A Platformer With Love!

[Robin]

For those that are curious: Jumping in this game is done by checking if the vertical velocity is exactly 0. This provides a simple solution provided there are no sloping surfaces that should be jumped from. The game does not use the physics engine but instead its own collision checking, which explains the support for platforms that can jumped through. This does not allow a player to jump in mid-air, save for one a million chances because of the precision of floating point numbers. Although, if collision is supported in the other direction, e.g. for tunnels, then it might be possible to hold jump to hang from a roof.

All very true. I'm kinda proud of the physics in my game . Version 2 will have horizontal collision checking, in the form of walls.

It seems a bit odd that it's possible to be on the platforms without standing on them, e.g. with the platforms through the body. How about adding if player.y > platform.y + 0.6 or the like as a check?

A simple tweak of the code should be enough to fix that. The version I'm developing right now depends a bit on that weird feature/bug/wart, though.

Low FPS may cause the collision to fail as well as some unpredictability. Might I suggest that you instead store the dt value and update as many times as necessary with some constant dt, e.g.
(code)

An interesting idea. I only hope it doesn't slow the game down too much (although my algorithms aren't that efficient now, so it will probably not matter very much).

LPCL mostly aims at community projects that are not really owned by anyone in particular or to which anyone may contribute, like a framework for making platformers. I'm not sure you want a personal game under that license since it also allows anyone to change the game and call it the game. At the very least, you'd want to put yourself as community so that you have the final word about what goes into the project.

All very true. I guess I got a little overenthusiastic about the LPCL . Anyway, next version will have an actual license, instead of a trademark notice.

[osuf oboys]

An interesting idea. I only hope it doesn't slow the game down too much (although my algorithms aren't that efficient now, so it will probably not matter very much).

Compared with the time used for drawing, it isn't noticeable even for larger projects.

All very true. I guess I got a little overenthusiastic about the LPCL . Anyway, next version will have an actual license, instead of a trademark notice.

LPCL is a license about copyright and trademark. The copyright part is roughly on par with WTFPL.

[bartbes]

Anyway, next version will have an actual license, instead of a trademark notice.

But we can prevent that...

Compared with the time used for drawing, it isn't noticeable even for larger projects.

Everything I have done so far with LÖVE wasn't THAT performance-critical that I actually needed to change my code. It is good practice to make code efficient, but most of the times it isn't really necessary.
Though I can remember one time I helped osuf (yes the one I'm quoting) with speeding up math.floor.

[Robin]

And now: version 2! A lot bigger than the previous, mostly because of the font I included.
New features and thingums:

• Gosts of player, stars and bad guys are now transparent.
• A menu for reset/exit (press escape).
• Walls.
• New screens 'n' all. (No more flying off screen horizontally!)
• Expanded level.
• The Poetic License (similar to the MIT/X11 license, but in the form of two limericks)

It's still a bit too easy, but that's primarily for testing.

[mattt360]

wow...this is amazing...
im new to Löve.
can i use this? ill give you credit.
please?


Edit: Nevermind, I read the poem.

[Robin]

wow...this is amazing...

Thanks!

Edit: Nevermind, I read the poem.

I'll post it here, to make things clear:

This work 'as-is' I provide.
No warranty, express or implied.
I’ve done my best,
to debug and test.
Liability for damages denied.

Permission is granted hereby,
to copy, share, and modify.
Use as is fit,
free or for profit.
On this notice these rights rely.

It's basically the same as the MIT (X11) license. (I would link to the Wikipedia article, but it appears to have been removed. Instead, look at this.)

[Robin]

New version time!
Improvements:

• View moves gradually now.
• If player falls/jumps of high platforms, it bounces when it hits the ground/other platform.
• Tweaked level.
• Player can now collect as many stars as possible.

Check top post for download.

[solsword]

Quite an interesting game... I enjoyed it, but had several issues with it, as well.

First, you can't move the screen left. This means that if you get the two lives underneath the tall platform, you're likely to trap yourself at the bottom of the screen with the wall. Quite a frustrating experience.

Second, the infinite screens to the right of the wall are confusing. Is there more content out there eventually? Is the game over?

Third, when jumping up the vertical platforms on the second screen, you can jump immediately off of a platform that you land on, but if you do, you don't quite get high enough to reach the next platform, and you have to jump again. This happens every two platforms, giving a "two steps forward, one step back" feel to the climb. It's not that it's difficult, it's just annoying.

Fourth, the controls are so powerful that it's difficult to balance on the thin platforms without constantly pressing left and right, unless you align yourself perfectly beforehand. It's actually less difficult than it appears, but it's still annoying that you can't press left after right or vice-versa to stop yourself (and friction takes quite a while to stop you). Adding two levels of control depending on how long you've held down a direction, or just a key to toggle "walk" mode might help.

I realize that you're still in the midst of development, so these are more suggestions to keep in mind before a final release than things that you *need* to do now. I did enjoy the game for the most part, so keep up the good work.

[Robin]

Quite an interesting game... I enjoyed it, but had several issues with it, as well.

Thank you for the feedback. And now it's answer time:

First, you can't move the screen left. This means that if you get the two lives underneath the tall platform, you're likely to trap yourself at the bottom of the screen with the wall. Quite a frustrating experience.

That is a feature, not a bug. If you trap yourself, restart the game (that's why I added the menu item). I did it that way primarily to annoy my little brother. If more people hate it, I might fix that, though.

Second, the infinite screens to the right of the wall are confusing. Is there more content out there eventually? Is the game over?

Ah, yes. I should probably make clear you won, or complete the level (it's not finished yet).

Third, when jumping up the vertical platforms on the second screen, you can jump immediately off of a platform that you land on, but if you do, you don't quite get high enough to reach the next platform, and you have to jump again. This happens every two platforms, giving a "two steps forward, one step back" feel to the climb. It's not that it's difficult, it's just annoying.

I have noticed that myself. The problem is that the platforms are just a tiny bit too far apart. Next version should have that fixed.

Fourth, the controls are so powerful that it's difficult to balance on the thin platforms without constantly pressing left and right, unless you align yourself perfectly beforehand. It's actually less difficult than it appears, but it's still annoying that you can't press left after right or vice-versa to stop yourself (and friction takes quite a while to stop you). Adding two levels of control depending on how long you've held down a direction, or just a key to toggle "walk" mode might help.

This one I hadn't noticed. Increasing friction will probably do the trick. If not, I might make the Down button stop the player immediatly.

I realize that you're still in the midst of development, so these are more suggestions to keep in mind before a final release than things that you *need* to do now. I did enjoy the game for the most part, so keep up the good work.

Thanks.

[Evil Telephone]

I have noticed that myself. The problem is that the platforms are just a tiny bit too far apart. Next version should have that fixed.

I'm not entirely sure that's really the root problem. It seems that when you jump on a platform, depending on the angle you hit it, you don't always rest on the very top of the platform's collision box. If you really try hard, you can land so that a good portion of the bottom of your circle-body is resting inside the platform. The reason jumping twice works is because when you jump the first time and don't make it to the next platform, it has a side-effect of "resetting" you to the absolute top of the previous platform's collision box.