Game: Linkage Created in: 2009
Ludomo Gamestudio gameproject
By: Kjell ‘t Hoen
Linkage was one of the hardest and easiest games I worked on. The easiest part was the conceptualization of the mechanics and the hardest part was to explain them.
After some playtests and tweaks that did absolutely nothing to make the mechanics more straightforward, I decided explain them one by one in a short tutorial level:
Explaining the game mechanics in short steps
Wat was most difficult to explain was when the rings would go left and when right. When a ring is turning on top of other objects right-click is going right and left-click is going left. This was and still is straightforward. The problem emerged when I was programming the rings when they were turning below other objects. The mouse-buttons would keep turning the ring to the left or right, but for the player, this caused the mouse-buttons to invert while clicking because the rings themselves could be rotating (up to 180 degrees) around other objects. One would have to turn his head with the rings while clicking to not get confused. There is, however no solution for this problem! If I were to invert the keys automatically, then the rings would get stuck on the edge of other objects. See image below:
The problem: would moving this ring down be done with left or right-clicking?
After some experimentation I decided to leave the design as it was and let it up to the players to adapt themselves. It is very logical after all, but you just have to fail a couple of times before you see it.
Some of the steps in the development:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
You can play the latest version of Linkage here: http://www.ludomo.com/linkage.php
Game: Quiver
Created in: 2008-2009
Ludomo Gamestudio gameproject
Team: Frank van Bracht, Michael Brandse & Kjell ‘t Hoen
For this game concept I wanted to experiment with the direction and speed-alteration of objects. The goal was to create the feeling that you were blasting an object to the end, breaking and lighting things as you go. I decided right from the beginning that the object was going to be an arrow, shot from some sort of gun.
After that the different gameplay elements followed (with at it’s core movement and speed):
- Speed-up (green)
- Change direction (red)
- Gravity, both vertical and horizontal (purple and teal)
- Teleportation
In addition, there had to be some extra obstacles to put in the way of the player as something to take into account when guiding the arrow through the levels.
- Ice, that breaks when hit hard enough, but stops the arrow if it goes to slow
- Walls, that could shift from being solid to transparent and back by hitting orange ’levers’
What was especially easy to do with this concept, was the build-up in the level design. The order in which I introduce different gameplay elements is straightforward and every combination was a great set-up for a new level.
Level Buildup
It was only in the end of every episode (when every gameplay element from that episode was introduced) that I had to think up concepts that would do something new with the existing elements.
What was very hard to do, was explaining to the player that there was link between the color of the torches (the goals) to the color of the arrow. Only when the arrow had the correct color, a torch would be lit. If it had a different color it would just pass it by:
Torches only light when the arrow has the corresponding color
The first thing I did to make this apparent, was adding a short sound effect. Later on players understood it when I also added shrinking and growing of the goals when an arrow with the wrong color would pass over it.
This game had many play tests and iterations, including the graphics. I tried to many times to improve the graphics on my own, but somehow I didn’t get it right. Eventually Michael Brandse helped out and completely re-did all the graphics. This completely changed the look and feel of the entire game:
Quiver, graphical re-do by Michael Brandse
As a final touch, Frank van Bracht added some nice music and soundeffects and the game was finished.
You can play the latest version here: www.ludomo.com/quiver.php
Game: Quiver
Created in: 2010
Ludomo Gamestudio gameproject
Units and range: Fighter, Bowman, Wizard, Hero, King and Tower
Board
Ducosim convention Amersfoort
The initial response was good, but the game still had too many flaws to be published. This was no surprise as it was only version 2.5 of the game. 999Games advised me to make many more revisions and play them as much as I possibly can to discover flaws in the design and find optimal game balance.
Some flaws of this version/ balancing, that popped up after playtesting it:
- Where the board was too small at first, this time it was too big. It took too long for different units to get across the field to the opponent. At least one line at the sides and two at the bottom and top need to be removed to make the game more interesting.
- Rolling the dice to determine the possible fields where players could move their pieces towards, was an interesting mechanic. It became frustrating though, as the eyes of the dice were not ordered randomly enough. Sometimes players were just waiting to finally throw a 5, 4 or 6 to get to the field they desired to go. This caused the randomness to be a limitation instead of a surprise.
- There was too much water, causing a harsh bottleneck player hardly dared to cross.
- The gameplay was still too slow. Players simply had too many options to outweigh before they could make an intelligent move.
With this useful feedback in mind, I’m now preparing to make a digital version of this game that doesn’t involve dice at all, just movement, rotation and tactics.
