30 Responses to “Don’t Phase Me, Bro”

1. James Says:
   July 29th, 2009 at 3:48 pm

   Does this unsubscription thing apply to the RSS feed? Because that would be lame.
2. Denilson Says:
   July 29th, 2009 at 3:54 pm

   Not sure if so many items will be really needed. One of the nice things of the original Jetpack was the simplicity. Maybe the new jetpack should still focus on being simple. Notice, however, that even with that simplicity, the original game still had a lot of depth and many different strategies.

   It’s easy to keep adding things and things, but it’s not easy to remove things and make something simple.
3. Neil Says:
   July 29th, 2009 at 5:13 pm

   As a HARDCORE jetpack fan. (I played the shareware version for 5 years as I did not have access to the fully licensed game at the time) I can say this:

   -As much as I want to strap on a jetpack whilst wielding a sawed-off 10 gauge and a Parker-Hale M85 sniper rifle, blasting away at hordes of zombies, robots, and steel balls, It would VERY much ruin the game play value of Jetpack.
   The reason I believe this is because, at its heart, jetpack is a puzzle adventure game not an actioon adventure. The only elements that should be added are “puzzle” elements. Puzzle is in Quotes, because I dont want mean sudoku and crosswords or crap like that. I mean the kind of puzzles that involve involvment (phaseing a wall at the right time for something to get stuck, traps that make enemies bounce up, or warp, or freeze, or change properties)

   -The phaser needs to stay, as it is a pillar of the jetpack game play (as much as the jetpack) I agree with Denilson in the simplicity aspect. The more you add, the more convoluted the game becomes. I think a simple combination of tools is key to users being interested. The complexity can come out again in the use of environmental objects, such as warps,keyed and switched doors, teleporters, bouncers, vacuums, objects that have their own gravity (like a tiny sphere that acts like a planet, gravity shifting the level so up is down and such, lighting, objects and enemies that only activate in certain lighting and atmospheric environments. Water, morph able terrain, gravity dependant objects.
   Over the top gore on the player deaths, many, many ways to die (all with seperate animations), Craftier traps.

   -The level builder NEEDS to remain simple and object interactions need to remain basic. Many, many amazing 2d games are hitting the markets with massive sucess (plants vs zombies) so there is no need to make it fully 3d.
   One of the best parts of jetpack was that is was all on one screen. Unfortunately, 32×32 blocks = 1024/768 realitive to the original jetpack, which is double the resoltion, but its still small. many puzzle aspects of the game get lost when the game scales in too close….

   I could go on, but I shouldnt
   -Neil
4. Eddie Willman Says:
   July 29th, 2009 at 5:44 pm

   I agree with what Denilson said. I do have some other comments to add.

   I strongly believe the phase shifter along with the fact that “phased” blocks return after a few seconds are, together with the jetpack, what distinguishes Jetpack from other games. It creates a non-violent way of trapping enemies by the player and the level designer. Regeneration of blocks allows for the same section of the level to be revisited without the level designer having to worry about which blocks the player destroyed there when passing through the first time.

   Regarding keys, I don’t think they need to be added if you keep the old type of barriers with on/off switches. I think they are preferable since they can both be used as a simple door which the player needs to unlock, as well as trapping enemies and reconfiguring the level in different ways. Adding keys seems to duplicate a subset of this functionallity without adding anything new. You could add a new switch type that can only be pushed once, for simple barrier designs.

   Regarding the flashlight and the proximity location. They seem a bit gimicky. I don’t see that you would be able to use them in that many situations. Another problem I think would arise is that if the player have played the level before, the items could be skipped. For example jumping through a dark room could be done when the enemy behavior is deterministic.

   I think the bomb adds little to the game if you keep the phase shifter. The shield might be more interesting. It could also be implemented as a tile type, like switches. When stepping on it the player is invonurable for a few seconds, giving the level designer a few more options.

