Hi all,

I'd like to bring your attention to a little game entitled "Tita Gasman".. it's a 2d platformer designed by a 19 year old kid who works at the same company my girlfriend does. He was featured in the local newspaper because of it. It lacks alot of polish and it's extremely hand-made, but the fact is, once you get past the lack of polish/production value theres actually an impressive amount of effort/work put into the game.

I have alot of criticisms, oubviously.. but i did feel the need to give you guys a heads up about this game because this kid who designed it probably isn't connected to any kind of community.

The website is here.. and the game is FREE: http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/202935-tita-gasman

Thanks

Meneliki

_________________
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com

When I read the URL I began laughing (in silence). He was featured in the local newspaper?
Now I'm scratching my head.

_________________
What most people don't understand is what I like to explain as a thing that I understand.

Pretty good. Even the programmer art isn't that bad.

Like you say, a bit of polish and it'd be a cool little game.

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10 PRINT "Bad Monkey ";
20 GOTO 10

hey there...this is the director and programmer of Tita Gasman here. That's indeed me in the paper. who's your girlfriend Meneliki?

Tita Gasman was created over the last three years. I used an outdated version of the game creation tool Game Maker on an old computer - nothing fancy and basically cobbled together with the limited tools I have (can't really afford anything better when I'm saving up for school hahaha). you're right about the dedication though - I've been at this type of thing since before high school (graduated two years ago, if that's any indication). I'm starting up a new project soon, so if you want to keep track make sure to check out my YouTube and 'like' my Facebook pages.

by the way, I am attached to quite a few online communities. I'm a goon for one, if you know what that means. let me know your criticisms on the game so I can improve for the next one - if you want to post them on here go for it, or feel free to shoot me an email (jtstarrproductions@gmail.com)

thanks a lot for the shoutout!

Hi Korusan, Welcome to GPWiki.

You should be very proud of what you have achieved with Tita Gasman. It take a lot of motivation and commitment to actually finish a project. Beyond a few small games, I haven't completed any of my projects, they always seem to get stuck or abandoned for something new.

As I said above, I think that with a little polish your game could be a bit of a hit on a mobile or casual platform. Now that most casual games are 1 or 2 bucks, people are happy to pay for a quirky game to pass the time.

Simple things like not having 'Esc' quit the game completely without any confirmation will improve the feel of the game. 'End' is an odd key to skip a cut scene, most people will hit Esc, space or click the mouse. On that note, the mouse doesn't seem to do much outside the level select screen. It'd probably be better to hide it if it isn't in use, that will help reduce confusion.

Most games these days really hold the player's hand to get them familiar with the controls. It can be almost condescending, but it is a better way to introduce people with a short attention span to the game without them needing to look through a manual. Display the controls and lead the player through the first level, introduce new gameplay elements with a tutorial, etc.

I hope you don't feel I'm knocking your achievement, I'm just trying to offer some ways to improve it.

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10 PRINT "Bad Monkey ";
20 GOTO 10

Hi Korusan,

Looks like Codehead has already mentioned a couple of the things that I had in mind - the escape key thing, it is a bit odd to have it boot you from the game entirely. Also, the mouse cursor thing - unless there's some mechanic that requires it, i'd hide that during normal gameplay. Aside from that, I was curious about the collision detection as a few times i was a bit away from one of those roving chickens or birds or bunnies or whatever, but the game registered that it hit me and i died. Maybe I just suck, lol.. but maybe something to double check. The only other thing was that I thought that the main menu screen could probably use some love - i found it a bit jarring.

All in all though, a worthy achievement! Very well done. I'l be sure to keep an eye on your YouTube channel for updates. Don't hesitate to post about news and updates here on the Announcements forum.

Keep it up!

_________________
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com

thanks guys...the advice was sound from both of you and it will definitely be kept in mind when I do a more definitive release of Tita Gasman. For now I want to turn my attention to other projects...Tita's been a big part of my life for last three years and as much as I want to continue I think I need breathing room from it! I've started on my second platformer, a bit of a homage to the original Mega Man called Tim the Flazo. The stock and contept art styles are reminiscent of old Pokemon games but the gameplay is strictly platforming. Here's a one level demo of the game, but beware - only Thunder Cloud works right now and it's a pretty tough level haha. I have to add in a tutorial and music and some particle effects. If you guys want to let me know what you think of it so far that'd be fantastic...this public beta of mine has been circulated on a few sites and I've been collecting every last note people have left about it, so don't hesitate to go whole hog telling me what you like/dislike. For the record, the controls are arrow keys (move), space (select), Z (jump), X (attack) - no mouse involve this time.

Holy crap that is hard! lol I got to the 2nd "cloud genie vs shield guy" puzzle (very cool, btw) but I kept triggering the balloon before i could get up onto it.

Very nice design here, too. It definately feels like a step up. Seems a bit tighter. Like the character animation as well. Those massive cloud-missle guys are awesome!

Lookin great, man. Keep it up!

_________________
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com

Thanks. I'm debating whether I want it to be all pixel art or do a bit of photoshopping to pretty up the backgrounds. I'm not sure.

I'd probably keep it cartoony, focus on the game itself first then worry about the visuals later. That's just me, tho.

_________________
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com