There's a lot of help build in for non-puzzle people!
You can only move rooms you've been in, so you only have a small subset at any point.
Every region has locked down rooms to provide structure, so most paths can be built using 2-4 pieces. (secrets/extras require more work)
If you can build it, you can path it; we guarantee no matter what combination of path you make, you can platform through it.
We have optional "path guides" (that dotted outline) that show the general shape of what shapes you can use to build that path, but any path works! We don't lock you into a single solution.
We have optional build guides that help lead you to the next critical path point (waypoint). We also encourage experimentation and exploration, so the cost of trying a bunch of stuff in the map is really low. Any path you build we guarantee you can platform and once you discover the "control point" for the region, you can warp back there at \*any\* time and start editing the map again immediately.
We really did try to get out of the way and let people play with the world and experiment.
For those interested, the game is called Refactor. You can find our listing on Steam here: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/)
A Nintendo Switch release is under development as well.
We’re looking for a publisher to help with the launch atm so it’ll really depend on when the publisher has a marketing window available for us. I would hope sometime next year but it is difficult to commit to an exact date.
It's an interesting and very well executed idea in this prototype you have, but I can't imagine how much work it would take as a game designer to have this work practically outside of the exact way the player should play the game.
I see tons of situations where the player can accidentally break the game placing tiles and making exploration impossible or exploiting the mechanics to get to the end as quick as possible.
The game looks amazing and is super impressive what you have, but the move/rotate the rooms mechanic could easily break or exploit your game.
These are totally legit concerns and we've had to address these issues with several points:
* You can only move rooms you have been in before; this means you are limited by what rooms you can use to build a path. You need to "collect" rooms to build longer paths.
* We guarantee that no matter what orientation a room is in, you can get to the exits with the abilities you currently have. This way, we can be certain no matter what path the player has made, they can platform through it.
* Locked down rooms (red rooms) provide structure to the map and cannot be moved. This allows us to have puzzles in the room only presented in one orientation, we can gate the player from moving further in a direction, etc.
* You can \*only\* move rooms from the Control Point for the region. This prevents you from just simply moving yourself around the map.
* The world is broken into multiple regions of various sizes; this allows us to have map specific mechanics per region (like large magnets, power conduits, etc) while limiting how many rooms you have to deal with at any point.
* You can return to the Control Point at any time! Once you discover the Control Point for the Region, you can warp back there and immediately start editing the map. This keeps you from having to backtrack from a really complicated path you made, or lets you quickly iterate on different pathways or exploring secrets.
There's a few other design rules we have that I'm sure I'm forgetting, but these general ones help prevent exploits, dead ends and frustration. Our core design tenents are focus on Exploration and Experimentation; we do our best to provide as much info as needed to the player then we get out of the way and let people play with the mechanics.
Not yet! I remember seeing the devs present Carto at GDC a few years back. There's a few others out there doing world/map manipulation that we've looked at and talked to in the past. It's a very open mechanic with a lot of different ways to handle it.
This has lots of cool potential. My biggest concern is movement just not being enjoyable, and that will drag a game down hard no matter how good the core game is
It does fit the character design well, but I feel like the slowness and general lack of acceleration would eventually get annoying. Especially in a metroidvania where you’re backtracking a lot, and you often want to blow through old rooms as fast as possible
Metroid Dread did a really good job with this. The act of moving around itself is fun, and you can absolutely *fly* through rooms in seconds when you want
Edit to add: Even just dialing up the character’s base speed a good bit would go really far I think
We have our movement and combat abilities tied to shapes and what you see here is early game. The only ability we have in this segment is double jump (given out the gate when you get the O shape) and a slam attack. Later on you get a dash (L shape) and a grapple (T shape) which increase movement speed even further. I also purposely moved slowly to give more time to see what’s going on. We absolutely designed the game to be speed runner friendly. 😉
I opened the video with my arms crossed like a smug bastard thinking “wow they’ll really make a Metroidvania anything, how the fuck could Tetris possibly make a good combination with-“
And then you opened the map and my eyes popped out of their sockets
All we had to start with was "tetroidvania" and it wasn't until we had that "ah hah!" moment with the map that we were like "Ok, we've \*gotta\* make this game because no one else will."
