Bart Koning ("Tsuken") brought us probably the most relaxing game of CGDC4, a game he calls Stranded, in which you play as a castaway-turned-fisherman on an almost-deserted island.
You begin by visiting Hiigara, "Our Home", where you speak to the natives to learn what fish you're after and where they can be found. After that, it's off to some body of water to go fishing. Unfortunately, in your haste to get marooned, you seem to have forgotten your fishing pole, so you adopt the local custom: throw rocks at the fish! While this might at first glance appear to be an action-packed method, the soothing music and delicate timing turn it into a Zen experience: enlightenment through fishing, patience, and especially patience while missing the fifth fish in a row.
Fortunately, as you turn in fish, you gain experience which lets you train the four essential skills of the rock fisherman: knowledge, quickness, throwing, and rowing. Unfortunately, this is also the point where the atmosphere can break down. Depending on how you place your experience, you can either find yourself becoming a fishing god or wonder why you seem to be no better than when you first started. The experience given by each type of fish decreases as you catch more, so bad choices early on can make the later portions of the game tedious as you slowly build up the points to get those essential skills.
I don't think any of us would have predicted that ball physics and fishing could go well together, and playing Stranded doesn't do much to convince us otherwise. There are a few nice surprises, like the fact that you can throw a stone up into the air, where it flies farther before plunging straight down, but in the end, it doesn't quite feel like a ball physics game, just a game that happens to have a little ball physics in it.
Still, the calm atmosphere, simple but solid music, and sometimes-hypnotic gameplay definitely make for a unique and refreshing experience. It may not have taken home a prize, but it's fun to play, and that's a victory in my book.
looks fun, but will play later.
anyhow, no "CGDC4: " in the title?
just for consistency's sake :P
Well, my first impressing is that the game is good, but the 'training' is too weak! Sorry, but 10% increases in stats (or whatever it actually is) are not ging to help get the squids! If the economy imbalance is fixed, this would actually get quite a high score from me. Fun 'ball' physics, or at least timing of stone throws.
Edit: or having a timer for when the fish is going to wake up, so at least you can try to re-stun it.
Oddly compelling, I keep going back for more fish, so I can get experience to catch... more fish!!!
Still trying to get the
JIG and Casual Gameplay Logos from the volcano!
Inexplicably entertaining game. Played all the way through. In the volcano, it seems to take about 20 stones for the JIG man and 30 stones for the logo.
Not much of a "ball physics" theme to it, but I liked the game.
where might i find the squid thingy????
So the "ball physics" connection is a little tenuous, and once you get a few training upgrades the game is essentially pointless... but dangit I LIKE this game! For one thing I appreciate the change in music from so many other new games nowdays (not just in this competition) and there's something about trying to conk a fish with a rock that's oddly compelling.
The major problem with this game is the training or upgrade aspect.
The only one you really need is the Quickness upgrade. By level 10 or 15 you can keep a steady stream of rocks sinking toward the fish and it becomes and exercise in carpal tunnel endurance as you click away
Having the upgrades increase in price in addition to having the exp. point rewards go down would alleviate this a little.
Maybe add different effects you can do to the throw? Spin the rocks so they fall in a zig-zag pattern or an option of a scatter-gun type throw that would take longer to recharge. Making more of the fishing areas locked at the beginning would create a sense of progression in the game.
I can't explain why but this game had me mesmerized for almost a half hour. What the heck?? :)
I love this soundtrack, it's so soothing.
A couple of minor complaints:
There doesn't seem to be consistency in indicating whether you've actually hit your target, especially with the crabs - I think I've hit one, but no, it sails on... then with the next throw I knock it out, but it only hit the eye? Why did I knock it out this time but not the other time?
I agree on the training being a bit weak. You may find it easier to start with certain fish - greenscale are very fast, but it seems comparatively easy to hit them.
I like the fact that you have a lot of choice over where you go and in what order you choose to catch fish. It's like this is the world's cruisiest shooter.
Personally, I find this game a bit slow, but for people who like that kind of thing it's really charming.
I was going to say that I don't love this game... but then... I finished it.. I really don't know what that has to say about whatever commentary I might have had... :P
the music was also nice.. I tried to play the game without the music and I had to turn it back on :P
holding the mouse button down works as well for a continuous stream....
