[Completed] Fly Trap!

[SlamminSam]

 

 

 

 

Hey HTML5 community,

 

Nathan Lovato and I made this game together. 99% of the art is by him, and he did an excellent job in my opinion. The best part was watching him create the graphics live via screen share. I really recommend him!

 

For this game, I decided to design it so the performance on desktop wasn't brought down by the requirements of low-end mobile devices. It runs at 60fps on desktop and enables a whole bunch of extra effects and detail, whereas on mobile the game runs at 30fps and these effects are not present. It turned out really well, and wasn't too much of a hassle to implement.

 

The game was created utilising my JCHTML5 framework for GameMaker: Studio. Mention Fly Trap on checkout for $5 off Basic until 1st October

 

As always, the tweening is thanks to 8BitWarriors Tween GMS engine, which is as amazing as eating 10 cakes at once, if that's something you're able to compare to.

 

 

Description

"Fly from wall to wall avoiding nasty insect-eating plants! Don't get eaten!"

 

View a snippet from the game: http://gfycat.com/IncompatibleLittleBlacklemur

Play the full game here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36336652/HTML5/FlyTrap/index.html

 

If you'd like to make an offer for an exclusive, or non-exclusive, license, I'd love to hear from you.

Contact: www.juicycraft.com/contact

 

Comments appreciated! Good or bad

[IQpied]

Nice and simple. Great five minute game to kill time.

[fatalfluff]

Love the visuals.

[suntemple]

Great creation, played smoothly on Samsung G Tab 2. I noticed a bug however - while playing for aound 5 minutes I got 2 times into a situation where play button would stop functionig. It displayed 00 hops in the background in both cases.

[Kai Hartmann]

Nice variation of the Flappy Bird gameplay mechanic.

[Horizonicblue]

Nice game and also good graphics,

I played a similar kind of game last week but this is better than that one

[Robske]

Any chance of making a native Android / iOS version for this? If you want, I can help you with that.

[SlamminSam]

Thanks for all your positive comments

 

@suntemple: Thanks, I'm 99% sure I know what's causing that.

 

@Robske: Thanks for the offer, though I have plans for porting it to native myself.

[Funkyy]

Looking good.

 

Graphics looks a lot like Rayman Origins style (and thats a good thing!).

 

Superb quality.

 

Good luck with offers!

[Robske]

SlamminSam, no need to port it. Just wrap it into a WebView and you're fine. It works like a charm on Android as it is!
 
Apart from this, I tested in on my iPhone 4S. The game works fine, but the graphics are really 'bad'. It's not as smooth as on PC.

 

Also, please make sure the game is only displayed in portrait:

 

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1207008/how-do-i-lock-the-orientation-to-portrait-mode-in-a-iphone-web-application

[SlamminSam]

Thanks Robske, I've sent you a PM!

 

Not much I can do about the graphics on iPhone4S unfortunately Unless I make another version with half-size graphics.

[BdR]

Nice variation of the Flappy Bird gameplay mechanic.

I wouldn't call it a variation of Flappy Bird, it's more like a re-skinning of Don't Touch The Spikes.

 

But anyway I agree, the artwork looks really good Btw my max score was 29 but I didn't see any pick ups? If you want to keep it fly-themes you could add falling spiders to avoid.. 

[zackproser]

Beautiful art! This is a tough one. 

[SlamminSam]

I wouldn't call it a variation of Flappy Bird, it's more like a re-skinning of Don't Touch The Spikes.

 

But anyway I agree, the artwork looks really good Btw my max score was 29 but I didn't see any pick ups? If you want to keep it fly-themes you could add falling spiders to avoid.. 

Don't Touch The Spikes is a variation on Flappy Bird, and Fly Trap is a re-skin of Don't Touch The Spikes.

 

Spiders isn't a bad idea! 

[Nathan Lovato]

Wow, I'm glad to see that we're getting some good feedback here! 

 

I wouldn't call it a variation of Flappy Bird, it's more like a re-skinning of Don't Touch The Spikes.

 

This is true. Unfortunately, it is hard to come up with a very fresh and unique gameplay and be productive with 1-touch controls. But well, publishers want content that sells, so Sam rightly focused on using an efficient gameplay, and a proof-tested one. It was a good learning experience as far as the polishing phase is concerned as well !

[SlamminSam]

It was a good learning experience as far as the polishing phase is concerned as well !

Completely agree!

