being worth any kind of price tag at all.

I have sold something around 5 copies for > $1 and made something around $10 from all of the time and love I invested into this game. But this doesn't bother me too much as I've learned a great deal through releasing the game and I have great confidence in my next title. I also realize the advantage of getting as many people to see and play my game as possible both to spread word of mouth and to give me a big sample of feedback and criticism. This game also made for a fantastic portfolio piece and took me into a day job that my friends would kill for.

I too would love to be able live off of making my own games. This has been my dream since I was a toddler and I am humbled by the fact such great tools have been created to allow people like me to have a real shot at fulfilling those dreams. But I realize that I am going to fail a great number of times before I succeed and that I should continuously strive to improve as opposed to hoping to instantly hit a jackpot off my first title, no matter how many levels or how awesome I personally think it is.

While this game was clearly a labour of great love and from the vast amount of content and stuff going on in the levels clearly had a lot of time invested into it, everything about its presentation AND gameplay is sloppy and poorly executed on levels too numerous to even mention. You need to set yourself standards and not be afraid of comparing your work to that of the best. The reason you should offer this game for either no price, or a pay what you want price model, is that people will actually give it a shot. People will try the game out and will give you much more solid feedback. You are simply not ready to start trying to profit from your skills as a designer because those skills are still in development.

You say that you don't wish to compete with the likes of nintendo or whatever, but then you value your game as equal to games by these companies. Why on earth should I buy this instead of a triple A production, built by people with years and years of experience and refined skills?

If it was free I would give it a shot. But at this price tag you're not going to make friends, fans, sales, improvement, progress, or much of anything.

If anyone has bought this they are foolish, and are either mindlessly spending infinite disposable income or are somehow unaware that much stronger and more coherent, bug free, great looking and well designed experiences can be bought for a fraction of the cost.

It deeply upsets me that people might buy this. It's an insult to the love others have put into far stronger games that are priced reasonably and respectfully.

Edited by ShaunS, 20 July 2012 - 03:14 PM.

[dj trackmania]

Dj Trackmania and Captain Coco. See this? I have had nothing but frustrations since I started this topic. All I wanted to do when I started this topic was hear people express in detail honest opinions on how to make this game better. You guys were breaking rules. You were flaming me, and judging me. Not even giving the game a try. I said many times, I was going to fix bugs, but as I was saying this, You kept replying that I "wasn't" going to fix bugs. So you weren't even listening to me!!!! I even said that I was going to later make the graphics better, and you were totally ignoring me!! You weren't very respectful on my topic that's for sure. And you are no longer welcome here! I did put in the wish though and spoke to the administrators, I'm hoping that one day, they will add a feature to forums, to allow people who create topics to BLOCK people from posting anything!! People who don't stay on topic. And don't follow forum rules. Kind of like and "Extra" administrator. Or an administrator working with the administrators. It'd even be nice to delete posts that don't belong. Those pictures you put up, Captain Coco? Those don't belong here, they need to be removed!!! That is SPAM!!!

Okay, you are right about the fact that I overlooked that you were going to fix the bugs. This doesn't make things better though. The fact that you needed a moderator to confirm all of our points in a nice way seems pretty snobbish to me anyway. Besides, obviously you didn't listen to me too. Because I downloaded the demo, just so I could give some real opinion on the game, but because of whatever reason it doesn't start up. So don't blame me to say that I didn't even give it a try! If the 3 people that have bought the game (sincere condolences) have these problems too then what are you gonna do?

I pretty much agree with ShaunS in every point he mentioned, but I'm just too upset about this topic to sound non-insulting.

[classicgamelover1985]

Captain Co Co:

Well thank you. I must say, this is the most helpful criticism you have offered so far. This actually helps. I'm sorry if my game seems like it was done by an ameture, but let me give you a little secret: this is my first game so I guess I'm a bit of an armature. I probably will never use code though. I grew very attached to the D&D. But I have become exceptionally good at the D&D!!! So maybe I can be of better help to anyone who is more new to Game Maker than I am. I certainly am more experienced now than what I was when I started. AND THANK YOU for your purchase. I thought that was kind of cool. But Of these three emails which one is yours? It don't matter, the owners of these emails will get their game.

