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Snake Pass |OT| Snake Had A Hard Life
- Thread starter Cerium
- Start date
:Motorbass
Member
HD rumble feels very good after the patch!
caligula13
Gold Member
i understand the thing with controlls but the camera should work. it has to. and it doesn't every time it should. that makes it too hard.
:Motorbass
Member
camera is not optimal, but try pressing R (switch). It zooms out ond makes it a bit easier
Waddle Dee
Member
It was on Level 8, I was interacting with the goal where Doodle is supposed to put the relics onto the posts but he didn't move. He just flew in place for eternity so I had to close the game since you can't pause during those moments. I'm on PS4.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Has it happened just the once?
Once the controls click you're able to do pretty much anything with ease you're given quite a lot of leeway when it comes to falling off stuff, as long as you're coiled around a pole a tiny bit you'll be perfectly safe.
Some pole layouts can be used a regular steps or bridges with no need to coil around them to climb up or get across.
I've found some tricky climbs can be skipped entirely but just climbing up the scenery and jumping across, this is a bit of a cheat though really.
I tend to have the ZR held down most of the time and use the grip as a sort of braking system if a coil is going too wide. On really tricky bits I'll tap ZR to go a bit slower.
Finding a decent camera angle before climbing helps a lot too, I like to climb with the camera side on rather than behind me.
Most annoying part of the game is getting stuck in the scenery and being forced to restart.
Waddle Dee
Member
I stopped playing after that happened, for now. I'll give it another go tomorrow.
Waddle Dee
Member
Yeah, it's amazing what the game lets you get away with. It's really easy to get "out of bounds" (it's not really glitchy or anything, but you are going off the planned path and can go behind the scenery).
D
Deleted member 465307
Unconfirmed Member
Has anyone noticed visual upgrades on Switch after a patch? I saw this video but am having a hard time telling the difference since the videos are out of sync and my screen for viewing this isn't the best.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Hey guys,
My name's Brad and I'm a design lead on Snake Pass here at Sumo.
I thought I'd out myself to pass on some good news; I can confirm that we're working on getting Time Trials patched in to the Switch version of the game. I can't tell you exactly when this is going to happen, it's not quite as simple as flicking a switch, there is some work on our end involved on getting this up and running. As soon as I have more news I'll be sure to pass it on.
Really happy to see so many people enjoying the game!
My name's Brad and I'm a design lead on Snake Pass here at Sumo.
I thought I'd out myself to pass on some good news; I can confirm that we're working on getting Time Trials patched in to the Switch version of the game. I can't tell you exactly when this is going to happen, it's not quite as simple as flicking a switch, there is some work on our end involved on getting this up and running. As soon as I have more news I'll be sure to pass it on.
Really happy to see so many people enjoying the game!
Awesome news. And thank you for a great game! Never thought I would enjoy a snake platfomer
Once you master the controls it feels so rewarding.
Thanks for the update. Btw I love your game and Switch's version. Hope it will sell good
AkimbO_Arcana
Banned
Thanks for the update! That's the confirmation I was waiting for regarding platform choice. Switch it is!
gingerbeardman
Member
Welcome and thanks for a great game! It's superb.
Can you confirm the changes in the first patch?
Will there be changes to add more refined HD rumble in Switch (right now it feels like standard rumble) and address camera issues on all platforms?
It would also be great if checkpoints also reached the game. Twice now I've lost almost complete long levels due to my wife quitting my game so she could play on her profile.
Finally, would it be possible to position the orbs and coins on the status screen relative to their distance between start and end? Makes it easier to find those that are missing.
YAY!
And congrats for the game, it's such a fresh and fascinating experience.
You really nailed it, be super proud of what you guys did!
Bananastand
Member
Thank you for the update!
Conor_Fool
Banned
Somehow started having absolute perfect control over the snake tonight. Holy shittttt this game is fun.
Literally my only gripe with the game is the fucking cutscenes. Is there really no way I can skip these when I replay through levels?
Literally my only gripe with the game is the fucking cutscenes. Is there really no way I can skip these when I replay through levels?
That's great news! Thanks for dropping by. Loving the game so far.
Conor_Fool
Banned
Holy smokes, I just saw this!!
All I have to say is congratulations, Brad! You and your team made a killer freakin game. Can't wait for time trial mode to release on Switch
kitchenmotors
Banned
Downloaded it and really hated the controls. But decided to stick with it for an hour and...
they finally clicked. Having a ton of fun with the challenge. Just had to get that groove.
they finally clicked. Having a ton of fun with the challenge. Just had to get that groove.
Lighting Gels
Member
Exactly the same happened to me.
This game is fantastic, a really challenging fresh experience.
Hope it sells well.
Nope. That would be my number one request.
I would definitely appreciate the option.
alexbull_uk
Member
Thanks for the tips! I totally forgot about getting doodle to hold the tail. Don't touch the ground sounds like a nightmare.
Chronospherics
Member
The core gameplay is great, really love it, easy to play but tough to master, near perfect in my opinion. My criticisms with the game mostly relate to UX issues.