[SlamminSam]

Just submitted Fly Trap (iOS) to Apple! Here's hoping it gets through the first time.

For those who requested it, the native version has a short tutorial image. Thanks for the suggestion!

[lidev]

Good game, and really beautiful artwork.

 

Congrats

[Penry]

nice, simple, and well put together ! great stuff.  i really liked the tweened game resizing when i change my browser size,

 

I spotted a small bug when resizing, but not something that'll show up for 99% of users, so from one developer to another - the canvas background in my desktop browser is a ftting brown, but on resizing there's a black rectangle showing the size the gaem rectangle is going to be once it's tweened to it's resize (as i say, nothing that anyone other than a dev would spot i recon)

[Son of Bryce]

Nice game!

[SlamminSam]

Thanks

 

Update! Released on iOS! 

 

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fly-trap/id925229621?mt=8

[orange08]

Definitely a well made game here, and the presentation was almost perfect. However... I couldn't help but notice the huge similarities between this game and the game Adam Atomic made during the "Flappy Bird" jam. His game was called "FlappyBalt" and you can play it right in your browser: http://adamatomic.com/flappybalt/

 

The similarities between FlappyBalt and your game Fly Trap are rather overwhelming. Essentially, you've just re-skinned it and made it easier. There are spikes on the top and bottom of the screen and moving enemies on the left and right sides of the screen.

 

While your game is good, it's still a blatant clone... I feel like you could have at least put more variety in the enemies that appear and disappear on the right and left sides of the screen. You could have mixed the idea up a bit to make it your own... but you really haven't. It's the same game with different graphics and a lesser default difficulty setting(and I don't think it makes a difference even if your game is a clone of a clone).

 

It appears to me the intent here is to make a profit by using another persons idea. Unless you've been given permission by the person you're cloning, I don't think this is what you would call "ethical".

 

Games of mine have been cloned in the past as well, and let me tell you, it's not a very comforting thought to know that your original idea is being stolen by other developers so they can make money off of it, and potentially prevent you from selling it because the sponsors already bought someone's clone of your game. I don't enjoy having my games copied, and this is why all the games I make commercially are original ideas that I come up with in my own head.

 

In conclusion: Don't steal.

[SlamminSam]

Definitely a well made game here, and the presentation was almost perfect. However... I couldn't help but notice the huge similarities between this game and the game Adam Atomic made during the "Flappy Bird" jam. His game was called "FlappyBalt" and you can play it right in your browser: http://adamatomic.com/flappybalt/

 

The similarities between FlappyBalt and your game Fly Trap are rather overwhelming. Essentially, you've just re-skinned it and made it easier. There are spikes on the top and bottom of the screen and moving enemies on the left and right sides of the screen.

 

While your game is good, it's still a blatant clone... I feel like you could have at least put more variety in the enemies that appear and disappear on the right and left sides of the screen. You could have mixed the idea up a bit to make it your own... but you really haven't. It's the same game with different graphics and a lesser default difficulty setting(and I don't think it makes a difference even if your game is a clone of a clone).

 

It appears to me the intent here is to make a profit by using another persons idea. Unless you've been given permission by the person you're cloning, I don't think this is what you would call "ethical".

 

Games of mine have been cloned in the past as well, and let me tell you, it's not a very comforting thought to know that your original idea is being stolen by other developers so they can make money off of it, and potentially prevent you from selling it because the sponsors already bought someone's clone of your game. I don't enjoy having my games copied, and this is why all the games I make commercially are original ideas that I come up with in my own head.

 

In conclusion: Don't steal.

 

Thank you. Your post started out fairly nice, but ended on a really hard note. Let me address it

 

Yes, the game is pretty much a re-skin, but not directly of FlappyBalt. There is a slightly different spike mechanic with FlappyBalt and Fly Trap. Fly Trap is much more similar to "Don't hit the spikes".

 

Of course the similarities are overwhelming. I'm not denying this. I don't feel proud of the mechanics, I don't feel proud of the idea, but I do feel proud of the level of quality/polish that it came out with.

 

Cloning/Reskinning isn't what I wanted to do when I got back into the game/HTML5 scene, but, it has proved profitable so far, and I'm not the only one. Sponsors need someone to provide them with these games. If I can make some money with clones it lets me slow down a little and I feel okay with making something original that I enjoy developing and feel is actually mine. We all know how Nintendo is fairing at the moment with its innovative products. Being original is risky. 