And no, i would NOT say a game sucks unless it actually DOES suck. If I tried your game, I'd give you very honest feedback. Trust me on this one. Just cuz I'd want the same respect. But I wouldn't just say it "Sucks" I'd give details on why it was or was not interesting, fun, and enjoyable.

While a tester for the most part finds bugs, a tester does report to the producer or developer (depending on who they think should know) if they found it to be less enjoyable. If the game they are testing is bad enough, they'll report it. But its always good to get outside feedback to accurately pinpoint what's wrong with a game. And yes, I can judge for myself, but I like to work as a team with people. I just had a fourteen year old come up here and play it. He said he loved it. He played 443 but couldn't beat it. He said he was going to beat that level even if it killed him. LOL. Anyways.

And lastly, my game is purchasable for one reason: It doesn't have that many issues. Its a very playable game right now. But right now it demands high hardware resources. But yes, I will be offering updates and fixes. But for the most part its at least playable. I'm also going to increase the level span. from 450 to 1000. This was my original goal and I'm thinking of continuing to pursue it.

DJ Trackmania

Well I'm sorry. I will offer screenshots then. But nobody has tried it until they are actually playing it. I don't know why people can't get it to run. I even showed you guys some YouTube videos of me playing it. It plays it really does. I think its either your OS or your computer is just not able to handle it. This game is very fussy about the hardware that's running it. I don't know how to change that. Even if i deleted all the rooms and spared like 10 that wouldn't work because the biggest issue of why its this way is the SPRITES!I!!! There are tons of them, more than 1033 sprites!! I'm not kidding. This game is very huge but believe me when I say it cuz I actually tried it and it didn't work. Deleting rooms won't fix the issue. I have to figure out a way to get sprites in a folder and then program the game to load sprites only when needed. That may solve the issue. But for the time being I guess I could just post a few YouTube videos for people who can't play it.

Really, i am able to get it to run perfectly fine.

and by the way I didn't get the moderator to do anything the moderator did that on their own. I did post a 'wish" at the helpdesk though if that's what led the moderator to request this, then I guess it just happens. But i didn't directly ASK the moderator to do that.

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 20 July 2012 - 07:31 PM.

[Chris_Devl]

I'm dying to see what this game looks like..

I've seen the titlescreen, but does someone wanna link me some gameplay screenshots for me? :3

[classicgamelover1985]

I'm dying to see what this game looks like..

I've seen the titlescreen, but does someone wanna link me some gameplay screenshots for me? :3

I can't figure out how to place pictures into this forum, it keeps telling me I must enter a post...

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 20 July 2012 - 07:58 PM.

[satyre]

I'm dying to see what this game looks like..

I've seen the titlescreen, but does someone wanna link me some gameplay screenshots for me? :3

I can't figure out how to place pictures into this forum, it keeps telling me I must enter a post...

Upload your screenshots to a website like tinypic or Photobucket and put the IMG codes here.

[classicgamelover1985]

Now try to understand, I drew all the sprites by hand. I did not barrow from anyone Else's source! So forgive the armature graphics, but I'd say, considering I'm no professional graphic designer, the graphics are pretty good for what they are...

You got to use your imagination though. I'm a traditionalist and I miss the classic games that required a person to use imagination while they played. So this is sort of my mere style of design.

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 20 July 2012 - 08:34 PM.

[satyre]

JUST making sure, you DID use royalty-free fonts, correct?
The game looks a little bit better than I imagined it.

[classicgamelover1985]

JUST making sure, you DID use royalty-free fonts, correct?
The game looks a little bit better than I imagined it.