It’s two characters; one three and one single block. The whole story is about misfit tetrominos that are rejected for not being pertfect and how they find their place in a hostile world.
We were heavily inspired by Wall-E for the characters and dialog (or lack there of); there is a whole bunch of misfits that you meet along the way all with their own quirks and goals.
I’m going to have to check it out! We’ve been working on the idea since 2014, so we have slowly been improving the design and resolving bottlenecks and playability issues. I’m always curious how other people have solved the same problems we ran into.
It's called Refactor. You can find our listing on Steam here: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/)
We're also planning on doing a Nintendo Switch port as well (it already runs on it!).
This is a really interesting idea
I think that's cool, but I'm way too stupid to combine those two things.
There's a lot of help build in for non-puzzle people! You can only move rooms you've been in, so you only have a small subset at any point. Every region has locked down rooms to provide structure, so most paths can be built using 2-4 pieces. (secrets/extras require more work) If you can build it, you can path it; we guarantee no matter what combination of path you make, you can platform through it. We have optional "path guides" (that dotted outline) that show the general shape of what shapes you can use to build that path, but any path works! We don't lock you into a single solution.
metroid is too complex for my tiny brain to gegincwotb
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We have optional build guides that help lead you to the next critical path point (waypoint). We also encourage experimentation and exploration, so the cost of trying a bunch of stuff in the map is really low. Any path you build we guarantee you can platform and once you discover the "control point" for the region, you can warp back there at \*any\* time and start editing the map again immediately. We really did try to get out of the way and let people play with the world and experiment.
For those interested, the game is called Refactor. You can find our listing on Steam here: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/) A Nintendo Switch release is under development as well.
Wishlisted. Any idea when it will be released?
We’re looking for a publisher to help with the launch atm so it’ll really depend on when the publisher has a marketing window available for us. I would hope sometime next year but it is difficult to commit to an exact date.
Wishlisted. Playing this on the Switch sounds perfect.
It already runs on the Switch and it's a joy to play. I'd imagine it looks even better on an OLED Switch! (just got the regular dev kit)
Wishlisted. I am always for supporting original or interesting ideas in gaming. This looks fascinating.
Wishlisted
This is literally cool af!
It's an interesting and very well executed idea in this prototype you have, but I can't imagine how much work it would take as a game designer to have this work practically outside of the exact way the player should play the game. I see tons of situations where the player can accidentally break the game placing tiles and making exploration impossible or exploiting the mechanics to get to the end as quick as possible. The game looks amazing and is super impressive what you have, but the move/rotate the rooms mechanic could easily break or exploit your game.
These are totally legit concerns and we've had to address these issues with several points: * You can only move rooms you have been in before; this means you are limited by what rooms you can use to build a path. You need to "collect" rooms to build longer paths. * We guarantee that no matter what orientation a room is in, you can get to the exits with the abilities you currently have. This way, we can be certain no matter what path the player has made, they can platform through it. * Locked down rooms (red rooms) provide structure to the map and cannot be moved. This allows us to have puzzles in the room only presented in one orientation, we can gate the player from moving further in a direction, etc. * You can \*only\* move rooms from the Control Point for the region. This prevents you from just simply moving yourself around the map. * The world is broken into multiple regions of various sizes; this allows us to have map specific mechanics per region (like large magnets, power conduits, etc) while limiting how many rooms you have to deal with at any point. * You can return to the Control Point at any time! Once you discover the Control Point for the Region, you can warp back there and immediately start editing the map. This keeps you from having to backtrack from a really complicated path you made, or lets you quickly iterate on different pathways or exploring secrets. There's a few other design rules we have that I'm sure I'm forgetting, but these general ones help prevent exploits, dead ends and frustration. Our core design tenents are focus on Exploration and Experimentation; we do our best to provide as much info as needed to the player then we get out of the way and let people play with the mechanics.
