[Game] Miss Direction

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

Hi there.

Please enjoy this new puzzle platformer:

http://www.puzzlescript.net/play.html?p=8540011

I was really just using PuzzleScript to prototype the game, but the end result was so nice that I don't feel a pressing need to reimplement it.

There are 20 levels in all. It does get somewhat challenging, but hopefully not impossibly hard.

Let me know what you think!

Malcolm

[Ivan Koswara]

Whoa, this game is fantastic. How can one think of this amazing mechanism? I'm currently at level 7, deciding to stop because it's night over here, but I must say I'm impressed with what you have done with these.

[Dennis Au]

This is lovely. I'm enjoying playing it a lot. Sadly, work beckons.

I can't believe I missed this, but that IS a two pixel gender signifier on the protagonist, isn't it? Haha, great title. Love you work, real subtle like.

For some reason, I really want to see a sequel that features screen wrapping and endless falling instead of actual death. I know I really want it, I just don't know why.

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

Ivan wrote:

> Whoa, this game is fantastic.

Wow! Thanks for that. I'm all smiles :-)

> How can one think of this amazing mechanism?

Well, the general idea of platforming with altered gravity has many precedents. The idea for the corner mechanic came to me while developing a (non-platform) game a few years ago. It had the same curved level elements, and I couldn't help wondering what it would be like to implement a platform game with them.

Dennis wrote:

> This is lovely. I'm enjoying playing it a lot.

Thanks! Great to hear you're enjoying it.

> that IS a two pixel gender signifier on the protagonist, isn't it?

...maybe... :-)

> For some reason, I really want to see a sequel that features screen wrapping and endless falling instead of actual death.

That's a nice idea, and it would be very easy to implement in PuzzleScript. As well as endless falling, it would also allow some interesting levels where places can only be reached by falling off the edge. Since it's inconsistent with the current mechanic, I guess it'll have to be left for a variant...

By the way, I've tweaked some of the levels since I launched the other day. I'll only post about it if I think the changes make a significant difference.

Malcolm

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

> By the way, I've tweaked some of the levels since I launched the other day.
> I'll only post about it if I think the changes make a significant difference.

I've replaced level 9 (the one which looked a bit like a decorative symbol). It lacked focus and was a horrible reward for passing the previous, fairly tough level.

I'm sorry for anyone who wasted time on the old version. The new level is easier, quicker and fits much better with the overall theme (misdirection).

If you were working on the old level 9 and now feel deprived, I've left it in a comment at the bottom of the source code.

Good luck!

Malcolm

[Ryan Szrama]

Awesome work, Malcolm. I haven't explored the again command yet - cool to see it in action. Thanks for sharing!

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

I just learned about the ctrl-K shortcut elsewhere on the forum (it makes animated playbacks). I've used it to create a set of solutions:
https://sites.google.com/site/malcolmsprojects/miss-direction/miss-direction-solutions

Playing through the levels again after a space of a few weeks, I've realized that they were probably more difficult than I implied. Please let me know if you feel a level was plainly unfair.

Ryan Szrama wrote:
> Awesome work, Malcolm. I haven't explored the again command yet
> - cool to see it in action. Thanks for sharing!

My pleasure. Thanks for your comments.

Malcolm

[ragz...@gmail.com]

this is really great! just got to the one with multiple blocks and I think I'm too intimidated :p

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

Hi again!

Someone told me that they found the final level of Miss Direction surprisingly straightforward. When they explained their solution, I was disappointed to discover that they had indeed found an unintended one. (Serves me right for not writing a solver.)

Well, it's almost a year since I released the game, so I thought I'd go back and see if I could repair that last lever. I've made a few small adjustments, and as far as I can tell, it's now appropriately challenging.

Apologies to anyone who thought they had closure on this game :-D (Did anyone else finish it? I'd love to hear).

Enjoy!

Malx

[dil...@gmail.com]

I finally beat all the levels! Thanks for the great game, it's one of the best puzzlescript games I've played!

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

> I finally beat all the levels! Thanks for the great game, it's one of the best puzzlescript games I've played!

Wow! Thanks for the kind comments and well done. It's great to know that someone persevered all the way through.

Malx

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

Oh! I just discovered that Miss Direction has a similar mechanic to this earlier PuzzleScript game:
http://www.puzzlescript.net/play.html?p=6851495

I would have cited it at the time, had I known. Better late than never :-)

Malx

[mainivstopsc...@gmail.com]

I know this is a big bump, but if the creator is still active, this game was REALLY good. Really solid level design throughout. I totally fell for level 12. The things I didn't like: the ability to "die" is quite unfitting and level 20 felt kind of cheap. Still, great game.

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

> if the creator is still active, this game was REALLY good. Really solid level design throughout.

Wow! Thank you.

> I totally fell for level 12.