I used the built-in game maker fonts. All resources, I used, were ones that Game Maker, the program, came with. Except the music, I used Anvil Studio, to compose my own music.This game is very colorful and alive when you play it. The graphics will put you in a good mood. And this game is not recommended for people who suffer from epilepsy.That's what I have been told by allot of people anyways... So these graphics and music and what not is all copyrighted. I'm rather proud of that fact, i have my own copyrighted title. But don't let the name discourage you. Like I said, the people who have played it so far, locally, they all really liked it and said it was allot of fun. Captain Co Co made a good point though in one of his posts saying that 450 levels could get repetitive. This would be true for some games like this. But let me assure you, each level is different. So believe it or not, a repetitive nature is nowhere in this game, its always a new challenge each level.


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Okay people if you can't get the original demo working, try this one. its a smaller copy its only 11MB in size. HOPEFULLY you can get at least THIS ONE to work! HOPEFULLY!! I do hope... Pointless Exploration (Smaller Copy)

And please note, even though this says "There is no New Game available in the demo version" just ignore this? Please? I'm not going to take the time to remove one minor detail that's off. I'll fix it later. Thanks.

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 21 July 2012 - 05:47 AM.

[Johnjwj]

JUST making sure, you DID use royalty-free fonts, correct?
The game looks a little bit better than I imagined it.

I used the built-in game maker fonts. All resources, I used, were ones that Game Maker, the program, came with. Except the music, I used Anvil Studio, to compose my own music.This game is very colorful and alive when you play it. The graphics will put you in a good mood. And this game is not recommended for people who suffer from epilepsy.That's what I have been told by allot of people anyways... So these graphics and music and what not is all copyrighted. I'm rather proud of that fact, i have my own copyrighted title. But don't let the name discourage you. Like I said, the people who have played it so far, locally, they all really liked it and said it was allot of fun. Captain Co Co made a good point though in one of his posts saying that 450 levels could get repetitive. This would be true for some games like this. But let me assure you, each level is different. So believe it or not, a repetitive nature is nowhere in this game, its always a new challenge each level.


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Okay people if you can't get the original demo working, try this one. its a smaller copy its only 11MB in size. HOPEFULLY you can get at least THIS ONE to work! HOPEFULLY!! I do hope... Pointless Exploration (Smaller Copy)

And please note, even though this says "There is no New Game available in the demo version" just ignore this? Please? I'm not going to take the time to remove one minor detail that's off. I'll fix it later. Thanks.

Thank you, the demo worked for me this time. I have to say that a lot of people underestimate this when just looking at the screenshots, the level design seems to be the main component of this game. I missed audio, Is there supposed to be any? I can't say that I would expect any sales of this game, from just looking at it and your website, but if it works for you and people are buying as you say, I wish you the best of luck to develop this further. I heard you were going to do some kind of graphic overhaul; please keep the levels as diverse as they are.

[classicgamelover1985]

JUST making sure, you DID use royalty-free fonts, correct?
The game looks a little bit better than I imagined it.

I used the built-in game maker fonts. All resources, I used, were ones that Game Maker, the program, came with. Except the music, I used Anvil Studio, to compose my own music.This game is very colorful and alive when you play it. The graphics will put you in a good mood. And this game is not recommended for people who suffer from epilepsy.That's what I have been told by allot of people anyways... So these graphics and music and what not is all copyrighted. I'm rather proud of that fact, i have my own copyrighted title. But don't let the name discourage you. Like I said, the people who have played it so far, locally, they all really liked it and said it was allot of fun. Captain Co Co made a good point though in one of his posts saying that 450 levels could get repetitive. This would be true for some games like this. But let me assure you, each level is different. So believe it or not, a repetitive nature is nowhere in this game, its always a new challenge each level.

________________________________________________________________________________________________


Okay people if you can't get the original demo working, try this one. its a smaller copy its only 11MB in size. HOPEFULLY you can get at least THIS ONE to work! HOPEFULLY!! I do hope... Pointless Exploration (Smaller Copy)

And please note, even though this says "There is no New Game available in the demo version" just ignore this? Please? I'm not going to take the time to remove one minor detail that's off. I'll fix it later. Thanks.

