Author Topic: Maze Craze - Fun 2D game by Wreckedcarzz (Read 117,140 times)

wreckedcarzz · « **on:** February 08, 2007, 12:41 AM »

(Updated 3/31/07)

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let everyone know of a game I am/have been making. Maze Craze is a small 2D maze-type game where you have to navigate a ball from the start to the finish. It is great for all ages, and as you progress you meet new enemies and new situations. It has a one player mode, a two player mode, a challenge mode (single player only) and a new single player mode (testing only). Maze Craze features lots of levels (15 one player, 5 two player, 1 challenge mode and 1 in the new mode). There are no known bugs, the game is small (2 MB) and it has simple controls (with a reset button in-case you get stuck). This game is maintained by myself and will (hopefully) feature weekly updates.
Feedback is always requested, taken and used!!!
Thanks all,
-Wreckedcarzz (Brandon)

mouser · « **Reply #1 on:** February 08, 2007, 01:14 AM »

im actually a big fan of these kinds of games.

i do think the controls are painful though - i'd really like to see you get them working smoothly and make it more of an enjoyable experience. right now it feels clunky and hard to change directions etc. sometimes its like it's ignoring me.

the first page should have instructions about the fact you should move to 1 or 2 to select # of players and get rid of that flag on the first page - it's confusing!

NOW,
having said that - the idea of having a two-player game like this - where you can actually BLOCK the other player as you can in your game, has WONDERFUL possibilities and could make for some huge fun - i'd really like to see you pursue this aspect..

I would like to see you try some alternate smoother movement systems (maybe one with some gravity effects?)

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #2 on:** February 08, 2007, 01:25 AM »

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wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #3 on:** February 08, 2007, 01:38 AM »

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wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #4 on:** February 08, 2007, 02:48 AM »

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wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #5 on:** February 08, 2007, 09:28 PM »

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mouser · « **Reply #6 on:** February 09, 2007, 12:47 AM »

There are two games that come to mind when playing this:
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=5812.0
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=6859.msg47838 (this one in particular)

It might be nice to experiment with some gravity effects and faster moving ball.. something to make things more challenging..

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #7 on:** February 09, 2007, 03:17 AM »

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lanux128 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 09, 2007, 03:39 AM »

wreckedcarzz, some screenshots would be cool..

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #9 on:** February 09, 2007, 03:41 AM »

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mouser · « **Reply #10 on:** February 09, 2007, 03:50 AM »

might be nice to make a non-installer version while we are testing since it doesnt really need to be installed, and it would make stuff simpler for testers.

gravity needs improvement!

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #11 on:** February 09, 2007, 04:17 AM »

OK, screens are attatched (they aren't a good display of actual gameplay, but there are pics of:

Single-Player Level 1
Two-Player Level 1

Mouser: The file is a standalone .exe and not an installer. I wasn't sure about the gravity...I didn't get into that in any previous attemptso this was my 1st.

Enjoy (and thanks for the help)!
*Gravity update will HOPEFULLY be posted in a short while*

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wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #12 on:** February 13, 2007, 07:11 AM »

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wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #13 on:** February 13, 2007, 11:32 PM »

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mouser · « **Reply #14 on:** February 14, 2007, 02:21 AM »

i recommend trying to find a page on physics in games. look into acceleration and velocity and friction. it sounds harder than it is - it's really quite simple and it will give your ball a more natural control. just my 2 cents.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #15 on:** February 14, 2007, 03:21 AM »

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wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #16 on:** February 25, 2007, 02:50 AM »

VERSION 1.3.4 IS FINALLY FINAL!!!
I am VERY sorry about the long delay of this version...I have had no time to get this version finished and found a new bug (2, actually) so those are repaired and I believe (despite what the readme says) there are no bugs left. I hope you enjoy this version, it should keep you occupied for at least a few minutes

.

PLEASE NOTE: I have decided to just give out the .exe files and not installers...it takes too much time and effort on everyones part and is just easier to do it this way. If you have another version of MC, move the savegame file into the same directory as Maze Craze 1.3.4.exe so you can load your saves.

