Post by foxtrot-roger in Empty Canvases jam comments

Brackeys Game Jam 2021.2 » Entries » Empty Canvases

Viewing post in Empty Canvases jam comments

I like the idea behind the game but as others have said, the first level is very challenging.

I'd love to see the whole story unfold but I couldn't get very far in the game after 20 minutes of trying. I think what is making the game very hard is that the player needs to move very precisely (maybe make the player able to jump 1.5 times the height of a box and add a non slippery material to the boxes could solve that) which kind of break the flow, also, it's not possible to recover from failure, if I mess up something I have to restart the whole level and loose all the progress made (maybe adding checkpoints would resolve that issue).

One good rule to judge the difficulty when you make a game is "if you (the developer) can't finish it every time, it's going to be too hard for the player"

Hope I'm not being too harsh and that I might have given you some ideas on how to make it more accessible because I really like the backstory and the concept.

Like Reply

WinterCourtFae3 years ago

Im sorry it ended up being so difficult, especially with it being the first level that most people seem to be having such a hard time with (because I find that the least interesting level tp play or look at imo). I guess I need to have other people play it before posting it to get a better sense of its difficulty, because like you said I as the developer should be able to beat it every time, but the issue is I can :/ This is actually a nerfed version of the level from what was originally presented to me (one of my partners sketched out the level design. As for checkpoints, that is a good idea, I just didnt think the level was long enough to warent it, but clearly that has proven to be an incorrect assessment. So thank you for your feedback, and thank you for taking the time to give the game a try.

Like Reply

WinterCourtFae3 years ago

If you are still interested in playing the game through, I uploaded a patched version of the game that has various changes that should help with the difficulty (no checkpoint system still, but increased jump height should make things much easier). Empty Canvases v1.1 by VanBurace (itch.io). No obligation though if not interested.

Like Reply