I think the input isn't weird enough. It is unusual but it's still WASD with extra steps. Also there's nothing that pressures me into mastering the input system so you're not getting the most out of it. Consider a timer, enemies or other challenges that require the player to use the system effectively.
Apart from changing the control scheme from WASD to ALspaceF7, there's nothing really original going on here. There's a lot you can do with unorthodox controls beyond a pickup score based game so have a think about your game's core loop and see how that can be improved. Pickups have values attached to them, so from the player's perspective they need to have a reason to pick them up in the first place. Take Sonic the Hedgehog for instance: rings serve as a way to survive in a given level (get hit, lose the rings, then perform a small minigame to pick them back up before they disappear!). This is a short term value, but there's also a long term value attached to them. Gather 100 rings and you get an extra life. Your pickups have no real value in relation to progression because they just give you a score. If a player doesn't care about their score, and only want to complete the game, then they can just ignore them and go straight for the goal
Got a headache immediately! congratulations! for real though the game shows how a shake up to the control scheme can make a simple game quite difficult and makes the player think out side the box! Nice.
really fun game, the input buttons felt slightly off from the centered keyboard, but i got the idea that the whole keyboard was your joystick, some extra controls could have made the game more interesting as well as adding in some obstructions like enemies to avoid etc. really fun and enjoyable puzzle game.
Well, this was one of the most unsettling input-related experience of my life xD Every part of my brain said NO, spacebar is the up button not the down button! It was actually pretty cool to button mash to find the keys that would do what I wanted and then force my brain to retrain itself so I could actually get through the level.
Comments
I think the input isn't weird enough. It is unusual but it's still WASD with extra steps. Also there's nothing that pressures me into mastering the input system so you're not getting the most out of it. Consider a timer, enemies or other challenges that require the player to use the system effectively.
Apart from changing the control scheme from WASD to ALspaceF7, there's nothing really original going on here. There's a lot you can do with unorthodox controls beyond a pickup score based game so have a think about your game's core loop and see how that can be improved. Pickups have values attached to them, so from the player's perspective they need to have a reason to pick them up in the first place. Take Sonic the Hedgehog for instance: rings serve as a way to survive in a given level (get hit, lose the rings, then perform a small minigame to pick them back up before they disappear!). This is a short term value, but there's also a long term value attached to them. Gather 100 rings and you get an extra life. Your pickups have no real value in relation to progression because they just give you a score. If a player doesn't care about their score, and only want to complete the game, then they can just ignore them and go straight for the goal
Got a headache immediately! congratulations! for real though the game shows how a shake up to the control scheme can make a simple game quite difficult and makes the player think out side the box! Nice.
really fun game, the input buttons felt slightly off from the centered keyboard, but i got the idea that the whole keyboard was your joystick, some extra controls could have made the game more interesting as well as adding in some obstructions like enemies to avoid etc. really fun and enjoyable puzzle game.
Well, this was one of the most unsettling input-related experience of my life xD Every part of my brain said NO, spacebar is the up button not the down button! It was actually pretty cool to button mash to find the keys that would do what I wanted and then force my brain to retrain itself so I could actually get through the level.