by "hard" i didnt mean "too challenging", but "hard to understand, hard to read, hard to map the 3D world in your head". we didnt dumb down the game, but are making sure that the first act of the game eases you into the third dimension while teaching you all the weird rules of the world.
@BarfHappy: Given the amount of whining that goes on whenever a dev releases a "broken" game it is vital that all testers are able to access all parts of the game by transitioning through the levels naturally.
Would you really be happy if the last level was a horrific mess of bugs, glitches, hangs and crashes because only one of the testers was able to actually get to the final level?
And before anyone says it, skipping to the level using debug is no substitute for actual testing. I used to be a tester for a large publisher and I can tell you that we would have been drummed out for using debug and calling our tests thorough.
Really looking forward to this game. I think it will do a better job of realizing 2D to 3D platforming than Super Paper Mario. After Braid and Cavestory, I also have a lot of faith in very small teams and indie projects.
It looks like this game focuses centrally on the aspect of Super Paper Mario that made it the most compelling: exposing the 3-D nature of a world that appears to be only 2-D on the surface. It looks like it'll be really cool, so far, but I would hate to see such a cool idea (with such pretty execution) suffer from poor or frustrating level design. Unfortunately, that's sometimes where the sheer size of large development teams can help, though indie developers have succeeded at magnificent level design as well.
On a more sentimental note: did anyone growing up with 2-D side-scrolling platformers ever *not* imagine what it would be like to turn the world sideways? I had dreams from a young age that I was in the Super Mario Bros. world, but I was viewing it head-on, the way that Mario must have seen it...only with marvelous, colorful vistas spreading out to the left and right of the main path, which the player couldn't see. It was exciting to see that dream actually come partially to fruition in Super Paper Mario, though I always felt like the player was simply teased with the feature, rather than immersed in it. (I don't count Super Mario 64 as the realization of that dream, because it was designed for 3-D, and not the fleshing-out of an apparently 2-D world.) I eagerly look forward to Fez -- if it's addictive enough, I could see myself downloading it for more than one system.
@saifrc: There was another game that came out around the same time as Super Paper Mario that had the same 2D-3D concept in it. Forget what it was called...it was a PSP game, I believe. Also it was published by Sega, if that helps.
Fez looks like it's taking it to the next level, though.
man SO Stoked about this. i love platformers.. and this game looks excellent. if i had clout in the industry, id totally publish games like this, owlboy, snapshot, and cave story.
09/17/09
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09/16/09
i dont get this random username thing.
09/16/09
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09/16/09
Kids no longer have patience like saints [looking at you contra] and a feeling of progress and instant gratification seem to be more evident as well.
But then again the man likes to fuck with people's minds...
09/16/09
Would you really be happy if the last level was a horrific mess of bugs, glitches, hangs and crashes because only one of the testers was able to actually get to the final level?
And before anyone says it, skipping to the level using debug is no substitute for actual testing. I used to be a tester for a large publisher and I can tell you that we would have been drummed out for using debug and calling our tests thorough.
08/27/09
08/27/09
08/27/09
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08/27/09
that was actually pretty neat.. id never even heard of han tao..
08/27/09
08/27/09
.....ahem...the ability to move the camera angle around like in "Echochrome" is pretty cool and the music makes it even more awesome.
08/27/09
08/27/09
On a more sentimental note: did anyone growing up with 2-D side-scrolling platformers ever *not* imagine what it would be like to turn the world sideways? I had dreams from a young age that I was in the Super Mario Bros. world, but I was viewing it head-on, the way that Mario must have seen it...only with marvelous, colorful vistas spreading out to the left and right of the main path, which the player couldn't see. It was exciting to see that dream actually come partially to fruition in Super Paper Mario, though I always felt like the player was simply teased with the feature, rather than immersed in it. (I don't count Super Mario 64 as the realization of that dream, because it was designed for 3-D, and not the fleshing-out of an apparently 2-D world.) I eagerly look forward to Fez -- if it's addictive enough, I could see myself downloading it for more than one system.
08/27/09
Fez looks like it's taking it to the next level, though.
08/27/09
08/27/09
08/27/09
07/02/09
speaking of owlboy.. any word on that?