Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: moket on April 25, 2010, 05:39:16 pm
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Hi, lurking for quite some time, really impressed by the interesting thoughts I've read here.
I started a 16x16 mock up for a platform game, with a minimal palette not to get lost into, also a quick playable proto (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/) done with the Flixel (http://flixel.org/) framework in order to test the graphics in game. Sound FX made with SFXR (http://code.google.com/p/sfxr/) and background wind mood picked up on The Free Sound Project (http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=2690).
Don't specifically want to get retro but it made things easier to grasp for a first try.
I will update with vegetation and some sky elements but didn't want to wait to much/forever so I could have some basics to start the next tiles.
Gameplay wise I was thinking of having the ground made mostly of quick sands with a few places where you could walk without dying.
So it will be mostly aerial acrobatics. Basically trying to cram in a lot of the typical movements you could find in platform games (wall sliding, double Jumps for example).
Also some pickups because japanese food is fun to draw. :crazy:
Anims are pretty rough, quite difficult to work within a few pixels (animation is hard for me whenever the size). I would like to have detailed ones in the end.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NinjaJamProtoPalette.png)
running (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NinjaJamPlayer_Run.png) (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_player_animMockup.gif)
sliding against walls (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NinjaJamPlayer_Lean.png)
falling (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NinjaJamPlayer_Fall.png)
pick up (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_OnigiriWeb.png)
tileset (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_SandTiles.png)
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NinjaJamProto.png)
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I really like this. My only suggestion would be to reduce dithering as much as possible.
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wow this is wizard. i would love to see more.
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I love the colors *-*
But that angel is too white, i barely can see it.
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Wow this looks great! Fantastic work, I've been meaning to learn Flixel for a while. Good stuff all round. The "Ninja Jam" logo could do with being a bit taller, it's very hard to tell it's text.
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infinitegames <> Thanks. Yes it's tempting to dither, I should perhaps add more colors to the palette instead. I can't figure how to add texture without doing it.
JaJitsu <> posting here gives me motivation, even if it's frightening at the same time ^^.
Jakerpot <> I really should add one more color then before the brighter one, I could use it also for background stuff. Thanks.
rikfuzz <> wow thanks a lot ! I doubled the logo size now, dirty practice but it will be a reminder. I wanted to have an Asian font feeling while still being occidental it might take time to find the right way.
Flixel is pretty easy to learn and has a nice helping community behind. I've waited so long to find a way to get myself at game making. I must resist not to put the nice pixel work of this forum into it ;)
Made a third theme, now I will focus on refining each part while testing the game. Mainly having a scale chart instead of the messy one and conform the graphics to the grid.
Added a second title to help me going forth with a little bit of context.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/ninjajamProtoWeb02.png)
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I really like this. My only suggestion would be to reduce dithering as much as possible.
I disagree. Stones and trees and most things organic looks great with dithering.
Stay away from dithering on shiny and smooth surfaces though.
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I really like this. My only suggestion would be to reduce dithering as much as possible.
I disagree. Stones and trees and most things organic looks great with dithering.
Stay away from dithering on shiny and smooth surfaces though.
Agreed.
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I love those clouds! :D
I would stay away from dithering as much as possible here. Texturing is fine, but with such a limited palette and small object sizes, I think it gets too noisy in this case. Single pixels don't really say much on their own. If you try to add texture with lots of single pixels, you'll end up with varying flavors of sandpaper. Sandpaper trees, sandpaper grass, etc. I think it'll be nice for rust, with the two darkest shades, and of course for the sand, where I suggest adding more of that dithering to make it look more like sand. For other surfaces, I think you need more information than that single pixel. Putting a few together in a line will indicate cracks, a few in a tiny cluster makes a leaf, and so on. That way you should be able to add some interesting details without making it too noisy.
The thing I'd worry more about, however, is where you use your colors. By adding highlights and the dark shadows to everything, you lose depth. Everything seems to be on the same level, and nothing really stands out as more important than anything else. You've done well with the forest area where you have the faded, blue background elements, but I think the color usage in the ground tiles could use some adjustments.
(http://www.retinaleclipse.com/moketedit.png)
I managed to misinterpret your sand as grass, but oh well. :crazy: It makes for one more texture example, I guess.
