Hi guys, I'm making a game for my university project and would like to know whether you think you'd enjoy playing it. It will be a 2d platform game (like the traditional Sonic or Mario games) but with 3d graphics (like Little Big Planet on the PS3). You basically just have to run around and collect stuff before the timer runs out. The main thing about the game is that it's a 2 player game. It would be locally playable via 2 iOS devices on the same network or via bluetooth. So basically you have to be in the same room/area whatever. This is to encourage communication between players as communicating is beneficial to the gameplay and will help you get a better time/score - though not essential. Teamwork, however, is required in order to progress. The main thing I want to know from you guys is, If this was a 2 player game ONLY, would you want to play the game? As it would ALWAYS require a friend/relative to play with. So would you be more likely to play it or less likely? And please give reasons why. The replies you give will help define my game! Thanks a lot, Jason.
Enemies Sir i would recomend walls that seperate the two players. In order to encourage teamwork the other player would have the switch needed to let the other person progress and vice-versa. Also you could have enemies or a upgrade system in which you could have better speed or score multiplyers in order to beat your friend. I hope this helped and please contact me for more advice.
Welcome to Toucharcade Jason! I see that you're new, but this thread should probably go into the game discussion section of the forums, maybe even the upcoming games section. Back on topic, I think it's a great idea, but I agree with Arashi in that you really need to emphasize the 'teamwork' aspect. Good luck!
Thanks guys! Hmar, should I move the post somehow then? Or just leave it? Arashi, I didn't want the players to be blocked from one another as I want them to intereact with each other and work in the same area. In terms of teamwork within the game, the idea is that one player is a certain character i.e. big, strong, can move big things but can't jump very high. The other is a weedy character but who can (for some strange reason) jump a lot higher than the big guy can however can't move blocks/boulders etc. The teamwork comes with the puzzle element of the levels - they'll have to work together to decide on the best course of action to progress. Does this sound like something you'd enjoy then? I mean if the teamwork side of things was good then would it still bother you that you would always have to be with someone else (friend/relative) in order to play the game? (No single player)
hmmm i think a polished coop platformer would do well on the idevices but there would have to be some very interesting level designs incorporating some very interesting dual player mechanics with dead simple interactions to pull off but the result can be as mind bending as your imagination can come up with. it would def have to be creative tho with lots of diversity the big guy & little guy dynamic might be fun for awhile but if thats all there is to it the gameplay will not stick. if you can bring a huge mix of dual player mechanics into the experience then yess i believe it would be a hit... but regardless there will still be a lot of ppl complaining about there being no singleplayer even if hypothetically speaking 90% of your user base would be having a blast with the coop and not missing single player at all... just my two cents
Fantastic reply! Thank you for your detailed reply. With regard to the quote in particular, there are in fact going to be a total of 4 characters at the moment. There may be more once it's released and if there is enough appeal to the audience (perhaps as in-app purchases?). The first two are big and small. The third will have a double jump (can jump 2x as high) and the last will be a computer geek who can crack computers to open doors/activate lifts etc. There would then be 6 different combinations of 2 players allowing for 6 different sort of styles of levels as opposed to just the one when if it were to be only the big and small characters. They will all have distinct advantages and drawbacks which i hope will appeal to a wide audience. That reminds me - are drug references allowed on the app store? I wanted to make some of the items they had to collect pretty wacky, i.e. a sheep, a feather bower, some crack! Let me know if this is a bad idea though!
Is that what you meant by increasing the mix of dual player mechanics or were you thinking that the big and the small player should just have more differences instead of just size strength and jump height? I suppose I could have certain abilities wrapped into one player, maybe the big guy is also a geek and midget can jump really really high etc. What do you think?
np i would keep it at 2 player interactions. i think 4 player would be a bit hectic but you never know unless you try focus on the diversity of the interactions not the complexity of them there would need to be lots of diff kinds of deadsimple 2 player interactions as that is what the core gameplay hook would be imo. like try not to think of the two characters from such a locked in perspective by doing so you are essentially limiting the kinds of experiences the player can experience thru that character. maybe try a more open approach where both players can do the same thing and try just asethetic differences between the two characters which will let you create all kinds of interesting puzzles and its up to the gamer to choose which part they want to play on the spot and not be forced or locked into playing the same part consistently throughout the whole experience... know what i mean yooo?
The only co-op platformer I've ever played is Double Dragon 2 for the NES and, let me tell you, not good. Not good at all, the platform elements that is.
Sorry I didn't really make that clear. There will only ever be two players playing at once but I was thinking that for each level there would be a set pair that the two players had to use for that level. Otherwise designing levels in which all 4 players could succeed would be hard to do. Basically at the beginning of each level you'll be told which two characters you'll be playing as then the users will have to decide who to play as between the two options. Can you give me a couple examples of these simple interactions? Do you mean things like being able to jump on top of each other to get to higher platforms/areas etc? Yea that's a good point. The reason I wanted them to have specific abilities to each character was because I wanted that to be one of the interesting things about the gameplay. As it's not really been done that much in games before although there are a few examples. I agree that users may feel "Locked in" to do specific activities - but I don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing! Hmmm... I will have to have a think.
What were the main bad things about it? Maybe I could make mine better if I knew the negative points of Double Dragon 2.
simple 2 player interactions; -one player operates a pulley to move another player from one side to the other while the player on the moving platform has to dodge obstacles -one player has to launch another one from a cannon literally has to aim and fire and the other player just has to go with it -one player has to attract a living platform using bait of some sort and the other has to trap it using a switch to lock it into place stuff like that
Ah right I see what you mean. Yea they're some decent ideas, might have to implement one or two. I like the thought of having a moving platform as a live creature... Interesting.
