Simplicity versus Complexity

[Hugo]

Hey everyone! I've been working on my first PuzzleScript game for a while now (surprisingly, much, much longer than I anticipated, and it keeps growing). Currently, it is as simple as it can get: learn a new mechanic, play a few levels around it, learn another mechanic, play a few levels around it. Pretty standard procedure. However, after playing a few other puzzles with more complex environments and stories, such as Rose, Skipping Stones or Aunt Flora's Mansion, I've been wondering about "upping the game" on my game. It'd be something more similar to The Talos Principle, where playing puzzles unlock more puzzles. But obviously, this engine is not fit for very dynamic things such as "gamestates", so it'd be a lot of extra time and work to make it look nice without messing up completely.

My general question is: what do you guys think it's more worth it? Spending more time polishing a simple, yet fun puzzle, or spend that time making it fancier and more dynamic?

[demonaris...@gmail.com]

I think you should keep it nice and simple for now (like Portal 1), see if people like it, then add more stuff later (like Portal 2). There's a danger of diluting the game with superfluous levels and mechanics and losing focus as to what the game is about. :)

[Hand-E-Food]

Start with a simple game to get your footing with PuzzleScript.  When your dream starts adding complex rules that start interfering with other rules and the whole thing turns into a jumbled mes, you have nothing.  Make something that works, put it out there, then move on to the next great thing.  I did this with Gobble Rush.  I kept it simple and made 10 levels.  After I had feedback, it inspired more mechanics and more levels.

Another thing to consider is too many mechanics dilutes the game.  The mechanics should expand on each other rather than change the game.  It can be tricky to get right.

[Stephen Lavelle]

Do what you think is best for the game.

On Fri, Aug 4, 2017 at 5:48 AM, Hand-E-Food <hand_...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Start with a simple game to get your footing with PuzzleScript.  When your dream starts adding complex rules that start interfering with other rules and the whole thing turns into a jumbled mes, you have nothing.  Make something that works, put it out there, then move on to the next great thing.  I did this with Gobble Rush.  I kept it simple and made 10 levels.  After I had feedback, it inspired more mechanics and more levels.

Another thing to consider is too many mechanics dilutes the game.  The mechanics should expand on each other rather than change the game.  It can be tricky to get right.

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[Virelsa]

I think PuzzleScript works incredibly well as a prototyping tool. It's relatively quick and painless to turn an idea into a working template at which point you can ascertain whether it has legs. If you post your game here and it goes down well, you know it's worth putting the effort into fleshing it out, whether in PuzzleScript or a different tool entirely. If not, then, hey, it only took weeks (or months) rather than years of your time so it's less painful to simply move onto something else than it otherwise would be.

[Skalmantas Šimėnas]

I'd suggest making the best simple stuff and if you feel like you don't want it to be linear or want to overcome other limitations of PuzzleScript, make your game in some other game engine. It's actually rather easy to import the ASCII levels into something you program (or ask somebody to program it, I know it sounds absurd but young programmers like me might see it as a fun project that deserves place in a portfolio). Draknek does this all the time, although, he's kind of a veteran here and makes legitimate commercial games but making a game work in an another engine is likely the least of problems he has.