I loved it! What could be nicer than living on a desert island, catching fish for a living with a laid-back acoustic guitar playing nearby, and making your fellow villagers happy.
i felt the skill level actually went down the more i got my training levels up. in the end i was just sitting in the middle of the sea dumping stones and the fish were rising in their hordes. in fact the
grey octopus turned out to be almost the easiest to catch
my tip ..
concentrate mainly on increasing the unconsciousness, then decseasing the time between throws. increase rowing speed a bit, but you hardly have to worry about the speed the stone travels at.
.
it was fun getting the jig logo to say 'ouch', and all in all i think it's a well thought out game that kept me hooked (line and sinkered) to the end.
p.s. while it is similar to the old submachine arcade game, the stones do actually conform to gravity - if thrown at an angle they gradually align themselves to the vertical.
Hiigara? I guess Bart used to play Homeworld too. :)
Anyway, fun game to play, but it felt a little short, and the ball physics element doesn't seem strong (falling stone + collisions that don't cause movement).
For the length of game, the upgrades were too subtle. If there'd been twice as many objectives, you would feel like you'd made real improvements in your abilities by the end. As is, you're just starting to get a bit better, and it's over.
For a first entry, not bad. I hope we see you back for the next competition.
I liked it, it had a real old-school flavor, kind of Apple II, kind of C-64, kind of Intellivision.
The repetitive nature of it was okay because it was so short. I also liked being able to "level up" - I really like a game where my character becomes more powerful, especially when I can customize the upgrades.
As far as the theme goes, well, I say - "close enough!"
Cool, my game is on jayisgames.com :)
About the ball physics theme:
When the theme was first posted, people were talking about "billiard" games and many tutorials were found on how to make balls bounce against each other. I wanted to do something different.
So one of my ideas was to make a platform-game where you had to play a ball(this was before Sierra revealed their game). Mateusz Skutnik did that type of game (mr. Mothball). I was quite surprised to see many people wonder where the "ball physics" theme was in that game... and it got me worried about how you would think of my game.
The initial idea for my game was to throw ball-shaped depth charges at submarines. The balls would be affected by gravity and slowed down once in the water. I also thought about letting the balls bounce off the surface of the water at certain angles. To make a really long story short: I decided to make fish and play a fisherman. And I renamed "balls" to "stones" because of the story.
I hope everyone enjoys the game.
Kind regards,
Bart Koning
I even read the instructions before playing the game...
...and I still kept clicking away even though I was TOLD to hold the mouse button down.
So much for ever hoping to get into MENSA huh?
AppleII/C-64 Flavor - Right on! That's it exactly!
Yeah, the game is too short. More types of fish, higher levels, and different areas to unlock all would help this game.
Maybe some way to fish could fight back or evade? Or some other obstacles to overcome in certain areas?
Still a fun game.
That was fun. I kept increasing my speed until
I was able to click (and hold) then right-click to lock the left mouse button. I went and did some other stuff, came back, and increased the speed some more:
Now, nothing can escape me! 8-)
I'm afraid I might have overfished the sea... next game!
Re: Ms. 45,
The crabs take two hits to kill.
that was fun! :D I admit it didn't look promising at first because of the graphics and uncertainty of how the ball physics came in, but, I ended up having a lot of fun throwing rocks at things. The sound effects help (*boink*)
Some commenters need to use more spoiler tags when they post :) I thought there was a nice surprise towards the end... I'll put spoiler tags even though there's no point by now
I laughed out loud when the jig logo and casual gameplay logo came up at the end!
I made it all the way to the credits. Was nice to be able to return to previous areas to fish some more. I wasn't even doing it to level up, I just wanted to fish, lol.
Well. As much as I was prepped to not enjoy this, I found myself caught up in the bizarre and reminiscent of SOMETHING soundtrack (what is it, I can't tell!), the strangely relaxing concept of rowing and the unexpected addition of a stat system. Well, as has been mentioned, it is a little broken, but I still enjoyed the hell outta this game. I kept playing just to see what I could do... and didn't even notice what time it is. I don't, however, see myself playing it much more now that I have done all that can be done (including a SECRET CATCH in the SECRET ZONE!) but it was good while it lasted.
