The First Tree - Playthrough 1 of 2 - Beginning & Middle (SPOILERS)
02022-01-03. SPOILERS. Game review follows:
The First Tree is a walking simulator game, with a sad story presented by audio, and was made by David Wehle, whom I learned about from the YouTube video "How This Game Dev Sold 200,000 Copies of His Game" by Thomas Brush. David doesn't claim to be a guru marketer, but his path to becoming an expert is a great: try lots of things and don't give up until something sticks. He has a paid course from which to learn, and also from his GDC talk, "No Time, No Budget, No Problem: Finishing The First Tree".
I know David takes to heart any bad comments about his game, with strong interactions with his audience. I feel a strong dichotomy between him and myself, and we could likely be close developer friends as a result. His games have great art, unique characters, good storyline, soul. My games are arcade style, where my "Empower the Player" philosophy reigns supreme: give Power to the Player, gameplay & control are ultimate, no fails should ever -- not ever -- be attributed to the game engine, and all should rest on the gamer with the power to improve. David's game has none of this, and my games have nothing of his expertise & artistry. David, if you're reading, please take this as constructive criticism with the above perspective in mind.
Pros:
- some of the art could be backdrops or wallpapers, with some amazing skies/atmosphere
- fox character is very unique (I remember this game from years ago; not its name, but its fox)
- continued storyline told via audio, with subtitles available
- sad story will certainly connect strongly with people who relate (try to listen if you play; this is literally half of the game)
Cons:
- controller screen lasts 10 seconds, can never see it again
- walk/run is unrequired (just run always)
- double jump is unrequired since all jumps require it (indies always, always do this)
- fox has poor animation during control segments (turning, jumping)
- large expansive areas that take forever to run
- fox sticks on terrain easily walkable in real-life
- game relies on Unity engine to "just work" for physics; it does not
- can break level boundaries
- can walk and jump on sheer cliffs, sometimes
- can get stuck on hills when falling
- platformer sections unrequired; it showcases failed Unity physics
- double-jump + power-up takes 1 minute / retry; just hack jump up cliff
Time Stamps:
0:10 - graphics options (turn on subtitles: the game talks to you through-out)
0:43 - credits
0:51 - Game Start
1:31 - controller screen appears
1:42 - then disappears
2:04 - test motion animations
2:33 - test collision with terrain that is climbable
2:51 - unable to find controller screen
3:39 - restart game to see controller screen again
4:53 - controller screen appears again (2 min. lost just to see help screen)
5:22 - test run & dart (in different directions) animation
5:44 - first required jump is a double-jump
6:01 - test double jump, at different jump times
6:27 - dead fox
7:01 - intro to The First Tree
7:16 - Level #1 - game starts (explore of 1st level)
9:40 - approaching first dig
9:53 - first dig (tank)
10:31 - first large object (tank)
10:48 - first large mountain climb to obtain star
11:34 - attempt to climb out of level
14:04 - dig
15:02 - bunnies
15:31 - 2x jump to grab star high off cliff
17:53 - Level #2
18:14 - dig
19:17 - dig
20:18 - butterfly powerup try to use to grab star off cliff
22:36 - break level bounds
22:15 - run sideways along steep mountain
30:14 - failed use butterfly power to 2x jump up sheer cliff
31:03 - get 2nd butterfly powerup for retry
31:50 - failure #2
31:57 - exploit bad collision detect to hack jump
32:31 - success
32:55 - dig
34:10 - Level #3
34:46 - first tree?
34:51 - dig
35:10 - rock #1
37:40 - dig
38:05 - 3D tree / 2D billboard very noticeable
41:00 - rock #2
42:32 - speak & spell
43:18 - rock #1 again, this time it works
46:46 - dig
48:18 - miss jump due to darkness
48:56 - hack jump
49:25 - rock #3
51:13 - hack jump to climb
54:47 - alphabet blocks
56:20 - hack jump during cut scene
1:00:43 - dig
1:01:37 - Level #4
1:06:11 - tree shadows appear
1:06:17 - test underwater view
1:06:48 - polygon terrain limits on cliff
1:07:50 - Mario style platforming section
1:08:48 - Level #5
1:08:56 - bad physics model.
1:09:02 - flying fox
1:10:48 - dig
(continued in next video)
My playlists:
--------------------
- Voxel: https://youtu.be/watch?v=XCVWEuhCCDM&list=PLjnbT4UISq0bQF1g85tE9jTrKfEtdRYlY
- Road: https://youtu.be/watch?v=ck5ALX11YU4&list=PLjnbT4UISq0bnfd1RC3M4PgTgkmhlkikV
- Ray Casting 3D: https://youtu.be/watch?v=zjswXUTMP2o&list=PLjnbT4UISq0YcFtRFjFQqK0g6ONNCtrvY
- Side-Scroll Shmup: https://youtu.be/watch?v=fF4X8zN-Raw&list=PLjnbT4UISq0Y_7IAN_zUzxgZnfhXxo_0Q
- MonoGame Tutorial: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WW1dJnfXWb0&list=PLjnbT4UISq0adw__Y9B2eXA0LL35TyORU
My websites:
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- my GitHub: https://github.com/JDoucette
- my company: http://xona.com
- my Blog: http://thefirstpixel.com
Other Videos By Jason Doucette
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