Perfect Stride Continuum
Perfect Stride Continuum is my first complete Half-Life 2 modification, it is a first person ‘momentum based puzzle-racing mod’
Read on to hear the full story of my experience and impressions with this syllable saturated game title!
What went right:
- Simple concept – There is no friction and you can skate around with the arrow keys and mouse. One mechanic made it a lot easier to stay focused. It was inspired by Jet Set Radio and Counter-Strike Surf Maps
- “Retro” style – I think the aesthetics make it look and feel unique. I did blatantly steal the color scheme for “Yamada’s Circle Square” from Sonic the Hedgehog
Perfect Arena – not a rip off
What went wrong:
- Really hard to learn – First, the movement is counter-intuitive. Momentum is based on turning the view with the mouse and strafing in an arc at the same time, which doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you’re a modder or half-life pro. There is no tutorial and you start in a pit that is hard to get out of. I want to challenge the notion of the tutorial level now mandatory in every game…but I think a lot of people quit before they figured out how to get out of the hole.. so lesson learned.
- Motion Sickness – I started the summer before I knew video games could make you sick. I have friends who can’t play this without getting simulation sickness (luckily they are still friends)
- Not enough maps – I hear the same thing from everyone who liked the game – it needs more levels to play on. It was a mistake to think that nobody would get as good as I was at it and be able to fly through the levels in less than 5 mins….
Spokesman Bash
What I learned:
- Stick to a plan - After some lazy days of grandiose game ideas it helped so much to solidify the features I could fit in the game without losing my mind. I finally had my moment to internalize ‘failing to plan is planning to fail.’ Sorry if this is painfully obvious to everyone, but it happens to each of us at different times!
- Know your limits – Before this project I was fixed on doing everything myself.. which most people know is very difficult (or make it look easy). I hit a few road blocks making the maps so I sucked it up and looked for the right places to get help. If I hadn’t, perfect stride continuum might not have ended well..
Thank you for reading!
Benjamin Esposito is a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and aspiring creator / romancer of media. You can find more info, videos, and downloads for Perfect Stride Continuum at the Mod Database (including it’s 7/10 rating……)
Thanks for the post-mortem! I know you put a lot of time and effort into the mod and apparently you got a lot out of it too, so I guess it all payed off.
Developing games is hard, but even when things don’t go as planned, or they fall out of what was planned (See: Motion Sickness), you can still get something out of the experience. I think the important thing is that you follow through and stick to the plan, and in the end it will all be worth it.
Also, thanks for the links!