But... ball physics... barely there... pheh!
This game is sooo chilled out. With no time limits and no way to "die" I can just drift lazily about in my boat all day if I want to. :-)
Found the difficulty a bit low in that...
There was no need to redo any of the first five missions in order to catch the big grey squid. Just spend all experience on Knowledge. (Which I did on my first game since it seemed like the only really useful upgrade.)
Simple game, but oddly compelling as some others have stated. I kept playing until I increased my stats to the point where NOTHING got past me if I just held down the mouse button. I could just sit in the middle of the sea firing away, as a veritable cornucopia of marine wildlife wafted slowly towards me belly-up... great feeling.
I ended up with 8 Knowledge (enough to get the deepest squid to the top without waking up), 16 Quickness and 8 Throwing (Auto-machinegun of DEATH!). Who needs Rowing when you don't have to move? :D
Bart - reading your comment, I can't help but get the feeling throwing DEPTH CHARGES at squiddies would've been even more fun than rocks! Maybe change it so you only throw one at a time, and you have to click again to make it explode and kill everything in a small radius? That would make it a bit more skill-based than the way it is right now, at least at higher levels... Of course, you'd need to change the Quickness stat (maybe to something like explosion radius?) if you did that...
Thanks for all the positive replies everyone. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
For those who finished the game:
the story officially finishes at the "Congratulations" screen. So, if I make a sequel, it will probably start from there and ignore what happens afterwards.
After the "congratulations" screen you can still play for as long as you want, but it's just for fun. Even after getting to the (hidden) Credits screen, you can still resume your game. But the skills can become extremely unrealistic. I decided to not set a maximum for the effects of the skills, because if you are willing to keep playing, then getting the unrealistic/overpowered skills would be your reward.
And now a challenge for those who want one:
I let my mother back in The Netherlands playtest the game. She never plays any games on the computer. But at one point she finished the game with 5 Knowledge and 3 Quickness (yes including Credits screen). With how little skills can you manage to finish the game completely?
I agree with many of the comments above. There doesn't seem to be much to the game at first glance, but then I couldn't stop playing until I finished it. And I had fun doing that. :)
And I'd play the sequel, too. ::winkwinknudgenudge::
I like the game, but can't see the 'ball physics' tie-in.
I'm fairly sure that there is some kind of island voodoo at work here. I have no idea why but I was compeled the keep playing long after I killed the logos! I just want to keep killing fish... and I'm a vegitarian!?!
I here the drum beat and I must keep fishing.
Wriig
Back on my old PalmOS PDA, there was a "Sub Hunt" game...this reminds me of that very much. :-)
Lots of fun and very relaxing. Not much ball physics, but still entertaining.
I must agree with Valarauka, I got totally caried away with it. If anything, it should win the replay-award (if such exists).
Furthermore, nice graphics, great sound, maybe a bit short. I would like to see an expanded sequel on this.
I'm tellin' ya...
With more levels, harder fish to kill, and some tweaks here and there this game could rival "Defend Your Castle" as a cult favorite.
It's like a drug. You don't know why but you have to keep coming back for more.
You won't believe what I went through for this game. Yes, I agree with some of it's overall criticism. I don't really get the ball physics theme, it's more like shooter timing to me. Although even after I finished it the first time, I went back, to see how bad ass I could get. I went so far as to put something heavy on my mouse, just to rack up points. I did this on several levels, and with several fish types, until each fish was worth nothing. Seriously, if you do it long enough your village doesn't even want your stinkin' fish!! I would chit chat on the phone and somehow get joy out of watching EVERY SINGLE FISH that swam by get snared by my awful held-down mouse contraption. I know it was pointless, but I loved every single second. Thank you for your game!
I did love the concept though, and up until I got psychotic about it, I felt a tad bit of the challenge. But there was never any threat, and I appreciate that. With this game you are never going to "die" It did feel "old school" and I guess thats what I loved about it.
