2DArray's Text Landfill
“Grief” Demo
Here we are, a sequel to Company. Kind of. THIS ART IS NOT FINAL. SERIOUSLY. I’m using the character art from Company at the moment, because I don’t have new art yet. YOU WILL NOT BE PLAYING AS JACK. SERIOUSLY. DON’T ASK ME WHY YOU’RE PLAYING AS JACK. I WILL END YOU.
Use WADS to move around and jump. Click to spawn boxes so you can mess around with the physics engine.
I had already made pretty good progress on the engine for the game, but it was running far too slowly, so I started over and used some different methods. The character’s collision physics are much more manageable and accurate, so that’s a good start. I also had to take out the clever rendering methods that I had used before, because they ran far too slow. This basically means that instead of realtime Gloom, we’ll have to settle for baked Gloom. We can still make the game look good. Promise. It also runs at 30 fps now, instead of a shaky 24.
If you want to be in the credits, leave me any sort of feedback. Tell me what you liked, or what you hated, or what you think I should be doing differently. Also give me a name so I know who to list you as. Every tester will be in the credits.
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#1 by 2DArray on February 15th, 2010
Nope, I hadn’t heard of RZP until you linked it. I can’t play it right now because my computer doesn’t seem to like Unity very much, but I’ll check it out when I get a chance. Far as I can tell, it’s a sidescroller where you shoot boxes and robots.
The similarity ends there, I’d hope. RZP is pretty clearly an action game, and Grief is a puzzle game that focuses on character and story. The crates in Grief are only in there right now as a little personal joke for myself, because seriously, what game with physics DOESN’T have crates? There will be something box-shaped in the final game, but it won’t be crates.
#2 by NastoK on February 16th, 2010
So far so good. Antidepressant is nice, if you make the game scrollable upwards/downwards a tad more as well, the “floating on the box” thing could be used magnificently.
Someone mentioned before that the feeling, or emotion isn’t the same as in “The Company of Myself”, which is true, though not necessarily a bad thing. In TCoM the feeling was loneliness, while here you could make more of ‘em – as you mentioned yourself, There are going to be 5 stages. Why not making each have a different felling, Denial – Fear?; Anger – self explanatory; Bargaining – idk, Hope maybe?; Depression – self explanatory; Acceptance – self explanatory?…
Hope this is of some help. Keep up the good work.
#3 by Polygeist on February 16th, 2010
Pistol needs recoil to be taken seriously.
It should slow down walking speed if firing direction is the same as walking direction; conversely speeding up movement if firing \"backwards.\" You understand. Besides this, the \"reticle\" should climb with recoil. See Thing Thing for an example of this dynamic. It doesn\’t have to be much. But if you want the gun to be as dramatic as a firearm is in real life, it needs repercussions for use.
For an anecdotal reference, from my experience, a handgun chambered in .45 brings the barrel to about a positive 45 degree angle after firing level (0 degrees). .22 caliber handguns have practically no recoil, more pushing the pistol back into the hands than upwards. 9mm/.40 caliber pistols might give 10 to 15 degrees of barrel climb. This is from my experience shooting handguns for the first time. This is using a decent but not extremely tight grip. I think I got the .45c 1911 to rise only 15 degrees with a tighter grip.
#4 by Ethelwulf on February 17th, 2010
I agree wiu Nastok about the antidepressant also the scrolling, you could give the player more freedom in each stage, but then again some people might not like that…
Also having different emotions at each stage is an excellent idea as is gives the game a little more variety which could make it more interesting to play.
I also like how you’ve added a gun, not for killing purposes but to help solve problems too.
All in all I think Grief is a good game to play at the moment and has the potential to be better than TCoM, keep up the good work!
#5 by Austin on February 18th, 2010
I really like the camera width versus The Company of Myself\’s – it feels a lot more personal, which I think you\’re going for. I also really like the physics of the boxes. So far so good.
#6 by tpthehouse on February 18th, 2010
I enjoyed the feeling of freedom to roam around. I also like where you\’re going with the antidepressants/psychological aspect of everything and the eerieness of some of the boxes disappearing (I\’m assuming that\’s one of the side-effects of the drug). Visually, it\’s beautiful, as well. I\’ll echo what a couple other testers have said and say that different emotions in the various stages would be an amazing and refreshing side to this game. Keep up the good work, dude. This will surpass The Company of Me (which was one of my favorite games lately).
#7 by RazintheGreat on February 22nd, 2010
I like how the antidepressants make it have anti-gravity. Like the others I think it should have different emotions in different stages. That will give a variety of level types and stuff.
I glad this game is different and unique compared to the Company of Me, but I was intrigued with the Company of Me’s story, so I was wondering whether this will have a connection besides depression.
Anyways I wish you good luck on the game!