   Some suggestions from me:

   You could allow the player to pick up and carry an object by continuesly using the phase shifter on it. Since they player wont be able to drill through blocks when holding an object, some interesting puzzles could probably be created. Something that might be interesting to add are timed triggers for barriers (e.g. barrier is down for 5 secs after triggered) and triggers that needs to be held down (by an enemy, an object the player places on it, or something else).

   I have been looking a bit at how Portal create advanced puzzles from simple mechanics. An interesting type of gameplay mechanic from Portal you could see if you can incorporate are how the force fields work together with the portals. When you pass through a force field, the portals you have placed are removed. Check the following video at 0:36 for an interesting puzzle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWAFmzWTbgU
5. Adam Says:
   July 29th, 2009 at 8:47 pm

   James: I don’t control RSS feed subscriptions, this just applies to emails.

   Jetpack 2 will be more complex than 1, but I agree it shouldn’t be overcomplicated. Don’t be afraid of suggesting ideas, I have a lot of very bad ideas written down that come out of brainstorming, but some of the random ones turn out being the best features. I’ll playtest the most intriguing ideas and keep what works.

   I’m down on the phase shifter because its too powerful. Rather than permanent, I could make it just a usable item, for compatibility with jp1 levels. That would give level designers more flexibility to rely on a rigid structure without using stone everywhere. A bomb or drill can be more limited in its effect.

   Keys have the advantage of being transportable from one level to the next, allowing for multi-level puzzles within a mission. They also give the player the choice of which door to open. That takes some control away from the designer, which I think makes it more of an adventure and less linear. Switches have their place though.
6. Ben Joffe Says:
   July 30th, 2009 at 5:11 am

   I agree with your first 3 points about weapons being unnecessary.
   But I do feel that it would be great to add some crazy features, they just don’t need to be featured in many levels, or they can be one time use stuff, for example collecting a gun with a single bullet to be used to kill an enemy blocking an entrance.

   I really like the idea of a flashlight in dark, it would add a lot to the puzzle aspect of the game, many levels in the old jetpack you could figure out exactly what to do just by watching the level for a few minutes, and I don’t care that it will be less difficult the second time, games always are.

   Puzzle related suggestions off the top of my head:

   - Larger number of possible colours for switches / portals
   - Switches to make some bricks appear -while- others disappear.
   - Ability to add moss/conveyor/ice on any surface
   - Item/barrier which instantly removes jetpack fuel, or perhaps rooms with ‘flammable gas’ to make sure the player doesn’t use jetpack in an area not designed for it.
   - Higher customisable blocks, for instance it was never possible to make a brick appear with ice but actually be a false brick
   - Level editor allow customising which special bonus items can randomly appear (some of my best levels were made useless as soon as a jetpack or freeze button appeared).
7. Eddie Willman Says:
   July 30th, 2009 at 5:17 am

   You have a point when you say the phase shifter is too powerful. I used to make levels using mostly stone and have destructible tiles more or less only for puzzles. Making it a pick-up similar to the jetpack is a good idea. That way you would get four combinations of player loadouts instead of two: with jetpack and phaser, with one but not the other, and with neither. I enjoyed making levels where the player starts without jetpack fuel, goes through a section and later returns with fuel, unlocking new possibilities. Allowing the same thing to be done with the phaser is a good idea.

   I see three ways of doing it. Either having a fuel meter for the phase shifter that works just like the jetpack, unlimited “ammo” when picked up, or a recharging phaser (e.g. using it costs 3 energy unit per second while it regenerates 1 per second when not used). I feel the third option is the best.

   If the phaser recharge a player will not have to restart the level after failing a difficult section and not having enough phaser energy to make another attempt at it. I would suggest considering doing the same thing with the jetpack. However, doing this might limit level designs a bit to much since after picking up the phaser or the jetpack, the player would have those abilities for the rest of the level.

   Your suggestions for a bomb or a drill to allow limited phasing ability sounds like a good idea. I don’t know why I assumed the bomb would permanently remove a block in my previous comment.

