Hey everyone,
I'm Runewake2 the developer of games like Minefield and I'm looking for some input on a game I intend to bring to Windows Phone and Windows 8 in the next few months and I completely intended that title to be a pun.
First off, what is Reach? Reach is a game about a sentient goo ball (I call him Billy Blob, but he doesn't like it) and was developed for Game Jolt's #glitchjam over the past seven days. In it, Billy Blob has to use his two gooey appendages to flap around the level in a series of physics based puzzles. You can download the game right now for your PC over at Game Jolt. If you don't like clicking links, here is a video of myself playing through all ten of the current levels.
Now, while the game is rather buggy due mostly to the time limits of a game jam I have grown quite fond of the style it is in and intend to patch it up and bring it and more levels to both Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Almost 100% of the game already runs flawlessly on my test devices with only some minor lag on my 620. Unfortunately I don't think I can bring the specs down to support low end devices like the original Surface RT (it only gets about 2 FPS currently). The real issue here though is the input.
The current controls require a three button mouse to be completely effective or a keyboard and two button mouse. The issue here is that phones don't have mice. What I'm looking for is some suggestions on what some of the community might want for a touch system in a game like this.
The current idea I have is to create a sort of sphere around the arm and let you tap and drag (sort of angry birds-esque) to fire the arm. However, as I don't game much with touch I'm wondering if the community might have some ideas that I hadn't considered. If you do have an idea, I'd love to hear it.
I'm hoping to have this game on your Windows Phone by the end of the summer. I have to optimize some code, develop over 90 more levels, come up with a story, do more art and hire an audio guy (The current track is planned to be temporary). If you have any suggestions or feedback on a touch based input system that you think would work or just want to voice concerns about something I definitely shouldn't do please post below so I know about them before I write something else that everyone hates.
I'm Runewake2 the developer of games like Minefield and I'm looking for some input on a game I intend to bring to Windows Phone and Windows 8 in the next few months and I completely intended that title to be a pun.
First off, what is Reach? Reach is a game about a sentient goo ball (I call him Billy Blob, but he doesn't like it) and was developed for Game Jolt's #glitchjam over the past seven days. In it, Billy Blob has to use his two gooey appendages to flap around the level in a series of physics based puzzles. You can download the game right now for your PC over at Game Jolt. If you don't like clicking links, here is a video of myself playing through all ten of the current levels.
Now, while the game is rather buggy due mostly to the time limits of a game jam I have grown quite fond of the style it is in and intend to patch it up and bring it and more levels to both Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Almost 100% of the game already runs flawlessly on my test devices with only some minor lag on my 620. Unfortunately I don't think I can bring the specs down to support low end devices like the original Surface RT (it only gets about 2 FPS currently). The real issue here though is the input.
The current controls require a three button mouse to be completely effective or a keyboard and two button mouse. The issue here is that phones don't have mice. What I'm looking for is some suggestions on what some of the community might want for a touch system in a game like this.
The current idea I have is to create a sort of sphere around the arm and let you tap and drag (sort of angry birds-esque) to fire the arm. However, as I don't game much with touch I'm wondering if the community might have some ideas that I hadn't considered. If you do have an idea, I'd love to hear it.
I'm hoping to have this game on your Windows Phone by the end of the summer. I have to optimize some code, develop over 90 more levels, come up with a story, do more art and hire an audio guy (The current track is planned to be temporary). If you have any suggestions or feedback on a touch based input system that you think would work or just want to voice concerns about something I definitely shouldn't do please post below so I know about them before I write something else that everyone hates.