Quote from ChA1NsAwFinished it, only thing that annoyed me was the movement speed. Too slow I think.
Thanks for the feedback!
The movement speed has been a problem along the playtests... lots of players complained about it being too slow. I've been increasing the speed since then on each new iteration.
The white arrows that show up on the third level have been redesigned, so they don't pollute the screen and do a better job design-wise:
[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/u9evAPQ.gif]
I played through it.
I don't think I really understand the core engagement of your game. All I did was move a bunch of shapes into their needed spots in order to satisfy context-less characters. It all felt very abstract and with little to no intellectual or emotional impact.
Part of the problem for me is that, even with multiple 2D planes, there's still a very limited amount of spots to move objects to create your shapes. The game can be solved completely by trial/error on every spot. So it doesn't make the player feel all that smart for solving it. There's a very small possibility space for interesting choices. It also felt very hand-holdy. I understand it's the first few levels, but you need something there to show how far you can go with the mechanic. Doesn't need to be challenging - just engaging.
Also, please don't make it so you walk slower when you're moving an object. It's really annoying. And I don't understand why there's a "No-entry" sign when you switch between the front and back planes. It made me feel like I couldn't do that action for a while until I realized I could.
I apologize if I seem harsh, but I wanted to be as honest with my feedback as possible.
Just tried it. It has 3, levels right? The Eye is the last one? I got back to the main screen after completing that level anyway.
Gotta agree with ForbiddenDonut on all points. The mechanics didn't really grab a hold of me and I completed the third level without realizing what I'd done (some bug maybe, felt a bit weird).
Quote from ForbiddenDonutDisplay MoreI played through it.
I don't think I really understand the core engagement of your game. All I did was move a bunch of shapes into their needed spots in order to satisfy context-less characters. It all felt very abstract and with little to no intellectual or emotional impact.
Part of the problem for me is that, even with multiple 2D planes, there's still a very limited amount of spots to move objects to create your shapes. The game can be solved completely by trial/error on every spot. So it doesn't make the player feel all that smart for solving it. There's a very small possibility space for interesting choices. It also felt very hand-holdy. I understand it's the first few levels, but you need something there to show how far you can go with the mechanic. Doesn't need to be challenging - just engaging.
Also, please don't make it so you walk slower when you're moving an object. It's really annoying. And I don't understand why there's a "No-entry" sign when you switch between the front and back planes. It made me feel like I couldn't do that action for a while until I realized I could.
I apologize if I seem harsh, but I wanted to be as honest with my feedback as possible.
The core of the game is to move shapes to where, combined with other shapes or elements of the background, they result in the forms that represent the goal in that level (level 1: ice cream cup; level 2: triangle and head; level 3: eye). For tutorial purposes, it was very obvious where the needed spots were in the first levels, but the dotted lines are present only in those first two levels. I believe the dotted lines could give the impression that the game is about moving objects to obvious positions, which is not so true. Any suggestion on how to make that better?
The third level's design goals are to introduce a new mechanic, teach the player how to swap planes and show that, given the right conditions, it's possible to finish a level by simply swapping planes.
That might be a little confusing at first, but I believe the following levels will help to make more obvious what happened: as the trees were already correctly positioned on both planes, as soon as you swapped them, the Eye got formed.
Also, I'll implement more levels to explore the swap mechanic to try and demonstrate how the interesting choices can be present (SPOILER: you will be able to swap planes while holding an object and create forms with objects from different planes).
About the player speed: thanks for pointing that. I agree and removed the "speed while holding an object".
About the sign, it's supposed to communicate that you can't walk while you are in the "plane swaps mode". Playtesting showed me that players needed a visual feedback to know that something was happening that was preventing their movement. I'll change that sign for this here:
[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/5ZbaNQS.png]
Don't worry about being harsh, I didn't see it that way. I think it was a very honest feedback, which is exactly what I look for when I request feedback to improve my skills. Thank you!
Quote from PuddyJust tried it. It has 3, levels right? The Eye is the last one? I got back to the main screen after completing that level anyway.
