By Jim Rossignol on January 12th, 2009 at 11:17 am.
Last week I talked a bit about the excellent Crayon Physics Deluxe, and if that interested you in the slightest then you should probably take a look at the demo, which Kloonigames have posted up over the weekend. A splendid illustrative slice of the game, it gives a much better idea of where the concept is now, rather than the tech demo released ages back. Have a play, you might like it.
12/01/2009 at 11:24 Bobsy says:
I think the pleasure of Crayon Physics comes from the willingness to be silly and abstract and creative rather than the will to win. Unlike Armadillo Run you’re not suffering under limited resources so can indulge the Silly Gland in your gut as much as you like (hint: it also likes Cinnamon Grahams) and in early levels at least you COULD just draw a line from beginning to end and be done with it.
If you’re a SOULLESS MONSTER, that is.
It’s much, much better than Armadillo Run, which punished you for thinking creatively and forced you to being a conservative dullard by stopping you building the stupid machine of your dreams.
Also the music is whimsilicious.
12/01/2009 at 11:35 Ian says:
I think you’re being a little harsh on Armadillo Run. I’m generally very uncreative at this kind of thing (Armadillo Run, Fantastic Contraption, etc.) but some of my Armadillo Run solutions were pleasingly bonkers because I couldn’t work out a simpler way to do things.
Still, this game looks like a joy so I shall try the demo later when I’m not supposed to be working.
12/01/2009 at 11:48 Bobsy says:
Well, the thing about Armadillo Run was that I wanted to go nuts and make elaborate monster traps with a thousand pullies, ropes and counterweights, but in every level fell afoul of the strict budgeting. It made for an efficient (if brutally difficult) puzzler, but I found it far too constricting to ever be truly fun.
Crayon Physics is a lot less challenging, but the massively extended scope in what you can create makes for a hella lot more fun. So you can make a device which launches the ball via a seesaw and weights system, where a bridge would suffice. Just ‘cos.
12/01/2009 at 12:09 grindFish says:
ah ass hats! Really thought there would be a mac version for this beast, considering they have it ported to iPhone already. *sits in corner and cries*
12/01/2009 at 12:11 Ian says:
Ah well that may be the difference. I know if I try to make something mental in these games it won’t work. If I manage it, it’s usually entirely by accident. :D
My fear for Crayon Physics is that because (from what I gather) there are less restrictions I’ll end up playing it vicariously. Only managing fairly mundane solutions of my own while enjoying the more complicated results of others.
12/01/2009 at 12:36 Kua says:
Oh, a demo is good news indeed.
And another Armadillo Run fan here: puzzling at its finest, I thought. And all the better for the restrictiveness. It was an essential part of the game.
12/01/2009 at 12:53 Dan says:
Hrm, strange, won’t let me run it. Encounters a problem whenever I try to launch it.
12/01/2009 at 13:14 Whiskey Jak says:
After meeting the man at the MIGS, and since I think that it is important for the indie scene to support “high profile” indie devs, I bought the game without even playing the demo. I wasn’t really surprised to discover that it is a lot of fun and that I’m definitely enjoying the game and so is the wife, which is always a big plus in my book.
12/01/2009 at 14:19 Theory says:
Tried it, bought it. Developers who don’t release demos are fools.
12/01/2009 at 14:26 Heliocentric says:
At uni, I’ll play the demo soon. I’m wishing they’d implimented some scarcity from everything I’ve seen you can just piss about until you win. Still, I’m a bitter old man.
12/01/2009 at 14:34 Heliocentric says:
I need to “eff no” that Whiskey, start blindly supporting high profile indie and you might as well take up a subscription to Madden 20XX. Dropping money on things with no indication of quality is daft and also bad.
12/01/2009 at 15:15 Colthor says:
Ah, that’s why I couldn’t create ropes or DIY hinges! They’re not in the demo!
Which does rather detract from the ability to muck around, but it’s quite interesting and probably something to get after the shine’s worn off the Chrimbo/January sales goodies.
Possibly not the best time for an indie release, the start of January?
Oh, I loved Armadillo Run.
12/01/2009 at 16:01 mcw says:
@Colthor: Audiosurf came out in February and it did just fine as far as I know.
12/01/2009 at 16:04 Colthor says:
Mmm, true, but being a month later and, IIRC, about half the price (ignoring exchange rates going titsup in the meantime) could’ve made quite a bit of difference.
12/01/2009 at 16:48 Joe says:
That music will drive me insane after a while…
12/01/2009 at 16:53 Bobsy says:
Is Crayon Physics on Steam though?
Well, it OUGHT to be.
12/01/2009 at 16:57 qrter says:
Agreed. Good work needs to be supported, be it from an indie developer or a semi-evil megacorporation.
12/01/2009 at 17:05 K says:
I’m disappointed with it. Because of the lack of restrictions, the level design starts to look lazy. Seeing another level with two platforms, one with a ball on, the other with a star becomes pretty boring. It’s definitely at it’s best when it’s being a little crazier and giving you more to do. Also, I can understand why they stuck to one screen per level, as though you’re drawing on this single sheet of paper, but, more space to work with could have been great. A rocket-powered car is only so much fun when the journey is over in a second. :( Maybe World of Goo has raised my expectations too much, eh.
It’s also too expensive.
12/01/2009 at 21:27 qrter says:
Same here, I’m afraid. I’m all for bringing a dollop of Your Own Fun to any game, but this game seems to think I should bring fun for myself and the game. Look, I don’t have limitless fun, alright!? Fun doesn’t grow on trees!!
12/01/2009 at 21:27 Thiefsie says:
To me Crayon Physics is massively flawed in that you can pretty much solve anything by using two pivots stuck to a single block as a virtual immovable piece.
Takes the fun out of it really, no point being creative otherwise.
Great idea but it needs more limitation imposed on it.
12/01/2009 at 22:50 datter says:
It’s about what I expected, but this game has been kicking around in development since the Carter administration and other variations on the theme have long since come out that are generally more… phun.
13/01/2009 at 05:43 ShardPhoenix says:
I guess I’m not really the naturally creative type because I didn’t feel much desire to solve levels in anything other than the simplest way I could think of. And on most of the levels, that was pretty darn simple. I do like the aesthetic and the implementation of being able to draw whatever you want, but I just don’t think it’s interesting enough for the price.
15/01/2009 at 23:17 Van says:
Well, hinges are in the demo, just draw a small circle on any object. You can’t anchor directly to the paper, but anchoring to a permanent object gives the same result
25/01/2009 at 06:27 lalahsghost says:
I also agree that the game is too expensive. If you look around at the torrent sites, you can see S#!?-tons of people downloading this game (I haven’t checked since the week it came out). I know his time is worth the $20, but my time and money is not worth this game, I have found out.
25/01/2009 at 06:57 Heliocentric says:
Played and enjoyed the demo. No intention of paying $20 on it mind you, no intention of pirating it either.
To be honest there is not all that much *game* here.
30/03/2009 at 23:58 st says:
What’s The Purpose of life ?
Here you will get the answer :
http://www.islamtomorrow.com/purpose.htm
or
The quran miracles encyclopedia
http://www.55a.net/firas/english/
or
Islam house
http://aslam-ahmd.blogspot.com/
or
An Invitation to The Truth
http://www.harunyahya.com/