'Sinbads Escape' - a game where you're chased by monsters and rolling boulders.

Gameplay video here: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=374231825959491&saved

Screenshots: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.377701622279178.79346.167775183271824&type=1

Sort of going for an indiana jones type vibe and hoping for lots of 'omgomgomg' moments were it looks like you're about to get caught.

Will also incorporate upgrades and power ups into the gamepaly.

you control the character by tilting your phone and swiping upwards to jump, there will also be tap functionality where you can tap on certain obstacles you cross and if you tap them at the right moment the obstacles fall on whatever is chasing you (so for example a loosely placed boulder will fall on the monster chasing you).

So what do you guys think?

 

Hmmmmm, interesting.
I like the scenery and the player and monsters, just not sure about the reverse camera angle.

Good start and plenty room for more gameplay like you said.

 

oh yeah the reverse camera doesn't seem like the best idea but I'm really keen on trying to get it right mostly because I want to emphasize the feeling of being chased by various things.

Crash Bandicoot made it work so I'm hoping I can too

 

I think its cool to be able to see what chases you. The video did make me think of Crash Bandicoot running sequences.

 

Awesome, glad you like the direction I'm trying to go in

Did a new video just the other day if anyone wanted to see it https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=373031806079493&set=vb.167775183271824&type=2&theater Destructable walls! :O

 

Ths looks awesome! I say keep the camera angle

 

I would also rally against this camera setup.
Played a game with a yeti being chased by a snowball and it just wasnt fun for me. But it was a fixed perspective in 2d. So true 3d seems even more complicated.I read you mentioned crash bandicoot but I think it worked there because it was a welcomed perspective change to the normal gameplay.
I kmow its the most obvious twist to the likes of temple run and subway surfes but i dont think youre doing yourself a favor.
At least in the gameplay videos I see lots of moments where I would curse you as a player.
I thinkits much more motivating ro see what lies ahead of you instead of seeing what you passes.

But I guess you are desperate to make it work
Me personally I would think you have the perfect subway surfers approach there. You coul add a twist with a grappling hook or something like that and boomcool

Also The graphic style probably is not the best choice. The character looks rather toony which is something that is appreciated by lots and lots of people yet the environments seem almost photorealistic in textural style.
I think bright colors would be much more attractive to the game. Can still be the lava stuff but with more contrasting colors.
At the moment it looks rather dull,imo.


Im really looking forward to more updates. Some screenshots would be awesome too
Great work so far, hope you share more stuff and work soon !

 

the concept is really glorifying , i just finds that the jumping height is exceeded i'm sure you could fix that, and also if you could make some emotions and reactions to your animations it might add some extra spice .
and good luck

 

Hey guys, new video: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=374231825959491&saved
and screenshots (taken from video so the quality isn't that great :-/ I'll take direct shots later): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...45958189.78718.167775183271824&type=3&theater

Oh and two screenshots: http://i.imgur.com/dlmMd.png http://i.imgur.com/Rvulw.png testing the toonshader which I might end up going with in the game:

The game is now more focused on dodging bad guys coming in from behind than jumping over obstacles from in front, camera has also been adjusted for that so hopefully it willl address some of your concerns

An idea I have is in some sections the camera will move behind your player and look ahead so you can jump over obstacles, will see if I have time for that.

New enemy type which 'roars' at you before chasing after you, since audio isn't added in you have to take my word for it for now

Totally agree and it's part of the plan to give the character a scared expression and have him look over his shoulder every once in a while for humours sake

I agree, I think I need to look into that more and find a suitable fix. I've adjusted the graphics a bit in the latest video which might help but not really that good so far...

 

Hey there, just noticed the character is pretty much based on the old sindbad cartoon, that should be the direction to go anyways, right ?

I think you could cut down the current noise in the textural detail and have more clearer and distinct textures. It really is a texture and style clash, atm, imo. The character is a cute boy modeled after the Anime, the skull in the background looooks suuuuperevil and scary and the ball and ground have too much noise to convey the cartoony look.
Also there's way too many different colore palettes in there, imo. If you reduced it and maybe went for the entire windwaker look or something similar in toon style it would look much more cohesive.

See how the colors interact in the references here:
http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz352/loaloauk/Back to the Dinosaurs/cavescene2.jpg?t=1271034705
http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz352/loaloauk/Back to the Dinosaurs/cave1stpart.jpg?t=1271034636
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hEXJVn5ILKk/0.jpg
http://www.zeldainformer.com/images/news/Zelda_Skyward_Sword_1028_01.bmp
http://www.zeldadungeon.net/Zelda09/Walkthrough/03/041.jpg

Then again, I don't know your graphical resources so it might just be overthetop suggestions. Anyways, I love my runner games, and this one can become really good
Good luck !


edit: looks quite (unintentionally) funny, how the monsters wait for the player to pass by
Guess some awesome hopping in from the side animations could be awesome there !

 

Yes, wow you noticed I'm amazed!

I agree, I'm looking into this with shaders but might end up having to redo some of the textures to get the right look, the best I can manage is this with just shaders: http://i.imgur.com/8n9oB.png

And as you can no doubt see there still is a clash between the protagonist and the background stuff. I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to change the characters textures to match the environment or vice versa...

I'm going to add some animations in which show the monsters didn't see the player coming from the back, or alternatively have the monsters look behind them and be startled by the boulder coming in and run

 

Hope you don't get copyright problems with that guy

Couldn't let go and did some quick and dirty variations to the screenshot you posted:
http://acumen-design.de/temp/sindbad_escape_paintover1.jpg

I just smudged out the props textures so they still read as the stone mateirals they are but have less noisy detail. I'm no texture artist, so pardon my sloppiness

 

oh wow, thanks! That's really helpful

 

New update: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=374718155910858 which addresses some concerns people have been having about the camera angle.. not sure if I'll go with this in the final game but will see.

 

New screenshots if anyone is interested https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.377701622279178.79346.167775183271824&type=1

 

I like your idea and the game is looking pretty good so far. The only thing i would say is, its lacking a sense of speed, thus a sense of urgency. Maybe look into doing that for future updates.

Great work though

 

Currently the game isn't too balanced for that sort of thing, the urgency should come with the boulder and bad guys chasing you but that's after I start working on balancing it (most of the framework for balancing is already there, just need to adjust values).

Speed might never happen though, the game is very hard at the speed you're seeing unless I rework it perhaps into a touch based system I don't think I can make the game much faster than it is...

I might hold off releasing it until Unity4 is out so I can use the new animation engine and turn Sinbad into a miniature Altair (from Assassins Creed )