I remember finding weird glitches in Super Mario Brothers where I'd repetitively bounce a mushroom on a step over and over and get free lives, and I was a glutton for it. This game gave me that old school feel of completion,and I loved it!!!
ut took forever to catch 5 purple squid... now they want me to catch a grey squid that takes forever to even knock unconsious, let alone bring it from the very bottom of the screen to the top without it waking up and flying away before I get more than 1 hit on it. the only way left for me to gain experience is purple squids and seahorses- both of which I find near impossible to catch. this game started okay, but I can't get past the first 'stage', let alone the rest of the game.
leslye
If you get 0 exp, that means that you caught more then 1005 of that kind of fish, if I'm not mistaken :)
Thanks for enjoying my game so much.
I think you are the first person in the world to do what you did. Even I never went that far.
reapaninja
you probably want to try to only get Knowledge at the start, this seems to make fishing the easiest, since every hit will more likely result in a catch.
Then when you think you have enough Knowledge (fish barely escape after being hit anymore), get Quickness.
if you get like 20 quickness, you can hold the mouse down and there will be an impenetrable wall of stones that go down
Hey Leslye instead of propping something on your mouse just hold the left button down then click the right button. It'll lock the setting and you can even move your pointer around and do other things on the computer - in fact my little boat guy is still throwing rocks in another browser window as I write this. :)
I know, kind of takes the whole point out of the game but what the heck huh?
I got all of the values down to zero too - except for the yellow fish I think.
I also got the quickness level up to 21 or 22 - and it's just a solid black line you're spitting out at that point. Somehow THAT is no fun to even watch though. How weird is that??
Bart I have some ideas for this game. I'm telling ya friend... with just a few changes and some added levels this game becomes a sensation. It'll be just as popular as Tetris or Defend Your Castle... Maybe even Solitaire!
OK, maybe not THAT big.
If anyone wants to make a suggestion, you can always send me an email. Go to www.tsuken.nl for the email address, or click on the the link inside the game.
Don't forget to use a subject that makes sense, like "Game Suggestion" :)
Or post your suggestions here if you prefer that.
I think that the main riff that plays during this game is absolutely gorgeous. It's certainly unusual for video game incidental music. It gives the game a really distinctive, dreamy atmosphere. As tiny as it is, I think it's one of the best bits of music I've ever hear in a game.
As for the game as a whole, it's a nice, original idea. This is the game I've played for the second longest time. The fish designs are nice. I wish there were just the tinniest bit of detail in the forest backgrounds, though. I think that would help clinch the special atmosphere of this game.
Bart, once work settles down (winter is my off time) I'm going to put together some ideas for this game. I've become a little obsessed with this thing and I keep coming back to it.
I hope this makes the finals because it's certainly MY pick for audience favorite.
I'm glad to hear that AaronzDad. Your ideas will be very welcome :)
Thanks AaronzDad, your ideas will be very welcome :)
Good luck, definitely one of my two favorites! I'm excited to think of all the potential this game has!!! Sequel please?! :)
Woo Hoo ! !
Finalist!
Hey Bart how much work do you want to do with this game? I don't know diddly about flash programming so I don't know how much work my ideas might be.
Just a few general ideas:
- More types of fish.
- Have the varying types of fish appear a few at a time. Kind of like the way you have the giant squid in this version. Reach certain training levels and new species of fish become available.
- Slower increase in training - especially knowledge and quickness.
- Capping the training increases at about level 8 or 10
- Increasing cost of training upgrades with each level
- Maybe doing something with the boat - available upgrades eventually so you can visit other fishing areas to get at those "more fish".
- Creating some hazards to avoid in the higher level fishing areas; sharks or sea-monsters or giant squid... something like that. Only to do damage to the boat - one of the magical qualities of your game is you can't die. Perhaps get the boat damaged and you lose some of the fish you've caught. If the boat is destroyed you have to swim back to shore, lose some training, and lose all the fish you caught that session.
More ideas to come. :) Feel free to drop me a line Bart - I'm AaronzDad all over the place. Yahoo works.
Good luck in the judging!
pushevolve, yes I want to make a sequel :)
Thanks AaronzDad, I'll add that to my notes for the sequel. I'm not sure about being attacked and losing the fish though... but we'll see, maybe for some big catch.
I want the sequel to be more then an update though, or do you just want an update?
Nah, Bart - make a sequel. At least that has my vote.
