"Can you help my son with his homework" Topic

Folks,

My son has some homework to complete during the half term break and one task is to get some answers to a questionnaire about creating a computer game. Could I ask if you have a few minutes to answer the following:

1) Do you play and enjoy platformer video games?
Yes No OK

2) Do you enjoy games from the Internet, from websites such as Newgrounds?
Yes No OK

3) What age group are most of the games you play aimed at?
Adults? Teens? Everyone?

4) When playing video games, do you prefer bright colours or dark ones?
Bright ones Dark Ones

5) Do you use cheats in games, or plan to?
Yes No Plan to

6) How much variety do you like within a single level?
None, a little, some, a lot, completely varied?

7) Upon completion of a game, do you prefer it when the villain is killed or do you prefer it when he/she/it escapes?
Killed escapes.

8) In a platformer, how many levels do you prefer?
1 2 3 4 5

9) What attracts you to an online game? Please put the following in order of preference 1 being first
a. The fact it's free
b. There are lots of different games
c. It's easy to contact the creator of the game or other players
d. It's possible to challenge the world with online scoreboards

10) Do you prefer jumping on your enemies to kill them, or do you prefer killing them with a weapon?
Jumping Weapon

11) Games can have longer levels when they get more difficult or a shorter time. Which do you prefer?
Longer levels. Shorter time for a level.

12) What would your ideal platformer have? Tick all that apply.
a. Pick your own number of lives [ ]
b. Pick your own health points [ ]
c. Fire Flower-esque projectile attacks [ ]
d. Invincibility power-ups [ ]
e. Bottomless pits [ ]
13) What DON'T you like about them?
a. The time limit
b. The length of the level (too long / short?)
c. Too many / few enemies
d. Too easy / difficult platforming

Thank you for filling this questionnaire

Thanks in advance folks
Andrew

Well, as I'm not even sure what a "platformer" game is, I'll have to answer:

1. No.
2. No.

And the rest of the questions become nulls for me because of these two answers.

I don't know if that helps your son or not, though in the context a "don't play" response has validity.

Best of luck.

I quite enjoy computer games – but really don't understand a lot of the questions on there. As with Parzival I'm a bit unsure what a "platformer" is – perhaps as the last one I played was Donkey Kong or Chucky Egg :-)

Sure thing. I'm assuming all of these questions relate to platformers, so I've answered that way. For other types of games, I would have different answers of course.

1) Yes
2) OK
3) Everyone
4) Bright ones
5) No
6) a lot
7) Escapes
8) 3 (assuming you mean "differences in height")
9) a, b, d, c
10) Jumping
11) Longer levels
12) c, d, e
13) d, c

BTW for the rest of you, yes "Platformers" are those Mario-type games where you run around, jump up/down onto various platforms (hence the name), collect coins or some such and bounce on the heads of various monsters. Sonic, Mario, etc.

The last video game I played was either Doom or Tomb Raider.
I think it was in the late 90's. They both had basically the same premise. Aqcuire stuff and kill anyone who gets in the way.

I played Commando around that same time period too.
As I recall I liked that game better.

But, DUCK HUNT is the best.

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Everyone?
4) Dark Ones
5) No
6) completely varied
7) Killed.
8) 5+
9)
a. The fact it's free
b. There are lots of different games
c. It's easy to contact the creator of the game or other players
d. It's possible to challenge the world with online scoreboards
10) Weapon
11)Longer levels.

12) What would your ideal platformer have? Tick all that apply.
a. Pick your own number of lives [ ]
b. Pick your own health points [ ]
c. Fire Flower-esque projectile attacks [x ]
d. Invincibility power-ups [ ]
e. Bottomless pits [x ]
13) What DON'T you like about them?
a. The time limit
b. The length of the level (short?)
c. Too many
d. Too easy

1) Do you play and enjoy platformer video games?
Yes No OK

No (don't play them)

2) Do you enjoy games from the Internet, from websites such as Newgrounds?
Yes No OK

No

3) What age group are most of the games you play aimed at?
Adults? Teens? Everyone?

Adult

4) When playing video games, do you prefer bright colours or dark ones?
Bright ones Dark Ones

Darker colors… or maybe that's just the games I play.

5) Do you use cheats in games, or plan to?
Yes No Plan to

Sometimes. Not usually.

6) How much variety do you like within a single level?
None, a little, some, a lot, completely varied?

A lot

7) Upon completion of a game, do you prefer it when the villain is killed or do you prefer it when he/she/it escapes?
Killed escapes.

Killed

8) In a platformer, how many levels do you prefer?
1 2 3 4 5

Don't play them

9) What attracts you to an online game? Please put the following in order of preference 1 being first
a. The fact it's free
b. There are lots of different games
c. It's easy to contact the creator of the game or other players
d. It's possible to challenge the world with online scoreboards

Don't play online games.

10) Do you prefer jumping on your enemies to kill them, or do you prefer killing them with a weapon?
Jumping Weapon

Weapon

11) Games can have longer levels when they get more difficult or a shorter time. Which do you prefer?
Longer levels. Shorter time for a level.