#8 by robin on February 27th, 2010
im ultimately am confused as to what you’re supposed to do with this.. it just seems like basic shooting and jumping and if there are any levels to this at all, i have no absolute idea how to get to them.. is this all there is?(if there’s not, i seem to be stuck) i dont get how this relates to Company other than the green box part of it.. so if i can be explained anything about this, it’d be nice =/
#9 by FlyingWalrus on February 28th, 2010
Well, one thing I want to say is, make sure you include a roof. The last thing I want is to keep reloading levels because all of the boxes I’m trying to work with are flying into Never Never Land. I hope that the shooting will play more than an “imaginary” function in the future as well.
Kudos on the actual platforms, I like how they have texture but the edges are still cleanly defined, without some silly curve that makes it impossible to judge where the real end is. Keep up the good work.
#10 by HouseOfSnakes on March 2nd, 2010
I remember from Spewer, you had several different pills that did different things. That might be something to explore here, since you will be having different stages of grief, maybe different mental states will allow for the pill to behave differently? Or maybe he gets prescribed different pills at different stages of his grieving? Especially since his condition is supposed to worsen over time, maybe he’ll get different things so help in his illness like painkillers or something. I feel like a variety of effect pills could make the game more dynamic. Just something to consider.
#11 by Worm on March 4th, 2010
Love the concept of emotions and the general mood, very multi-dimensional (haha). My only complaint is the gun, it doesn’t seem to fit the context. Is there any way to explain why he now has a gun or find a more relevant propellent? (double haha)
#12 by Mcdestructor on March 7th, 2010
Well, it looks like it will be really good. I got to agree with everyone else really, not sure if the guns needed, but my guess it will be explained when finished.
#13 by The Black Shadow on March 7th, 2010
I totally agree that TCOMS was an epic game. The it didn’t just kill some time, it told the story. In fact it was such an epic story i was inspired to create my whole GCSE drama production loosley around it.
I loved the narration and the way you looked on at this poor soul, and at the end when you cleverly linked it back to the real world was just stunning.
But i feel this is not up to this standard. I wouldn’t release it as a sequal, simply as a “side brand” because – while i know it is still missing so much in this demo – i don’t this it is enough to warrent being a sequal.
If you do ever decide to make a sequal, don’t do it from the perspective of jack – but please do keep it within the bounds of human. I was a bit dissapointed by the green square.
For me, a sequal would have to live up to it’s original – a very hard thing to do in this case. My ideal game would continue with the lonly theme and have similar music – to echo his life. But would be a different but similar story.
Keep it up!
#14 by chandler on March 7th, 2010
man crap soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#15 by Nick Brown on March 7th, 2010
Wow this game is amazing!
I love the graphics there great for a flash game…
I don’t like the fact that you play as a green block.
I love the fact you can take anti-depressants and I love the game in general.
What programs do u use to make these games? I’d like to learn since I am interested in flash design.
So far I have learned a little of C++, HTML, PHP, and my SQL
you should send me an email sometime
#16 by Nick Brown on March 8th, 2010
I noticed u visited my site… sorry for the crappy condition its in, right now its loaded full of ads just because not many people visit it and not many people buy things… its also slightly falling apart, some of the navigation bars need to be re-edited but I’ve been working on other websites…
Like i said shoot me an email sometime, if u want
#17 by Nick Brown on March 8th, 2010
sorry for all the comments but I am actually a huge fan of yours. I love all the games, especially the company of myself and spewer
#18 by NastoK on March 10th, 2010
I can\\\’t see any changes here…
People are really getting annoying with their presumption that the main character is a box.
chandler\\\’s comment is unnecessary, and annoying (hate when people do that, or spam in any way), thus if you could, remove it for the sake of your site (you have to keep it tide, now don\\\’t you?)
One thing I especially like about the antidepressant is the fact you can jump higher with it! Can be useful.
Looking forward to some updates.
#19 by shock-value on March 11th, 2010
Cool stuff, however the framerate is going to need to be higher in the final version. Is it just that you have it turned down for the demo? Turning off the grain and bloom (which look very cool, btw) didn’t actually seem to help much so I’m guessing you just have it set low.
This should help in making the character movement feel more responsive (which unfortunately at the moment feels sluggish to me) although I suspect you’ll need to up the horizontal velocity too and possibly lower the effect of inertia.
Art and effects are great though! Keep it up!
#20 by Chit on March 12th, 2010
I tried alot of stuff, including getting the boxes to fly a bit in anti depressant mode while i was on them. Eventually I managed to get defeated by having the big box fall on me so that i was wedged between it and the stairs. Even synchronising a jump and a gunshot did not help.
