My game get rejected again by Wooglie

Before I uploaded this game, Alter Cube, I had uploaded a little FPS game called X-Shooter . However, X-shooter was rejected. And I understand that because this FPS doesn't have fancy graphic at all. And I made it for the purpose of learning how to code.

Now, I just uploaded Alter Cube to Wooglie. Though this game doesn't have awesome graphic, I thought this time they would accept it since I think it's sort of acceptable. But I was wrong. It's still not accepted.

Now I want to ask for your opinion, is this game that bad?

 

Only input I have is, the box is boring, there is no human attachment or interest in it. Perhaps a glowing entity, something with some kind of special behavior. I assume you're just going through the process and working your way up to better and better games, I don't know what Wooglie's "standards" are, but I'd look to improve the character.

 

Missing an absolute ton of polish - where is the music/sound for a start?

 

The physics/gameplay seems pretty cool but as NPS said it could do with a ton of polish.

Something more interesting than a textured box as your character, more sound effects, and perhaps some quirky music could go a long way.

 

I like the mechanic where you can stick to walls, it could be explored further.
But start with removing the bug where box turns to the color of the edge of the portal and you can't finish the level - this may be the cause they rejected it;P (or include the 'colors' tip at the start)
And as others said, more life - sounds.

 

henry,

For some basic sound effects you can use this if you can't find anything else
http://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html

Online version of the same
http://www.superflashbros.net/as3sfxr/

There are probably more advanced software of the same type but you could start at the links above

Also you could maybe learn some basic 3d modelling to spruce up your game environment a bit. Right now, it sort of looks bland

Your game idea can be termed 'okay' and gameplay execution is good. What is more important is that at least you have FINISHED 2 games. Most of us are still stuck on our first(Me being one of them)


EDIT: Ok I went back and played a few more levels of your game. So far all the levels seem to be ---move the cube around make it fetch all the stars and move it to finish point.

I'm sorry but I just don't have the time to play ALL the levels but if thats all you have throughout the game, then game play needs improvement as well. Its your game and you should decide where to go from here but if I were to suggest ideas, they would be stuff that you see around commonly in other games like power ups to make the cube jump higher and reach inaccessible places, keys to open doors to reach locked areas and so on.

They could even be transform portals. Say...make the cube move into a portal to make it smaller. Then it can pass thru 'gates' that only allow small cubes to pass thru. Anything to increase gameplay

 

Your game isn't bad -- it's playable and that's awesome and hopefully you learned a lot from it. I would look at it as your game just isn't done.

That said, it IS very rough around the edges right now, in a lot of ways. Polish is an easy one to point out, but let's just take a look at the game itself. You're a box, collecting stars, with no real obstacles other than platform jumps. There are only two basic controls (move left/right, and jump). Your only 'gimmick' in the game is really that you're a box and thus have a bit less predictable movements. Oh, and the changing colors before leaving a level, but it's also more tedious than fun.

Here's what I often ask myself -- what makes a game fun? Is it because you're a box? No, not particularly -- it's a little interesting, but it doesn't add/remove much. So what does you game have that would make me want to play it?

Think about what games you play and what makes you sit there and play it rather than do something else -- I'm not talking about AAA games, just flash games on Kongregate. There's always some level of addictiveness involved, be it through unlockables, challenges, achievements, level-up system with perks, etc etc. Your game is lacking any of this. It needs more umph!

Also, as someone said above, the game lack a connection with the player. Why are you a box? Why is it moving? Why is it collecting stars? What's the end goal? Boxes are fine instead of people, but the point I'm trying to get is there's really no reason he's a box. If there were 10 different boxes that all behaved different that you could unlock, then there's some continuity. If it's boxxy the magical box who has the power to change her face at whim to overcome challenges, then there's some continuity. But as of right now, it's just a box, with no rhyme or reason or story or anything. No music or sounds effects, just a box collecting stars.

What I'm getting at is as a coder, there's a certain level of personal joy from your accomplishments that others don't get. I remember when I made my first rotating box with lighting and particle effects and textures that I could upload as a web client, I posted it on facebook all beaming about my accomplishments. But exactly 0 people cared. Why? Because my "coding feats" aren't impressive to people who just want to play or look at something. For me, it was a giant step and I was super proud of what I did, but to everyone else it was just looking at a stupid box spinning. Your game is my spinning box -- as a coder I can be proud of what you did and say congratulations and share that awesome accomplishment with you, but as a player I'm left wondering "Why should I play this?". Point is, being a coder isn't enough -- you have to be a designer too (or get someone else to do this!). If you're looking at making something semi-serious, and not just learning Unity or a new coding technique or w/e, You have to be constantly asking yourself "Why would someone want to play this?" and "What can I add that would make this more fun?". There's actually a lot of science behind 'what makes a game fun', and a quick google search would bring up some points if you're looking for some advice.