Longer

12) What would your ideal platformer have? Tick all that apply.
a. Pick your own number of lives [ ]
b. Pick your own health points [ ]
c. Fire Flower-esque projectile attacks [ ]
d. Invincibility power-ups [ ]
e. Bottomless pits [ ]

Don't play them

13) What DON'T you like about them?
a. The time limit
b. The length of the level (too long / short?)
c. Too many / few enemies
d. Too easy / difficult platforming

Don't play them

1) Do you play and enjoy platformer video games?
Yes

2) Do you enjoy games from the Internet, from websites such as Newgrounds?
not tried any

3) What age group are most of the games you play aimed at?
all,mainly adult

4) When playing video games, do you prefer bright colours or dark ones?
depends on the game – bright for platformers

5) Do you use cheats in games, or plan to?
no

6) How much variety do you like within a single level?
A lot

7) Upon completion of a game, do you prefer it when the villain is killed or do you prefer it when he/she/it escapes?
depends on the game, escapes is fine in a platformer or defeated but not killed (most platformers being aimed at kids)

8) In a platformer, how many levels do you prefer?
more than 5 – I want lots

9) What attracts you to an online game? Please put the following in order of preference 1 being first
a. The fact it's free 1
b. There are lots of different games 2
c. It's easy to contact the creator of the game or other players 3
d. It's possible to challenge the world with online scoreboards 4

10) Do you prefer jumping on your enemies to kill them, or do you prefer killing them with a weapon?
both – jumping as a preference for platformer games I'd say (Super Mario for example)

11) Games can have longer levels when they get more difficult or a shorter time. Which do you prefer?
Longer level for the most part – depends where checkpoints are.

12) What would your ideal platformer have? Tick all that apply.
a. Pick your own number of lives [ ]
b. Pick your own health points [ ]
c. Fire Flower-esque projectile attacks [ ]
d. Invincibility power-ups [ ]
e. Bottomless pits [ ]

D – with limited time on them, and E – a platformer has to have some 'kill you' drops

13) What DON'T you like about them?
a. The time limit
b. The length of the level (too long / short?)
c. Too many / few enemies
d. Too easy / difficult platforming

A platformer game should have relatively short levels, or longer levels with checkpoints. A time limit is ok, as are enemies – too many can spoil a game if the challenge isn't balanced. Easy/difficult – has to be a challenge – progressively getting harder, but still do-able or the game gets put down and never played again. you nee a balance of tough, but possible,and something to make you want one more try, and then something to give a feeling of achievement/satisfaction upon completion.

The Mario games have this, as to a degree did the Sonic games.

I haven't played video games (Nintendo NES) since the early-'90s, when I used to take care of my young nephews, and the bulk of my playing days were in the video arcades in my local malls back in the Eighties. So, my answers would mirror Parzival's.

Good luck to your son, Andrew.

1 No
2 OK
3 Teen
4 Dark Ones
5 No
6 Some
7 Killed
8 1 (that way I can go play a game that doesn't blow)
9 a
10 Weapon (but kudos if jumping on them results in a lot of blood splatter/gore)
11 Longer Levels
12 c
13 Sorry, but none of the above. Side-scrolling, infinite death pit games with no plot are just sad relics that continue to exist for no apparent reason.

Thank you all for the feedback.

It will be interesting to compare these results to the university students that his sister polled for him

Andrew

IS something like Oblivion on an XBox a platformer game?
--
Tim

1) Do you play and enjoy platformer video games?
Yes

2) Do you enjoy games from the Internet, from websites such as Newgrounds?
No
3) What age group are most of the games you play aimed at?
Adults

4) When playing video games, do you prefer bright colours or dark ones?
I don't care

5) Do you use cheats in games, or plan to?
No, They are HHHAAAXXX!

6) How much variety do you like within a single level?
, a lot

7) Upon completion of a game, do you prefer it when the villain is killed or do you prefer it when he/she/it escapes?
Killed escapes. I don't care

8) In a platformer, how many levels do you prefer?
5

9) What attracts you to an online game? Please put the following in order of preference 1 being first
1 The fact it's free
2 There are lots of different games
3 It's easy to contact the creator of the game or other players
4 It's possible to challenge the world with online scoreboards

10) Do you prefer jumping on your enemies to kill them, or do you prefer killing them with a weapon?
Weapon

11) Games can have longer levels when they get more difficult or a shorter time. Which do you prefer?
Shorter time for a level.

12) What would your ideal platformer have? Tick all that apply.
a. Pick your own number of lives [ ]
b. Pick your own health points [ ]
c. Fire Flower-esque projectile attacks [0 ]
d. Invincibility power-ups [ 0]
e. Bottomless pits [ 0]
13) What DON'T you like about them?
a. The time limit
b. The length of the level (too long / short?)<<<<< True this, long
c. Too many / few enemies
d. Too easy / difficult platforming

Hope this is good