Pointer Variations

Today i've made a couple of variations on the pointer system. In addition to the systems that i have made earlier I made a variation where the user can use the pointer to select an attack to execute.

So now I have 3 variations on the Pointer System:
(press to download)

1. Directional dragging and click timing for attacking
2. Movement hotspots and click timing for attacking
3. Directional dragging and attack selection

My own tests and tests with roommates suggest that the hotspots don't really work that well. However I'm awaiting results from disabled users to confirm this.

Between option 1 and 3 the difference is that option 1 keeps a better pace with the game. On the other end option 3 gives more control to the player wich also adds to the gameplay experience.

There is also the latest keyboard version for download here

Try it out and leave a comment!

Pointer System

I've created a new Pointer System that uses hot spots on the screen to control the character. There are 6 hotspots:

• two for walking left and right;
• three for jumping up, jumping left and jumping right;
• and one large one for blocking;

At first i made the hotspots move together with the main character but this made it almost impossible to use since you had to always move the mouse along with the character. So finally i made the hotspots static on the screen.

At first the system was still pretty tough to use for me compared to using keys because when using keys you're able to press multiple directions at once and therefore have a more precice control. But eventually i was able to control the character pretty well with these hotspots.

However there are some platforms in my testlevel that are very hard for me to reach with the Pointer System due to lack of precision control. So either i need to take the lack of precision into account when building my levels or I need to come up with a more precise variant of the system.

Anyone who wants to test the system please feel free to download my prototype and do so. Feedback is much appriciated.

Picture below: screenshot of my prototype using the Pointer System.

Neglected

I've been brutally neglecting this blog for almost a month now. The reason for this was that i've hit a wall with my code. Since my code was not very structured it had become almost impossible for me to either debug it or expand it without creating new bugs.

For this reason i've decided to start my prototype again from scratch. Since this had set me back more than a month i've been programming only and did not really feel in the mood to write on my weblog.

But now I'm actually happy that I did start over because i've learned a lot about programming and also i now have a more robust system without bugs:) that performs a lot better.

So i have finished the coregameplay of fighting and jumping for my game. But now i'm just trying to figure out some kind of goal that has to motivate the player to play the game.

Download the new core gameplay and play it download the latest version of the prototype here.