For instance, you can cut down on the use of black lines to separate brighter areas. If another, brighter color serves just as well, there's no need for such dark lines. I would save the use of bright and dark colors together for things that are really important, like the player, enemies or power-ups. I also removed highlights from tiny things like the smallest bricks to make it look a little cleaner and most of the highlights on the darkest ground tiles as well, since I thought they were attracting more attention than their purpose is worth.
I also decided not to mirror any tiles since I think it's well worth the extra effort. It's easier in some ways since you don't have to worry about the direction of the lighting being inconsistent.
(http://www.retinaleclipse.com/moketeditb.png)
Here's some sand too. I recommend adding some kind of sign of danger to the sand tiles, like some skeletons or skulls or something. It's not easy making them read well at that size, but I don't think much is needed.
I hope that's useful. :)
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(http://www.retinaleclipse.com/moketedit.png)
(http://www.retinaleclipse.com/moketeditb.png)
I'm in love :crazy:
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Arachne you made my day ! Thanks you so much for taking the time to do those edits and explaining in depth the meaning behind them. Truly good points here.
Don't have much time right now, but I will work on it as soon as I get home.
I began to work on the title/menu screen, crude to the max (no depth in here) but couldn't post without at least some graphics after what you did. The steam will be done with particles.
Thanks again !
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_MenuScreen3Flat.png)
Robotacon thanks for taking the time to give your opinion too.
Jakerpot, who wouldn't :'(
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Gave some try at it with Arachne's advices, hard not to copy.
Comparing my stuff with her edit was giving me headaches so I went with a bit different design.
I added one color (light blue) to the palette also, I was stuck so it helped me to move on by having less contrast.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/ninjajamProtoWeb03.png)
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Man, this looks great! I can't give any critiques myself, but I do have a question. What exactly is the thing in the upper left corner suppose to be? At first I thought it was a mini map, but that doesn't make any sense. Is it the logo or something?
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thanks. Next step is the background otherwise I will adjust the foreground forever.
Yes it's the placeholder logo, in fact I could make it look like stylized mountains, more headaches but could be fun ::)
Definitely lacks concept art ...
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I tried to put more thoughts on the stage design itself, so I can have a goal to reach instead of banging my head on pixel technics without knowing when to stop.
I haven't really found something gameplay wise for the middle part. I like that big jar thingy but like the trees it's not consistent light wise. Typical mistake of going to far without a proper planning .
Will put all this in the engine tomorow, it should help to make decisions.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_concept03web.png)
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Need shading on the machines at far most right :) I mean the machines on the platforms.
I really enjoy this piece. I love mockups :3
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thanks Jakerpot.
I changed some stuff in the middle part, conformed some others to the grid and tried to shade the machines on the third part. Dithering is hard and not so effective, I really think I'm gonna upscale to 32px tiles and add some colors to this piece, I'm not good enough at this, I hope playing with the colors will help me not to get depressed :-[
I will anyway have to redo the main character and give him some contrast. I was thinking of a chef since food is involved and I could give him some white clothes and the typical hat. Like Arachne said he's kinda lost in the scenery.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_concept04web.png)
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The sand is great, and please don't use more colors :(
Blue is my favorite color, don't mess arround with the pallete please ::)
The new trees give a japanese feeling and maybe just a chef hat would be enough.
Do you pretend to launch the game or is this just for fun??
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I agree with what Jakerpot has been saying - the praise is well deserved!
The shading on the far right machines is brilliant - just the perfect amount of dithering to make it look like real game graphics.
Please don't change the palette unless all other options fail and the fate of the world hangs in the balance - this is one of the most effective colour schemes I've ever seen.
I fell in love with this project instantly - I don't know how serious you are about it, but for me, I'd put this in a list of Top Ten Most Promising Mockups. The creativity here (ninja in a cool land of techno-food) is off the charts and you may count me as a fan. An uber fan.
If the project I'm working for (The Amazing Wilbot Project (http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9903)) winds up looking even half this cool and fun I would be happier than a happy clam in happy sauce.
Your ninja reads fine to me - the minimal style actually concentrates the coolness, and it is shocking to me how much character shines through with such a small number of pixels. Please don't change him into something like a "chef"! No offense to chefs, but while they may be something to respect, they are not associated with coolness, and the power of this mockup (for me) comes from the delightful juxtaposition of cool and whimsical. Without the ninja, there isn't enough 'cool' and thus no juxtaposition to so strongly catch the eye!
