Elementum
<div class="IPBDescription">I've been busy</div>I've been away from the forums for a long time, only stopping in occasionally, maybe to wish MonsE a happy birthday.
A few of you may remember that I started a game company called <a href="http://www.OneThingStudios.com" target="_blank">One Thing Studios</a>. Recently, we released our first title, Elementum.
Reviews have been good so far and we're expecting more. Here are a couple we've seen:
<a href="http://www.bytten.com/gamereview.php?id=380" target="_blank">Bytten</a>
<a href="http://firsthour.net/preview/elementum" target="_blank">First Hour</a>
We're selling off our site right now and we'll be expanding to other sites in the near future.
Wish me luck!
A few of you may remember that I started a game company called <a href="http://www.OneThingStudios.com" target="_blank">One Thing Studios</a>. Recently, we released our first title, Elementum.
Reviews have been good so far and we're expecting more. Here are a couple we've seen:
<a href="http://www.bytten.com/gamereview.php?id=380" target="_blank">Bytten</a>
<a href="http://firsthour.net/preview/elementum" target="_blank">First Hour</a>
We're selling off our site right now and we'll be expanding to other sites in the near future.
Wish me luck!
Comments
I sincerely wish you all the best, though.
--Scythe--
--Scythe--<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1757558:date=Mar 6 2010, 06:23 AM:name=Scythe)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Scythe @ Mar 6 2010, 06:23 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1757558"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I sincerely wish you all the best, though.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Same really.
edit: and done, please tell me if there's anything else you want or if the about section should be tweaked further.
Also, what kind of responses you looking for? Encouragement or critique (or both)?
The $19 seemed appropriate given other titles in the general genre and the fact that most people in the beta spent a large number of hours playing the game.
I recommend you look at the descriptions for game on Steam and try to emulate their structure, especially games of the same genre (i.e. Peggle and Puzzle Quest). Your description of the game keeps diving from the simple to the too-much-detail, and promises of "it's cooler and more complex than it sounds" is just asking for people to be suspicious. If you want to give detail, how about a few screenshots of game elements (like a picture of just a switch) and a quick description of how it works?
Just my $0.02 from reading the description, and trust me the skeptics will read it and judge if they even want to try it based on it, so make sure you polish it all the way.
If I ever find time to play games in the near future, I'll try to remember to try the demo.
EDIT: The trailers also help explain how it work. Maybe place a good gameplay vid/trailer on the description page?
The $19 seemed appropriate given other titles in the general genre and the fact that most people in the beta spent a large number of hours playing the game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, first of all congratulations on having the guts/drive to actually build your own studio and stick with it long enough to produce your first game. I know that is no small task. I really hope you do well so you can go on to make greater things. Since I am in the same field as you though, I tend to test out games with a critical eye...
My first impressions were that felt like you took every cool feature (in terms of menu screens, loading screens, title screens) you could think of and put them into this game, and it makes it feel like it's trying too hard. The quality level does not stay constant and the lack of cohesion makes it feel like it's a "wouldn't it be cool if we had..." situation.
The toy winding start doesn't feel original to me though it does look pretty awesome. The music starts out in a way that makes me think of Harry Potter. This isn't inherently a problem, but it sounds grand and your menu screen does not look the part. This is what I meant above, the quality level of the art just jumps around all over the place. The same is true of the loading screen, the level selection, the victory menu, and the loss menu. They all feel like different art styles and it hurts the cohesiveness of the entire product. I see the theme is the whole alchemy/steampunk stuff, but the loading screen looks like a kid's game while the victory menu reminds me of like a demoscene abstract wallpaper render thing.
So that's my opinion of the art. Now on to the usability and the gameplay...
Annoyances in usability-
1. The victory menu is really impossible to figure out. It doesn't fit anything else in the game and I've sat at it multiple times during the demo just clicking not noticing the tiny "continue" button.
2. The loss menu is really really annoying. The fact that it scrolls down so slowly, paired with a small hitbox on the menu items makes it very frustrating when I lose. I want to be able to immediately hit retry, but instead I have to try multiple times just to hit it, or wait until it finishes scrolling down really slowly.