   One cool thing you could add is a switch that flips the map upside down (not just visually). This would allow for some clever level designs and reuse of sections. Some old Castlevania game had this. I haven’t played it, but apparently when you reached the “end” of the game the whole castle was flipped upside down and you had to go back through rooms you had already visited, but now they played very differently.
8. Scattergories Says:
   July 30th, 2009 at 5:19 am

   You definitely need the phaser, even though it’s a sequel and it needs to evolve without the phaser I’d feel a wee bit betrayed as a huge fan of the original. Please don’t leave the phaser in the dust!
9. Eddie Willman Says:
   July 30th, 2009 at 7:32 am

   Another idea assuming you keep the physics stuff where a tile can move independently of the tile grid: In Half-Life there are a few places where the player needs to turn a valve to open a door. To do this the player holds down the use button while facing the valve to turn it which slowly opens the door. If the valve is release before the doors is completely opened the valve slowly spins back to its original position, closing the door.

   You can add a tile that acts as the valve (of course it doesn’t need to physically be a valve in Jetpack). The player uses the phaser on the tile to, for example, slowly raise a platform. This adds tension if the player is threatened by enemies at the same time.
10. Eddie Willman Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 7:45 am

    The freeze ray you suggested might be a fun addition. It could temporarily freeze slower enemies before they can touch the player and freeze flying objects in mid-air making them fall to the ground (allowing the player to move an enemy to another room in which the enemy can trigger a switch for example). It could also temporarily add a layer of ice on tiles on which enemies and objects can glide allowing for interesting puzzles.
11. Nokadota Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    As much as I am a fan of the original Jetpack, I like the additions you suggested. Keys, flashlights, locators, bombs, and shields sound like a plan to me. Besides, there were cheat codes for the original Jetpack that I’m sure some people here used. If anything else, you could just add 2 modes, traditional Jetpack with just the phaser and the default enhanced one with all the goodies.
12. Neil V Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 10:05 pm

    I agree….
    Creating jetpack2 so the original jetpacks game play features are intact if the level designer wants, and being very dynamic with the new features should please everyone. If all objects are modular and can be added to levels at the whim of the designer it should turn out amazing! The multi-level object carry over is going to be a crazy feature…Im still stuck in, “you only get this object for one room” mode…
    This game is going to be awesome!!
13. Retodon8 Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:17 am

    I think the Phase Shifter should return, as it simply is “Jetpack” to me, even if it was inspired by Lode Runner (also a cool game). It allows for more diverse puzzle, but with non-phasable walls it wouldn’t have to be used in every level. Also limiting the device itself somehow makes sense, like the actual jetpack is limited. Being able to somewhat remodel the level, even if just temporarily for most kinds of walls, is simply cool. As for other, more advanced items. Sure they could be cool, but I’d severely limit their use as not to complicate things. If you find bombs that can destroy everything around every other corner, they start becoming normal, and even boring. I don’t see weapons in Jetpack, it always was more of a thinking man’s game where you avoid enemies, rather than get rid of them. That’s my two pence worth.
14. Tim Kloske Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    Yeah, the phaser should return in some form. Whether it is limited by a restricted amount of power, or is only obtainable in certain levels.

    A very short-range freeze gun would be a cool addition. It would be interesting to be able to freeze enemies to slow them down for a short while. It would be cool if it also produced a layer of ice on the ground as someone else already suggested.

    Not too sure about the Proximity Locator or flashlight. The levels are generally small enough that I don’t really see too much of a use for a proximity locator… but it could work. Flashlight is sort of the same thing… I couldn’t see it being of much use (very often)… though it would look cool graphically.
15. Peter Jaros Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 1:43 pm

    I think the phaser is an integral part of Jetpack. I wouldn’t limit it; I think limitation by wall type is enough.

    I’m not a fan of having to pick up and put down objects. That feel like unnecessary complexity which will make it harder for a level designer to control the puzzle element of the game.