Thank you, the demo worked for me this time. I have to say that a lot of people underestimate this when just looking at the screenshots, the level design seems to be the main component of this game. I missed audio, Is there supposed to be any? I can't say that I would expect any sales of this game, from just looking at it and your website, but if it works for you and people are buying as you say, I wish you the best of luck to develop this further. I heard you were going to do some kind of graphic overhaul; please keep the levels as diverse as they are.

I know there is a ton of reading when it comes to my posts. I am one heck of a typer! I wrote a 480 page novel and published it back in 2005. So, I'm a bit of a literary type person. I can type 86 words a minute, i'm not making this up. I'm sorry for all the reading, but I like to give as much detail about something as I can.

The audio has a problem. it doesn't always work for some odd freaking reason. To fix this, just close the game and reopen the game until the music starts working.

And by the way, don't use easy mode, hard or impossible. I have to work on those I guess. Just play on normal mode. Easy mode I noticed he'd hit something that doesn't exist. You'll be walking fine, then suddenly, he'll stop, and it will look as though he's running into something. I assure you, he's not running into anything!!! The program (not my game) the program game maker thinks there is an object there... if this makes sense to you.


This forum has started out in a pretty bad direction. But now its heading in a good direction. Its hard to distinguish "VOICE" while reading through text. People here are dedicated it seems. To every topic created, they are always there. That's pretty cool. And in spite of this topic going in the downward direction it went, and my reputation now sucking the big one, (have you seen my profile image? There's a reason I like that game so much), I have to say people are still here on this topic checking this game out. How about that. That shows dedication. So I will surrender myself. I was wrong. I got so irritated by any post because before I submitted this topic and this game into this forum, I had it in my head people were going to rip this game a new one. The first post I thought that person was about to do that. I didn't realize that they were irritated at the price I was asking for it. That makes sense. But already it seemed bad. People couldn't even get the game to WORK! That was very discouraging to me. Which is why I released this smaller copy.

To TsukaYuriko they said that Game Maker isn't Multi-threaded. That's fine. but I STILL say dual core. Why? Because you'll need that extra core to run your system still. My game will use up an entire core! Having that extra core available will help keep things from getting too laggy on your system. I say the more cores you have, the better. That way the game will run on the one, and it gives you the rest to precess the rest.

I aced computer literacy class back in the day while I was still in school. My teacher said something about the dual core processor. He said that a single core can be best looked at as a street. One street will have traffic going one way, and then traffic going the other direction. One heading north and the other heading south. Well if you take a dual core. Its like 2 streets. and now you can have cars heading one way but this time there are 2 lines. so that's 2 lines of cars heading north and 2 lines of cars heading south on the other street. And so on and so fourth with the tri-core and quad core. So a dual core is always what I recommend. Your computer won't be as overwhelmed when trying to run both game and everything else on one single core. That's just too much for a machine to work with.

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Nobody is talking anymore....

Well i'll just be hanging out here then doop-dee doo dee doo dee doo

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Hey the people that bought the game are saying they can't start it too. Only one person was able to run it out of the two. Oops. I sent them the new download and they're saying its working now... so maybe you people will have better luck with the new download. Look at my first post and try the new file.

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 22 July 2012 - 01:13 PM.

[TsukaYuriko]

Alright, classicgamelover1985, I've read the last few posts and made up my mind about you. You seem to be very sensitive when someone says something negative about your game from what I can tell, and you take the art of game making very seriously. The combination of those two is kind of deadly for your reputation (as well as your game's), though, since you tend to overreact at times. I'll try to go easy on you, but I'm expecting you to do the same. You seem to have a general hostility towards anyone on the GMC, especially younger people - if you call everyone on this forum "just a bunch of snobs" or stuff like that every other post, expect similarly unfriendly replies from others. You even said yourself that "nobody deserves to be treated like a low-class nobody", so you should try not to treat us that way as well. Not everyone who negatively criticizes your game is saying that it sucks or is trying to insult you and your game, so flaming those really isn't the way to go. They're most likely just friendly people who want to help you, like I am.