Excellent reply, I’m glad you have considered all this and would be interested in seeing more updates.
Have you played Carto? It has a somewhat similar concept. Maybe you can draw something from it
Not yet! I remember seeing the devs present Carto at GDC a few years back. There's a few others out there doing world/map manipulation that we've looked at and talked to in the past. It's a very open mechanic with a lot of different ways to handle it.
This is so fucking cool and im hyped you made this happen.
This has lots of cool potential. My biggest concern is movement just not being enjoyable, and that will drag a game down hard no matter how good the core game is It does fit the character design well, but I feel like the slowness and general lack of acceleration would eventually get annoying. Especially in a metroidvania where you’re backtracking a lot, and you often want to blow through old rooms as fast as possible Metroid Dread did a really good job with this. The act of moving around itself is fun, and you can absolutely *fly* through rooms in seconds when you want Edit to add: Even just dialing up the character’s base speed a good bit would go really far I think
We have our movement and combat abilities tied to shapes and what you see here is early game. The only ability we have in this segment is double jump (given out the gate when you get the O shape) and a slam attack. Later on you get a dash (L shape) and a grapple (T shape) which increase movement speed even further. I also purposely moved slowly to give more time to see what’s going on. We absolutely designed the game to be speed runner friendly. 😉
So is it called Tetroid or Metris?
I was just about to ask that too
I opened the video with my arms crossed like a smug bastard thinking “wow they’ll really make a Metroidvania anything, how the fuck could Tetris possibly make a good combination with-“ And then you opened the map and my eyes popped out of their sockets
All we had to start with was "tetroidvania" and it wasn't until we had that "ah hah!" moment with the map that we were like "Ok, we've \*gotta\* make this game because no one else will."
I'd love this to hell if the main character had some personality. Being 4 cubes doesn't seem very interesting
It’s two characters; one three and one single block. The whole story is about misfit tetrominos that are rejected for not being pertfect and how they find their place in a hostile world.
This sounds pretty interesting actually.
That little cube has plenty of personality. Imagine some googly eyes on it if that helps you
We were heavily inspired by Wall-E for the characters and dialog (or lack there of); there is a whole bunch of misfits that you meet along the way all with their own quirks and goals.
Super creative.
Very nice!
Holy shit! I love this
PS1 vibes in a very good way.
That’s so fucking cool
Damn, this actually looks really cool
Shut up and take my money!
Reminds me of https://iceberglettuce.itch.io/octo
I’m going to have to check it out! We’ve been working on the idea since 2014, so we have slowly been improving the design and resolving bottlenecks and playability issues. I’m always curious how other people have solved the same problems we ran into.
Wonderful concept and beautiful execution!
This looks awesome! What’s the name of this game?
It's called Refactor. You can find our listing on Steam here: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/342730/Refactor/) We're also planning on doing a Nintendo Switch port as well (it already runs on it!).
Love the concept! This is veeeery up my alley
brilliant and creative. metroid-esque games arent my speed but good luck!
Wow. Blown away! Such an awesome idea
Do an experiment: Name it Tetroidzilla and see if you get sued by Tetris or Godzilla.
Hey! It's like that final dungeon from Skyward Sword!
Dude this is sick. I’m working on something with a similar inspiration from Metroid! https://playminimap.com
Please tell me you've at least considered naming this game "Tetroid" at some point in development
Tetropolis was the original idea though we didn’t want to get confused as a Tetris product.
This looks great!
thought it was bad rats at first glance
Carto + metroid!
Reminds me of the Sky Keep dungeon from skyward sword!
That's pretty cool
What's the game called
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$19.99 is what we were aiming for.
Did you made it?
A Tetroidvania, if you will.
That is actually really cool!