This is a really awesome concept and impressively executed. Linking the player position and piece drop position makes it manageable while still giving you the good brain feeling of doing two things at once. The platformer controller is also really smooth. The wall jump is great. I started playing without looking at the tutorial (typical lol) but was able to discover it while playing. I haven't played enough to where I'm using the nudge deliberately yet but I love the idea because it solves the whole overhang issue without complicating things too much. It feels like the game has a fun learning curve which I love.
The vibe is really good, even the menu feels good and responsive!
And: Thank you sooo much for making it possible to change the controls, that is so important, especially with tetris type games!
I like the idea and its fun to play. I especially like the fact that the border warps from left to right so you can cut the block in half.
There is just one thing i am wondering: while the nudge idea is really unusual and clever, for me it was more of a nuissance since i played with sort of a 'fire and forget' method , but when a couple of blocks are en route, its easy to bump into them and misalign them. The fact that all blocks accelerate when you send a new one makes these manoeuvres even more tricky. I actually avoided the nudge the best i could since the reward does not really seem to outweigh the risk of losing the game. But, then again, maybe thats just my skill issue :D
You could maybe add a beginner mode where the blocks fall as you send them without being nudgeable?
One more detail i noticed: it is a bit tricky to get out of a cramped space, you have to jump and then right for example to slip out of it, maybe you could make that move a little more forgiving.
Overall, great and polished game - congratulations!
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback!
I agree that the nudge mechanic can be a little frustrating. I really wanted to implement the idea, but I faced a lot of issues. I needed a way to trigger the nudge that was easy to do but also not something you'd do accidentally all the time (might have failed with that part).
A dedicated nudge key could be an option, but I was concerned about adding another button to the existing 7 just for a nudge. Another idea was to make it a multi-purpose dodge button, but you could still accidentally nudge a block when you're just trying to dodge out of the way.
My compromise was to use the wall jump mechanic since it requires purposeful inputs. But, as you pointed out, it's easy to get so used to wall jumping that you accidentally nudge a falling piece. I also made the timing for wall jumping very generous, which makes accidental nudges even more likely.
I really like your idea of having an option to disable it, but probably not as a dedicated mode. An even better solution might be to let players choose between using the wall jump for nudging or having a separate nudge button. I could just swap the condition from 'jump + direction' to 'nudge button + direction'. I would be adding an extra button, but it would be optional. Reminds me that I should have added a test screen inside of the control menu to quickly test the controls.
As for getting out of a cramped space, I'm trying to make those moves more forgiving. I've already added a few things, like a high tolerance for the 'squash death' condition, which will push you out of a block to save you if it can. I also added coyote time to help with tricky jumps. But you're right, there's probably more tweaking I could do.
It's great to hear that you find the game polished. Thank you again for all your thoughts!
I totally get your thought process. I just started game dev and I am blown away by how many thoughts and balancing goes into game mechanics and features 🤯😁
Keep at it, it's already a great game, totally worth the effort! 👍
Comments
What a cool concept; I was very bad at this XD
This is a really awesome concept and impressively executed. Linking the player position and piece drop position makes it manageable while still giving you the good brain feeling of doing two things at once. The platformer controller is also really smooth. The wall jump is great. I started playing without looking at the tutorial (typical lol) but was able to discover it while playing. I haven't played enough to where I'm using the nudge deliberately yet but I love the idea because it solves the whole overhang issue without complicating things too much. It feels like the game has a fun learning curve which I love.
The vibe is really good, even the menu feels good and responsive!
And: Thank you sooo much for making it possible to change the controls, that is so important, especially with tetris type games!
I like the idea and its fun to play. I especially like the fact that the border warps from left to right so you can cut the block in half.
There is just one thing i am wondering: while the nudge idea is really unusual and clever, for me it was more of a nuissance since i played with sort of a 'fire and forget' method , but when a couple of blocks are en route, its easy to bump into them and misalign them. The fact that all blocks accelerate when you send a new one makes these manoeuvres even more tricky. I actually avoided the nudge the best i could since the reward does not really seem to outweigh the risk of losing the game. But, then again, maybe thats just my skill issue :D
You could maybe add a beginner mode where the blocks fall as you send them without being nudgeable?
One more detail i noticed: it is a bit tricky to get out of a cramped space, you have to jump and then right for example to slip out of it, maybe you could make that move a little more forgiving.
Overall, great and polished game - congratulations!
Thank you so much for playing and for the feedback!
I agree that the nudge mechanic can be a little frustrating. I really wanted to implement the idea, but I faced a lot of issues. I needed a way to trigger the nudge that was easy to do but also not something you'd do accidentally all the time (might have failed with that part).
A dedicated nudge key could be an option, but I was concerned about adding another button to the existing 7 just for a nudge. Another idea was to make it a multi-purpose dodge button, but you could still accidentally nudge a block when you're just trying to dodge out of the way.
My compromise was to use the wall jump mechanic since it requires purposeful inputs. But, as you pointed out, it's easy to get so used to wall jumping that you accidentally nudge a falling piece. I also made the timing for wall jumping very generous, which makes accidental nudges even more likely.
I really like your idea of having an option to disable it, but probably not as a dedicated mode. An even better solution might be to let players choose between using the wall jump for nudging or having a separate nudge button. I could just swap the condition from 'jump + direction' to 'nudge button + direction'. I would be adding an extra button, but it would be optional. Reminds me that I should have added a test screen inside of the control menu to quickly test the controls.
As for getting out of a cramped space, I'm trying to make those moves more forgiving. I've already added a few things, like a high tolerance for the 'squash death' condition, which will push you out of a block to save you if it can. I also added coyote time to help with tricky jumps. But you're right, there's probably more tweaking I could do.
It's great to hear that you find the game polished. Thank you again for all your thoughts!
I totally get your thought process. I just started game dev and I am blown away by how many thoughts and balancing goes into game mechanics and features 🤯😁
Keep at it, it's already a great game, totally worth the effort! 👍
Love the combo mode stuff you’ve added :D and its a fun twist on a classic. Really well implemented! Great job :)
Really interesting idea, crossing a platformer with tetris.