Gameplay-
At first I didn't like the gameplay because the balls didn't act like pool balls even though that's what they looked like and that was what the tutorial videos seemed to indicate. Same thing with the magnetic balls. It annoyed me that they didn't cause other balls to actually move.
After I played a little bit more I realized how impossible it would be if you actually made the balls act more physics correct, but maybe a slight change in the artistic representation of the balls on the screen would help with my preconception of it being like pool.
The gameplay itself was pretty fun once I began to understand it. I can see how this actually fits into the puzzle genre but has a little bit of action in it as well.
The second most frustrating thing (first being that loss menu's slow scrolling) was the common situation where I'd have 3 balls of the correct color in the field, but they would be spaced out with no way to bring them together. I think that maybe the magnetic balls would serve a good purpose in this case, and I kept wanting it to work that way, but I think this frustrating aspect may have been part of your design. It certainly adds a little bit more of a puzzle.
The puzzle element gets wickedly complex wickedly fast, which in some ways is good (means you've definitely got a puzzle element), in other ways bad (I tended to solve them by like 50% trial and error).
My absolute favorite part was the bonus level with the canon shooting them out. The music and the sounds and everything just "worked", and it was really fun.
So yeah, great start. I hope you are planning updates to make this game really shine. As it is, I don't think it's really worth the $20 price point, but if you're getting enough people paying obviously you should keep it there. Just keep in mind the non-linear relationship between # of sales and price of item.
Maybe you could consider lowering the price after you polish it up. That way you would be maximizing the usefulness of the added exposure (assuming that there would be due to the price decrease), rather than just milking it with a price drop. :-)
Sorry if I'm too critical. I hope that my comments have been helpful, that is their only intent. :-)
If you want me to elaborate on / explain any of my comments better, let me know and I'd be happy to.
The one thing they do is make multiple games.
Well they can't both make and release. They are only supposed to do One Thing.
As for Psyke's post. I actually tried very hard to prevent the "Wouldn't it be cool" syndrome. The artwork may feel a little disjointed due to our decision to make it transitional. Historically, alchemists grabbed the newest stuff out there and had ties to astrology. This led to the consistent theme of starfields, parchment, piping, clockwork, steam, etc. We also avoided sharp edges to give it a slightly more organic feel.
You're actually the first person to complain about the victory screen in its current form. I've asked other players and testers about this today and no one had any control issues.
I can speed up the loss menu and expand the click area. There are already a few tweaks to the game that reduce the time to start replaying a level.
Don't think I'm discounting your opinion here. I always give people's opinion about the game a fair review and you certainly have some points to ponder over. Still, you can't blame me for getting a little more giddy about <a href="http://www.bytten.com/gamereview.php?id=380" target="_blank">Bytten's response</a> than the more negative responses.
The big example of the disjointed art that I am talking about is the victory screen vs. the loading screen. The victory screen looked very sharp to me while the loading screen very soft. They feel like they were done by completely different artists. I do like the overall theme of the art but I'm very nitpicky when it comes to this stuff and so because I feel like the look of the game could improve if the art was more cohesive, I feel the need to speak!
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You're actually the first person to complain about the victory screen in its current form. I've asked other players and testers about this today and no one had any control issues.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think my issues with the victory screen was largely due to how different it looked from the rest of the menus in your game, both in artistic look and in typography. I'm curious if you have been doing kleenex tests, or if these are the same testers who have put many hours into the game? Obviously, if you are finding that my opinion is the minority then this is not a usability issue. :P
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Don't think I'm discounting your opinion here. I always give people's opinion about the game a fair review and you certainly have some points to ponder over. Still, you can't blame me for getting a little more giddy about <a href="http://www.bytten.com/gamereview.php?id=380" target="_blank">Bytten's response</a> than the more negative responses.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not at all, it's your game and so in the end if you disagree with my opinions that is your right. I don't blame you at all for that, nor for enjoying a positive review. That's what we all hope for when we push our babies out into the world. :)
I think I see where you're coming from for the difference between the transition and the victory screens. The transition is rounded like part of a sphere and the victory screen is plainly more 2d. I designed it this way because I wanted people to feel like their work was done within an elemental reaction chamber and closing the chamber allowed the formation of a new work scape. The victory screen was mean to be entirely within this chamber, which is why it's attached to the frame of the game in the top left corner.
