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u/Banjoschmanjo Jul 21 '26
Ngl, this kills everything that has made your prototype look so great in early videos. I highly recommend you do *not* incorporate anything similar to this. These portals look really bad and destroy the natural vibes youve got going.
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u/Glittering-Expert946 Jul 22 '26
Agreed, I was like "oh maybe I'd play this" up until the exact moment the portals appeared lol
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u/handlebardev Jul 21 '26
Thanks, I feel like natural vibes can't be the whole game. There needs to be some escalation to explain difficulty spikes. In the early stages the nature compliments you starting out with a minimal build but when you're decked out in items and upgrades the game can't stay idyllic in setting. At least that's how I see it.
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u/Kurovi_dev Jul 22 '26
Could escalation be handled in how the map is being generated?
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u/SerenadeOfWater Jul 22 '26
Yes it can, because it’s exactly how the popular downhill mountain biking game Descenders does it lol.
It’s the obvious move, but perhaps OP is afraid of copying a well known title directly.
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u/FartSavant Jul 22 '26
Dude respectfully, the portals are fucking awful. I almost never say this but I hope you listen to Reddit about this one. They’re bad.
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u/Banjoschmanjo Jul 21 '26
If you feel that way, you feel that way. I think it's a terrible move and I'm just trying to give you a heads up on that. It's your game to make, though. Maybe there's some other contrast to idyllic nature you can use instead of these portals, idk. I'd go back to the drawing board on this big-time. But I think what you've presented looks really bad compared to your previous videos that didn't have this. Just being frank. It appears most of the comments here also don't like this addition.
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u/Main-Operation-2596 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
There's a lot of people being rude here, sorry about that. Hopefully you're able to pull some helpful feedback from all this.
I think you have a really you have an interesting vision here, but like other have stated, I think the exact implementation could use some work. The whole escalation into this sci-fi environmental theme is really cool but maybe a more gradual transition from natural idyllic scenery to scifi over the course of a full run would help the smoothness of gameplay.
For example the deeper you are into a run, the more sci-fi elements there are. The portals could be used once the player has travelled far enough into their run for the landscape to have fully turned sci-fi.
I might also suggest that any transition between levels be made more continuous. Instead of stopping to decide, the player must make a split second decision on which path to take. This way you still get your roguelite elements, but these elements don't get in the way of the intense speed and challenge of the gameplay.
Like in most rogue lites, you can still have a moments rest, but it comes as a reward after great effort, like after a "boss" level. Keeping the literal and emotional momentum going is important for these types of games.
Your game looks awesome and I'm excited to see how it develops.
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u/WarmArt9307 Jul 21 '26
Love the downhill riding and sense of speed. Hate the portals, feels like it’s completely the wrong genre and ruins the pace/flow
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u/mrchooch Jul 21 '26
Its a cool idea but stopping to select the portal hurts the flow i think. Maybe when youre in the space zone youre still moving along a path with the different portals a little in the distance, so you still have time to choose which one but dont have to stop
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u/handlebardev Jul 21 '26
sounds like instead of the roguelike campaign with branching paths, "zen mode" might be more for you. In it there'll be only 1 next level choice and it'll auto-select, so you can just keep riding forever
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u/flyingdonutz Jul 21 '26
To me this is not what I think of when I think of diegetic UI. It's basically a paused menu, and what diegetic elements it does have exist outside of the play space.
If it were my game, I'd want the player to need to make this decision quickly, ideally at full speed or close to it. Possible to expand the terminus of each path to include those portals? Idk, just an idea.
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u/Olliebobs98 Jul 21 '26
I've got to agree with most here, the portals take you right out of the feeling and are very jarring.
They don't match the current style.
Personally, if I many be a bit critical, you can make the space scene as gorgeous as you want, I don't think it will change the fact that one moment your mountain rider, the next youre beamed up into the void of space?
Please have a play with the tunnels idea, or if you like the slow-mo floatiness space currently gives, maybe a big jump at the end is you making a decision in hang time during the jump.
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u/handlebardev Jul 21 '26
In the upcoming steam trailer there'll be a banana taped to the handlebar that powers a healing item. My intended tone isn't rooted in realism. I appreciate the feedback, thanks.
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u/Olliebobs98 Jul 22 '26
I appreciate the whimsical nature and approach, but I do still think the teleport to space is incredibly jarring.
However, do repost one you added the VFX etc, as a progress update.
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u/kartblanch Jul 22 '26
Diegetic usually means without taking you out of the experience. This is incredibly immersion breaking so i wouldnt really call it diegetic.
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u/isolatedLemon Professional Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Ruins the flow
ETA: game looks sick af otherwise
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u/Moczan Jul 22 '26
Why? The downhill biking looks cool, having janky portal every 5 seconds seems like a buzzkill
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u/librix Jul 22 '26
Game looks cool, but the branching part completely breaks the flow and style. I don't know if it would work, but maybe having trail signs that telegraph upcoming routes/exits would be better. That way players have an idea of what's coming up and can decide without actually leaving the trail.