Gotta agree with ForbiddenDonut on all points. The mechanics didn't really grab a hold of me and I completed the third level without realizing what I'd done (some bug maybe, felt a bit weird).
Yeah, that build has only the first 3 levels, The Eye level being the last one before returning to the main screen.
The third level's design goals are to introduce a new mechanic, teach the player how to swap planes and show that, given the right conditions, it's possible to finish a level by simply swapping planes.
That might be a little confusing at first, but I believe the following levels will help to make more obvious what happened: as the trees were already correctly positioned on both planes, as soon as you swapped them, the Eye got formed.
Errr, for some reason I couldn't pick anything up. Well, sometimes I could be sometimes it just refused to do anything. Didn't seem particularly gripping to me, to be honest. It's just moving shapes into the corresponding holes.
The core of the game is to move shapes to where, combined with other shapes or elements of the background, they result in the forms that represent the goal in that level (level 1: ice cream cup; level 2: triangle and head; level 3: eye). For tutorial purposes, it was very obvious where the needed spots were in the first levels, but the dotted lines are present only in those first two levels. I believe the dotted lines could give the impression that the game is about moving objects to obvious positions, which is not so true. Any suggestion on how to make that better?
The third level's design goals are to introduce a new mechanic, teach the player how to swap planes and show that, given the right conditions, it's possible to finish a level by simply swapping planes.
That might be a little confusing at first, but I believe the following levels will help to make more obvious what happened: as the trees were already correctly positioned on both planes, as soon as you swapped them, the Eye got formed.
Also, I'll implement more levels to explore the swap mechanic to try and demonstrate how the interesting choices can be present (SPOILER: you will be able to swap planes while holding an object and create forms with objects from different planes).
About the player speed: thanks for pointing that. I agree and removed the "speed while holding an object".
About the sign, it's supposed to communicate that you can't walk while you are in the "plane swaps mode". Playtesting showed me that players needed a visual feedback to know that something was happening that was preventing their movement. I'll change that sign for this here:
[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/5ZbaNQS.png]
Don't worry about being harsh, I didn't see it that way. I think it was a very honest feedback, which is exactly what I look for when I request feedback to improve my skills. Thank you!I would do away with the icon entirely, it gets confusing because switching planes isn't instant.
I liked the game, but I feel like you're holding the player's hand too much. On level 2, you could probably get rid of the outline fading in, it's sort of condescending.
I would do away with the icon entirely, it gets confusing because switching planes isn't instant.I liked the game, but I feel like you're holding the player's hand too much. On level 2, you could probably get rid of the outline fading in, it's sort of condescending.
Thanks for the feedback!
Do away with the icon? I decided to create that icon after watching players move to the other plane and get confused because they couldn't move to the sides. The build they played had the character completely visible and colored, so they thought "wait a second, my character is already there! why can't I move?".
But now that I'm thinking, maybe doing away with the icon and simply showing the outlined character would indicate that he isn't there yet (that's where he'll be after the player confirms the plane swap):
I'm just not completely sure if this way people will get confused for not being able to move to the sides, as the other icon above indicated.
I don't want to hold the player's hand too much, so I'll take your suggestion and remove the outlines on level 2. Agreed.
Thanks again!
I'm not so sure why you have to confirm plane swaps, are you going to add some element for this to become a requirement?
I'm not so sure why you have to confirm plane swaps, are you going to add some element for this to become a requirement?
Yeah! Harder levels will have three planes.
This improves the gameplay depth, for example: the player can swap the first and third plane while the middle one stays in place/ swap the first and second while the third one stays in place.
So, not only positioning objects will be important, but also the order of the planes will matter, especially in levels where a form is created by objects from different planes...
---
I've removed the links on http://www.anselmo.gd/temp/grasp_playtest/ for now and will update the page with new builds on this wednesday (20/11).
Hopefully you guys can playtest again and check the improvements based on your feedback 
The time has come. There's a fresh build to play!
Choose which version you want to play: Windows | Mac | Linux | Web Please, note: there's currently 1 bug that seems to occur when you try to swap planes and your computer is running slow. If that happens, please press "R" to restart the level. If it still occurs, try closing other programs and open Grasp again. Thanks. (More here). Consider this almost finished. I'll probably only implement a couple of animations and call it done.
