You probably already know, but in case you don’t…

Sarah’s Run development is on hold for the time being. what I want to do with the game will take quite a while before I am happy selling preorders, but I do really need money, so I have started another project which I am selling as I make the game. (as I add to the game, I add to the price). so if you like dungeon crawlers and want to support habits of mine such as game development and eating, please check it out and buy a copy: lottiesdungeon.com (theres a playable preview on the site too 😉 )

12 Responses to “You probably already know, but in case you don’t…”

  1. Erick says:

    I saw the game on Kong and rushed over here to see if you had pre-orders for this game or anything like that, so I’m a bit disappointed that you’re doing another game for the time being but… after playing it for awhile, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna pre-order that one and follow it for awhile.
    You do a lot of great things with Unity and I really think you’re gonna come up with some mind-blowing stuff.

  2. Greetings! I just played Sarah’s Run. A shame that development is on hold but honestly I’m very much enjoying it. Congrats on an excellent entry into Kongregate (and other channels).

    While I’m sure you’ve been inundated by such requests I’d like to know if I could help, sound-wise. Any needs you have just throw them my way and I’m sure I can help, particularly in an indie capacity if you take my meaning. When I’m inspired, compensation becomes a very distant second to collaboration on something cool.

    Anyway thanks again for the fun!

    -Alex

    • Sophie says:

      hi Alex, and thanks for your very nice comments. I’m covered sound-wise for now, but if ever I need it in the future you will definitely be on the list of people for me to consider. the work on your site is very impressive 🙂

      as for compensation, its nice of you to say that but when I’m working on commercial stuff I’d prefer to be professional, I’ll make sure you are payed what you are worth if we ever do team up 😉

  3. anonymous says:

    I found this game on kong and got over here to see what’s going on with ur other game. I tested the free version and here is a review:

    Story:
    Absolutely no story. This is a dungeon crawler. The story is not the main feature but you need to know what you are doing there and how you got in the dungeon.

    Gameplay:
    The fixed camera makes it easy to control the character. The problem is, that items and monsters can disappear behind the walls. To slove this problem you can draw the border of the object, when it is behind a wall.

    The shooting is easy. You really get the hang of it really fast.

    Concept:
    Actually, the concept is old. Walking in a dungeon, shooting monsters. That’s something you get everywhere. Add something new and innovative.

    Graphics:
    The comic style is ok, but the rat needs more detail. The lamps are great, giving the main atmosphere.

    (Re)play:
    No. Not at all. You offer some random dungeons. There’s no difference between level 1 and 10. If you introduce new monsters in the new levels, the player get’s something new and keeps playing. If you don’t cange that, the player doesn’t unlock new stages and will never replay your game.

    Balancing:
    First: Starspell:
    This spell is way to strong. If you keep your mouse button pressed, you keep shooting and get invincible. Bad balancing.
    Second: Firespell:
    Spreads, but hits way too weak. The monsters always get you with this spell. Bad balancing.
    Third: Groundspell:
    This spell is ablolutely harmless for monsters running at you. But if the monsters don’t know about you, they’re doomed. The best balanced spell so far.
    Bad balancing means, that the player shoots through the level and wins easily, causing him to end the game (too easy, no challenge) or the player het’s doomed every time, also causing him to end the game (frustration). Good balancing is hard to get, because the players are differently skilled. Best solution: Easy, medium, hard modes.

    Overall:
    The game gets boring. Once you got the hang of it, you can close the game. This can be changed. Something you really SHOULD do.

    • Sophie says:

      wow, thanks for the in depth critique! I’ll address a few things you bring up, but for the most part the reason so much is sub-par is because the game is still in development, and hasn’t had nearly the amount of time to polish it as I gave some of my other projects 🙂

      Story: I am in the process of writing this, and its almost all together, reason I don’t tell any story now is because the story involves certain characters and locations, and they have yet to be made, but I shall be making them in the order they appear in the story, so I can get at least the introduction and context of everything in place asap 🙂

      Gameplay: the camera is not entirely fixed, since you can rotate it I felt this was ok for keeping things from being hidden behind walls, and the perspective means the walls hide very little. but I must admit I started playing torchlight recently and found the ‘x-ray’ type effect they use is very cool, and allows for much more interesting geometry surrounding the play area without impeding play, and I have seen the effect rendered in unity before, so I am certainly tempted to experiment with it! 🙂

      Concept: haha, yeah, I can’t pretend I am exactly pushing boundries here. my aim was to make a game I would enjoy making, as opposed to say sarahs run where it was make a game people wouldn’t have played before but could still enjoy. the truth is though, that because of my approach to development, I can add features relatively quickly, so if I have an idea I can test it and throw it out if its no good or keep it if it is. to me features arent like the big commitments they are in mainstream game development, I can afford to take risks others wouldn’t and that may lead to something new and innovative.
      – it may not of course though, but I’m ok with that on this project, since like I say, I’m just making this type of game since I think its fun to make 🙂

      Graphics: yes, almost everything is rough graphics right now, I will be scrapping and remaking quite a lot, since it’s so early in development it’s not my main focus right now.

      Replay: (as for replay, I’m not too concerned if they want to replay or not, so long as the first time through is enjoyable thats fine by me)
      Play: yep, in the current free version the levels are all generated with the same parameters, in the next free release (the current version paying customers get) levels are generated with different parameters, and have varying enemies. and in future updates there will be more types of levels, and many of them will be generated with different algorythms entirely, so the variety should be there soon 🙂

      Balancing: I’ve not even tried to balance it yet really, it’s certainly something that is important and will recieve a lot of my attention further down the line, but I am still making systems and adding and changing things, when I don’t know what I will add further down the line, its silly to balance too soon, since adding new things can break a well balanced system. for example, I don’t even know if I will have different levels of spells, and if there are whether they can be upgraded linearly, or are there going to be branching paths where the player can decide which abilities they prefer? it’s a lot to think about, and until I have a feeling for how I want it, I don’t want to start balancing. as for having different difficulty settings, I would rather not do that, but I know that I appreciate it in other games, and I intend for the game to get pretty difficult further down the line, but I don’t want to alienate casual players who come for the story, so that’s another thing for me to think on. 🙂

      your overall remark about the game getting boring is spot on for the current free version, there isn’t much to do, and there isn’t much challenge. I think the next few releases should make for a big difference in this regard, but it may be a couple of months or so before I start to bring out the really challenging stuff, but hopefully it won’t be that long.

      anyway, thanks again for such an in-depth critique, I really appreciate it!

  4. nickso says:

    Hey, Spohie, Sarah’s Run so far is pretty awesome, let me say. But I was wondering — pressing Y (On the XBox controller) activates robosarah? What’s up with that?

  5. TONES says:

    Just finished the game on MoFunZone and i really really enjoyed it! the idea of the game is great and the controls are smooth. nice back round music:) and what are u planning on doing to this game? leaving it open like BeGone on nplay.com or selling it?
    TONES

  6. MikeOShay says:

    Aw, just played the preview on Kongregate and loved it, sad to see no updates on the devblog since 2010. Hopefully you’ll still follow through with this project, it’s awesome. A well-coded, well-designed mix of Portal, VVVVVV, and MC Escher.

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