#21 by Chit on March 12th, 2010
Sorry for posting twice- but also it was irritating that the gun is unidirectional
#22 by High-Lord Vin on March 12th, 2010
Will you be able to use the gun in combination with other items?
The first thing I taught of when I heard about the gun being used as a puzzle tool was the bow and arrow from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (which I own, for the 64, which I have 2 of, along with several of the best 64 games and about 6 controllers; YA OWN IT)
In case you have not played any 3d non-DS (those I count as 2d) LoZ games, the bow is used to either kill enemies, to exploit a boss’s weak spot, or hit a switch; also, they can be shot through touches, thus turning them into flaming arrows to burn stuff
#23 by High-Lord Vin on March 12th, 2010
hum, I also notice the guy “flinches” (for lack of a better word) it is something, but in this demo, I can’t see it as really worth much (and maybe even an annoyance)
#24 by 09Kisame09 on March 13th, 2010
This is a very interesting turn of the prequel. The graphics had a VERY good sense of depth and color mix, so moving around in the game was pretty cool. I played it for about 15 minutes, and I had no complaints. The shooting was an excellent touch to the game, making it 2x more fun than the prequel and I can’t wait until it is released to Kongregate.
I would really enjoy this game a bit more if you added the same dialogue to this game, as was in Company of myself, because that made the game really refreshing to play.
#25 by DenBreezy on March 13th, 2010
this game looks great, the background art is really cool and i like the graininess. I’d suggest adding different guns/weapons that have different effects on the boxes, add other objects that aren’t effected by anti-depressant, let u spawn a certain amount of boxes in a level(sorta like the shadows in TCoM), add different types of pills/upgrades other then anti-depressant, and make more challenging then TCoM, TCoM was great but it wasn’t very challenging.
Overall looks like its gunna be awesome and I can’t wait til this game comes out.
#26 by jacob96 on March 17th, 2010
great so far….i like company better though
#27 by Reibr on March 18th, 2010
I liked the gameplay and the “meaning” of this as grief, but i think the visual can be improved.
#28 by Kronos on March 19th, 2010
Well, even judging from this short demo, I’ll definitely be expecting a top-notch game. Anyways…
1. Obviously some sort of boundaries are necessary as you can jump over walls. I doubt this needs to be pointed out though.
2. Seeing as colors are often used to display emotions, I would suggest changing the background to a suitable shade of various colors for each stage of grief. Ex: Red for anger, gray for depression, possibly sky blue for acceptance.
3. Whenever I think of bargaining, the first image to pop into my head is the cliche “selling of one’s soul to the Devil” which, though overused, seems like it could fit with the game (depending on the plot of course).
Anyhow, I hope I was of help.
#29 by glowtmickey on March 24th, 2010
I like it so far. Floating around on boxes with the anti depresent could be used very well.
#30 by Lord Pyre on March 26th, 2010
Looks awesome so far! I’m a HUGE fan of The Company of Myself, so I’m looking forward to this one. Just from this very limited demo, it looks like it’s going to be a deep game. The atmosphere from the “Gloom” and “Graininess” is perfect, the physics seem very good. It’s not too hard stacking boxes with the gun (Which I’m assuming there will be a bit of).
And for those wondering why a gun is needed, I think it’ll be easily explained. He’s in grief, taking anti-depressants. The gun is a symbol of his despair, and I think it’s perfect.
Good start, can’t wait to play the full game!
#31 by Captain Mechanic on March 28th, 2010
Definitely looking forward to a demo with some kind of puzzle to solve, not sure if you are going to do that. That was the best part of company, along with the story.
Speaking of the story, I agree with some of the other comments when they say that they can’t wait to see the story. I can’t really think of any other flash game creators that tell a tale better.
From what you told me this is going to be an even more personal story than Company, which blows my mind. I wouldn’t even mind if you just left the gaming business and started writing stories, but I know you’ve got big plans for that.
I know you care about the story in your games more than you might let on to people who aren’t very close to you. Especially for Grief. I can tell you are really exited for this one though.
Take good care of your little brainchild of yours.
#32 by Felican on March 29th, 2010
A very interesting concept. Grief looks like an interesting project, and the artwork is amazing so far, but you might need to work on the collision detection. In other words, I can jump with part of me “in” the ground. (I hope there’ll be another little Amish guy as the main character
)
I love how you added the anti-depressants and the gun to add to this story of “misfortune”. I loved the whole psychological aspect of “Company” and am excited about how the story will go in Grief.
Perhaps you should add more effects to the anti-depressant (flowers or some other hippie stuff…
) and give the game a brighter feel after taking the pills.
All in all, good job! I can’t wait for this game to be released!