Don't think of comments about the game's price as insults - they're just meant to give you a general idea of how much those specific people would pay for the game. If people are buying your game at the current price, be happy about it and let others have their very own opinions about the price. Just don't expect the same amount of sales as if the game was sold at a cheaper price, it's just natural for people to be more likely to buy cheap games. More sales of course doesn't always mean more income, it always depends on the price. Based on people's opinions, you can get an estimate of the perfect price/sales ratio. You should collect way more than five, though, five opinions aren't accurate enough. Or you just stick with whatever price you want and forget about the rest, that's another option if you don't want to mess around with this.

I have to say that the screenshots look better than I had expected. I'm currently not at home, though, and the laptop I took with me barely has enough RAM to run the operating system, so this game won't work on it for sure. Watching a video with 1KB/s mobile internet is impossible as well... so I guess I'll have to wait for a while longer until I can try the game, but it's good to hear that your update versions are starting to work on more and more computers. I'm sure the huge RAM usage can be fixed with external loading and unloading of graphics to make it even more playable, though, but let me give you a hint: Don't pay anyone to implement this for you, you're bound to get help for free if you ask nicely in the Questions and Answers forum here on the GMC. It will require code, however (at least the unloading part, and only loading the resources but not unloading them kind of defeats the purpose, as the game's RAM usage will grow from fairly low back to 2GB, causing out of memory errors mid-game). Oh, and about the dual core thing... I never thought of it that way.

[sillybrat]

Yeah I like it when people can get along.

Edited by sillybrat, 22 July 2012 - 10:55 PM.

[classicgamelover1985]

Alright, classicgamelover1985, I've read the last few posts and made up my mind about you. You seem to be very sensitive when someone says something negative about your game from what I can tell, and you take the art of game making very seriously. The combination of those two is kind of deadly for your reputation (as well as your game's), though, since you tend to overreact at times. I'll try to go easy on you, but I'm expecting you to do the same. You seem to have a general hostility towards anyone on the GMC, especially younger people - if you call everyone on this forum "just a bunch of snobs" or stuff like that every other post, expect similarly unfriendly replies from others. You even said yourself that "nobody deserves to be treated like a low-class nobody", so you should try not to treat us that way as well. Not everyone who negatively criticizes your game is saying that it sucks or is trying to insult you and your game, so flaming those really isn't the way to go. They're most likely just friendly people who want to help you, like I am.

Don't think of comments about the game's price as insults - they're just meant to give you a general idea of how much those specific people would pay for the game. If people are buying your game at the current price, be happy about it and let others have their very own opinions about the price. Just don't expect the same amount of sales as if the game was sold at a cheaper price, it's just natural for people to be more likely to buy cheap games. More sales of course doesn't always mean more income, it always depends on the price. Based on people's opinions, you can get an estimate of the perfect price/sales ratio. You should collect way more than five, though, five opinions aren't accurate enough. Or you just stick with whatever price you want and forget about the rest, that's another option if you don't want to mess around with this.

I have to say that the screenshots look better than I had expected. I'm currently not at home, though, and the laptop I took with me barely has enough RAM to run the operating system, so this game won't work on it for sure. Watching a video with 1KB/s mobile internet is impossible as well... so I guess I'll have to wait for a while longer until I can try the game, but it's good to hear that your update versions are starting to work on more and more computers. I'm sure the huge RAM usage can be fixed with external loading and unloading of graphics to make it even more playable, though, but let me give you a hint: Don't pay anyone to implement this for you, you're bound to get help for free if you ask nicely in the Questions and Answers forum here on the GMC. It will require code, however (at least the unloading part, and only loading the resources but not unloading them kind of defeats the purpose, as the game's RAM usage will grow from fairly low back to 2GB, causing out of memory errors mid-game). Oh, and about the dual core thing... I never thought of it that way.