Your responses for speed are very similar to some of my own responses. Originally, the game was much faster and harder, mainly due to my experience with twitch gaming improving my reaction speed within games. We made it easier to broaden the audience.
I may end up expanding the victory screen some. I went through MANY iterations to fit all the stuff in there and I think readability suffered somewhat as a result.
Quick question, is it the black granite face of the victory screen that makes it strange? That's the only place in the game where it shows up.
...
Quick question, is it the black granite face of the victory screen that makes it strange? That's the only place in the game where it shows up.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I made a flash file that will let you flip through all your screens (with comments).
<a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/98668/elementum/illustration.html" target="_blank">http://dl.dropbox.com/u/98668/elementum/illustration.html</a>
It's a little slow to load, so if you only see black be a little patient. :)
Looking at it this way helped me to articulate my thoughts a little better, and when looking at it this way, and hearing all your rationale, it's very obvious a lot of work and thought went into this. It's impressive the amount of cohesiveness you already do have despite using it in some very different situations.
<!--quoteo(post=1758160:date=Mar 8 2010, 12:42 PM:name=spellman23)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (spellman23 @ Mar 8 2010, 12:42 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758160"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Just reading Psyke's review/hints made me impressed with both of you. Psyke for hitting on the detail stuff that so many forget about (trust me, it may only be subconscious, but artwork coherence matters) and Gwahir for punching out a legit game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This makes me smile. I guess I'm pursuing the right profession. :)
I can see what you're talking about, mainly you just want consistent, darker lighting on the parchment (I noticed this during development but never really felt it was that important) maybe a larger scoreboard with a lighter or more speckled granite face, and more detail on the transition.
I'll definitely consider these changes. Right now I'm more focused on the marketing side of launching the game, but I should be able to put out a patch at some point.
- Your main page could use some work such as not having the blog there. At least, not the only thing. People will come to your website for 3 things: to buy the game, to download the demo or to find out what the heck this game is. Right now 2 of the 3 things are at the top (but are just small buttons lost in the mess of text) and they will disappear with a new blog update. Take a peek at other indie sites such as: <a href="http://www.crayonphysics.com/" target="_blank">http://www.crayonphysics.com/</a> or <a href="http://2dboy.com/games.php" target="_blank">http://2dboy.com/games.php</a> . They have: Trailer, purchase and demo's which are all big and obvious. Everything else can be put on a subpage for people to find. Throw those 3 things on the main page, at the top, in big, easy to see and click buttons (and embed the trailer).
- Your trailer (or teaser as you call it). It's 1 minute of text that is too small to even see in the embedded video followd by less than 8 seconds of gameplay and then a link. As an early teaser this may have worked, but you guys need a real trailer for the frontpage. Ditch the text/story for starters because I don't think anyone is buying puzzle games for the story ;) and it makes the trailer drraaaag (I was skipping through it to see the gameplay). Use the trailer to showcase the game; what makes it fun and unqiue. I know you guys say 'download the demo to find out!', but that's a tough sell even. You need a strong trailer to get them interested.
- But, you have a fan made trailer! Which takes even longer to get to any gameplay (a good 1m40s before anything happens). Even then, most of the gameplay shots are quick cuts which still give me no clue as to the point of the game. Ok, I think my point is made :) A good trailer will go a long way to help.
Sorry if any of this comes across as too harsh, I am trying to make it as constructive as possible with suggestions. Good luck with this! Now all I need to do is try the game in a few days when I stop working 15 hour days, sheesh.
I always find the hardest part of making games, as a programmer, is finding someone with both artistic talent and ability.
Ah the classic bane of mods. Except for Fall From Heaven, which just oozes art content.
Ironically I recently found a mod that seems to have solid artwork/modelers/riggers/annimators already, but crummy coders.
Don't forget, the game sale ($9.50, 50% off) is still going on for a few days.
<center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UoAbbirbhYs"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UoAbbirbhYs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
Ironically I recently found a mod that seems to have solid artwork/modelers/riggers/annimators already, but crummy coders.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Reminds me of 99% of Source mods initially. Every single one was "oh look at our pretty models!!!!" but then they never got anywhere because they had no programmers.