I would have posted earlier, but all I had was love and nothing useful - but I am spurred into action now to 'help' the project by giving you as much assurance as I can that you are doing great (better than great, even) and that depression is the farthest thing you should be feeling right now. Triumph is what you are brewing - I can recognise the aroma from here!
(p.s. if anybody complains too much about your dithering, please ignore them - you've been using it with impressive mastery from the start. In fact, when you changed your columns, you kinda reduced them to looking like ice or crystal tiles, which is a shame, because the stone you had was simply amazing. Hope I haven't scared you with a wall of text, I just couldn't help but express myself about your project! Don't mistrust your incredible pixel instincts, they're spot on so far! :y:)
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While I do agree with ninja crow so far, I do, however, have a bit of a teeny nitpick.
The machines on the right, I couldn't tell if they were machines unless I looked a coulple times.
Metal is usually a bright, shiny substance. Here it looks almost like the rest of the back dops and doesn't stand out like I'm used to it doing.
And kick that depression stuff. That's a real project killer.
@Ninja crow: Darn you! You made me find a new chiptune label by going to that project page! (that's a good thing :)). Although, I don't know if it' be okay to just use any of that music. 8bitcollective might be a better choice for that. All you need to do there is acknowledge the artist and have a link back to the page. Also, on your graphic program choices. Gimp is excellenct for transparency. Just start a new image. Then paste the piece you want transparent. Start a new layer, make sure the transparent option is picked. You can delete the first layer now. Then, using the wand tool, select all the white/color to be transaparent by holding shift to make multiple selections. Once you have all the transparent bits you want selected, hit the delete key. a checkered background should show up which means those areas are now transparent. Simpler then it sounds. Oh, and for color swapping. It's best to use Graphics Gale. It has a color replacer tool. To use it, the select a foreground color. This is the one you want to switch to. Then select the background color, this is the color you want to switch from. Then pick your brush size and only the selected color will be effected. Easy!
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@Ninja crow: Darn you! You made me find a new chiptune label by going to that project page! (that's a good thing :)).
Yeah, it's pretty cool stuff, and thanks for the great tips!
I couldn't tell if they were machines unless I looked a coulple times.
Wow, I'm really surprised by that - I thought the new shading on the metal was rich and amazing. I'm afraid I have to disagree about a lack of contrast between what was supposed to be metal and what was supposed to be stone - it seems perfectly strong to me (the soup bowls (?) even have a central specular highlight) and I love the sharp line of shadow across the bowls, which helps them look reflective even more. But maybe you can make an edit to show me what you mean? (full disclosure: I'm going to be very hard to convince ;))
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I like the retro gameboy styling of this, but I hope it becomes an iPhone game or that you double the pixels because right now it kinda hurts my eyes to squint.
Also, the ninja looks more like a guy with a motorcycle helmet. How about trying to invert his colors?
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Xhunterko & JakerPot > thanks guys for the support, really appreciated :)
Depressed was a strong word, I'm just concerned by all the issues, even if I like some parts I don't have the control, mostly trial and errors, exciting but also a bit hazardous. I can't wait to feel more at ease with the technical side and concentrate on the design/game design.
By adding more colors to the palette I meant to expand the values and work more on the depth. The comments helped me a lot, whether I agree or not, it's always good to think about someone take on a piece. Arachne really kicked my butt in a gentle way. Understanding why you're down or not with the opinions expressed.
The metal thing for example, the fact it should "shine more" depends in which context you place them, dusty places tends to damper the effect and the atmospheric perspective too.
Eobet > yeah I agree that's why I wanted to upscale, the game will be made in Flixel (AS3) zoomed x2 and free, I didn't even thought of making it playable at original pixel size. But the more I work on it the more I realize I'm not elegant enough with pixel to blow up the resolution and show the pixels, constraints are a good things until they cut the motivation. I started this for fun and wanted to discuss it on forums since the beginning, so I'm forced to finish it in a way, and I really like the way people here say things plainly.
No pics -shame- but more tonight !
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Edit as requested:
(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/rob/Friends/ninjajamedit.png)
Though it's not very good. Only worked on it for a couple minutes. I hope it shows what I'm trying to get across and provides what you asked for Ninja Crow.
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Edit as requested:
I see the intent, but I remain unconvinced by your edit. Especially, you have somewhat killed the volume of the thing by applying a flat raster regardless of the shape.
