I Wanna Be the Transformer

[hotpocket]

Hey guys. I haven't been into fan games for long, so this is my first project. It's made in Java from scratch and it didn't really start out as a fan game, but it still fits the theme of difficult platforming.

The game revolves around a transforming mechanic. At the beginning of the game, there are 3 different forms: red, which is fast and jumps low, black, which is normal, and blue, which is slow and jumps high. You can switch between the forms instantly, and at any time. To beat the levels, you (usually) have to use the different transformations together, sometimes requiring very quick button press sequences.

Later in the game you get more transformations, but you can only have three equipped at a time. Currently there is one more transformation which you get on stage 2A.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Screenshots

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Updates

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March 20

• Added menu music
• Changed default transform buttons to A, Z, and X
• Tweaked collision detection (You can now step half way onto a red block without dying)
• Limited gravity, this makes the game feel a bit better and is a temporary fix for falling through the floor with low FPS
• Added a few levels (Your save file will still work, but the levels unlocked will be wrong, sorry)
• Changed the background ingame #stopthegrid
• Added stage complete/stages unlocked message for when you complete a stage
• Fixed bug involving the menus
• Shift can now be used to select on the menus
• You can now go back to the main menu anywhere by hitting escape
• Download is now an exe

March 23:

• Added lots of levels (There are 50 in total now, but your save file will be broken. Sorry.)
• Tweaked some levels to be less annoying.
• Added a sound for floating as yellow
• Made a song for during gameplay. There will be more soon.

March 27:

• Extended stages 1B and 2B to 15 and 10 levels respectively
• Started stage 3A
• Added another song for stages 2A and 2B
• Fixed the float sound not working at all
• Significantly cut down the file size

Download

[Lurpan]

Nice game  !

TIP: If you want to make a fangame then you should download gamemaker. You should watch a youtube tutorial video to how to make fangames .

[Sephalos]

Interesting gimmick but I would consider having another key than up and down to transform as this makes it really awkward to control. I guess the 'Z' and 'X' keys would make a lot more sense.

[hotpocket]

Interesting gimmick but I would consider having another key than up and down to transform as this makes it really awkward to control. I guess the 'Z' and 'X' keys would make a lot more sense.

Yeah, I was having problems figuring out what the default control scheme would be for people who don't use one hand for both moving and jumping. I was considering something like that, but I felt like it would be way too difficult to use only one hand for so many controls. Some of the levels would force you to use your pinky to jump or make awkward maneuvers with your hand. Originally it was WAD/arrow keys to move/jump and JKL to transform, but not everyone plays that way.

[hotpocket]

Update:

• Added menu music
• Changed default transform buttons to A, Z, and X
• Tweaked collision detection (You can now step half way onto a red block without dying)
• Limited gravity, this makes the game feel a bit better and is a temporary fix for falling through the floor with low FPS
• Added a few levels (Your save file will still work, but the levels unlocked will be wrong, sorry)
• Changed the background ingame #stopthegrid
• Added stage complete/stages unlocked message for when you complete a stage
• Fixed bug involving the menus
• Shift can now be used to select on the menus
• You can now go back to the main menu anywhere by hitting escape
• Download is now an exe

[hotpocket]

Update:

• Added lots of levels (There are 50 in total now, but your save file will be broken. Sorry.)
• Tweaked some levels to be less annoying.
• Added a sound for floating as yellow
• Made a song for during gameplay. There will be more soon.

[hotpocket]

Update:

• Extended stages 1B and 2B to 15 and 10 levels respectively
• Started stage 3A
• Added another song for stages 2A and 2B
• Fixed the float sound not working at all
• Significantly cut down the file size

I think I'll be done with this after finishing stage 3B, finishing the music for stages 3A and 3B, tweaking a few things, and fixing dumb stuff. Any feedback for levels that need to be changed would be appreciated.

[hotpocket]

Any more suggestions for ways to make the controls easier? I'm fine with any control scheme since I've tested the game so much, so I'll need a little help on this one.

I kind of like the idea of cycling through the transformations. I think with this it could be up to cycle forward and Z to cycle backwards, and it will loop so you can access any transformation with one button press. This way you don't have one hand doing too many things at once.

Another one I tried out was left control, Z, and up to transform, with your ring finger on ctrl, middle finger on shift, and pointer finger on Z. This way you always have a finger on a transform button so you don't have to move them around.