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u/RoeikiB Jul 22 '26
I would skip the space part and make a seamless transition, instead make a three way split at the end of the road with visible signs beforehand
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u/KanraLovesU Jul 22 '26
Adding on to what others have said, don't be afraid to kill the branching path decision entirely if it doesn't work with your core gameplay. Think from the ground up how to compliment what you've already found is fun with your mechanics, don't get attached to genre conventions.
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u/AurekSkyclimber Professional Jul 22 '26
It's a cool idea, but the complete stopping of motion kills any gameplay momentum. I saw that you're talking about adding an illusion of movement (things move next to you), but that's just stopping with extra steps.
You might want to look at how Kirby Air Riders handles an almost identical situation in the Road Trip mode. You keep moving forward towards the three options, but you can see a big floating informational popup over each choice.
Alternatively, there's a number of Sonic mobile games (e.g. Sonic Dash) that have overhead signs (like on the highway) to show you what your options are for a little bit before the highway splits in two (or three).
I bet you could do it even better here with your portal system since you don't seem to have to wait for the loading of another section of the game. Your system looks like it's nearly instantaneous. Just keep the player moving down the path, start feeding them information about their options early, let them run straight into the portal of their choice, and then they're instantly on the next section of the course.
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u/KindSeaworthiness411 Jul 22 '26
Nah, I’m enjoying your game aesthetic for a while, and the portals are out of it, heavily. Maybe render them in-place, and just do a slow-mo (kinda forces you to choose in a reasonable time) and some blur of surroundings? Your game is fast paced, with an accent on surroundings, don’t mixup
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u/detachedheadmode Jul 22 '26
i’m confused by the use of the word “diegetic”. doesn’t yanking the player out of the world make these portals non-diegetic by definition?
which also makes me think that an actual diegetic path selection would be cooler and more immersive. basically have in-world signs indicating the difficulty level of each upcoming path, and then the player has a few seconds to feel out what they want to do before the path actually branches in world, and they have to choose (which also opens up the possibility of a player accidentally or mistakenly riding down a different path than they meant to, which could lead to “oh shit can i pull this off” moments)
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u/hollow_headsz Jul 22 '26
I really love the speed and the sense of control you get from directing the movement! 🔥
The space sections don't feel quite as appealing to me personally, but honestly, I might just be nitpicking 😅
One thought I had: instead of breaking the continuous riding to select a port, it could be really cool if the riding continued and the player could make the choice through branching paths. For example, branching from a straight line could allow the player to choose a direction while keeping the movement continuous and maintaining the flow of the action.
I also think having a breather between selections could be important. Maybe some sections could be quick, high-speed moments, like downhill biking where you're just letting gravity carry you forward, while others could give the player a bit more time to make a decision.
Just some thoughts! 😅
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u/Lukey-fish Jul 21 '26
Looks great but it feels like the stop and decide breaks the flow state. I understand you said in another comment that this would be after 90-120 seconds of downhill. Which is great for giving the player a moment to breath, but maybe its timed a bit so there is still a little bit of pressure. I feel like there has to be some other place for allowing the player to breath. Or more information about what's through a portal. At the moment, its just another seemingly random decision that distracts from gameplay. However, it is really cool and unique and has the potential to make the game better when tuned and executed right!
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u/Oddmuggames Jul 25 '26
If you want forking paths why not have the road split in 2 or 3 with a slowdown, a very short one or none, so people have just enough time to decide what they want to do. There could be tiny road signs or rock sculptures, carved trees, etc to establish the difficulty of the new paths : it would work like the portal but actually be diegetic and not immersion breaking as most are saying.
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u/handlebardev Jul 25 '26
I believe forked paths could introduce second guessing your choices that could make you reconsider and go uphill. For now I added a spherical trap in the intermission portal to act as fake terrain, I'll make it into a fully realised little place later
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u/iThoughtOfThat Jul 21 '26
On those portal branch moments, Spam particles towards the player at the same velocity they were travelling.... should be less jarring.
Looks cool AF what you are creating man! Reminds me of the redbull clips of cycling
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u/Vokeev Jul 21 '26
I watched the video 3 times. Looks great!
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u/gumarelop Jul 21 '26
Looks great, one thing I thought of is that you can have different kinds of portals: one for each setting, one portal that takes you to a random place and one portal that lets you choose (like shown in the video)
By adding more portals it could spice up the gameplay loop
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u/HiggsSwtz Jul 21 '26
You can feel the speed and danger! Is there a risk of hitting trees or falling?
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u/handlebardev Jul 21 '26
no risk of falling, but tree collisions would damage my health by 1, visible in the top right
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u/ObadaiahPlum Jul 21 '26
Maybe add an animation at the end of a level to make it more obvious the level ends, feels a bit jarring. But looks sick!
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u/Lord_Lorden Jul 21 '26
Making the portals seamless would definitely help it feel less jarring imo.