    I like the idea of a safe zone where the player can’t be harmed by passing enemies, or a space which the player can move through but which enemies treat as a wall. Did one of those exist in the original game?
16. Tim Kloske Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    To Peter: There was a magenta coloured door thing that could be phased and would open for an extremely short period of time. Assuming there wasn’t an enemy on your tail, you could go through one of these and be safe and sound (as long as there wasn’t an enemy on the other side too )

    I’ve been doing some more thinking… what about fire as an alternative for the spikes in the old game? A bit of a graphical upgrade… the only issue is that it would look awkward on different angles, and would probably only look good if it was right-side up placed on a floor, where the spikes could be placed on walls and the ceiling. Keep both? What do you guys think?
17. Eddie Willman Says:
    August 2nd, 2009 at 4:06 am

    On Tim’s fire suggestion: Both fire and spikes could be in the game with the difference between them being that fire can be extinguished by the freeze ray (destroyable like the wood crates in the original).
18. Scott Greig Says:
    August 4th, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    I don’t think there should be shooting in the game. It is overdone, and I think that would probably ruin one of the core elements of Jetpack gameplay. Like in Lode Runner, the challenge was to figure out how to keep getting around the bad guys, not blow holes through them. That always added a sense of urgency to me, when you’re surveying the level trying to figure out what to do next while crazy enemies keep closing in on you forcing you to keep moving and figure out how not to get trapped and still accomplish the task of getting out of the level.
19. Scott Greig Says:
    August 4th, 2009 at 5:58 pm

    Also, I definitely think the phaser should be kept in the game.
20. Travis Says:
    August 4th, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    I think something like a Freeze Ray would be interesting. Super Metroid had a Ice Beam that let you freeze enemies so you could jump on them an access new areas.

    And the Phaser should stay in.

    I had a couple of cool ideas for different kind of tiles that would be interesting, but I think it would change the gameplay a little too much or look/seem quite funny.
21. Tiller Says:
    August 7th, 2009 at 11:01 am

    I agree with most of the above. You are right, there is an abundance of shoot ‘em up games. The ability to do something like stun or freeze (non violently) to a trackbot or something could enhance the game. Years on, it still is one of my favourite games – because of its simplicity. It ain’t broke, so why fix it? But a smoother modern version would be cooool.
22. Tiller Says:
    August 7th, 2009 at 11:02 am

    Love the atavars btw
23. Adam Says:
    August 7th, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    Cool, thanks for all the input!

    Yeah the random monster avatars are a little cheesy but I dig em.
24. Robert Says:
    August 15th, 2009 at 3:08 am

    I really like the idea of a freeze ray, and I would be disappointed if the phaser went away. I think you should definately keep it, as someone else said, “in some form”. Keys and shields sound pretty fun, but the physics demo gave me an idea for something like dynamite that collapsed a few blocks – not destroying them, but just making them fall down. I don’t know how the number of blocks collapsed would work, or even what it would be used for, except in a puzzle to make a path or something below you, or any other crazy idea you can come up with. Maybe it could smash a monster if a block fell on one, or collapse a column of blocks to lower the row it’s holding up, for example:

    You are the plus sign, the dynamite is the quatation mark, and all of the lines make up rows and columns of bricks.
    ______________
    | |________________[where you want to go]______
    ________________ +_”| ________________
    ___________________________________________________

    When the dynamite is set off, the column it’s next to collapses, bringing it down onto the row below the one you’re standing on, and allowing you to jump up and walk across.

    That probably seems a little too complicated for jetpack, but it’s just something I wanted to bring up, and you can use it however you like.

    Fire sounds alright, and I like the idea of having extinguishable fire. Maybe you could add some fire jets in some of the levels that you have to time to get past.

    The flashlight idea reminded me of the dark room in GoT, where all you could see were Thor’s eyes (and I thought it was hilarious when he hit the shovel and his eye looked smashed and throbbed); I’m sure you already planned on it being this way but I think the flashlight should have a limited cone or ray of light, and MAYBE it can have a meter (battery meter) so you can only use it for a certain amount of time – like the jetpack in the original jetpack. Of course you could add more batteries as pickups to give you back your light – or maybe even a stationary place where you can charge up your flashlight instead (or in addition to…)!

    I think any baddies with lasers (like trak-bot or w/e and homer) should have their lasers visible in the dark; it would be a nice, logical twist.

