I'm a developer and wanted to ask anyone's opinion on this and kinda doubting my the game play in our game, Taboo Tyke. We developed a game with a cute baby named Tyler but you can't control the main character like other games. You can't make him go left or right or even jump. He just walks and walks like babies do. Well my question, if you are kind enough to provide any opinions, do you think we made a mistake by NOT allowing the players to control the main character and only influence Tyler by dragging to the screen teddy bears and candy which will make him stop and crawl? There are other Action Items in the game but is this concept not familiar in game play and potentially a negative to the game? Does anyone know of another game that has a main character that can't be controlled but only influenced with stuff? I'd love to hear about those games and check them out. Thanks. Guy
The recent Colossatron: Massive World Threat had a main "character" (giant alien robotic death snake of destruction) couldn't be controlled (other than a skill where you could make him charge in a direction) which did very well commercially and critically. In order to answer your question I think I'd need more gameplay details, like the objective of the game etc. I do think your current system sounds interesting but I'd like to hear more before I can provide a definitive answer
Maybe our video can help explain the game better. Any feedback on the game would be much appreciated too! Its our first! Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
Haha he's so cute! And from what I see here it's definitely NOT. A mistake. The gameplay here looks really novel, and makes it so it's not just another platformer.
Wow, that Colossatron looks freakin awesome! Maybe one day when our game company grow up, we can be like them!
Glad you like it! Wow thanks. So far everyone that starts playing, as far as I've seen, never pay attention to the instructional screens and never drags the Action Items. They always click and the clicks the screen. Doesn't work that way. Maybe we should look into that to ease the learning curve (which I don't think is too difficult).
Maybe make the tutorials more interesting? Bright colors, cute faces I'm not sure. Is it optional to play the tutorial or is it part of the first level?
Well when you first start playing, an intro movie plays and then in level 1 and 2 there are mini tutorials that you have to click continue to get rid of them. There is something about them that seems slow or maybe delays the players need to get right into the game? Maybe I'm over thinking it!
Do you have any screen recording functionalities/apps on your computer or iDevice that you could record that video and 1st 2 levels with? I'd be glad to provide input on them
Have the instructions as billboards in the background. That way the player can't skip them, sees them, and it fits the enviorment.
Here's a video on how the instructions show in the game. Sorry the video is a little long. Basically, the game stops you watch and need to hit Continue to get back to the game.
Here's a video of the in-game instructions. Basially, the game stops and player will need to click continue to get back to game play. http://youtu.be/eiD7zfqoafw
It's an interesting idea that can be great if done right. Only other example I could think of: Whistler's Brother by Broderbund (I played it on the C64 a few years back... ) You play Whistler and have to get your brother safely across each screen. Naturally, he's too busy reading his newspaper to pay attention where he's going so you can whistle to get his attention and (kind of) get him to head in your general vicinity... A unique and very evil game.
It sounds like the tutorial should work well enough. I can't watch the video at the moment but I will as soon as I can