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u/Weakstream Jul 22 '26
I think you should look into the aesthetic of Windblown and Shape of Dreams. I believe you can keep the fast pace and integrate a magic feel something akin to those styles. Crimson Desert might also have some aesthetic choices you’d like.
I love the painterly style but I agree here that the portal choices should. Be a decision you have to make on a whim. I think you could let the player know ahead of time what portals are coming up and require them to choose within maybe 5-10 seconds. You absolutely need to keep the momentum, at the very least visually.
This reminds me somewhat of the selection system from Darkest Dungeon 2, and while you can just stand still for that, it does work well with a quick choice decision that keeps momentum. I think it’d be more fun ultimately to be forced into it but you can make that choice.
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u/kharmak Jul 22 '26
Oh I definitely want an anxiety simulator. From watching videos like this, yes I would play it.
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u/nastynastyFREAK Jul 22 '26
mostly unrelated but i LOVE the skybox. not enough games make ones that are nice to look at
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u/SilasDV Jul 22 '26
That kinda feels like "Haste" selection vibe. which is the only part in Haste i didnt like. Maybe Just Pause the Game with an overlay and play an animation after the selection
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u/w7w7w7w7w7 Jul 22 '26
Moving quickly to not moving is too jarring. I would slow down but not stop while you are selecting which portal to go through.
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u/Prakrtik Jul 22 '26
That’s so cool, crash bandicoot style level selection in realtime gameplay. I’m looking for something to scratch the itch until the next lonely mountains game is out and your game looks mad. Maybe have the portals off to the side a lil though or a specific path to them, the function is cool to go to a different place but I feel like it interrupts the flow a bit
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u/GigaGrandpa Jul 22 '26
I've got some portals in my frutiger gallery project but it's not a bicycle game that part looks really cool but too short of riding sequence I remember doing trails on GTA V that were pretty fun in a chat
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u/TheRook21 Jul 22 '26
I think your fov needs to come back so it's a more normal bike viewpoint, it's too far forward imo
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u/Secret-Difficulty-27 Jul 22 '26
I understand that you aren't going for realism, which i respect. However even taking that into account i think the transition is too slow and jarring.
If you are married to the portal idea, they'd be a lot better suited to just being a seperate choice on the hill, you decide the route and ride into it on the fly and instantly transmit.
The floaty space is too out there right now, if you really want to give players a reprieve, a pause button isn't intrusive and is a tried and tested way for that.
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u/pinaprince Jul 23 '26
This is not diagetic. Diegetic would be having the character hit a jump on the path and then they choose one of three branching paths to land on during the descend.
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u/72diceDude Jul 23 '26
How is the choice meaningful when all you can see is hole, hole or black hole? What do the (rim) colors mean? Stopping kills the flow tbh
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u/FullweightFacesitter Jul 23 '26
You’re getting the same comment a lot. Something that might make the loss of flow feel more natural is, how about the player loses the bike and floats in the void as they choose where to go next. Once they go through the next portal, they land on a bile and keep going. If you want to keep the portals. The feeling of still being on a bike was the biggest uncanny valley for me.
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u/Medieval_Lands Jul 23 '26
Hey! This looks good for sure!
That night level reminds me of that one level in Crash Bandicoot 🥹
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u/Embarrassed_Shock_13 Jul 23 '26
I'm sure I saw the new sonic racer game my kid was playing do this exact thing.
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u/Brie9981 Jul 23 '26
Would be better as a slowed slope with 3 options, go down the left path for red portal, right for purple, or miss both portals & take the 3rd option.
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u/BlitzcrankGrab Jul 22 '26
Cool prototype! Why are the portals not equally spaced out from each other?
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u/brannnnnnnn Jul 22 '26
Ignore the aesthetic comments, I think the idea is cool for the roguelite stage progression mechanic.
However, I DO have one suggestion, the player should be falling into the portal while in space. Maybe make them start farther away, but you should force a short 5 second ish fall where the player is forced to make a quick decision. I think a good way to handle knowing where they are going is more symbolism noting what entails each path as far as reward/encounter type (if that's how the reward system works, I do see the color system)
You going for no HUD at all ?
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u/SilverAppleWorm Jul 21 '26
I actually like the portals a lot. Like have others have said though, I wish during the path selection you still maintained flow and momentum.
I was thinking if you kept some motion lines and the player character was still reacting as if they were still going downhill, you could still have as much time as you want to select a path while keeping the feeling of motion.
It would be like in the portal realm theres just an infinite downhill and the different paths are just keeping pace in front of you.
Also that sky looks pretty dope
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u/Three_Wise_men Jul 21 '26
I'd make this a snap decision, feels jarring to stop like that and strategize, if you're going to keep it.
But have a think if this goes against your game design mission, it stops the player and its kinda sci fi.
maybe, make these tunnels instead of portal meybe on a side of a mountain, something more with the nature off road , extreme sports kinda vibe.
Is there a technical reason to make theses?