Hurray! It's great to hear that at least one player got the joke.

> The things I didn't like: the ability to "die" is quite unfitting

Ooh. Interesting. If you mean that death doesn't fit the theme, then you may be right. I guess it's such a fundimental trope of the genre that I didn't reflect on it

If you mean what happens when crates occassionally get crushed, then I had little choice. There's a problem in the crate mechanic where a moving crate gets stuck somewhere it shouldn't. I couldn't think of a puzzlescript alternative to just ending the level when that happened.

> level 20 felt kind of cheap.

Rather like level 12, that level is another "game design joke", but in this case it's a cruel one. Well done for solving it. I can't fully apologise, but I do acknowledge that it was self-indulgent.

> Still, great game.

Thanks again for your kind comments. It's about time I did something new, so your comments will give me very welcome boost.

Malcolm

[Skalmantas Šimėnas]

Thanks for reminding me about this game, I should probably share my edit: I've found the controls very disorienting because of how you have to look at the screen to figure out which key you need to press to move in a clockwise fashion and which to press to move counter-clockwise. So I've made a control system that simply makes left and right move CCW and CW. A very nice thing about this is that you can go around corners without ever having to release the key.

Extremely unrecommended for players who have already played the game because it will be twice as disorienting with a system that directly clashes with the one that's already familiar after a few levels.

https://www.puzzlescript.net/editor.html?hack=7d3e87b1ae92b348e4306e4b43fdeb78

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

> Thanks for reminding me about this game, I should probably share my edit:
> I've found the controls very disorienting because of how you have to look
> at the screen to figure out which key you need to press to move in a
> clockwise fashion and which to press to move counter-clockwise. So I've
> made a control system that simply makes left and right move CCW and CW.

It works well. Thanks for sharing!

Malcolm

[mainivstopsc...@gmail.com]

To be honest, the only time I had the broken crate happen was when experimenting in level 10 and having 2 crates in a row. That actually jumpscared me a bit, I was not expecting blood (or the "dead player") at all.

There could be other ways it could happen but for my use case I was wondering why it had to end the level? Why not have the crates break (basically turning transparent)? It could make for maybe a couple scenarios, but ending the level prematurely doesn't allow that.

I think the cruelness of level 20 was more like I discounted the idea from happening since I was already pressing down when on top of a box on top of one of the flipthrough/dropthrough gates, and seeing no results. The way I solved the level was just by analyzing the level design.

[malcolm....@gmail.com]

> the broken crate ... actually jumpscared
> me a bit

Sorry about that :(

> I was wondering why it had to end
> the level?

To be honest, I really struggled coming up with any workable solution to this edge case, given that I only had one graphic tile available. I had to ensure that blocking a crate in the wrong place couldn't be used to find an unintended route to the exit. I agree that my approach isn't a great fit for the theme, but at least it makes some kind of sense (broken crates release poisonous vapour).

> Why not have the crates break
> (basically turning transparent)? It
> could make for maybe a couple
> scenarios, but ending the level
> prematurely doesn't allow that.

It's a decent idea, and as you suggest it could be a mechanic in its own right. However, I would have to check that it didn't break existing levels. (At the time, my hands were tied, because I didn't address the problem until late in the development, when I already had designed many levels).

SPOILER WARNING:

> I think the cruelness of level 20 was
> more like I discounted the idea from
> happening since I was already pressing
> down when on top of a box on top of one
> of the flipthrough/dropthrough gates,
> and seeing no results.

True, but you didn't have anything to push against. I really like the idea ending a game on a newly discovered mechanic, which can serve no further purpose. It's meant to be obscure, but it is a shame if a player discounts it completely :/

> The way I solved the level was just by
> analyzing the level design.

I'm glad to hear that the solution revealed itself by that route.

Thanks for your insightful comments.

Malx

[main_gi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Df162Z1sQ&lc=UgwCVASvQ_KjB7hAAVh4AaABAg

5 years later I decide to do a video on this now that I have a puzzle channel :) I don't think I will forget this game.

[Malcolm Tyrrell]

> 5 years later I decide to do a video on this now that I have a puzzle channel :)

Wow! That's _incredibly_ cool! I suspect you have increased the number of people aware of the game by several orders of magnitude :D

Also, you found an unintended short-cut to level 19. Well done! In my many many play tests, I never attempted to use the trick from level 11. Unfortunately, it by-passes the trick I did intend players to find (see the solution gif on my project page), so I had to patch the level. (It took a few hours, but I think I've blocked off the short-cut without introducing a new weakness. At the very least, I checked the new version with the puzzlescript solver here https://github.com/marcosdon/PuzzleScriptWithSolver).

As it happens, I was just starting to think about starting work on a new game, when I was notified about your message. This is just the impetus I need, so thanks for that!

Malcolm