    Also…a timed shield that you could move around with could have its uses – but what would happen if a monster ran into you? would it change direction like the missile, or keep trying to get at you like trac-bot or just hover around like the boxer?! I guess you wouldn’t be standing in one place for long, but I guess that could be in levels or in places without monsters that follow you.

    Can’t wait to see what you do, Adam!
25. Robert Says:
    August 15th, 2009 at 3:10 am

    Well, that example didn’t come out too well. The monster avatars just make me laugh.
26. AdamDobay Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 5:44 am

    Hey Adam,

    Having been away for a while, I have only now got time to chip in, but I wanted to make sure I do.

    Here are some of the thoughts that came to mind in connection with your post. What I write below is based on three things. One, the experience from the past fifteen-twenty years related to playing (and sometimes, testing) hundreds of professional and amateur action/platformer games. Two, the couple years I spent creating amateur games in the genre, and three, the time I spent with the theory and analysis of computer and video game genres.

    First of all, you are spot on with the nonviolent vibe. The fact that there is no way for the player to directly kill or otherwise dispose of the monsters, coupled with the one-touch-death rule pushes the game into the positive side of retro — it is an old-school ruleset which makes the game challenging, but, with a good learning curve, good level design and fair physics (e.g. good pixel detection), it still does not make it irritating by default.
    As a side-note, many game creators that have chosen to go ‘retro’ have taken up the idea that implementing old systemic limitations (like not being able to save, bad collision detection or fake loading times) would generate the same nostalgic effect in gamers — it usually only brings back the same irritation one had back then. (Retro Game Challenge or the recent Bit Boy are perfect examples for this.) So there is a fine balance between true nostalgic old-school gaming and old, irritating designer habits. Carefully implementing these parts of the old Jetpack will prove to be fruitful and will attest to a true old-school brand (players saying “this is just as cool as the old one” is always a good marketing point).

    Secondly, the phase shifter. While based on the Lode Runner ability, it is much more sophisticated than that. First of all, you can phase in four directions, you can phase while using the jetpack (creating wonderful player tension when you have to phase while flying and glimpsing every moment to see whether your fuel has run out), and there is the degree of variation in phasing times for the different blocks. Doing puzzles with the pink blocks, the different return times for bricks, the wooden boxes; also trapping enemies or creating different paths for them, and even timing the level so that you can phase a block at the exact time for an enemy to behave in a specific way, these are all elements that are at the foundation of the original Jetpack game. Personally, I think this is hands down the most unique element in Jetpack, something I have not seen in any game ever since.

    Keys. As you said, 95% of games have guns. It’s a too easy choice for the developer to put a gun in there, and will not make the game unique. However, in the action, platformer and puzzle games the same is exactly true for keys. They’re absolutely overused, they’re an easy way out for the developer, and have been for as long as I know.
    Interestingly, that bring us to another unique selling point of the original Jetpack. Like the phase shifter was a very clever and multi-layered upgrade to the Lode Runner ability, switches are a simply brilliant upgrade to the key problem. You can seal off one or more parts of the level, and have either the player, or — even better — let either the player OR the monsters be able to turn it back on. I don’t remember any other game having it like this, and I know that back then I’ve found this insanely innovative.
    If you ask for my personal opinion, I would say that you should avoid keys entirely and keep the switch system, which is highly modifiable and would be fun to play around with some more, like switches working for specific areas only, switches that stay jammed, switches that turn off normal blocks or even turn off enemies, etc. The possibilities are limitless, while with the one-time use switch you still have the same functionality as the key.

    Other items. While I dislike guns and any ability to kill enemies, there is a possibility that enemy hindering abilities would work. There is proof for this, the temporary invincibility and enemy-freezing items worked pretty well in the original game and I would keep them, although not as randomly appearing items at all (I don’t know if I have mentioned this already, but the only aspect of the game I would surely want to remove is the random appearing items as they often disrupt the level design). Using them as strategically placeable items would create another strategy for the player to get through puzzles and for the developer to create puzzles. Like phasing, there is a specific time before the player’s invincibility runs out (and if there is no visible counter for it like in the old days, it’s all the better), so the player will have to keep track of the time. Again, challenging aspect, positive game-related tension. All good gaming.

