Thrusty Tubes - TCK Soft

**caffeinekid** · 03-04-2014

Before Hugo posts that pic again let me say something... *THIS IS NOT A FLAPPY CLONE*

Well unless it's how it would have been if Atari had made the game in the 70s.

screen1.jpg screen2.jpg screen3.jpg

No flapping here... It's all about the thrusting, and having the right angle...

Pass the tubes. Survive. Don't get left behind.

Download to your OUYA now.

I just wanted to go back in time and imagine how a game like this would have been in the arcade.

All it takes from "the game who shall not be mentioned again" is the pipes... The control mechanic, scoring and everything else is totally different. It is totally its own game and should feel fresh and challenging.

I spent a long time playing it when I should have not been, and hopefully it's a good sign when the coder can't put it down.

Please give it a try before you pass judgement, and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Here is a (blurry - sorry taken with my phone from the monitor) video of some game play:-

(if you skip forward to about 4:05 you will see even the tubes are different than "that game"...)

**Hugo** · 03-04-2014

**caffeinekid** · 03-04-2014

Here's how NOT to play the OUYA version, care of Jeremy Peeples...

This is yet another Flappy Bird clone, but with a far more old-school visual style. Also, you've got some left stick movement to contend with that makes it even harder, more frustrating, and less fun. Plus while it's free, it's only free if you wait five seconds between rounds - and you wind up waiting longer between the rounds than the actual game session will last. It's an interesting shakeup on the formula, but doesn't exactly add another must-play game to the OUYA's lineup.

I didn't realise it was so hard... But reading the instructions might have helped?

This is NOT a flappy game.

Hopefully some people will actually *get* the game and understand where I was coming from with the design. I'm sorry he felt that it was less fun than Flappy Bird, which I'm pretty horrified to hear to be honest.

The guys at OUYA submissions said it was one of the hardest games they had ever played but got the hang of it after a few plays.

I guess it's going to be a very divisive game...

All feedback and views on the game are welcome and I hope people will let me know how they got on with it.

**MGFanJay** · 03-05-2014

Originally Posted by caffeinekid

Here's how NOT to play the OUYA version, care of Jeremy Peeples...

I didn't realise it was so hard... But reading the instructions might have helped?

This is NOT a flappy game.

Hopefully some people will actually *get* the game and understand where I was coming from with the design. I'm sorry he felt that it was less fun than Flappy Bird, which I'm pretty horrified to hear to be honest.

The guys at OUYA submissions said it was one of the hardest games they had ever played but got the hang of it after a few plays.

I guess it's going to be a very divisive game...

All feedback and views on the game are welcome and I hope people will let me know how they got on with it.

I'll definitely give it another shot. It was a tricky game to learn, as you can tell by me not even figuring out how to move until like the third round.

**DrunkPunk** · 03-04-2014

Originally Posted by caffeinekid

Before Hugo posts that pic again let me say something...

I was waiting for him to come in here and do his thing, haha!

Originally Posted by caffeinekid

It's all about the thrusting

Now I must download this...

**caffeinekid** · 03-04-2014

I think I need to make a v1.1 after some discussion on an indie dev group on Facebook. The current IAP probably is too mean and takes away from the experience, and perhaps it needs are more obvious intro/tutorial type thing to show you the controls before you lose.

Flying a spaceship is hard. But maybe at least a quick skippable onscreen help for the controls when you start the game would be useful?

Anything else before I get my coding hat on?

**Eric Blackburn** · 03-04-2014

Hey just something I wanna say that may help you out....

Instead of saying "It's not like flappy bird!" (Which everyone thinks it is)

Say something along the lines of "Some of you might think it's like flappy bird, and it kind of is, except this is better"

Yes there are some extra things in it. But in the end everyone sees you controlling a character to fly in between obstacles. So don't pout that it's not a flappy bird clone, celebrate that it's like an extremely popular game but better. If your game is like a game that made 50k a day but better then said game, why not advertise it as such?

Not saying to go around calling it a flappy bird clone, but instead of getting annoyed when someone says that just say "It does look a lot like that, except this is better"

Just my two cents.

And if you do ever make a clone, don't be afraid to live up to it and explain why your clone is better then the thing you cloned.

Minecraft is a clone of Infini miner (never heard of Infini miner have ya?)
Flappy bird is a clone of other games. They just took a concept and refined it, and made it their own.

**caffeinekid** · 03-04-2014

I was trying to be tongue in cheek by having similarities while making a different game, to try to intrigue people.

Perhaps I failed. I've had a whole lot of rage a negative comments on an indie dev community on Facebook today so maybe it's closer than I thought.

I'm a few death threats and a game removal away from truly making it. :/

I guess if people are talking about a game, even if they are raging at you or at the game, at least it's something. Half the battle (at the very least) is getting someone to even notice you or your game these days.

I love this quote from FaceBook today: "Andrew, I would retire in shame immediately if I have just claimed I have 20+ years experience and this game was my latest production.. :x"

**Eric Blackburn** · 03-04-2014

Just claim it's flappy bird with a brand new challenging twist and style that old school gamers will love and leave it at that, work on other projects and move on I guess.