Collectibles
Collectibles are supposed to motivate the user to behave in a certain way, but aside ticking boxes there's no incentive to collect these. Aside the 3 prisms, they're not tied to progression, and the player is given no clear incentive to pursue coins and blue circles. There's very little driving the player forward, in other games these collectible systems either relate to unlocking the next level, or unlocking gameplay and cosmetic upgrades. It's a shame that they don't feed into anything like that, I know that there's something to unlock at the end of the game, but that's an incentive that most players will never benefit from, and it does little to encourage you to persist to the end of the current level.
Tutorialing
Near non-existant, many users even on GAF have posted how they've basically hit a wall to their progression because they just don't 'get' the games mechanics. The game leads people in with its initial, easy level, but difficulty ramps up quickly without offering much guidance.
Having a hub world, or worlds connecting Snakes disjointed environments might have been a nice means of allowing players to experiment and learn in a safe, non-commital environment. This would have been a good means of retaining the games hands-off approach to tutorialing, while providing a more gradual introduciton to the games mechanics, facilitating an extended, organic opportunity to learn, before players are likely to hit any of the games more difficult segments.
Checkpointing
Some of the essential components of the levels are very difficult and but this in itself isn't too problematic, yet the checkpointing is. Having to repeat an incredibly difficult segment of the game because it wasn't followed by a checkpoint becomes tedious over time, and as does having to repeat less-difficult segments of the levels, because Noodles movement is slow and maticulous, it's really ardeous to repeat these segments over and over. You're not Super Mario or Sonic, you can't just zip over to the location of your last death, just getting from A to B is slow, and potentially challenging, and understandably not something players may want to repeat. Additionally, because of how checkpoints work players will likely find themselves returnng to previous checkpoints to effectively bank their progress in the level, before continuing onwards. This can be a tedious process. It doesn't add difficulty, and asks the player to spend more time back-tracking to register these checkpoints.
The game has plentiful difficulty for players that want it, and surmounting the games challenging obsticles feels difficult enough in and of itself, without asking players to repeat these segments. Similar to games like Trials and Trackmania (also complex, physics based games) reset players to just before they fail so that they may try again, allows the game to give all players a sense of progression, regardless of skill level, and avoid any repetition that some players may want to avoid. At the same time you can still incentivise perfect level clears, with additional medals and reward that recognise players have beaten the levels without resetting.
All or nothing
Levels are simply too long, and you can't quit and resume with your progress in tact. Players are likely to have an incredible amount of variance between their completion times for any one level, and it's easy to see how someone might spend an hour on a single level if collecting everything while struggling with the games difficulty.
You should be able to hop in and out of the games levels, completing them bit by bit. Games like Banjo Kazooie and Super Mario Sunshine actually have very intelligently designed progressional structures as they allow players to hop into a level for a brief period of time, make a contribution to their progression and then leave. I think I'm pretty decent at Snake Pass, at the time of writing this I actually have the world record time on the first time trial, yet I still feel like I spent a good 30 minutes or more on some of the games levels, repeating the more difficult segments due to difficulty, and scouring the level head to toe to find the collectibles. At times I felt fatigued, wanting to quit and do something different, but knowing I couldn't because the game doesn't retain my progress.
Camera and controls
There are no good alternative control options for players looking to customise the experience. I modified the controls using the PS4s accessibility features, and by using L1 to control noodle, and R1 to lift the snakes head. That frees up my thumb to control the camera at all times, which is better, but still, the camera isn't ideal. Perhaps some transparency would be nice, as I often feel that elements of the structure I'm climbing, or even noodle himself get in the way of what I want to see.
Menu
The games interface is aesthetically appealing but doesn't really contextualise the journey you're going through very well. It doesn't paint a good picture of the players progression in the same way that map-based level selection menus do (see Super Mario World, or Rayman Origins). At the same time, it's quite slow to scroll through and not immediately evident that you can press up to skip to the levels in the next world.
I really like Snake Pass but it would have been a considerably better game, having been likey to have experienced a considerably better reception, if it had paid more consideration to the user experience. Features like a hub may seem like a considerable body of extra work, but it would have gone a long way towards allowing players to experiment without consequence, while reworking the checkpoint system and making the levels more bitesized by allowing players to jump out when they pleased, would have enabled even the games more challenging content to appear more approachable.
Collectibles
Collectibles are supposed to motivate the user to behave in a certain way, but aside ticking boxes there's no incentive to collect these. Aside the 3 prisms, they're not tied to progression, and the player is given no clear incentive to pursue coins and blue circles. There's very little driving the player forward, in other games these collectible systems either relate to unlocking the next level, or unlocking gameplay and cosmetic upgrades. It's a shame that they don't feed into anything like that, I know that there's something to unlock at the end of the game, but that's an incentive that most players will never benefit from, and it does little to encourage you to persist to the end of the current level.
Tutorialing
Near non-existant, many users even on GAF have posted how they've basically hit a wall to their progression because they just don't 'get' the games mechanics. The game leads people in with its initial, easy level, but difficulty ramps up quickly without offering much guidance.