#33 by timothy on March 31st, 2010
hey i message on facebook thx (by the way its me timothy)
#34 by KHfan67789 on April 3rd, 2010
Wow! A sequal? Cool! First off, the artwork looks fantastic from this little bit of sample. I’m curious as to who this new character will be and how his/her story will play out. The psycological duress you put us through in “Company” was…unsettling, but it was perfect all the same.
The ‘antidepressants’ look like a good addition and I assume you are going to add some sort of ‘collision’ system for these boxes. The handgun, however, is a bit confusing. For what purpose would you need it, to help push the big boxes? It seems like a good idea for the demo, though.
I know next to nothing about physics, so I’m not going to delive into that arena. But I would like to know if the character would be able to pick up the smaller boxes, or would he/she have to manipulate the power of the antidepressants?
#35 by Sam on April 14th, 2010
Wow, i was just shouting about a sequal on Kongregate! Anyway, sometimes when i near a box or wall I can’t go left (if the box or wall is on my right) instead i go right every time i hit left; when i hit right things come back to normal though. Nothing huge, but im just trying to provide some feedback.
#36 by Magical Devon on April 15th, 2010
The big green rectangle character is not effective. It makes me feel disconnected from what I am controlling and makes it appear like there was no effort into designing the character. The Company of Myself was so effective because of the distinguished character. Make at least a distinguishable object that looks like it should be able to move.
#37 by J.hos on April 17th, 2010
i took a ride on a floating box. i waited awhile b4 pressing shift again. he never came down
#38 by Bassault on April 21st, 2010
I found a bug where I \"super jumped\" on the last steps, was that one of the side effects? o_O
#39 by Noah C on April 21st, 2010
You should probably put a ceiling on top, so that the players don’t go flying off the top and break the game.
#40 by joshrl on April 21st, 2010
I loved The Company of Myself and still do!, So I came and checked your website it find this.
I’d like to know how the story will go, because the fact you put in Anti-Depressants
One thing I wonder is how when using Anti-Depressants how the boxs float but shouldn’t they go to where they were before you used the A-D? I haven’t used Anti-Depressants before but I think this is how Anti-Depressants go >.<
(Side Note: I would still keep the A-D in there for the gameplay aspects for it)
(Side Note 2: Different kind of Drugs? = Awesome!)
#41 by abbysall19 on April 22nd, 2010
please put my name in credits just put abbysall19
#42 by Apocalypstic on April 24th, 2010
I liked how when using the \"anti-depressant\" you can actually jump onto a box and ride it. You could try to make a level where doing that is necessary, you know, to spice things up a bit.
#43 by Apocalypstic on April 24th, 2010
Oh yea, just mentioning, when you flip a box upside-down, the shading doesn’t change. Maybe your going to add light effects later to fix this graphical…”issue”…But just letting you know right now
#44 by TaintedQuintessence on April 24th, 2010
I think a ceiling is needed, especially since moving the blocks around will most likely be needed for the puzzle solving, and there will be a problem with people using anti depressents before they find out there\’s an important block that can float off screen. A ceiling also solves the problem of floating offscreen
#45 by Leanne on April 24th, 2010
I’m slightly confused as to what the storyline of this game is? Forgive me if I’ve missed the obvious.
It’s a good idea, but I don’t like the whole idea of the boxes floating off the page and then never returning. That’s annoying.
Again, a storyline and some instruction would be good, or the dialogue that was used, as in TCoM.
I really enjoyed TCoM. It actually made me cry, I’d love for this game to have a similar effect.
#46 by PaztheSpaz on April 25th, 2010
I really like the “gloom” and the graininess… it really helps with the emotion…
For the music, maybe some soft and repetitive piano music.
TCoM was amazing, so I would love to see this game make me cry as well.
#47 by Daniel on April 27th, 2010
God, I’m so confused. I really liked Company. THe plot was engaging although the last level was annoying. Just one thing: What’s this gun everyone is talking about? Not matter what I do, all I get is more boxes.
#48 by MikeChilds on April 28th, 2010
Liking the new stuff
#49 by Nick Johnston on April 28th, 2010
I LOVED, the Company, addicting, had fun little messages, and was very unique. I look forward to grief.
For the character, possibly, not so stout a sprite would be nice, maybe a mustache, or, soul-patch? A distinguishing article or item or facial hair is always good to add to the memory of the game and its character. Changing the background, the way-way background would be delightful, depending upon the mood or thoughts of the character, perhaps he gets angry and it turns red, and has sad-face clouds when he is dissapointed.
The little red-cave-esque look at the top of the page looks amazing, I like the shading and realistic look as if it is a piece of paper or canvas someone had doodled on.
Great games you have, I adore them. Viricide is addicting.
Nicky D. J in the credits if I am put in would be delightful.
Keep up the good work, poetry, games and website.
#50 by Wonderxyz on April 28th, 2010
I definitely love the background. How it looks hand drawn is really cool.