The apprentice wizard seems to have gotten himself into trouble. How he got locked in the dungeon of a tower alone is a mystery to him (and you). Help him escape.
EDIT (12/20): Added OS/X Build. First time publishing an OS/X build from Unity, so if it doesn't work, let me know please! Thanks
@devwil, Sorry to hear you're not a fan of puzzles! I admit, it probably did feel intentionally "puzzley" instead of more natural.
Thanks @Wompus and @Ghostik. The catapult went in during the last 45 minutes. The broom was my favorite part to code and see it come to life. :)
M
Madeiro21 Dec 2011, 03:42
I really, really enjoyed this! Controls were a bit wonky, to be sure, but the puzzles were my favorite kind: charming, logical, and likely to make me feel like a genius. :)
I like how the game 'opens up,' too, in the sense that you start in the third person and then watch your capabilities expand into first-person manipulation. That makes for some pretty sneaky set pieces, haha.
HAHA that was brilliant! Loved it! First person should look in the direction that you are looking in when activated. Just add music, sfx and make it larger and you have something to sell, in my opinion :D
"I feel so alone and amnesiac..." Erm what? Judging from the rest of the game I assume that was supposed to be funny, but it just seems like poor writing, especially when it's the first impression of the game.
Some of the later bits were more amusing though and this is a pretty nice puzzle game prototype.
One suggestion for the gameplay is to make it more obvious when you pick up a key because I picked up the second key without realising it and spent ages trying to find it before I realised I had it.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm compiling a list (internally) of changes I want to make, but my intention is to keep running with the idea, so keep the criticism coming!
@Snuffypot11, great idea on the first person activation. I think there a few things with the controls that need improved, and that's definitely 1 of them. Music, sfx, and bigger are definitely on the way. Thanks!
@QXD-me, I agree that it sounds awkward. I admit that I googled synonyms for "memory loss" and looked for the adjective version of amnesia which turned out to be amnesiac, so I tossed it in and shipped it. Ya know, 48 hours and all.. :) I do agree with the key on the 2nd floor, because I watched 2 other people do the exact same thing. A sound or making the key "pop" out, would be more helpful. Thanks for the feedback!
Wow, I loved it! The puzzles were really good and some of them were very clever (the broom!). The world was surprisingly interactive, and I thought the first/third person perspective mechanic worked quite well. Even though this is short, I think it was really well done. Good job.
Nice game, the puzzles were pretty cool, and this was quite different from what everybody else is doing.
Looking at your blog, it seems that you are already working on the main issues I would have raised: lack of depth for a 3D game, 1st person camera not pointing at the same place as the apprentice.
I would also suggest that you allow some limited form of movement when in first person, so it is a bit easier to hit those windows from the right angle.
Also, you should check out sfxr for some simple sounds, like the cabinets and porticullis opening.
Having to change camera so often didn't work for me. Also, I found very irritating the 3D movement when the view is 2D (sometimes I had some difficult to pass through doors) and then, when in first person, I couldn't move at all. This spoiled a little the fun, but I liked the graphic style.
Interesting idea, but the perspective and level layout makes navigating through doorways harder than solving the puzzles. I'd have been happy to stay in first-person mode all the way through. If there was some platforming to do that would justify the side view. Nice puzzles though, I enjoyed playing it!
Thanks for the feedback about the navigation controls. It's something I noticed early on while playing (I got better at it by playtesting it over and over again), but I whole heartedly agree that it can be a major deterrent from the core gameplay intention (puzzle solving).
@Winterblood You make a very good point about there being no justification for the side view due to lack of platforming. I could just as easily make the whole game first person and eliminate the 3D navigation mechanic issues. I have some gut feeling that wants me to keep the side scrolling platform mechanic, so perhaps I need to experiment with it a little bit.
The intention was more of a FEZ type mechanic where the camera plays a pivotal role in hiding information from the player, but I can see it needs a lot more depth and polish.
i don't like puzzles.