I couldn't get past that big scary face thing though... I'd like to see how that's actually meant to be done!

Look at my Epilogue journal post, there's a video at the end where I shamelessly make it look simple.

It wasn't even my best run (and yet, I don't die a single time).

Perk of being the dev I guess :P

I'd be as bold as to say that the game used to be 10X harder, but shipping it as is would've been a great mistake. A lot of people have made it clear that it's already hardcore enough :)

@Orymus3, Your game was the car one, wasn't it? Jeeze that game had me breathing such heavy sighs of relief after each section! :) I couldn't get past that big scary face thing though... I'd like to see how that's actually meant to be done! :P

it was hella difficult, took me 30+ tries, but finally i got lucky enough to beat the boss.

I've tried every game that was bundled and I want to congratulate everyone on a job well done! Well maybe not Orymus3, I lost all my hair due to him :P. It's interesting to see how the difficulty of a game affects the playtime. When it's too easy, you just blast through or quickly come to a point where it feels repetitive. When it's too hard, you feel frustrated and become reluctant to keep going. If you've tried my game, you'd probably think it's easy, but my girlfriend, who doesn't play games at all, finds it difficult to a point where she's reluctant to try and finish it.

Next year I'm going to try and incorporate some difficulty progression to maximize the playtime of my game, like some of you have.

it was hella difficult, took me 30+ tries, but finally i got lucky enough to beat the boss.

*Tear of pride*

I was SO afraid this game would take 5 minutes to beat... Looks like I should've put that speed-run timer afterall ;)

If you've tried my game, you'd probably think it's easy, but my girlfriend, who doesn't play games at all, finds it difficult to a point where she's reluctant to try and finish it.

My gf was able to help me assess the curve. As I went, everything she was able to go through within 10 tries, I ended up keeping.

Of course, the last level and boss were made without her feedback, which is probably why everyone is struggling to bad with them

Next year I'm going to try and incorporate some difficulty progression to maximize the playtime of my game, like some of you have.

I think that this is important. A big part of "fun" comes from flow. You need to be in a state of flow to really enjoy the experience to the fullest, and when something is too easy and does not pose a challenge, it does not require sufficient attention to put you in that mindset.

Older arcade games such as tetris worked because they used incremental difficulty. It usually started as a lame experience, but sooner or later, nearly all players ended up meeting a level that was challenging to them because of the increased speed.

I prefer to try and guess as to what might be considered challenging upfront and get players quickly into the game. For example, I don't think the pencil was much of a challenge, but it already forced players to consider obstacles (it was part of the tutorial, in essence). Quickly enough, though, I've thrown challenges at the player and it is interesting to see how players responded to that.

If anyone has yet to play the game, or would like to play it again, I'd really LOVE to see recorded runs. This would teach me so much about how players approach the game and would help me learn from the experience.

EDIT: Just realised this is the judge thread, not the after party. If you intend on making a video, please post it to my journal to avoid clutter :)

Thanks!

I've tried every game that was bundled and I want to congratulate everyone on a job well done!.

If I may ask. ReColorMe. What did you like? What did you hate? Regards.

I've now played through all of the games that I managed to run on my machine (in those cases in which they didn't, this is more likely a reflection of my slightly old and shaky computer than of the games). The main response that comes to mind is surprise at the variety in the games created! We have tactical games, platformers, Lemmings-esque puzzle-games, shooters, a racer and more besides. I've had fun playing those entries that I have played: well done to my fellow competitors.

@0sok: Thinking of your game, was it by any chance a 64-bit build? Yours was, I believe, one of the games that for me produced an error to the effect that the executable wasn't "a valid win32 application".

I was SO afraid this game would take 5 minutes to beat...

No. No it does not.

As I went, everything she was able to go through within 10 tries, I ended up keeping.

... Well, now I'm a little ashamed of my apparent lack of skill at your game. XD

If anyone has yet to play the game, or would like to play it again, I'd really LOVE to see recorded runs.

Hmm... Is there a reasonable way to get them to you, for those of us who aren't signed up with a service like YouTube? I'm tempted to record a run.

@0sok: Thinking of your game, was it by any chance a 64-bit build? Yours was, I believe, one of the games that for me produced an error to the effect that the executable wasn't "a valid win32 application".

I specifically built a x86 version but I know you aren't running a normal setup. No worries, I appreciate the attempt.

Hmm... Is there a reasonable way to get them to you, for those of us who aren't signed up with a service like YouTube? I'm tempted to record a run.

I can set you up a limited FTP access to my server.

Just PM me and I'll get things up and running by EOW.

Fair enough--that was just my best guess at where the problem lay. (Beyond "this machine can be a little dodgy to start with" :P)

If I may ask. ReColorMe. What did you like? What did you hate? Regards.

I liked the graphics and feel of the game, movement felt good and responsive. When I started out I was very confused about what to do, I started jumping and dying. I then noticed the 'ammo' spawning(doesn't spawn on the first run for me), but I thought it was a coin of some sort. Then I noticed that I could sometimes fire something, and then I realized it was ammo that could be used to solidify blocks. This was quite a lengthy process of figuring out the very basics of the game, I only saw afterwards that you forgot to include the readme.

I think I got up to the third helicopter level, where I couldn't figure out how to move on. The one where you have to fall down though the spikes and not go for the helicopter(I think). I liked the different mechanics of the blocks, dinosaur and helicopter, but I felt like the helicopter was a little unintuitive. Jump on a greyed out dinosaur and you fall through(good), jump on a greyed out helicopter and you die(unexpected). I sort liked and disliked not knowing what was being expected of me, having to figure out a puzzle is nice, but having to figure out the rules of the game was frustrating at times.

I hope that's the kind of feedback you were looking for, if not, feel free to shoot me down .