[ALPHA/BETA] New Game!

[Muta]

I've been working on a new game idea lately and now I'm going to post what I've made so far... it doesn't really have any graphics yet (just ones made up as I went along) and I dunno if you'd consider this an alpha or beta version of it, but whatever.


The game's called POW (Prisoner of War... but I dunno if I'll actually use that title or theme in the actual game) and the object is to get from the bottom to the top without being "zapped" by the tiles of the floor. Click and hold the mouse and your guy will move towards it.

To start the game, click play (or for a custom level, select that radio button and paste a level code... which can be made with the level editor). Here's an example of a custom level:

0d4578616d706c65204c6576656c8c6318811511611700521021121200530b30c30d005206207208005101102103005

White tiles are safe, walk on those.
Blue, Red and Green will kill you when they first flash, but are safe immediately after.
Yellow tiles stop you from moving.
Rainbow/Purple colored ones are blockers.


Level Editor:
Pretty self-explanitory, but first set the blockers by clicking on the tiles where you want them then click Edit Level. You can then edit tiles in a frame by frame sort of way (use the buttons to add/delete frames or go forward and backward). Click create to make a pop-up appear with your level in hex form on it.

Note:
You are only in one tile at a time even if it looks like you might be in 2 or more at once... to see what tile you're in click the "Show Outlines" checkbox at the top.

I just rewrote the whole engine so it didn't use hitTest at all, so it might be buggy, so please tell me if you find any bugs. And some constructive critism would be nice too

*Known Bugs*
-Using a number in the name of your level in the level editor will cause it to not work.

Anyway, sorry about the long instructions here's the game and the level editor:


Game:
http://uploadfile.putfile.com/videos/15121255243.swf

Editor:
http://uploadfile.putfile.com/videos/15121281960.swf

*Edit* I forgot about IE making flash extremely slow... next time I upload it I'll up the frame rate... sorry about the laggyness.

[deamothul]

I liked the simple addictive concept but indeed it was very slow overhere on a reasonably fast machine p2.8 ghz ... anyways good lob so far

[OpethRockr55]

Wow, for a beta that's a lot of levels. Some of those were actually quite infuriating, but I kept at 'em (still didn't get a few earlybirds like "Trident" and "Simplicity"). I quit about level 15 because that's when they started to up the ante and get a bit tougher.

Very nice game. I think a graphics are a bit touchy, but I respect that as this is a beta, and the only bug I did catch was with the purple impassible blocks: when I forced the ball into them (intentionally dragged it into a corner of one of the blocks), sometimes I could evade a panel flashing under me. I noticed this in the first level, but didn't try it on the others. Extremely challenging, and there were some really cool looking levels that were quite original.

Keep it up.

[scheletro]

As usual, in my mac G3 run very slow, I need a new mac

[Fall_X]

As usual, in my mac G3 run very slow, I need a new mac

Or an actual computer

Nice game, but way too slow.

[tidenburg]

Realy fun. Bit to slow but great idea.

[Muta]

Thanks for the comments guys, and yeah the graphics are only temporary.

I really don't know why it's running slow, but for me when I play it normally (without a browser window) it runs fine, but then when I play it in IE it's extremely slow.

Try right clicking and "Save target as" to download it then try and play it, it should be fine. I dunno if it's slow because of IE or if it's putfile or because it's not in an HTML page, but I'll try to fix it. The game runs smoothly on my computer (2.2 ghz).

[FohpreF1]

Awesome concept, I would love to see the finished version of this game.

A few ideas: - Order your levels from easiest to hardest, I found some of the early ones hard, and some later ones really simple.
- Everyone loves to get a high score, maybe some type of scoring system, by levels passed and time taken.
-Maybe you could win a different code each level and you enter that at the start and continue playing the level you achieved.

If any of these are already in the game, sorry, I'm using Opera and it doesn't always work properly.

Very good work.

[happinessSam]

I really liked the idea, except I too found it to be a bit slow and unresponsive (it's a difficult balance you have to find). With some nice graphics this could be really good.

[Muta]

Awesome concept, I would love to see the finished version of this game.

A few ideas: - Order your levels from easiest to hardest, I found some of the early ones hard, and some later ones really simple.
- Everyone loves to get a high score, maybe some type of scoring system, by levels passed and time taken.
-Maybe you could win a different code each level and you enter that at the start and continue playing the level you achieved.

If any of these are already in the game, sorry, I'm using Opera and it doesn't always work properly.

Very good work.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm planning on putting in all of those things in the final version. I'm going to have 3 modes of play:
Life mode where you'll get maybe 10 lives and another live every 5 or so levels, and you see how far you can make it.
Time mode where you have 60 seconds to do each level and if you take longer than that, you lose.
Custom mode where you can play any levels you've already played, or play a custom level made with the level editor.

I'm also planning on putting in a high score mode and maybe a challenge a friend thing if I can figure out how to make it work (enter a friend's email and it'll send them the link and your score to beat). And I tried my best to order the levels from easiest to hardest, but if you have any suggestions of ones to switch, just say so.

The graphics need improving too, and unfortunately I don't have the tools or skills to make nice looking graphics, but I'll try my best.

Again, to play it without being slow, right click and save the swf first, then play it. It'll run smoothly.

[FohpreF1]

That sounds awesome!

[Muta]

That sounds awesome!

Thanks, but I could sure use some graphics

[FohpreF1]

I wish I could help, but I am really suckish.
Sorry dude.

[Muta]

I wish I could help, but I am really suckish.
Sorry dude.

Well any suggestions at what it should look like then?

[FohpreF1]

Yeh, I think the blocks are pretty good. But I don't like the spinning ball thing.
Seeing as the game is called P.O.W you might be able to make the ball more of an over-head of a soldier. I also think that you should go with the "Industrial-metal-grungy" style in your menus and whatnot.

And maybe you could put more of a story into the game, like a little animation at the start, and maybe a short cutscene at the completion of every 5th level or something.

[Muta]

Yeh, I think the blocks are pretty good. But I don't like the spinning ball thing.
Seeing as the game is called P.O.W you might be able to make the ball more of an over-head of a soldier. I also think that you should go with the "Industrial-metal-grungy" style in your menus and whatnot.

And maybe you could put more of a story into the game, like a little animation at the start, and maybe a short cutscene at the completion of every 5th level or something.

Oh yeah, I'm planning on adding stories and cutscenes maybe, but this is just the alpha version... and the graphics are just placeholders for when I make ones that are related to the game.