Bugfree
| Buggy |
 Fatal error, game over :(
|
This sounds so obvious but hardly anyone thoroughly tests there game for bugs. I have seen game as far that they can not even start up. When making a game test it, then test it again and again and again. If a game has bugs you will get everyone upset. If a game is unplayable then do not release it. When you make a game test it and make sure to simulate every possible situation. What would happen if you hit the spikes, and what if you hit the evil clown. Test everything. If I play a game, which gives me an error without me doing something stupid, then the maker of the game obviously didn’t test the game itself enough. Most errors can be very easily found. For instance an error moving to the next room after the last tells me that the author of this game has never even completed his own game or else he would have found this out himself. Keep testing your games. When you think they are finally done ask some other people to test the game. Also do not go and sit behind them and tell them that they should walk left and they are acting stupid in the game now. Let them figure everything out themselves. If they can’t figure it out then any other player can’t figure it out either.
View sizes
| View sizes |
 Yep, this really is how far you can see in this game.
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When I have a view, which does not allow me to see what is ahead of me, then I quit. If I need to jump in the blind in the hope there is going to be a platform and die because there isn’t then I get frustrated and quit. And almost all platform games these days have this problem. When making a blind jump and landing in the middle of some spikes or something similar or even notice that there is no platform there and fall down is very frustrating. Keep the view borders as large as possible to make sure people can see as much as possible. Perhaps even have a system to make sure that the view always stays ahead of you so you will keep everything within sight.