Albert&Otto 2D Puzzle Platformer [GREENLIT]
Hi Guys and Gals
Awesome to find this forum, been actively snooping through all your stuff the past couple of weeks, some great work out there.
Been working on a game for the past couple of months in my spare time, its a "cinematic" 2D puzzle platformer about a boy and a magical bunny on a quest to find the boys little sister.
It has sort of snowballed and become my main focus at the moment, I've just put up a website for it http://www.albertandotto.com
The basic mechanics revolve around interactions with the bunny, the player may pick up the bunny which gives him powers such as the ability to jump higher, levitate objects, etc. In some cases he has to leave him to hold a pressure plate down, or activate a generator while he stands on a lift that is powered by it. You control essentially both the bunny and albert at the same time which as you can imagine opens up some great oportunities for fun puzzles.
The style i achieved is hopefully something unique, it is my very first game, i own and actively run an ad agency and have recently opened a mobile app dev business so i do have a background in dev, animation, design, etc. but this is first game.
Here is the Demo link would so much appreciate some feedback on it
DEMO v0.1 DOWNLOAD
Here is the code: 54c78c6413cab (let me know if it runs out)
And the trailer and screens:
Please vote for it on Steam Greenlight if you enjoy the demo
GREENLIGHT PAGE
Awesome to find this forum, been actively snooping through all your stuff the past couple of weeks, some great work out there.
Been working on a game for the past couple of months in my spare time, its a "cinematic" 2D puzzle platformer about a boy and a magical bunny on a quest to find the boys little sister.
It has sort of snowballed and become my main focus at the moment, I've just put up a website for it http://www.albertandotto.com
The basic mechanics revolve around interactions with the bunny, the player may pick up the bunny which gives him powers such as the ability to jump higher, levitate objects, etc. In some cases he has to leave him to hold a pressure plate down, or activate a generator while he stands on a lift that is powered by it. You control essentially both the bunny and albert at the same time which as you can imagine opens up some great oportunities for fun puzzles.
The style i achieved is hopefully something unique, it is my very first game, i own and actively run an ad agency and have recently opened a mobile app dev business so i do have a background in dev, animation, design, etc. but this is first game.
Here is the Demo link would so much appreciate some feedback on it
DEMO v0.1 DOWNLOAD
Here is the code: 54c78c6413cab (let me know if it runs out)
And the trailer and screens:
Please vote for it on Steam Greenlight if you enjoy the demo
GREENLIGHT PAGE
Comments
That said, I am kinda concerned about some plot related stuff in the screenshots. Albert's sister seems to have been damseled. A face value reading leads us to believe that some evil dudes rolled up on their house, kidnapped her, and torched the place. While I think that this plot device has been used far too many times and has often resulted in some really troublesome portrayals of women in games, there's nothing inherently wrong with the 'damsel in distress' trope. Of course, we don't have the entire storyline available to us yet, it could be that you have some very clever subversion or deconstruction lined up.
I'm also uncomfortable with the line 'get back what was taken from you'. This just makes it sound like the evil dudes rolled up and took your television set. Albert's sister (who remains somewhat problematically nameless) is a human being, not an object he should be trying to retrieve from the people who robbed him.
Kinda wondering why you chose this specific gender combination for the siblings? Why not two brothers or two sisters? Why not have the girl use her own rabbit to save her brother? To be clear, I'm not suggesting that these changes ought to be made, there's nothing inherently problematic with a male protagonist or his attempt to save a female character. I'm just curious as to whether or not this was a conscious decision for you, and if it was, why you went with that particular decision?
My reading here could be wrong, I hope that it is. Again, information is limited at this point, but I'm worried that this might end up being another damsel in distress story that perpetuates problematic gender norms.
That said, I am still SO EXCITED to get my hands on the demo next month (also incredibly jealous that your first attempt at making a game looks this amazing :P ). Good luck!
2) So many mechanics! That could be one thing that I'm a bit iffy about - too many mechanics might add unnecessary complexity to the game - especially since you've just started making it, it's a good idea to extensively explore a core rather than to throw in the kitchen sink from the start. But of course not having seen any real gameplay I can't say.
3) Where were you at rAge?
@wogan @Mexicanopiumdog thank you for the nice comments, they are encouraging :)
@SUGBOERIE we weren't "formally" there just flew up to check it out and meet some local devs, which we did, you guys are awesome.
@brondin
I read your comment with a smirk on my face and I’ll explain why in a moment. I’m a filmmaker originally, story to me is everything, I spent a long time perfecting that aspect and I believe I rewrote it a dozen times at least. I’m finding myself biting my tongue right now as I don’t want to give away too much, however, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed and here is the crazy part and why your comment made me smile, the girl, whose name is Anna is the actual hero of the story. Albert is just a lost boy who thinks he is doing the right thing. His sister, although younger is far more mature and an overall deeper character.