Thanks everyone!
-Wreckedcarzz

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #17 on:** March 04, 2007, 12:50 AM »

OK, exciting new release here...
1.4 beta 1 is now available below...
It includes 4 bug-fixes for both single and two player
Level "wrap" (REPAIRED)
~~A new "anti-cheat" feature~~ (REMOVED)
and some other changes
It feels like a totally new release, so try it out and give me feedback!
Note: the gravity will be slightly increased (about 50% more) in beta 2 and the friction idea has been tried and aborted- sorry about that.

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mouser · « **Reply #18 on:** March 04, 2007, 01:18 PM »

I tell you i think this has real potential.. once you fix the gravity and friction!!
i think it should feel like you are nudging a bouncing ball, which wants to fall and bounce on it's own due to gravity (at least this is my view of how it should feel). It's not hard to do, you just need to find a little article on the web on controlling a character or ship with gravity, velocity, acceleration, friction. It might sound scary but it's fun to code.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #19 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:14 PM »

Ok,
I have added friction and fiddled with the gravity. However at this point the ball is *very* hard to control because of its bounciness. I will mess with it some more before posting a new version with it- its fun (until you go "up"...)

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #20 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:39 PM »

OK, I have tweaked the gravity and friction; you can kind of notice the friction. The gravity was WAY off, so I fixed that and updated a couple of holes in the new release (1.4 beta 3). Hopefully it will feel like a complete refresh of the game.
FYI: during testing there is a cheat code to go to the Level Select Screen so you can test individual levels
the code is simply: Ctrl (Control)

Enough details, the download is below!

mouser · « **Reply #21 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:48 PM »

better for sure. But when you go up or down it shouldnt affect your horizontal movement, and also each tap should give a little acceleration, so that you can speed up movement or slow it down. Find yourself a nice web page on this stuff!!

urlwolf · « **Reply #22 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:00 PM »

Quote from: mouser on March 04, 2007, 04:48 PM

better for sure. But when you go up or down it shouldnt affect your horizontal movement, and also each tap should give a little acceleration, so that you can speed up movement or slow it down. Find yourself a nice web page on this stuff!!

agreed.

It feels a bit too slow, at least on my system.

To all people interested in game programming here... Is there any website about gameability (with simple recipes about how to create simple, addictive games)?

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #23 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:39 PM »

Mouser, I don't understand how going up and down effects your side-to-side moving- you will only go to the side and down if your going right or left and gravity catches you. As far as the acceleration- I have been searching for a while now on Google and haven't found anything. I may have to go into the advanced options, and I am not all sure of myself doing so. I will try though, but it may take time.

Thanks for help and ideas everyone!
-Wrecked

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #24 on:** March 11, 2007, 01:18 AM »

OK,
this may be the final beta release of 1.4!
I have added LOTS of new features, such as new levels, rearranged levels, changed the loading screen, added new ways to get help, cleaned up the internal components, and lots more. I have been working hard at this new one. However, on older systems or if you multi-task the game will load noticeably slower then the last release. I am very sorry about this, but the game has lots more to load now, so be glad that the 15 second wait is the only one you will have. To achieve the best performance possible on old machines, cleanup and optimize your computer before use, and a system restart is always a good step too. I plan to rebuild the entire game from scratch to resolve the issue, as I think there are unused items in the inside that I did not find. I will edit this post later in order to add the download. It WILL be up within the next hour or so, I promise.

OK, sorry about the delay...the server refused the upload and after looking at the file size I understood why. I have NO idea why the game got 2x its size from the last build, I made a lot of improvements but honestly cannot find where the source of the size explosion is coming from. The game is attatched, as usual, and the only updates I can think of that cause the size hike are:

New background for help room (but only 24kb in Windows)

New buttons for help room (only 16kb in Windows)

Change of font type and size in help file (honestly...)

REMOVAL of items (obviously not)

Addition of 2 new 2-player levels (my only logical explanation...but still)

Other then this there are no changes that would trigger a size increase, or the updates were insignificant such as moving an object or rearranging mines.

The server is STILL declining my upload request so I cannot upload the current build. I will work on this and have it resolved ASAP.

Author Topic: Maze Craze - Fun 2D game by Wreckedcarzz (Read 117,140 times)

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