Sure, there could be many other visual effects and juiciness. Sure, this game could be extended. The levels and mechanics presented demonstrate that, and I have many new tricks with me. But unfortunately time never stops, and as some of you know, Grasp is a one-man project and I'm eager to get my hands dirty with new projects. tick, tack. tick, tack.
I've been learning and evolving enormously along this project! As a Game/ Level designer, now I can safely say that my scripting skills enable me to create a whole game (of this scope and complexity, of course). So, scripting scenes, encounters and other behaviours should be fine on my next projects. To create Grasp, I programmed in C# and did visual scripting. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but those are very handy skills for someone who desires to work as GD/ LD, and I'm happy to have more experience with that!
Another thing I'm proud of is to prove that I'm able to manage playtest sessions, listen to feedbacks and iterate the game based on that. Ahh, there's nothing like honest feedback.
So, yeah. I hope you guys play this and provide any last comments.
Cheers,
Anselmo.
I agree with this, but I feel it wasn't the intention to do that, but just to learn how to create a game from beginning to end.Anyway, eager to see your next piece of work.
Understandably, but I still give the feedback so Al Anselmo-Intelect0 knows what to consider as he starts his next project. My intention was to be as helpful as I possibly could.
Thank you, guys!
Yeah, my main goal when I started this project months ago was to improve my existing skills and develop new ones, as well as developing a game in its entirety to overcome the challenges that usually exist in the process. Every kind of feedback is valuable, especially on my next projects
It's funny how the game improved after I did some final polishing, implemented character animations, changed the main menu, added a soundtrack etc.
A few of the animations of the main character in Grasp.
"Nice to meet you!".
[Blocked Image: http://media.indiedb.com/cache/images/g…Grasp_anims.gif]
(source: http://www.indiedb.com/games/grasp/im…cter-animations)
I'm so proud of what I achieved with this little pet project! What a fun ride it's been. So many things learned! I should release it soon.
When I do, I would be über honoured if you all could play it. I have a gigantic boner respect and admiration for you guys and your craft, and finally I'll be able to put a full game in my portfolio, done all by myself (and many cups of coffee, tea, hazardous-combinations-of-fluids, substances that shall not be named here etc).
I'm happy and I can't wait to publish it and move on to new and different challenges!
Grasp will be published on Desura, for free (and possibly other places too...). I think it's a good idea to release it for free to enable anyone to play it instead of setting whatever price that might scare someone away.
Therefore, my gains with Grasp will be completely intellectual and professional. Money is a consequence from my overall improvement and chance to work in something bigger and better, amirite?
I'll post here when it gets released. Those temporary links are removed.
Hey!
I just finished editing, rendering and uploading the official gameplay trailer video of Grasp. I decided to show it to Mapcore first hand:
I'm waiting for a few details before publishing the page to download the game/ buy it (AKA donation-style), where this same video will be available.
Almost giving myself permission to start new projects. 
What do you think?
So is there some demo or a tryout ?
looks interesting
omfg that walk anim is sooo cute !
As I finish the last details to publish the game and happily conclude this project to start the next ones, I created the boxshot:
[Blocked Image: http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/26/25510/graspBoxShot_2.jpg]
Quote from knjSo is there some demo or a tryout ?
looks interesting
It's a short game, so I've made it completely free!
I'm waiting for a couple of details that are ironically "beyond my grasp". Then, I'll publish the game. The idea is to make it playable for free on Desura but enable people to donate any amount of gold money through a widget, if they feel the need. This way everybody will be able to play what I've been creating and possibly support me in a way.
Quote from Warbyomfg that walk anim is sooo cute !
Ohh that's a great compliment coming from a skilled artist like you! Thank you!
Just to let you guys know that I hit a huge milestone:
Grasp has an official release date!
March 14th it is.
I built a webpage so you can get more info right away and see a fancy countdown timer until the game gets shipped:
Nice to see you're wrapping it up! Best of luck for the release!
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