Chade on 26/3/2015 at 10:57
I finished the game last night.
The core mechanic is a really nice surprising kernel of fun: not-quite-so-easy to start, satisfyingly hard to master. The difficulty curve at the beginning of the game is offset by the hilarity involved in desperately flailing and failing to stay upright. Many of the later levels take that core mechanic and try it out in some really interesting ways. Overall I had an immense amount of fun while it lasted, and I want to go back for more. If you hadn't asked us to keep it quiet I would have shown this to half my friends by now. That said, while I currently have something of an infatuation with the game, I don't think that will last for too much longer. I think you need to do more in the levels department to maintain interest.
Criticisms:
- You have a core mechanic which should take a long time to really master (I am nowhere near mastering it, despite finishing the game), but there's nothing in the game to bring that depth of skill out. No truly difficult levels, no leaderboards, no personal records, no bonus accomplishments. This game is crying out for at least some of those things. Please do something here.
- The difficulty curve is bad. The stair level is one of the harder levels in the game (especially if you ignore time limits). I found the next few levels to be easy going after finally completing the stair level. I would suggest if you asked people here to rank levels in order of difficulty, you will end up with a more satisfying game.
- I would like to see more levels that built on skills I had developed in earlier levels. E.g., harder versions of the stair level, or the cyber level, or ice level, or LOTR level. I liked those levels individually, but overall it felt like the game lacked a skill ramp, partly I think because all the levels were so different to each other.
- I don't know what it is, but I just don't find that the loose buckets make for a very satisfying challenge. Maybe if I could impart significant force to them (and in turn have significant force imparted on me), they might be more interesting. They might be more interesting when combined with other challenges? On flat ground, I don't think they do much.
- Either the catapult level is stupid, or I was too stupid to see how to finish it properly. I just retried it 100 times, falling on the catapult in different ways, until eventually by some fluke I happened to be tossed onto the other platform. The particular way I found of falling on the catapult level to finish the level didn't seem logical or interesting.
- The wave level was just annoying. If the waves had imparted force to the stilts, that would have made the level more interesting, I think (the waves would probably have to be less frequent).
- I don't know how much time you have to create more levels, but I could easily do 3-4 times the number of levels without getting bored. Probably more.
- Why don't I get to walk up the steps to my spot on the podium? :mad:
henke on 26/3/2015 at 12:24
Yes, great feedback! Thanks a bunch Chade and Renz. :D
Yeah the difficulty curve is something that's popped up with other people I've showed it to as well, but the request for harder levels later on is a first. I think it's true though. Once people master the technique after one or two levels it's mostly smooth sailing to the end. I will make the opening levels even easier and consider fleshing out the later levels. And yeah the Catapult is pretty chaotic. I can't reliably beat it myself, I usually have to take 5 or 6 attempts every time I get to it.
henke on 8/4/2015 at 18:23
STILT FELLA IS pretty much DONE! :D
I gotta make a trailer and then it's pretty much just a matter of releasing it. Sometime next week probably. Not sure when. I'd release it on Tuesday but that's when GTA V comes out and I don't wanna steal Rockstar's thunder. :erg:
Renzatic on 9/4/2015 at 21:33
Hey, before you release it, you need to add something like this to the soundtrack on the ice lake level...
[video=youtube;PxMSFbgCUAs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxMSFbgCUAs[/video]
henke on 10/4/2015 at 07:24
Heh. Either that or some classical ice ballet music. :)
henke on 13/4/2015 at 17:48
The game is done, check the first post! :)
I thought I'd have time to finish and upload it and start spreading it around tonight, but the last moments changes took longer than I'd expected. Will commence Operation Shameless Self-Promotion around the net tomorrow.
Tomi on 13/4/2015 at 21:49
Congratulations on the release! It's a fun little game that you should be proud of, and I hope that it'll find some success. Good luck with promoting Stilt Fella and with your next project. :cool:
Renzatic on 14/4/2015 at 07:57
What Tomi said. It's an awesome little game, and it deserves some recognition.
...and an expansion pack sometime down the road. HINT HINT! NUDGE NUDGE!
Phatose on 16/4/2015 at 03:18
Well, that was a fun little distraction. Tricky enough that it's not a walk in the park, but simple enough that it doesn't get aggravating. Fun, good work.
Think you missed an opportunity though. Got to the winner's stand and saw the controls still worked the same no matter what the camera angle. Could probably get a bit of mileage out of that. Make on level that's just a straight walk, but with the camera in front of the player instead of behind, or even at the finish line. Then do the same level right afterward, except with the large column from the LotR level slowly and visibly about to fall on you from behind.