I'd dare to add that metal is shiny unless rusty and would suggest that the "machinery" look could also come from animated puffs of steam evading from the pipes and joints rather than by using a chrome texture.
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I like the animation concept, although they already do look semi-mechanic to me.
I don't mean to clusterfuck against something that was meant to be helpful, but in my opinion it is that moket is already using this (might I add, lovely) palette to just about the best of his abilities. Your edit seems to use the entire range of colors, which I don't feel is a good thing to do. Visual priorities are all nice and distinguished here. A screen full of foreground objects using the entire range of colors would probably help your eye get lost in the sea of contrast. Although, in theory you're right. Metals do tend to be shiny and contrasting, particularly if there's a strong light. Not that they can't be dull, either, tho.
Why I said you were almost using the palette to the best of your abilities, moket; is that I feel the sand blends into the background too much, using the lighter background color for it would probably help.
Other than this, it's lovely. Love the atmosphere and style and everything.
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Ah well, at least I tried.
In my defense, I hadn't seen what moket had done in his last post before I posted the edit. Which, looking at it now, is quite clear at what he's trying to portray.
Note to self, look again before you post.
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Oh man, xhunterko, you hadn't seen the new one yet! Sorry if I misunderstood anything you said!
@ Dr D : Since you can't stand on the sand, it seems entirely appropriate to me that it is a light background colour (almost like a drop off pit) and I personally loved the lighting techniques that are suggested by having similar colours (as in a film when the director wants to show how much sunlight is flooding the scene) and the sand texture seemed an effective enough contrast - but I'd love to see an edit if you have time, to more understand your view point.
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Ah, my ignorance, then. I assumed for some reason, that you could walk on it. But it makes perfect sense now that you mentioned you can't. It does seem to bring out the platforms intended for your survival nicely.
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Dr.D, you were right about the sand and I will allow the character to walk on it and put monsters in it. The sound could be nice too.
I added one color for the foreground sand, adding one particular tone to each part of the environment could be an option.
Xhuntertko, desaturation will happen for sure, I just don't want to rush it otherwise everything will be little variations of grey.
PypeBros, I can't wait to play with particules :)
Made a wide mockup for each part to test specific backgrounds, I like seeing the next stage graphics in the background, time to put more thoughts into the transitions.
I don't know if it's doable but I will try to make the game into a big level without transitions, only saving points.
Also I will add two more tiles/32px to the height to make a foreground and last part to do, the Hot Soup Temple last level.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_concept_envsheet01_web.png)
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my fav is the 2nd but they are all great.
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That completetly stands out much better now. Much more better then my edit.
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0.0 I'm in love. Great job moket.
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I love all the backgrounds - and having sand on the crannies of the stone pillars is cool :y:. But I'm afraid that yellow colour in the sand just clashes too harshly (especially since - and correct me if I'm wrong Dr D - that Dr D no longer thinks you ever even needed to change it :().
But I just stand in awe of how cool your pixels are - this is definitely a favourite of mine! :)
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Eh, I don't think so that much. Maybe just add a little more green to it to match it in. Otherwise...maybe just a little bit.
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I like it! The smoke coming out of the stacks is bothering me though - it seems like just a circular scribble without any defined form or figure. Keep on going!
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Jajitsu > the second one feels like the more solid to me, glad you liked it.
xhunterko > I wanted to do this, but I must resist adding too much colors (at least more than one) without knowing why.
Kidfrommars huhu.
Ninja Crow > yeah the first one isn't really clear to me, I added this yellow in an attempt to create an accident, even if it doesn't really fit. I like to do that when I reach the point I'm bored with a picture and feel stuck. Thanks :)
McClaneGames > hehe, good depiction of the smoke, lazy me :P
The last level, inside the Temple, messy. Had this one sitting on my PC, posting it make me realize it even more.
I wanted to get my hands dirty with a interior level where the scenery would fade out to black, not really the case...hem.
I was thinking of adding a mechanical "clockwork like" background.
Will post the updated demo soon. Can't wait to work on enemies and dangers.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_concept_env_LVL402_web.png)
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Oh wow moket that's gorgeous, so pretty! The most recent mockups have been excellent. I notice there isn't any of the current sprite in the temple mockup. I had a go at seeing how he would look in the darkness, and he is visible but clearly not as well as in the other levels. Are you going to make this low visibility part of the mechanics for the level or are you gunna try and combat it? Can't wait to see more.
