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cairnswm
17-07-2011, 10:23 PM
It has been over a year since I last wrote a game.

Known bugs:
1. No multi-level score is shown

Missing functionality
1. No High Scores Table
2. No sound effects



Castle of Thorns
----------------

Once upon a time a beautiful pricess was
put to sleep by an evil fairy. As time
passed the Castle was overgrown by thick
thorn bushes, preserving everyone inside
from the ravages of time.

The curse stated that the princess would
sleep until a brave warrior braved the
perils of the thorns and won through to
find the princess.

Only the bravest warrior, a knight would
reach the princess where a kiss would
awaken the sleeping beauty. And with her
the castle would awake.

Installation
------------

Extract the .zip file into a directory
retaining the directory structure.
(There should be a subdirectory called
images after unzipping the file).

All the DLLs are enclosed and no additional
files should be required.

To start the game run
CatleOfThorns.exe

To uninstall delete the directory.

Game Play
---------

Use the keys [A], [B], [C] or [D] to
select one of the open spaces in the
puzzle. Then use the arrow keys to move
a neighbouring item into the selected
space.

Create lines of the same item to score
points, with larger groups of the same
item scoreing more points. Groups are
removed as they are formed.

If when one group is removed a new line
of three or more is formed it will also
be removed. These additional lines are
worth more points than a normal line.


Each level is completed once you either
get enough score to fill your score bar,
or when the time limit is exceeded as
shown by the bar moving down in the
screen.

Once a level is complete a new level
starts where the time limit is smaller
and you need to score the same number
of lines and groups to complete the level.

At higher levels the multiplication
bonus of secondry groups (combos) is
important to finish the levels.

Credits
-------

Written for the Pascal Game Development
mini Challenge 2011.

by William Cairns
and Richard Ramsbottom

Written using FreePascal and S2DL
(Simple 2D Libraries)



download: http://www.thegamedeveloper.co.za/files/CastleOfThorns.zip

BlackShipsFillt
19-07-2011, 02:43 AM
Yay! Game development on this forum!

This is quite a nice take on the match-3 genre. I played a bit, and I felt I got quite good at it, but the skill ramp over levels is quite steep (level 3 was closing in on me quickly). I kind of prefer clearance games over beat the clock games.

It occurred to me later on that most of the matches could be made by using one of the cursors and running circles around the thing I was trying to move.

I don't know if there is an incentive against just using one cursor... but I had more fun when I was trying to use three of the cursors in unison. (so I would suggest building in, or displaying, an incentive... like using all three cursors to make a match gives bonus points... Or the more moves you make the less the value (because running in circles isn't very efficient)... and the game could display it boldly if this isn't already taking place)

I had fun while figuring the system out and trying to cleverly make matches, so there is definitely something good here.

cairnswm
19-07-2011, 01:58 PM
Once I had the game play working I realized it did not need the option to have 4 squares to move around. I also always use one block and race around trying to get the most lines done. I was hoping that the scoring system would encourage more effort in making combos but as with most of these games combos are more "Oh look how lucky I was".

In the end though I found the game a lot more fun than I was expecting it to be.

Interesting idea to make more points based on how many different cursors you used - I never thought of that.

The skill level was supposed to ramp up quickly. My experience of making games for competitions is that the judges play for a very short tme so wanted to make it get difficult very quickly.


Thanks :)

BlackShipsFillt
20-07-2011, 02:37 AM
I found three cursors unmanageable... well I mean I was able to get my head around three cursors spatially, but four was too much... although I'd imagine experienced players would be able to do it... obviously at the moment it doesn't matter if you use three cursors or one, but I quite liked getting superfluously skillful with the multiple cursors.

How did the game do with the judges?

cairnswm
21-07-2011, 07:56 AM
How did the game do with the judges?

I will let you know :)

Dont think it will make top 3, there are quite a few fantastic games that were done in the 4 weeks.
http://www.pascalgamedevelopment.com/forumdisplay.php?66-1st-PGD-Challenge-Simple-Controller

JohnnyRocket
23-07-2011, 05:37 PM
I think it's pretty nice, graphics have a comfortable yesterday feel, but 4 cursors is a bit too much for a casual game. I'd suggest 2 or 3 cursors at the most. A way to make this much more manageable would be to rather use ZXCV, ASZX, or WASD keys to select the cursor as ABCD are too far apart for comfortably holding your fingers at the ready for an extended time. Simple usability improvements will make the world of difference :)

PS: if you changed controls to the mouse, you could simply click the cursor you desire to move.

cairnswm
25-07-2011, 10:15 AM
PS: if you changed controls to the mouse, you could simply click the cursor you desire to move.

Agreed - but the competitions requirements were 4 arrow keys and A,B,C,D

:)

JohnnyRocket
25-07-2011, 01:06 PM
What an awful requirement. Clearly they haven't bought new keyboards since, ooh, 1873 when they developed QWERTY? :P I find a lot of Japanese indie games favour Z and X, or ZXCV for some reason, and they usually don't bother with the mouse. Console nation.

iceblademush
18-08-2011, 09:08 AM
Would have liked to have spent more time on the graphics, and also some tools were missing, eh cairnswm! :) But i was happy with the GUI of the castle, i think you didnt use my weapon renders in the end, maybe for version 2? :P