You are very right about me. I am very sensitive when it comes to my game. I felt bad yesterday and today how I acted. I want to apologize to everyone especially to the kids. I'm harder on kids cuz I like em so much. If this makes sense. I always hated myself when I was a kid so this might play a part in it.

Game designing is extremely serious actually. Most people these days don't realize it. Its taking over the world as a matter of fact! It is now one of the largest industries. But even more than that, its becoming an expression of self, not just for the players anymore, but for the developer, too, now.

No, if I had my audience back, I'd try much harder to be more friendly. I felt SOOOO ATTACKED!!!!! My gosh! I could have pulled hair out of my head. And yesterday I was kicking myself for fighting back when all the while I was wishing I had stayed calm and thought more in depth to what was being said to me rather than getting the idea that people just hated this game I spent years on. Oh yeah, I had a reason to go ape S*** on people like DJ Trackmania said I was. He was right. But that doesn't excuse me. Cuz the truth is, I do not know the people I'm talking to. When I thought they were attacks they were actually just honest opinions. Since I was a kid, game development was huge to me. I think it always will be.

The biggest thing that drove me to be the way I was, was when the criticism came, I had no idea how to respond. Like when you brought up the dual core thing. I was freaking out its like "What do I say to this person??? Have I made myself look stupid already?" So allot of what people saw so far, was actually me just attacking myself. I have a ton of issues. If you met me in person though you wouldn't think so. You'd think I'm a really sweet guy. But when I'm alone in my apartment, oh boy am I a nut! I was attacking myself cuz all in all it seemed I blew it and I lost control when this started to seem this way.

Hopefully I can redeem myself and regain my audience. Thanks for understanding though.

Don't let it fool you though people. Just because I'm an amateur to game maker, I've been "designing" video games since I was like 6 or 7 years old. I would draw the levels on paper back then. Hence papergamesentertainment.

My pastor to my church is considering buying my game now for his brother who he says loves video games too. His brother he says is into minecraft and other games. So that will be sale number four if he actually does it.

So yeah, I'm very experienced when it comes to designing a level. I have 20 years of experience. If it wasn't on a computer screen it was in my notebook. Even in school. I HATED SCHOOL!!!!!! I'm shooting for 1000 levels in my game. 450 for now, but when I finish all 1000 I'll release it as an update. Then I'll try to think of a way to improve the graphics. But! Levels first.


I want to take it back. You people are NOT snobs if your intentions are to help and not rub it in that your designs are better than mine. I'm sorry my website sucks right now. I have a ton of work to do on it. And I'm sorry my graphics look as though they were drawn in Microsoft paint. I used the built-in paint tool that came with game maker though. Those things were hurtful. So you guys aren't innocent either. We all need to just put this behind us and try to make this topic better. I hate it when I feel as though I'm second best to the "Greater programmers". Cuz honestly, you should see the programming in my game, its pretty flawless. Forgive me?

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 23 July 2012 - 03:17 AM.

[dj trackmania]

I managed to start the demo now, so I can finally judge the game by itself instead of just by screenshots and videos.

