Flywrench4k

[Morre]

Flywrench4k

Happy new year, fellow JGOers! Kicking off 2013 in games, here's a first proposed final version of my Java4k entry for this year: Flywrench4k.



Play it here!

The game is a demake of indie developer messhof's excellent Flywrench, with permission from the author of the original title. I've got just over half a kilobyte of space left to play with - any suggestions are much appreciated. It is fairly likely I'll use at least some of that remaining space to add more levels.

Instructions for playing the game are available on the site.

There's also a level editor for the game - to load a level in game, press "L":

Level editor

Please don't hesitate to share any comments or critique. Thanks!

EDIT: Replaced "first version" with "proposed final version" after updating the game.

[Jimmt]

Really addicting and difficult, nice work with the physics.

[sixtyten]

Yeah great game, feels very polished. Spent ages doing the last couple of levels (11 especially), but finished it eventually! Nice work.

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[Alan_W]

Really Fun and trickier than expected.

[ctomni231]

Very nice game. It is tricky but a lot of fun.

[StephR]

This is very well done and the gameplay is great. But I wonder if the controls should not be a bit less sensitive...

[LunaticEdit]

Was pretty good, vertical control is fine but the left/right motion is WAY too sensitive

[Apo]

Really great game.

Isn't easy ... but fun to play.
Congratz!

[Morre]

Okay, I've uploaded a new version of the game. Currently at 3.81kB.

I've tweaked the physics a bit to make it match the original a little more closely. Note that it's still not a perfect replication of the latter's physics - the original even more sensitive than this version (though you get to play in full screen, which helps a bit). I decreased left-right sensitivity a small bit, but increased upwards and downwards forces (less air resistance, more upwards boost per flap, lower maximum upwards speed). I worry this might make it harder - I'm a bit torn between staying true to the original (which is seriously difficult) and wanting to make it accessible. Let me know what you think of the physics again, please

I've also added a couple more levels, including a final level where I allowed myself some artistic license - if you reach it, you may note it's slightly different from the others in terms of layout.

The feedback's much appreciated, everyone - keep it coming, please!

EDIT: I'd love some feedback on level order and design as well. What do you think of the order of the levels? The introduction pace for new gameplay elements? Are there any levels you don't like that I should remove in favor of new levels?

EDIT2: One more question - how's performance for everyone? Anybody seeing the game running slowly, or having drawing/buffering issues?

[Apo]

I needed some tries to understand that my green transformation can touch the wall...
After that level 5 was easy.
I left the game in level 12 because I didn't reach the goal after 30 tries but until that the levelorder was good (imho). =)

The performance was great on my pc.

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[Morre]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that it's unclear for new players that green lets you bounce on walls - any ideas on how to make this more obvious?

[ctomni231]

Well, if you don't want to type it in the instructions, then just making a level with a bunch of green gates in a downward path followed by a diagonal wall bounding you to the finish should do the trick. Basically, you want to force the person to use the wall bounce. I didn't know it either, but I found it by accident when playing the game...

If you want to be more direct... you could put hints after they die enough times or something

[Jimmt]

Really Fun and trickier than expected.

Wait, why did I give you a medal for that? I don't remember doing that...
O.o

[StephR]

You should make more obvious in your instructions that pressing the up key also change the wrench's color to red, and that pressing the down one make it green and able to bounce against normal walls.

Made it through all 16 levels. Ending the last one may allow the player to know the total time it took her/him to complete all levels, including the time lost in failed attempts. Then the game may restarts from level 1, as it does now.

I found some of the later levels very difficult, especially from level 14. I would rate your game as hardcore !

[Alan_W]

Really Fun and trickier than expected.

Wait, why did I give you a medal for that? I don't remember doing that...
O.o

I was a bit suprised too. It must be your generous nature.

[Best Username Ever]

Really Fun and trickier than expected.

Wait, why did I give you a medal for that? I don't remember doing that...
O.o

I was a bit suprised too. It must be your generous nature.

I wonder how often people accidentally click appreciate instead of quote. Or it could be a computer virus. Alan?

[Localhorst]

Quite a nice game, maybe you can create a level editor for it?
I think the speed is too fast, you might better try to slow it down a bit.

Cheers

[Morre]

I've now uploaded a level editor for the game, which is available via a link from the applet page (bottom right). It's the one I've used internally for, so my focus was on making it easy for me to create levels. Because of this, the interface is fairly simple (though it's all explained on the page).

@Localhorst: Thank you! I've made the game slightly easier (by changing how collision works). I'm afraid to make the game easier by slowing it down, though - even though I think it'd be more approachable, I want to keep it close to the original (which is punishingly hard, and at least as fast as this 4k version).

EDIT: The game has now been submitted to Java4k.com. I still have a tiny bit of space, so it might not be final, but it's getting closer. Still very much appreciating input and critique though!

[Morre]

I've uploaded a new version to both my website and java4k.com - my intention is to call this the final version for the competition.

Any feedback is still very much appreciated, and I'd love if somebody tested it and reported any issues with it before the competition ends. Thanks for the feedback and testing so far, everyone!

[dapy]

This is an excellent game!
I've rage quit repeatedly - curse these sausage fingers - but I keep on coming back to it. So I think you must have the difficulty level just right.
Performance is perfect on my creaky 10 year old PC.

[StephR]

Just made it through all 16 levels once again, without any technical or other problem noticed. The experience gained on my previous tries some weeks ago helped me a lot. Level 14 was still the most difficult in my opinion. Still quite a hard game on the whole !