To fix the design problem described in my previous post, the most obvious solution was to add a gameplay element that prevented the player from keeping Icarus in the middle of the screen. Some sort of obstacle for Icarus to dodge seemed like the simplest option. This would give the player meaningful choices, since they would have to decide, moment to moment, whether to make Icarus rise or fall to avoid the arrows. I was reluctant to go down this route though since I felt it would be pulling away from the story. Icarus flies too high due to his own foolishness. Not because he was trying avoid some threat in the sky. I also struggled to think of an obstacle that would be appropriate. The other Icarus based mobile games on the app store appeared to use clouds and birds. I felt that using a cloud as a physical obstacle was very silly. Icarus being brought down by a bird was also unappealing to me. A friend suggested to me that I use arrows. This at least made sense, as King Minos could have had men attempt to shoot Daedalus and Icarus down.
I was to still concerned that I was losing the story but without a better idea, I went about implementing the arrows. Every two seconds a new arrow is created off-screen to the left of Icarus and fired on-screen. One arrow consists of a sprite and a physics body. The arrow is fired by applying a relative force to the physics body. Before firing the arrow, it is rotated by a random angle to prevent all the arrows from following the same trajectory. This angle is kept in a range so that each trajectory keeps its arrow in the middle area of the screen. When an arrow collides with Icarus, he falls.
The arrows can be seen in the following gif.
I was to still concerned that I was losing the story but without a better idea, I went about implementing the arrows. Every two seconds a new arrow is created off-screen to the left of Icarus and fired on-screen. One arrow consists of a sprite and a physics body. The arrow is fired by applying a relative force to the physics body. Before firing the arrow, it is rotated by a random angle to prevent all the arrows from following the same trajectory. This angle is kept in a range so that each trajectory keeps its arrow in the middle area of the screen. When an arrow collides with Icarus, he falls.
The arrows can be seen in the following gif.
This the current version of the app. Although it now works as a playable game, my fears of losing the narrative have rung true. Players are far more concerned with dodging arrows and surviving than they are with flying higher to improve their score. I could remove the arrows and try experimenting with other ideas. Such as collecting feathers to fix the wings or catching updrafts to stay above the water. I feel though that I would end up continuously changing the game in drastic ways and still fail to express the story through the mechanics.
Attempts to move the app closer to the fable results in a weaker game whilst attempts to improve the game, moves it away from the story. This makes sense though as Icarus didn’t die chasing a high score. He died because he was lost in his sense of elation. Trying to give players that sensation with the act of touching a screen is incredibly difficult. I could work on the app further, treating it more like a standard endless runner / flappy bird style game but then the Icarus elements would just act as a skin. I’d rather work with more original narrative elements for such a game. For these reasons, I have decided to end the project here for now. I have achieved my main goal of making a short re-playable mobile game. From doing so I learned the difficulties of telling a story on this platform.
Attempts to move the app closer to the fable results in a weaker game whilst attempts to improve the game, moves it away from the story. This makes sense though as Icarus didn’t die chasing a high score. He died because he was lost in his sense of elation. Trying to give players that sensation with the act of touching a screen is incredibly difficult. I could work on the app further, treating it more like a standard endless runner / flappy bird style game but then the Icarus elements would just act as a skin. I’d rather work with more original narrative elements for such a game. For these reasons, I have decided to end the project here for now. I have achieved my main goal of making a short re-playable mobile game. From doing so I learned the difficulties of telling a story on this platform.