Impossible

Impossible – A jump game

Objective: The objective of “Impossible” is very simple. Make it to the top of the playing field without falling down or dying.

Pros and Cons: Impossible is a game that is heavily based on the player’s timing and patience. For veterans of the jump game genre, Impossible can be a very simple game. For amateurs or casual players, Impossible can take up to half an hour or even more. The game is structured around the player’s true skill as there are no weapons, ammo, or upgrades.

A weakness is the difficulty curve of the game. Many players will be very stressed while playing because the platforms are very small, and your aiming must be perfect to land on one. Or else you will fall the to the ground. Impossible is very outside of the normal genres and adds a new depth to a more skill derived gaming genre.

What improvements could be made: I was hoping to insert a physics engine that would act and respond like Euphoria. However, with an engine like Sploder, this was simply impossible. I’d also like to make the playing field much larger. Perhaps with some checkpoints at certain areas. Once again, it was impossible with Sploder.

Difficulties encountered: I honestly didn’t have many problems with the design plan. The moment I started working on Impossible, I didn’t look back. However, testing the space in between jumps and editing the field took quite a few classes to accomplish. At first, I wanted to do a jetpack oriented game. However, I found out to my dismay that this would be impossible as the school’s hardware is unable to process the massive space involved.

Changes from the original design: The jetpack design was edited to be a jump game instead of relying on the jetpack. I felt that the sheer number of enemies that were required to be eliminated was just too much. Also, I disliked having weapons in the game that was impossible to aim with the mouse and was fired via auto targeting.

Strengths and weaknesses: The difficulty curve is the only thing I can think of. This counts as a strength and a weakness.

What did I do well at: I think I made a good attempt at the jump game genre and I hope that I’ve spread its popularity around a little more. Just like rhythm games, I hope that this genre will one day be resurrected. Lord knows the 2D plat forming genre is perfectly fine with gamers. Why not jump? With the jumping system being barely used on many games these days. One of the more complicated part of code should be used more frequently.

What could you have done better at: Checkpoints, that’s all I think I could have improved.

-Do you think it was too hard?
-What would you have changed?
-Who would you have recommended it to?