Crow Once, Praise Twice

[Kyir]

(For people whose first language isn't English: to crow is to "say something in a tone of gloating satisfaction.")

I have observed two problems:

• People around here are too negative about everything. I say this as a negative person who is struggling to improve.
• People don't talk enough about game design in the game design forum.

To remedy both problems, I suggest the following. People who have made games (or are working on games currently) should say name one feature of a project of theirs that they are proud of, and two features from other people's projects that they liked. In addition to less general negativity everywhere, it would be nice to get more of an insight into specific features that other people enjoy.

[tehjman1993]

Sure, let's give it a try.

(Although I'm not directly the one who coded this ...) I'm super proud of the build-your-own-run mechanic in I wanna Get Rekt. It is something that I do not believe has been done in any other fangame, and gives the game much more replayability than just starting a new game file.

One feature that I liked from "I Dun Wanna Be Anything 2" was the sheer amount of content the game had. The game itself is vastly underplayed, which is a tragedy. The game features nearly 20 hours of content, and not just the grind-a-jump type of content either. It mixes gimmicks with rooms that push the limit of the gimmick, as well as bosses that not only utilize the same gimmick, but are unique in their own ways.

Another feature I liked from "I wanna be the Crysis" was the bossrush-style gimmick near the end of the game. Instead of the usual beat all of the bosses style of bossrush, Crysis assigns point values to bosses. Harder bosses are worth more points, and easier bosses are worth less points. After a certain threshold of points, you may move on in the game. This gives the player much more variety within their own playthrough of the game, with each playthrough most likely being different than the next player's. Certainly an underused gimmick that should be given more credit.

[infern0man1]

I can't say too much since I only make/play needle but I'll try my best (I can't really say anything about my own projects so I'll skip that for the time being).

It's been done in a few fangames, but I'll stick with I wanna be the Noesis since it's a relatively new game: the one gimmick that involved water physics, yet you only had one single jump and one double jump in it. It is a really simple gimmick yet really clever at the same time, and I feel it opens a larger world in what you can do with your level design that you couldn't do in normal physics (or regular water physics too).

It's also a really simple gimmick, but used in a very uncommon way that makes for some really interesting designs: gravity in all four directions, like in I wanna HunyuuPunpun. Regular gravity changers can be pretty cool by themselves, and I found that by adding two more angles you can platform on to be a clever way to create a lot of gameplay in the space of a smaller room size.


I'd actually really like to see those two gimmicks combined... I may actually try and do that at some point, too.

[Kyir]

The thing I'm most proud of in one of my games is probably the boss from REDACTED. Not many people seemed to get how the story plots and lots of information wedged in places explained what it was exactly, but I'm really pleased with my explanation anyway, and on top of that it was far and away the most work I'd ever put into a boss. Except for the song, two sound effects, and the bullet sprite, I made everything in that boss by hand, and I think it shows in the end product. Other people seemed to like it a lot too! I would love to see more games build up to to the boss, even if it's not necessarily in a traditionally textual sense.

I absolutely love the procedurally generated platforming boss in I Wanna Get Rekt. I've heard from an inside source (50/50 chance at guessing who) that the code is an absolute mess, but it struck me as a really original idea that at least appeared well-executed. I'd love to see more of that in other games. I guess it's still technically RNG, but it feels like a much more refreshing version of it compared to how an apple spray lands.

It's not specific to any one game really, but I love Mr. Wonderful's music choices across his entire collection of created games. On top of just being different from what most people pick, and even if they were intended to be at least partially a joke, I genuinely enjoy almost every song in his games. More music variety is always good! Especially boss music.

[BaronBlade]

Eh, why not.

Although the one game I have out right now is a rushed mess, I do have another smallish project in the works. In that, at least, I'm pretty proud of my spritework with the tilesets and spikes. I think I also have good music choices.

In Calamity Fortune, I simply adore how well each attack in the boss works with the music. Although this could be said for numerous avoidances, I feel that the way Ultra pulled it off really draws the player in. Each attack is fun to dodge in its own way, and the boss is just challenging enough that it doesn't feel grindy. It's probably my favorite avoidance of all time.

Resistance is another favorite of mine. I feel like it succeeds in telling a story through nothing more than the atmosphere of each stage. No other fangame I've played has pulled this off in the same way. I especially enjoy playing back through the hub after reaching stage 6; this part really ties the game together, and the final area is just very fun to play through, combining gimmicks that appeared throughout the game. And, of course, its final boss is pretty iconic. Highly recommended adventure game.

[Onynekyu]

*ahem* I'm not sure if feature and gimmick are the same ? But i'll give a shot.
I just start to create a fangame with friends some days ago, so i have nothing to be proud of for the moment.

First, the gimmick of "I Wanna Be the white dot" is really interesting. Using two differents hitboxes according of the spike's color. Since i'm still consider myself as a newcomer, i discover some hard screens then i manage to pass them using this gimmick. It was enjoyable.

Second is "I Wanna Be The catharsis". I didn't play it yet, just watched Thenader2 speedrans it on hard and normal mode. But the artistic work is unique and AWESOME !!! It gives a special atmosphere that i enjoyed watching this game.

Third, a special graphic at one screen of "I Wanna Conquer the blow game 3" that i really like it, it's about the fake 3D, when you have to climb a tower, the kid doesn't move, but the tower move itself by rotating. This is so interesting and i didn't see this in other fangames.

Note: A third feature has been added 

[Kyir]

A feature is pretty much any isolated aspect of a game. So you could say the graphics overall, or the graphics in a particular area, or even a single sprite if you wanted. It's only really different from saying "I liked everything in this game."

[Onynekyu]

ho i see. Thanks for this explanation 
Also, with you answer, i have a third feature in mind, but two is the maximum limit ?

[Kyir]

I don't see why it should be. It was more of a recommendation than anything, so people don't feel like they need to list 10000 features.

[patrickgh3]

This is a nice idea.

I'm proud of the boss fight I made for Mr. Wonderful's recently finished game, I wanna kill the Kermit 2. I think I did a good job overall, with the mechanics, graphics, balance, theme, and attention to detail. It's been really nice to hear from people that they enjoyed it. It was also nice to contribute to someone else's big project that I admired myself. I'm looking forward to collaborating on games in the future, and I recommend everyone try working with a partner or small team if you haven't already.

In I wanna be the Scribble, one thing I like is the hand-drawn scribble style artwork. Not only does it look nice and feel fresh, but it's pervasive throughout the game and makes everything feel more unified thematically.

I wanna healing spike, a small recent game, has a unique and charming atmosphere. The visuals, sounds, and level design all fit together to create a soothing experience. Even though the game's quite short, it was memorable to me.

[Kyir]

In terms of one of my own games, I'm still really happy with I Wanna Usurp the Celestial Jump's secret area. It's what gave me the idea for REDACTED, and it's also one of the two examples of a secret area I've made that's more easter-egg than mandatory thing to find. I hope to see other people do stuff like that in the future.

Seen some good things in other games lately too! I really appreciated the transition screens in I Wanna Run the Marathon. They're really well-made visually, and I think the use of transition screens is really underrated just in terms of giving a player a break from STUFF going on. This is especially true with the huge variety of different stuff going on in the game, which I appreciate watching a lot (even though I've still failed to actually play it.)

I also really liked the entire concept behind I Wanna Go the Jungle Adventure. I hate vines themselves in all forms, but seeing a bunch of variations on them was super interesting, and I'd love to see more versions of the same idea! The music choices in the game were also spot-on.