Endpoint: Be proud you've made a game and released it to the internet! It's a feat that only like 1% of the entire world will ever do. But always be challenging yourself to make something bigger and better. If you focus on making a great game, not on making something that wooglie will accept, you'll inherently accomplish the latter. Just keep at it, and keep making things.

 

The Box physics is fun.
Particularly how you can surf on other cubes.
I also enjoyed the sticking to walls, see if you have an idea there, maybe change the world orientation.

Btw are you using rigidbody physics, or just vector math?

 

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I appreciate it. So the things I need to change/add are:

- Change Character : Before I planned to change the character as well. But I think that if I change the character, I will also change the game type (from puzzle side scrolling to adventure-puzzle-side scrolling game). Because I feel that the current game is kinda boring. And if I'm able to change the character, why not make it more interesting. What do you think about this one?

- Add more Sound effect - absolutely will add more on this. But I am not sure if adding background music will be necessary.
- More cool background designs.
- Game Play : I'm glad that you like the game play. But well I'm gonna improve it as well by adding more game mechanics.

Now I know about 3D modelling. I can model in mid-level. And 3D modelling is my next plan on the next version of this game. I have considered using 2D animation sprite. It's much more less complex than 3D. ANd it would take much less time. Unfornately, I have no clue about 2D sprite thingy.

Thanks for great tips!!! I will improve it to make it better and bigger!!!!

I use Rigidbody physics to achieve the rollingness and not going through wall. It's quite buggy when I used Vector Math!!!

 

This game is so fun, I got to level 13, before I had to get back to work. Only thing I would suggest is sound effects.

 

The physics-oriented Cube bouncing is awesomely fun ! You're onto something here. As others said, you should go deeper inside those wall sticking mechanics, and most of all overhaul the graphics + add some real music/SFX. This could even work quite well on the appstore if done properly

 

Its pretty good. If you had someone to handle the art and got music it could be a hit. I like the simplicity and minimalism of it, I would just work on making it more polished

 

alter cube is fun, wooglie are wrong. Just put it on iOS, make money.

All it needs is proper polish, splash screens, you know.

 

Agreed.

Theres a free iOS license giveaway going on.

 

Pros:

• Good concept and gameplay
• controls are comfortable with w,a,s,d or arrows
• Interesting level designs.

Cons(more like a list of improvements):

• Sticking to the wall and not being able to move easily.
• On the first level it took about 5 minutes because the "portal didn't do anything"
• Show an example of the color thing, as it was confusing at first
• Some visual effects would be nice, graphics are good, but need some more shine.
• Add a story? its sorta boring with just a cube that goes to portals, there need to be a goal besides beating the game
• put some text to show what buttons do in the pause menu, cause I wanted to restart the level i was on and ended up going like 4 levels back?

So yea add some music, and make it look prettier, add effects,sounds, etc.

 

+1

 

Hippo is right you can make more money on the app store then from web ads.

Just pay someone to do the art properly , stop it from sticking to the wall. You can probably get someone to do the music for free if you give them credit. There seems to be alot of levels I got to level12 (okay beat them all). People would pay a buck for it I think.

I dont think you need a story, but fix things like sticking to the wall (maybe you should be able to "wall jump").

Kongerate is actually a bigger than wooglie anyway.

Kongs alexa rank is 1,155 whereas wooglie is 296,731 (the lower the better).

 

Ok!! So, I will try my best to polish every single spot which you all mentioned.

Yeah! Wooglie is wrong!!!
I also want to put it on app store. Unfornately, I can't support a Mac. Well, I could ask my friends to port it for me. But for now, I plan to get it on Play Store (Android Market) first.

True! I just wanna reach more audience.

I just checked it. And you know what; I like it. Easy to use and can generate sound in a short time. Thanks for sharing.

 

Alter Cube is okay, but it does definitely need some better sound effects and some sort of music. I often turn game music off, to be honest, but a game without music is pretty dull.

It also needs in-game instructions/tutorial and for the first level to be fixed. As RingOfStorms mentioned, the first portal "doesn't work" when you land on it the first couple times. Maybe I was positioned incorrectly, in which case a tutorial would definitely help.

Otherwise, it has the makings of an interesting game. I hope it keeps score. I didn't get to the end, but it'd be nice if it adds up all the stars you've gotten so you can compare with friends.

Way to go with coding a game, though. Awesome.