Yay another power plug game., I was so close to name mine plug-in as well... loved the idea with the two cameras. I was really struggling in the beginning since there was no tutorial ingame... and I didn´t know about the game page...
I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I started this game. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a 3D puzzler that relied on the different perspectives to solve. In the example levels given, there was only a couple instances where I felt I needed to switch the different perspectives, but I imagine with more levels to explore the mechanic, it would become increasingly important. Good job!
If I were to add to this
I think some animation for the plug would feel better rather than teleporting to the next location. More levels are always nice. Take a look at some of fez's level design for inspiration on the puzzles.
Another thing, related to the impact, would be some sort of win screen for the level. You could combine this with a reward in the form of something reacting to you plugging it in. Maybe a lamp or fan in the background turns on?
The lighting makes this game look less polished than it would otherwise. I'm not sure, but maybe increase some global illumination and dial back the point light would soften the specular highlights. I'm not familiar with Unreal enough to diagnose that further.
Game Design
I'm going to be using Jonas Tyroller's framework for fun for these reviews, so you can watch his video for more context around it. My day job is looking for ways to improve things, so just because I offer a lot of opinions on that, don't think that I didn't like the game. :D
Impact
For this game, I feel like the player doesn't get a lot of payoff for solving the puzzle. The start to the next level is a little jarring and doesn't provide the player some time to rest before the next one. There is also little change to the environment, which again leads to little impact felt by the player.
Challenge
I think the challenge would be presented with additional levels that explored different perspective, so there's not much there I have to add. Maybe some puzzles involving timing from the different angles would work well.
Some other metric that would tell the player how well they are doing would be nice to direct the challenge. Want people to go fast? Put a timer. Want people to think through the puzzle? Make it better to take less steps. You could add replayability by having a reward for each style of solution.
Fantasy
I think that a good fantasy would help take this game from prototype to quirky game. Even if the story is in the background, having that framework would help the player focus on the best parts. Maybe you are a ghost plugging it in and you can only see through the cameras they have set up. Or a hacker. Something to allow my mind to pin a story to it.
Unfortunately I struggled to get this to run correctly on my PC, I think my screen resolution was causing issues with it, would love to see it have a windowed option, or mantain the aspect ratio!
I like the concept and the correct resolution images look great!
The idea of moving between the 2 camera's and changing the movement planes along with that as well is really fun and worked well for the most part! Especially in your last level (and during some parts of earlier levels) though, the '2' camera doesn't see much of anything and you've just got to try and remember where your plug is. I would have liked slightly bigger (and more difficult?) levels as well, but the concept for the game is great and this prototype definitely left me hungry for more.
I'm also always a fan of interactive main menus, so extra points for that!
Comments
Yay another power plug game., I was so close to name mine plug-in as well... loved the idea with the two cameras. I was really struggling in the beginning since there was no tutorial ingame... and I didn´t know about the game page...
Great game, pretty interesting idea.
I wish the controls were inside the game not in the game’s page.
Great job and keep it up!
I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I started this game. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a 3D puzzler that relied on the different perspectives to solve. In the example levels given, there was only a couple instances where I felt I needed to switch the different perspectives, but I imagine with more levels to explore the mechanic, it would become increasingly important. Good job!
If I were to add to this
I think some animation for the plug would feel better rather than teleporting to the next location. More levels are always nice. Take a look at some of fez's level design for inspiration on the puzzles.
Another thing, related to the impact, would be some sort of win screen for the level. You could combine this with a reward in the form of something reacting to you plugging it in. Maybe a lamp or fan in the background turns on?
The lighting makes this game look less polished than it would otherwise. I'm not sure, but maybe increase some global illumination and dial back the point light would soften the specular highlights. I'm not familiar with Unreal enough to diagnose that further.
Game Design
I'm going to be using Jonas Tyroller's framework for fun for these reviews, so you can watch his video for more context around it. My day job is looking for ways to improve things, so just because I offer a lot of opinions on that, don't think that I didn't like the game. :D
Impact
For this game, I feel like the player doesn't get a lot of payoff for solving the puzzle. The start to the next level is a little jarring and doesn't provide the player some time to rest before the next one. There is also little change to the environment, which again leads to little impact felt by the player.
Challenge
I think the challenge would be presented with additional levels that explored different perspective, so there's not much there I have to add. Maybe some puzzles involving timing from the different angles would work well.
Some other metric that would tell the player how well they are doing would be nice to direct the challenge. Want people to go fast? Put a timer. Want people to think through the puzzle? Make it better to take less steps. You could add replayability by having a reward for each style of solution.
Fantasy
I think that a good fantasy would help take this game from prototype to quirky game. Even if the story is in the background, having that framework would help the player focus on the best parts. Maybe you are a ghost plugging it in and you can only see through the cameras they have set up. Or a hacker. Something to allow my mind to pin a story to it.
Unfortunately I struggled to get this to run correctly on my PC, I think my screen resolution was causing issues with it, would love to see it have a windowed option, or mantain the aspect ratio!
I like the concept and the correct resolution images look great!
The idea of moving between the 2 camera's and changing the movement planes along with that as well is really fun and worked well for the most part! Especially in your last level (and during some parts of earlier levels) though, the '2' camera doesn't see much of anything and you've just got to try and remember where your plug is. I would have liked slightly bigger (and more difficult?) levels as well, but the concept for the game is great and this prototype definitely left me hungry for more.
I'm also always a fan of interactive main menus, so extra points for that!