    A good rule with action-platformer games is to “keep it simple”. Too many types of items, power-ups, or modifiers can and will ruin the game, especially if they serve the same function (ie. if you have a switch system, you may not want to have a key system as well, because they mostly serve the same function; only use both if you can strongly support the idea that you really need both). I’ve often seen that when many types of stuff are available, level design gets sloppier over time and starts to rely too much on the items, power-ups or modifiers. Also, there is a reflex in the player when seeing item#15, “oh, here’s an item#15 level again”. This, again, can be overturned with brilliant level design, but there is always this danger lurking in the corner.
    The same rule does not apply if items, power-ups and modifiers are carefully balanced out, and they also do not become redundant. For an example outside of the genre, see Popcap’s recent and brilliant Plants vs. Zombies. There is a very clever build-up of items as well as enemies, but it does not become overwhelming because a., the basic system stays simple and b., every item and enemy stays truly unique.
    Also, this game offers a very good system of “problem first-solution later” level design, echoed in Ron Gilbert’s rules for graphic adventure games, written decades ago. It also applies to platformers in that you get a better play experience if you see the problem first and have to start to think of a solution before you actually come across a solution. In such a game as Jetpack you would first face an obstacle or sealed-off area before gaining insight into how to actually get there.

    All in all, I think the original Jetpack had a very well put together system of items and powerups that could use little tweaks but overall there should not be big chunks taken out of it. The jetpack and it’s fuel refills work great (while no-jetpack and just jumping levels were one of my great favourites), the phasing system is brilliant, and the switch system, while it could use some flexibility upgrades, could also go a long way. Not mentioned before, the teleport system is also something that is entirely unique (especially with many teleports randomizing input and output points), and should also be kept. Enemies should not be destroyable but should be hinderable for a short time (the original powerups are good here as well, if a freeze ray should be implemented it should be only give the player short range and a few chances or a short amount of time to use it before the button returned to the normal phaser).
    The new physics engine could enable new things like crumbling blocks. Bombs also sound fun, and playing around with lighting would also be an interesting idea (moving light sources, etc). Still, I would definitely keep intact all the things that were not only working but brilliantly working in the old game.

    That’s all for now, I hope you find some of the above ideas useful. As always, I’m quite up for discussion of any of the above points.
27. Dan Says:
    September 19th, 2009 at 12:54 am

    When I first started this game at age 5 or so, I was playing it off this weird demo disc containing demos and such. I first started playing this and I was trying to kill the robots in level 0 with the phaser and I was getting so mad! Once I pretty much abandoned it until I came across it again and then played it solid for like 8 years. And that was the demo. Once I perchance came across the full version, I was in ecstasy.

    To Robert about your dynamite idea:
    That was already invented in another old DOS Game with similar graphics and block-levels as this, but you use dynamite to get to the exit. It was way fun. If you want to know what I’m talking about you can get it here:
    http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/the-tunnelman/

    But I digress, yes the phaser needs to stay.
28. §teamer Says:
    October 18th, 2009 at 4:32 pm

    I think Ben Joffe had some good ideas, I especially like “Larger number of possible colours for switches / portals” and the “Ability to add moss/conveyor/ice on any surface.” I think that the phaser should stay as well, because sometimes it’s better to have bricks only temporarily disappear. And I also agree that shooting doesn’t belong in Jetpack… There are a million games that involve shooting, and I believe that Jetpack is about strategically planning and quickly executing to get through levels – not about the 12 year old that can shoot a hundred enemies in 15 seconds – it would change the whole aspect of the game. As Jetpack 1 is still one of my favourite games, I can’t wait for Jetpack 2 – keep up the good work Adam.
29. userblank Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 11:50 pm

    I don’t know if it is too late to add ideas, but I think the phaser should stay, but just need fuel like the jetpack.
    Also, a walk-through brick where you can only go one way would make some interesting chalenges.
30. Adam Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 9:08 am

    It’s never too late, I’ll be referring back to this discussion when planning.

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