If anything the game portrays the male character in a very two dimensional way and allows the female character to really take center stage, I wanted to take the most conventional tale and flip it on its head a few times over for the very reasons that you mentioned. The story is very dark in a very real way, there is no clear cut right or wrong and there will be a choice in the end giving two separate endings.
So far I have shared the entire story with a few people and the reaction was always the same, a kind of gasp followed by a “hoooly sh*t!” :D so I’m really hoping that result can be projected to a wider audience.
I’m still working on how to present the story outside of the game, I realise that i haven't done the best job there, the narrator in the end gives a bit of a clue when he says “Oh Albert boy…what have you done?” but I think I would also be alright with a player going into the game thinking it is a straight forward save the damsel in distress scenario, perhaps the experience would be better for it even though the game does not really rely on one major twist.
Otherwise hell yeah Heart of Darkness was THE cinematic platformer :) and thank you so much for the great comments it keeps the engine running and I am very excited to get you guys the demo.
@Tuism thank you very much, means a lot to hear that.
I have to agree with you about the mechanics, there are a little less than may at first appear, most are just creative uses of the core mechanics and i hope will come naturally to the player but there is no denying that it should be kept as simple as possible and that yes right now there are probably more than needed, For the demo i will be including them all so I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think.
I see now that it sounded in my post like we had a booth or something at rAge :D Next year 100% but this time we just attended.
Will be posting more videos soon to better illustrate the mechanics and how Albert and Otto work together.
Been a very long time, what with holidays and a hectic workload (insert all kinds of excuses here) :D BUT a playable version of the game is ready! which is what is important. Its been quite a process to get to this point considering that this was me booting up Unity 8 months ago
So here is the good stuff:
DEMO v0.1 DOWNLOAD
Here is the code: 54c78c6413cab (let me know if it runs out)
And the trailer
Although it might feel in a way complete, with music and such it is far from it and I am very much looking forward to your guys feedback, improving what i have so far and am not shy to entirely scrap or redo features at this point.
At the moment i am looking at implementing longer puzzles, i.e. stringing together 2-3 different puzzles, basically stretching the players brain a bit further, encouraging exploration and adding complexity and giving it a bit more of a sense of adventure.
In other news, I've posted the game on Steam Greenlight and I'm happy to say that its kicking ass so far so please if you like it head on over and support :)
ALBERT AND OTTO GREENLIGHT
The guys who have been through the process it would be cool to hear what you think of the page and where it can be improved.
Hope you guys enjoy the demo and eagerly awaiting the feedback!
To all the cape town guys see you tomorrow at the meetup :)
I really like the small illustrations that depict the game mechanics of the game. Regarding the trailer, I'm not sure if the dubstep suits the game, but the trailer sells itself as a different take on Limbo, which is a good thing (assuming people who enjoyed Limbo would enjoy this game).
I would suggest, just from watching the feedback, that there are areas where the animations let the game down a bit. Animation can be a lot of work of course, and some of the animations look great (like the run cycle), but others aren't as great (like the giant wolf's reaction to a metal container landing on its head). I think the game would be more immersive if the animations were consistently good.
Looking forward to trying it at the meetup tomorrow!
When I first saw the game. I was really worried that it was trying to be Limbo but after the trailer, like @BlackShipsFilllTheSky mentioned it does look like a re-imagining of Limbo. I like the different mechanics that the player has at their disposal, plus I'm sure it makes for a lot of different puzzles to create. I'd also have to agree with this IF the game's pacing or atmosphere is not actiony. :P
Just watched a gameplay video and the trailer doesn't fit the atmosphere or pacing IMO. If the trailer is to set the tone of the game I'd say it doesn't quite do that.
If I was to come across the trailer without any prior knowledge of the game I'd immediately think that I'm going to be jumping around, precision aiming for wolves, exploding trees, generally fucking shit up.
Then I find out it's physics 2D puzzle platformer kinda like Limbo I'd feel like I was sold a dream.
[Edit]
@SUGBOERIE true, true. I wanted some fast paced action in the middle of the trailer to get people excited but perhaps fixing the music will fix that issue of misrepresentation too. Thanks for the feedback, and btw you don't have to wait for the download key i provided you guys with one ;) 54c78c6413cab
Also, I'd prefer not resetting the puzzles when you die as when you backtrack a bit and jump down ledges (box puzzles) you need to redo the puzzle to get back up, which is slightly annoying and redundant.
I really love the art and the look you are going for and if you can get creative with your level design/puzzles this has massive potential! Oh and the story line of course :D
Cool I guess more checkpoints on puzzle solving and less checkpoints on parts that require some hand-eye coordination, i want the player to be nervous about dying but not have to repeat a solved puzzle. Good point.
The camera is definitely underused and i understand the potential there. I'm focusing solely on adding and refining puzzles now so hopefully that aspect of the game improves tenfold in the next few weeks.
I'm curious as to what you did to make that a possibility: Did you do any concerted media attention stuff? Was it just having a really good trailer? Did you plan this out like a campaign?
Obviously everyone here is going to want to do this for their own games at some point ;)