Crane Wars

I claim all credit/abuse for coining “scabotage.”

Yes, must.

A CORRECTION: “Scabotage” is used in-game. So yeah, best game ever.

Don’t know what to say about Flashbang games, I find them all technically perfect, but quite boring. This one again is very well done, and still boring..

It’s like when Jetpack Brontosaurus came out, pretty much at the same time as Pixeljam’s Dinorun. That was a perfect example of a very well made game that couldn’t match the fun of a game that could almost have ran on a C64.

Hahaha awesome.

But I actually agree, this title has a good concept, but the controls are too far off. Probably has to do with the perspective thing and getting controls to work with that accurately, but it doesn’t quite work.

I haven’t played that much yet, but it has a difficulty that depends a bit too much on physics quirks.

I like raptors and owls and stuff. Cranes just aren’t as cool.

Frankly, I also think that while the game is done very well and feels quite polished, it isn’t that much fun. I felt the same about Blush, which has a great atmosphere and all, but the gameplay doesn’t seem to fit very much and generally isn’t too interesting.

I wouldn’t know what the “problem” would be exactly, I certainly wouldn’t say you guys aren’t capable of making fun games, especially Offroad Velociraptor Safari is great. Maybe you should just take more time making each game, as I could imagine that the time for coming up with and refining a compelling game concept is a little low when you still have to spend much time creating and polishing the technical aspects. Surely, I’d be more interesting in less frequent game releases, but more that I’ll actually play for a longer time and more often, especially when they are that well done :)

Do your best to get past the steeper learning curve here. I mean this is TigSource folks, hard difficulty courses through our veins, does it not?

Because the game relies heavily on a pretty realistic physical simulation there’s a real feel to be had for the crane. I admit, it’s frustrating, but it’s all part of what makes this game pretty engaging. If the crane were easier to control, sure more people would probably get into it. But as it stands now, the people that have the patience to work through it and embrace the controls will be rewarded that much more for it.

Also, RPSs John Walker had a similar reaction in his recent post, http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/16/some-thoughts-on-crane-wars/

Matthew, Steve and Ben sounded off in a cordial fashion as any respectable gentleman would. I thought Matthew’s assessment of the expectations of free games was spot-on and plays a role in the reaction to this game.

I do think John’s comments are valid, but also (as all things are) it’s really a matter of taste. To be honest, this is probably my favorite Blurst game to date. I’ll be going back to it to perfect my skills because I know there’s sizable room for improvement.

ps. does anyone else think scab was modeled after swink?

It’s almost too simplistic. Stacking blocks to make buildings really isn’t much fun, especially when the game is quite forgiving. You can slap the segments down wildly off the mark and they’ll all line up when you’ve capped the building. It’s almost a waste of physics.

And, yeah, the controls are sluggish and annoying. The scabs are throwing cars around and I can’t even swing a block towards their site.

Believe in yourself, Ik.

uhm it was Ben if i remember well :D

Flashbang are pretty much the best at what they do, and Crane Wars is not an exception to this in any way.

I wish Paper Moon still had a 3-D glasses option, but still!

^ That wasn’t meant to be a quick snarky comment, I must’ve somehow hit tab then enter. To clarify, this is literally the hardest game I’ve ever played. If the controls were at a lower level, such as manipulation of the crane rotation, arm length, and hook height, I’d be able to get into it, because the rest of the game seems pretty awesome.

^ I don’t tend to play punishingly difficult games. What I meant was I can’t even play it compotently, whereas with other games that are too hard for me, I just can’t play well enough. I realize it’s a timed game.

i really enjoyed this game. you need to think less of building things and more of having mad crane flinging wars with the scab and preventing anything they do, because that’s the most fun bit to me.

using the right mouse button to lower the hook would be cool, but i think the maddening destruction you make while playing is part of the fun of the game.

i’ve loved all of blurst’s games so far except jetpack brontosaurus. that one i didn’t dig for some reason.

I’m Tom (no relation to Tim) and I have to agree with Joe. Tim’s going to sue you nutty nutters like a nut in a blender and that’s my professional legally opinion.

@BMcC: Perhaps you are simply more patient than I am, as the faster I want to accomplish things in the game, the worse the controls get.

Because it’s a time based game, I really think this is annoying.

Compared to say Velociraptor Safari, this game truly is less enjoyable when it comes to it’s controls. (I like the humor though and art style is great as always).

this game really needs a mode where you have no time limit

but that’s true for every flashbang game ever.

WTF s0ffex? WTF?