 

If you'd like to see one of my games that is completely original (and hugely successful), download Hedges (non-iOS8, also on Android). It's a massive game that took me far longer than any HTML5 game, and it made me a massive $150 in its lifetime, which is fantastic and definitely worth the overnight development sessions, being so constantly tired that I was delirious, listening to Daft Punk's new album for an entire month straight, and generally the loss of health due to forgetting to eat/sleep/take care of myself because it was so much fun to make and so much a part of myself.

 

Reskinning this game was a good experience to have. I got to work with a professional artist for the first time and spent a larger portion of my time polishing instead of worrying about mechanics and if the game is going to be 'fun'.

 

While we are on the topic of "ethical", I'm not the only one to clone games. True Valhalla, whom I'm sure you're very familiar as you work with him, also clones games. (See Split Ball). So in one sentence you're telling me not to steal from others, but you're working with someone who is doing similar things. Is that ethical?

 

I'm working on other games which are my own ideas, but of course, they take longer to make and have been put on hold. With 14-hour uni days like yesterday, I don't really have the time to be designing original games, but I still need to make a living. If I could make $25k in a month like your friend TV, I wouldn't even consider cloning.

 

Again, I'm not denying that this is a clone. I'm not saying it's original, and I'm not the only one that reskins/clones.

 

Hope that clears things up, orange08.

 

EDIT: I'm interested in knowing what other people think of this. There aren't clear lines defined for cloning/reskinning (whatever you like to call it). Where do you draw the line? Can we even define the line?

[SlamminSam]

 I haven't cloned a game in years

But you have cloned games. How old does a game have to be for clones to be okay?

 

I certainly haven't cloned recent indie games for profit like you have.

No, you haven't. You already have the success and the money. You don't go to uni. You make games for a living. You have all the time in the world.

I don't.

 

FlappyBalt was apparently made during a Flappy Bird jam, which means the entire purpose of that jam was to make a game similar to Flappy Bird. There isn't that many differences between the two. So when does 'inspired by' become 'cloned'?

[orange08]

Cloning/Reskinning isn't what I wanted to do when I got back into the game/HTML5 scene, but, it has proved profitable so far, and I'm not the only one. Sponsors need someone to provide them with these games. If I can make some money with clones it lets me slow down a little and I feel okay with making something original that I enjoy developing and feel is actually mine. We all know how Nintendo is fairing at the moment with its innovative products. Being original is risky.

Being original is risky, and cloning is much more profitable(?)... so that makes cloning acceptable?

 

If you'd like to see one of my games that is completely original (and hugely successful), download Hedges (non-iOS8, also on Android). It's a massive game that took me far longer than any HTML5 game, and it made me a massive $150 in its lifetime, which is fantastic and definitely worth the overnight development sessions, being so constantly tired that I was delirious, listening to Daft Punk's new album for an entire month straight, and generally the loss of health due to forgetting to eat/sleep/take care of myself because it was so much fun to make and so much a part of myself.

Just because you made an original game that was not profitable doesn't mean every original game is going to be worthless. Whenever I make a game that is a flop I always try to look back and see what I could have done better to make the game more appealing. I've had a lot of failures, but failures end up being beneficial in the end if you use them correctly.

 

While we are on the topic of "ethical", I'm not the only one to clone games. True Valhalla, whom I'm sure you're very familiar as you work with him, also clones games. (See Split Ball, bubble pop, or others). So in one sentence you're telling me not to steal from others, but you're working with someone who is doing similar things. Is that ethical?

I think it's perfectly fine for me to work with True Valhalla. It is my hope that the original games I bring to the table can serve as a good example of how it is still possible to make fresh new games that do not impinge on the (copy) rights of others.

 

I'm working on other games which are my own ideas, but of course, they take longer to make and have been put on hold. With 14-hour uni days like yesterday, I don't really have the time to be designing original games, but I still need to make a living. If I could make $25k in a month like your friend TV, I wouldn't even consider cloning.

Essentially what you're saying is that you don't have time to be original, so you must steal other people's ideas to survive. Honestly, that sounds like a pretty tough spot you're in... I really don't think that makes it okay to clone, though.

 

Again, I'm not denying that this is a clone. I'm not saying it's original, and I'm not the only one that reskins/clones.

Hope that clears things up, orange08.

I know all too well that you're not the only one who reskins/clones... but even if the majority of people do something that is wrong, it does not suddenly make it right.

I wish you good luck with your future games, and I hope you will be able to make your own original ideas from now on.