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That interior is definitely cool.
There is an element near the end that looks like maybe a thick laser beam, but at first looked a little like light spilling in from above, which made me hope you will put in such a thing for the inside of your temple (I happen to dig the luminous effect of the strong contrast of when beams of light pierce an otherwise very large dark space).
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Thanks Larwick ! Didn't thought of using shadows, could be a nice feature for sure.
It was a laser, that's a nice idea too, thank you ! Animating it may be fun.
Worked a bit on the title screen. I intend to do a vertical panning ,playing with the different layers of clouds during a short intro clip.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_Menu01Web.png)
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AARRGH!! I want to hug these mockups. They are awesome, so awesome.
The single pixel noise on the big dark objects in the grass level needs to be destroyed, imo. It doesn't really define anything.
The title screen's shading is looking really junbled as it is. I think emphasis on aerial perspective will absolutely trump any kind of shading you could go for with that piece. What you have now is making a jumble of tones that don't really define the subject all too well.
But I love this mockup collection. I love it. LOOOOOOVE. :yay:
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HOLY COW WOW! (cough no one liners oops cough)
Although, aside from my initial excitement, the lighting in the title screen really bugs me for some reason. The dome's shading on the left should match the domes shading on the right. That big, blue shape on the central tower. Is that a cloud? If it is, it shouldn't change color at all. Plus the central tower really looks messy and unfinished. It just bugs me as to why you'd leave it like that.
I was gonna say, 'you need an extra flixel programmer?' but forgot you were already making this in flixel. (Siefer Tim's Tutorial had it's source updated for 2.35 btw. It's in the flixel forums somewhere if you need to take a look at it.)
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Thanks EyeCraft :lol:
I think I began the menu too early, it's quite a big piece, I will leave it until I finish the levels in order to get more accustomed to pixel art first.
Xhunterko, the lightning makes no sense, I played with shapes and it didn't end up so well hehe. Thanks for the tip. Flixel is cool.
Begun a new Temple one, recycling some tiles.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_concept_env_LVL4Dark01_web.png)
and a new demo (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/), mainly to test the parallax effect, really jittery, , no transitions, player controls are not pleasant = lots of things to do ^^.
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After playing the demo, something stood out to me that was a bit bothersome.
You know those sand 'waterfalls'?
In your mockup, the first one that shows up is below the first levitated platform. I didn't know if that was a something I can stand on or not. I thought it was parr of a hole that I could fall through. Although I'd love to see more areas where there's no ground beneath you and your running it for your life away from something after you. Like the collapsing tower or something. But yeah, a bit messy but still good.
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and a new demo (http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/), mainly to test the parallax effect, really jittery, , no transitions, player controls are not pleasant = lots of things to do ^^.
If I take your "woods" area, you have got 3 different layers, right ? One with the ground, another one with the bushes, and then the hills, right ?
I notice that bush-vs-ground parallax doesn't work: it just make the bushes "flicker" as if they were updated later due to an engine glitch rather than being something parallax.
I'd have had "hills-vs-ground" parallax more pronounced, too, given the respective size of the objects. But that one could be just a matter of taste.
That being said, neat art. Not everything is the way I'd sponsor it, esp. in the "sand zone" where you look less comfortable yourself with your drawing ... but I wouldh't reach 20% of that skill level myself, so I won't try to point out specific "errors".
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The biggest issue is the prominence of noisy pixels. They create jagginess and muddle areas without describing a whole lot. Pixel art works best when you keep things clean, with definite shapes of tone. "Pixel clusters" as they are often referred to.
Arachne's edit illustrates this perfectly, but I couldn't resist having a stab at it myself:
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z212/gastrop0d/edits/NJ_concept_envsheet01_web_ed2.png)
I played around with the colours slightly. Mainly that tone used for a lot of the far background objects, it barely contrasts at all with the sky and a lot of your delicious background gets lost to the eye.
Keep your tones in bunches. Single pixels are generally very rare, the only time I ever use them is for some speculars and dithering a line. Also, having your darkest tone hug up against much lighter ones creates super jaggies.
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This really looks awesome !!! It's almost a shame that the little guy you control is SO little :)
Scenery is brilliant esp. with so few colors. I will keep watching this one, keep it up !
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xhunterko, there's no level design in the "demo", just build it to see the graphics in game. I picture the gameplay to be more a run and gun thing. Main reason is the content needed, explorers are too demanding for me.
