By Alec Meer on August 27th, 2009 at 11:36 am.
Motorbikes? Had enough of those now, thanks. Noisy, smelly, deadly things. The humble pushbike is a far more noble means of transport, and one that the oddly austere, technical diagram-like Fig. 8 Ability Game captures rather beautifully.
No pedalling is required, which probably saves us from a tendonitis-inducing Daley Thompson’s Decathlon control set, but forward momentum is absolutely vital. As on a real pushbike, if you slow down too much or stop moving, you’ll fall over. Sadly a ‘stick out a panicked leg’ button is conspicuous by its absence, but never mind.
The simple act of forward motion and gentle exploration of the line-art city is pleasing enough in itself, as is leaving tyre-track doodles as you coast about, but if you crave challenge there are various score/combo systems to muck about with. I’d rather it wasn’t checkpoint-based if I’m honest, as being thrown way back after a minor collision got a little wearying after a time, but I can see why Intuition Games plumped for such an approach. Coincidentally, it reminds a little of Skifree, in both the expanse of white space and in the score/crash mechanics.
Fig.8 runs within a browser, but if you’re likely to be punished by sinister bureaucratic forces for playing it immediately, pray do enjoy this trailer in the meantime:
A charming and rather relaxing free time, with an excellent soundtrack, stumbled across via the redoubtable TIGsource.
Previouslier.
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Alec’s post is better.
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D’oh. It does deserve its own post though, I’d say. I found it ever so lovely.
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I imagine this is what the inside of an engineering or architecture student’s brain looks like.
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I like being able to make floral patterns by going in circles.
Simple things, eh?
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64x multiplier! I got a little lost and the screen moved further than the bike, so I couldn’t see where the hell I was going anymore.
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I enjoyed it, but i didn’t like the way i had no idea which direction was the right one and the camera carried on of its own accord leaving me off the screen.
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Gaaah! Reminds me of the spider-lift puzzle from Overlord 2.
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Was the camera supposed to be the main antagonist in that game? I quit in frustration after getting left behind for the 10th time.
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@Cyrenic you can make the bike go faster by pressing forward.
Lovely game! Missed it last time because I didnt click on the linkses.
Its not very complicated and gets old after awhile but what got me was the absolute originality of it all.
And it makes me want to go to Paris.
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Just lovely!
The Amélie of browsergames?
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@Stoffig
Well that certainly made things easier. I fail at reading directions :D.
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Finally completed it. Christ, that’s hard. But also quite lovely. It’s got an almost retro feel to it, like this is the sort of game they would have made in the 20s and 30s in Europe or America. The music, the simpicity (it’s even predominantly in black and white), and the fact that you’re directing a bike around the plans for urban development, I can picture well-to-do middle-class people playing it in a Chicago saloon, or a smokey Paris cafe (yes, it’s the accordian, isn’t it?) before getting wasted on absinthe and arguing about Karl Marx.
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There aren’t enough games where you can be killed by your own score counter. Also, there’s a particular joy in getting caught out by the screen and having to find your way back onto the right path by rapidly fading memory of how far figure 6 stretched.
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Yup, like others I enjoyed the game until the camera decided which way I should be going (in direct conflict to the way I was going). It either needs to be less open path-wise to direct the player or find some other means of indicating where it WANTS me to go before the camera gets there.
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Kinda makes me think of Ecco the Dolphin.
You know the level.
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Me too with the obnoxious camera motion. This feels like it should be a gloriously free-form game, and when it acts like it it’s great. Unfortunately, those moments are spoiled by the obdurate insistence of the camera.
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That was lovely, but frustrating, mainly due to the camera. There were too many dead ends that you don’t see until it’s too late, as well as too many switchbacks you have to take while the camera moves one direction.
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Interesting little game. I’m starting to set myself little mini goals. Like max multiplier and longest distance without breaking a line. It can be done continuously from start to the first check point. 287 multiplier, just need to brush up against a few more lines and I’m sure I can bump it to 300. :)
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Am I the only one who noticed the easter egg?
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I reckon the 1st to 2nd checkpoint section’ll go in one line as well. It requires almost cycling ahead of the camera at some points so you don’t get left behind later, while making some of the more sweeping curves (right at the start, squeezing between the tracks running along the bottom of the screen, turning 90 degrees past the final fig1 up to the vertical track… then sprinting along the horizontal again, to take the large Fig. 1 letters between the full-stop and the one and squeezing between a tight vertical section).
Haven’t quite cracked the flow of the whole stage… but I think I was damned close on my last attempt.
About 440x on the first stage is my best there though.
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Makes me think of tron’s light cycles… Has anyone ever made a light cycle game with smooth curves like that?
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the new Tron film seems to use smooth curves
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/tr2n/comic-con-trailer
I would have much preferred an open game (or just game mode) to experiment with the drawing mechanics and a more flexible camera (it often forces you to use ridiculously hard turns to get through an area when there are better options to the side. I eventually quit when it had a glitch and moved my camera back to the beginning of the level while my bike was at the third or fourth checkpoint.
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LukeE, you’re right about cycling almost ahead of the camera on the Fig. 1 and the vertical fences bit (you need to get right over into that far gap) about 730x (and over 2M points) at the 3rd check point. The next stage may also be possible in one line, but it’ll be very tricky at some points.
Also the game doesn’t like it when you skip a checkpoint, but mark the next one. It moves the camera to the wrong place.
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