So... let's try this without sounding offensive. This game is pretty much exactly what I expected. I was wrong about music and sounds, though. I didn't get them to work immediately, but at the second start-up I noticed everything's custom made, and not some midis from Nintendo music or something. This doesn't however change the fact that everything's still of very low quality. Programming - there's collision errors which got me stuck, the HUD is drawn inaccurately, the health can go over 100 and below 0 and yeah. Pretty much like somebody's first attempt at a Game Maker game looks like. Use of GM's standard functions everywhere - you'll get to see show_message with spelling mistakes and five exclamation marks after a capslock sentence quite often. The sleep() function gets overused too, etc. All of which can become pretty annoying. Graphics are of the same quality, and so is music. I know that you did this all by yourself, but this could still be lots better. I don't wanna show off, but I am currently making a game which is very much like Super Mario Land 2 for the Gameboy, where I also use customly made tiles which look almost official. I'm just saying that you can become way better, if you hang in there. You said every level is different. This might even be true, as I tested some levels and there was some nice little gimmick in each one. However, with 450 levels you can't avoid some repetition. And in the levels I played, they were still basically the same in the core. Nothing really new mindblowing, just some minor changes. Overall, this game felt like some generic platformer. You should never have made this much levels, anyway. You should have released this before, for free, so you can take advice from people and become better and when you're eventually good enough with programming, making graphics and music you can make this game. But what have we got? This seems like someone's first attempt at Game Maker in every way, except that it has 450 levels. I know why you sell this, but seriously? It has flaws everywhere, music doesn't even load sometimes and variables don't initialize correctly like you said (however you managed that; I've never had those problems before). Well yeah, I think I get the point across. I know you said you were going to improve graphics and stuff, but honestly, I would try to get better with Game Maker first (which might take years) and when you really feel like that your game has enough quality to be sold, then you can do it (and even then I'd think that 30 dollars is pretty overpriced, considering what I can get for 5 dollars already). If you feel like this is good enough to be sold in the state it is, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. I admire your motivation, because not everybody is capable of making 450 levels. But quantity itself doesn't work out. Get better with Game Maker and whatnot and make another game with less levels and more gimmicks and that might even be worth being sold then.

You're free to ignore this advice of course, but I guess plenty of people will agree with me in this point. As for now, I'd give this game away for free, even if you don't like it. And if not then at least take it off your website and put it back on for sale when you're done editing it. At the very least sell this as soon as it is finished. Because, like Captain Coco said, a sold game that gets finished after its release is kinda strange. Kinda forgot to mention that earlier.

Good luck in the future.

Edited by dj trackmania, 23 July 2012 - 08:46 PM.

[KurtBlissZ]

Like the website, I actually tried making a game called scribble cross, actually inspired be Scribble Shooter.. But other than than how it looks, It kinda bord me, and gues you could have demos for your games your tring to sell, is there?

[classicgamelover1985]

Like the website, I actually tried making a game called scribble cross, actually inspired be Scribble Shooter.. But other than than how it looks, It kinda bord me, and gues you could have demos for your games your tring to sell, is there?

Yes there are demos. I can't please everybody. I know. Some people will buy and others won't. I know this too. Either way, its getting sold. Demos are available. But for people on this topic, you can have the game for free. Check out my first post to download the full game for free. When I release my first update, I will have with it the remaining 550 levels finished to add to it. Thanks.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________


DJ Trackmania, thanks for your (your more helpful) criticism. I took to heart what you said, and you are right. But I'm still selling the game. I like the price its at right now though, I won't ever raise it even if the game gets better. I'll never raise it. Its going to stay where it is no matter what. I'm not trying to compete with the other game developers out there. People of the newer generation can't possibly understand. That's okay. My retro graphics are fantastic to me. I like NES quality. Everything all pixelated and what not. Have you ever played Sonic3 and Knuckles for the PC? They used Midi music in that, but I LOVED IT!!! I thought THAT was good quality. But I also know people today HATE Midi music. But I actually really enjoy it. Should I upgrade to 3D Sound just because the rest of the wold says MIDI sucks? No, I'm not. I'm trying to be a developer who KEEPS THE OLD-TIME AGE ALIVE! Seriously! DJ Trackmania, you sound like just another dissatisfied customer, and that's okay. No biggy. I'm fine with the way the game is. And it won't please everyone. 450 levels was my intention cuz most platformers only have 90 to maybe 160 levels? When I was a kid I wished the older platformers like Donkey Kong Country 2 had more levels than what they have now. You are also right about the repetitive nature I am trying HARD to avoid!!! I don't want my levels to get repetitive. I try hard to avoid this very much. Again, another reason I struggle to make this game the best--but I'm only human after all. I wasn't intending any "Gimmicks" I was intending to give people one HELL of a platformer! That's still my intention. I want this game to be a great platformed later in life. No gimmicks intended though. So if there are any ideas to help me do away with what you believe is a "gimmick" let me know so I can try and improve it. This game is beta, but its not uncommon for developers to sell their beta products. Besides, like I said before, this game, to me, isn't a product its an art of mine and I value it greatly. Very very greatly. Still however, even an artist deserves his pay. I'm not asking for much anymore. So what its priced at right now, is that really allot of money? That's cheap as dirt and (not saying you personally) only the stingy really would be like "Ooooo i'm not paying that much for that..." Just saying. I know some games cost much less, but again, i don't care what they are pricing theirs at. A good deal is one thing, and its good to get a bargain for your buck. But I'm not shooting for that aim. I'm just shooting to sell, and some people will like the price I'm asking, and others will turn up their noses.