PypeBros, Yeah the parallax layers are totally off, I will make more of them static I guess. There's 6 layers.
Don't hesitate to point specific errors ! The sand enviro is indeed my biggest challenge ;)
EyeCraft, thanks for the edit ! Now I understand more of that cluster thing. I've read the nice thread started by Helm, really interesting.
It's strange how now the previous versions seems so noisy compared to the new one.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_concept_env_LVL1Sand_01_web.png)
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If i can't play this within the next year i will cry :mean:
This is really really great work man.
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Great looking game. I see your an accomplished illustrator from your site. You've even carried over your ubiquitous heart symbol into your tiles. Why not. So art principle crit isn't what you need. Good improvement in your pixel art'ing so far.
I know the demo is just a test but I couldn't help notice it's possible to waltz through it mindlessly by holding right arrow key and pressing jump over and over. The wall climbing mechanic makes the player incredibly free. I think it's too powerful. Mind your levels - that they are too easy to blow through.
Don't like the player character. Too plain/generic.
The color scheme is nice. But the novelty wears off after a while. Why not a palette swap for other levels? I for one would appreciate the variety.
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I betcha 'tis mostly the palette that inspires people to read your sand as water or snow.
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Wow, this gotta be so much fun making! You got a superb start on something here, if it ever becomes available - where can one find it?
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linx <> thanks, I hope to have a playble sand level soon, but the sun is there now, outside shinning :crazy:
Mathias <> I've been stuck doing the brownish tone moods at work. Like most games from those past few years are made. It's quite refereshing to do this but I agree, palette swap is mandatory there, blue isn't the magic solution either.
There's a lot of tweaks to be made, I've been lost in coding, but I feel a bit more comfy now so gameplay will be on the top of my list. It's quite hard to find a proper state of gameplay, enemies and ambushes should balance the thing I guess.
The player definitely lacks charism, I will make some sketches before pushing the pixels and try to give him so storytelling specs. All in all thanks for your critics !
Stab <> yep, animations could help there but palette swap seems to be in for sure.
SirBilly <> thanks a lot ! I will host it, or perhaps a game portal, don't really know. It will be free that's the only thing I can be sure of.
did some work on the menu screen.
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/NJ_Menu02Web.png)
and the last level. The tubes could be broken, energy can flow into them and feed the cannons, just wondering there ^^
(http://whitenights.free.fr/pixel/LVL4_web02.png)
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Terrific shading on the menu temple! It definitely looks like a very large, distant structure. I do miss the little chimneys from the first version, though (the smoke coming from them was cool) and the clustered mini-mountains from the second version (especially the lighter ones in the background).
I also think the steam coming off the 'soup bowl' should not look too much like the clouds. The spiral wisps of steam (as in the second version) look the best, to me.
Those white tubes definitely look like energy that can harm you - do they come on and off so that you have to time your jumps through them? There looks to be plenty of places in the mockup image where you can put collectibles that would make players have to jump through lots of the sets of tubes (if they wanted to get every collectible in the game, say) which would be great fun.
Thanks for the update, this is one of the most fun indie game projects I've ever been lucky enough to come across - great graphics and cool elements - I love it!
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I have nothing to say about the graphics other than I like them. haha Plus everyone else obviously knows what they're talking about so I will leave that part up to them. So I would like to give a small critique on how the game played in hopes to offer you a solution so that the flow of the game is less choppy. I played one of the demos you put up and found myself wanting to speed through the level, because you made the character so fast. Only problem is I can't do this for very long without dieing or running into something. The main reason for this is because the camera does not lead far ahead of the character. An easy solution is to have the camera centered when you are stopped and when you run it begin to lead ahead so the player can see what's coming up next. Now that's assuming you keep the controls the way they are. If you do the camera suggestion then there wouldn't be a flaw within the mechanics. However, if you don't then I suggest you tighten the controls and slow the speed and deceleration down, but I do like the high pace so that's why I hope you fix the camera issue so I can just run through the level in a blaze of glory. :P
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I realize that is hella old, but I was wondering if you ever finished Ninja Jam and if so where it can be purchased or downloaded.
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Straight necroposting.
thoughtmachine, never finished it. Couldn't log in the forums so sorry for the late answer.
I might finish it now that there's plenty of easy to use game making tools available !