The one thing this game is lacking is an element of danger, something to lose. If I want to I can play this game without ever really playing it. I can set the boatman to throw rocks and walk away from the computer then come back later and collect the training points. It's a boring way to go but it works. The prospect of losing something adds the thrill of risk and gain. Making it TOO dangerous would eliminate the novelty of not dying so I thought of damaging the boat and losing fish. Maybe having to use the points to buy a new boat could be another facet of the concept.
I'd love to work with you on a sequel Bart. I'm not kidding, I think this game could become a cult sensation like Defend Your Castle. It has many of the same elements going for it.
I voted for ya early Bart! Good luck!
Thanks AaronzDad :)
I have time to work on the game today and have this idea that might make my game run much smoother. If it works, I'll be very happy, because it will be a good step in the direction of a sequel.
I'll see what I can do to make the game more thrilling.
Too bad my design skills aren't that great.
"Smoother"?
Smoother how? I thought the game was pretty even-keeled all the way around already.
I don't know anything about flash programming but I'd enjoy beta testing any sequel you're working on.
Well it's a different way of programming the movements and it might even cost less processing power. I didn't come around to doing much yesterday because other work came up. But it did seem to work :)
Wow my game did really bad in the audience voting. I don't know if making a sequel would be worth it.
Keep at it Bart! So what if there weren't many people with money who are fans of your game, with a little work I'm still certain it's destined to be a classic.
The one thing your game is lacking is something to "win" over. With no danger of dying or losing anything there can be no thrill of victory.
I have some more ideas about implementing that concept into your game... :)
Keep the Faith my friend!
I second that, Bart. Stranded was well-conceived and executed. It's greatest shortcoming was that it was up against a very strong field of contenders.
It's a great start. Don't stop now. :)
Well... I might then :) I'm not sure when though.
AaronzDad, please send me an email to bnkoning at hotmail dot com so I can talk to you about your ideas. If I knew what to do exactly for the sequel, I would be able to work on it :) Right now I'm not sure in which direction to take it.
Done. Look for the subject line "Stranded Ideas"
Watch out Jay, this guy is gonna rock the gaming world.
Well at least make a splash. :)
HOW do you kill the gray squid? I keep hitting them but then they just keep swimming! got any advice? Please and thank you!
Hi Melinda,
You will need to hit it 3 times in a row to stun it...
also, you will need some knowledge skill to keep it stunned for a longer time. You probably also have to re-stun it before you can catch it.
Knowledge and quickness are the skills you need most
well um way easy i got to the end and i mean the end end i caught both volcano things and i upgraded to the point where there was just a wall of stones cascading down and the grey squid got me one money thing
There was nothing good about this game, yet I played the whole thing. It took all the worst parts of a game like gold miner, and left in NONE of the fun. It was almost like being at work.
Also, I noticed absolutely NO difference, on upgrade, through the whole game. Not to say I got the stats very high, but still. I should have been able to see a marked difference! If you make a sequel, it COULD be fun... but you would need to improve a lot to make me want to break my fingers playing it again.
time for me to work my crative magic.
-more story! update the story at regular intervals
ex: the man gets off the island and is so used to fishing like that that he continues to.and he eventualy gets so good that he gets his own company, you have to do missions to proggress in the plot.
- it would be nice if you can get more areas as the missions go, and you can buy bonus areas with fish that are worth alot and are only there!
- more boats (canue- sailboat-jetski-speeder-FUTUREBOAT!!!!!)and types of rocks (PEBBLE-STONE-rock- boulder-MOON!!!!!)the rocks would be power and size, and the boats would be speed.it would also be cool if there were different methods of firing(arm-cannon-THINGY!!!!!) THAT would also influence power and projectile speed, it would also makesense if there were limits on what you could throw whith what. you cant throw thw moon with your bare hands, can you?
-bosses! at certain points, you unlock a spot with only one type of enemy, A BOSS!!!!! there could be multiple bosses or there could be on, final boss. the bosses would be able to damage your ship. and if you go with bosses, dont forget to include a sea monster and a government-grown superfish!
-wishfish! there are three wishfish on your main quest, and they appear on all courses exept on bossfights. one would upgrade your boat, the other your ammo, and the third would upgrade your firing method! catch al three and you get something really good! ( the fish names are, sk8tr,whose blue, super cute rainbow princess, whose pink, and sads, whose an emo.0_o)
woo, my game on the main page again!
lol andy you got some nice ideas :)
@Confused and Bewildered:
I don't agree with you when you say "There was nothing good about this game". I had fun with it, and it sounds like you're stating your own opinion as fact. Maybe you didn't notice anything good, but I certainly did. It seems like a pretty harsh way to word your thoughts, considering how many people clearly enjoyed it.