The frequent ! marks. That's intentional. I'm showing emotion. That's all that is. Its not suppose to be a gimmick--it wasn't my intent anyways. Everything about this game is just my emotions. They're not suppose to be gimmicks, but some people will see it that way. And every artist has his critic.

Spelling mistakes. sorry about that. if you can point these out to me, I can correct the spelling errors. I worked on this game, most days, non-stop. So, my mind is in "blank" mode as I'm working on this game. So spelling mistakes are very normal in this case. But I don't mind going through and correcting them, let me know where they are, i'll go in and fix them. But I will be doing this anyways. I may still miss them though so it'd help if people would point them out to me too. Thank you.

If level designs in the beginning are a gimmick? They are so small and short for a reason. I figure it this way: its easier to beat a tiny level compared to a full-size one. As you get further--I think level 200? The levels get way bigger. But they are simple tiny rooms intentionally so its easier for people to beat them. Beginning levels are suppose to be simple. Try the later levels those are much longer. Level 443 and 444 take 15 minutes to beat for example.

I'm not doing 450 anymore though, I'm shooting for 1000! I'm hoping I can succeed in this. Quantitiy is only a gimmick if the developer is trying to "Boast" their game is worth it cuz it has more. The annoying problem in this is how they are "LAZY AS HELL" at designing their levels!!!!! I'm mean REALLY!!! They're levels suck! No kidding. But see, my "Quantity" is combined with a "Quality standard" i set for myself. When I'm playing the level I ask myself this one question: "Am I having FUN playing this level?" If not, then I scrap the level and restart it. I don't stop working on it until I enjoy playing it. I'm not 100% just making this game for people to buy and play for themselves. That would be like if James Rolphe (can't spell his last name right I don't think) would make videos only to please everyone who watches. That's silly though. He makes videos and movies because he ENJOYS doing this. He does it cuz it makes himself happy. He's not doing it to please everyone around him. If they enjoy his videos as much as he does, then great. Same with myself. I don't make this game just to please all you fine people. I don't care if this game NEVER SELLS!! I just don't. I am making this game for myself. It gives me great satisfaction to work on each level one by one. And I LOVE playing each level! When and if the day comes I release Pointless Exploration 2? That game too will have 1000 levels. I want this to be the known factor for this series I'm making. I'm trying to set a standard that Pointless Exploration will be greatly known as the game with tons of levels and each one of them are FUN! That is my goal for this new title.

Bugs? YES SIR I want to fix them all. I want this game to be fabulous!!! No bugs, no errors. Music plays like its suppose to, everything PERFECT! I love this game too much to just get lazy and not care about how great it is. I want to make this game better, and bugs are very important to me, to FIX. So yes, REPORT ANY BUGS YOU FIND!!! PLEASE!!! I will fix them. Just because this game is up for sale, doesn't mean I'm calling it finished--completely. Its at least playable.

I sell it now in its beta form for one reason and that's people will find problems and this will allow me to fix those problems and then I can provide them the new update. So it will get better as time goes by.

Edited by classicgamelover1985, 23 July 2012 - 11:11 PM.