Also, there is definitely a difference when upgrading. With some stats, I noticed a clear difference with but a single upgrade, and with others, you have to have the patience to get quite a few upgrades before it's of noticeable benefit. There would be little point in collecting experience if you became a flawless fisher in almost no time at all.
So anyway, are you saying you managed to catch every single type of fish in the game without needing the assistance of any upgrades? Wow, your aim and foresight must be remarkable.
---
I played through to the end, continuing to play for a while after, too, just to have an opportunity to experiment with the stats I never got to raise as much as I had wanted to. I certainly noticed the difference that came with increasing each one of the individual stats.
Unfortunately though, no matter how good I became at catching fish (being able to catch every fish that passed by, without question), my experience gain slowed down considerably, especially after I completed the game. I would have liked some way to eventually increase the population of fish in relation to my stat upgrades, so that the extra training wouldn't go to waste, and I wouldn't just have to keep waiting for more fish.
I noticed the experience per fishing request is calculated mathematically by division, but this meant that I was eventually gaining 0 experience per grey squid, which was a little disappointing when it happened, as it meant there was seemingly a limit on how awesometastic I could become. I therefore think that although experience gain was right to decrease as I caught more fish, it would have been even more fun if it never went below 1. Of course, this is most likely not an issue if you stop playing as soon as you reach the end.
I'm very grateful for the fact that the game allows you to simply hold the mouse button rather than having to repeatedly click it! Constantly clicking it, especially when trying to click it fast enough to keep up with all those "Quickness" upgrades, would only add unnecessary pain to the game.
Regarding the problem people have had of spending experience on stats before realizing they don't have enough experience to increase some other stat, well, the instructions page actually gives a warning about this, so as long as you heed it and give some thought to which stats you upgrade, it shouldn't be too big a problem.
Thanks for the great game, Bart. :)
Finally, I have to wonder: How do all those stones fit in the boat while still allowing it to keep afloat? Amazing!
Thanks Tayrin,
I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's amazing that you went all the way to 0 exp per grey giant :)
This game was quite fun and different, I really enjoyed it
*but*
it was a bit clunky on a laptop, the cursor would inexplicably jump to my desktop and fire off another window, application, or whatever mp3 I happened to have laying around...
That said I still really enjoyed it, nice work, Bart. BTW, can the logos in the
volcano lava
be caught or are they just for laughs? They got the latter out of me, for sure!
You're welcome, Bart. "Amazing", you say? Thanks, but it wasn't really too difficult once I had gotten enough training; just time-consuming. Besides, I like games where you can continue to play and develop your character beyond what's required by the story. :P
Jac:
They can be caught. You may need extra training, but it's definitely possible to catch both logo types. Good luck!
Tayrin, you're right. My brother tried to and he could!I tried, but Dad kicked me off the computer!(boohoo, sniff, sniff) But AaronzDad is right, there isn't anything to lose.
Y'know I STILL come back and play this game once in a while.
Bart if you ever want to come back to this game and polish it up you know how to reach me.
I'm still 100% convinced this could become a huge classic with just a few adjustments and additions.
Im trying to make a fire but i cant hold it what should i do to make it so its not heavy..and i alrdy threw out everything and it wont work
Elijah: Are you sure you're talking about the right game? You can't make a fire in this one, nor is there any weight system.
I think this game could use the ability to redistribute stats. I added too much to one stat and made the game lag; I don't like starting over.
I am mighty fish hunter! All aquatic life fear my wrath of limitless stones! Seriously, I like the limitless stones part. Though in reality, it makes little sense (I doubt a one-man wooden rowboat could hold the several hundred stones I chucked overboard) it's nice not having to go back to shore every so often to collect more.
Almost a year later and I had to give this game another go. It's still a hoot but too short and lacking the "danger" element.
Thanks again Bart.
After playing this game, I spontaneously decided to play Wooded Path.
Is it just me, or is the island music on this and the menu music on Wooden Path the same?
Update