Having a hub world, or worlds connecting Snakes disjointed environments might have been a nice means of allowing players to experiment and learn in a safe, non-commital environment. This would have been a good means of retaining the games hands-off approach to tutorialing, while providing a more gradual introduciton to the games mechanics, facilitating an extended, organic opportunity to learn, before players are likely to hit any of the games more difficult segments.
Checkpointing
Some of the essential components of the levels are very difficult and but this in itself isn't too problematic, yet the checkpointing is. Having to repeat an incredibly difficult segment of the game because it wasn't followed by a checkpoint becomes tedious over time, and as does having to repeat less-difficult segments of the levels, because Noodles movement is slow and maticulous, it's really ardeous to repeat these segments over and over. You're not Super Mario or Sonic, you can't just zip over to the location of your last death, just getting from A to B is slow, and potentially challenging, and understandably not something players may want to repeat. Additionally, because of how checkpoints work players will likely find themselves returnng to previous checkpoints to effectively bank their progress in the level, before continuing onwards. This can be a tedious process. It doesn't add difficulty, and asks the player to spend more time back-tracking to register these checkpoints.
The game has plentiful difficulty for players that want it, and surmounting the games challenging obsticles feels difficult enough in and of itself, without asking players to repeat these segments. Similar to games like Trials and Trackmania (also complex, physics based games) reset players to just before they fail so that they may try again, allows the game to give all players a sense of progression, regardless of skill level, and avoid any repetition that some players may want to avoid. At the same time you can still incentivise perfect level clears, with additional medals and reward that recognise players have beaten the levels without resetting.
All or nothing
Levels are simply too long, and you can't quit and resume with your progress in tact. Players are likely to have an incredible amount of variance between their completion times for any one level, and it's easy to see how someone might spend an hour on a single level if collecting everything while struggling with the games difficulty.
You should be able to hop in and out of the games levels, completing them bit by bit. Games like Banjo Kazooie and Super Mario Sunshine actually have very intelligently designed progressional structures as they allow players to hop into a level for a brief period of time, make a contribution to their progression and then leave. I think I'm pretty decent at Snake Pass, at the time of writing this I actually have the world record time on the first time trial, yet I still feel like I spent a good 30 minutes or more on some of the games levels, repeating the more difficult segments due to difficulty, and scouring the level head to toe to find the collectibles. At times I felt fatigued, wanting to quit and do something different, but knowing I couldn't because the game doesn't retain my progress.
Camera and controls
There are no good alternative control options for players looking to customise the experience. I modified the controls using the PS4s accessibility features, and by using L1 to control noodle, and R1 to lift the snakes head. That frees up my thumb to control the camera at all times, which is better, but still, the camera isn't ideal. Perhaps some transparency would be nice, as I often feel that elements of the structure I'm climbing, or even noodle himself get in the way of what I want to see.
Menu
The games interface is aesthetically appealing but doesn't really contextualise the journey you're going through very well. It doesn't paint a good picture of the players progression in the same way that map-based level selection menus do (see Super Mario World, or Rayman Origins). At the same time, it's quite slow to scroll through and not immediately evident that you can press up to skip to the levels in the next world.
I really like Snake Pass but it would have been a considerably better game, having been likey to have experienced a considerably better reception, if it had paid more consideration to the user experience. Features like a hub may seem like a considerable body of extra work, but it would have gone a long way towards allowing players to experiment without consequence, while reworking the checkpoint system and making the levels more bitesized by allowing players to jump out when they pleased, would have enabled even the games more challenging content to appear more approachable.
Yeah this is kind of the funny thing about getting the controls to click, I find my playstyle can get pretty sloppy compared to when i started because its easy now to exploit them. When Im rushing through a level to complete it with no deaths theres a lot of successful but sloppy maneuvers like in the first gif
id love to see what a pro speedrun of this game looks like because you can do some really wild shit
Great to hear!
Good work on the patch too by the way. The HD rumble seems much improved, and the game, at least to me, looks less blurry than it did before.
Prior to the patch that fixed the rumble, this game broke my mate's right joy-con vibration. I guess it burned the motor out or something, but it's been damaged and doesn't rumble like the left side now.
I know he has the Nintendo warranty, but a few of us have suggested he should contact Sumo Digital as well. Their game has damaged one of their customer's hardware. I know they can't personally repair it - that's for Nintendo to sort out - but we feel like this is something that shouldn't have passed through testing, and the result is now a damaged joy-con.
Just makes me wonder if other customers' joy-con have been damaged prior to the patch too.
I know he has the Nintendo warranty, but a few of us have suggested he should contact Sumo Digital as well. Their game has damaged one of their customer's hardware. I know they can't personally repair it - that's for Nintendo to sort out - but we feel like this is something that shouldn't have passed through testing, and the result is now a damaged joy-con.
Just makes me wonder if other customers' joy-con have been damaged prior to the patch too.
Now you've gotten me a bit worried, I did notice the left joy con making a bit of a clicking noise occasionally. The rumble itself still seemed fine as far as I could see though.
Pretty sure it's not HD rumble and honestly the rumble doesn't seem that much different than before the patch.
donkey show
Member
Been busy with launch and EGX Rezzed, but on behalf of the Snake Pass team I want to thank y'all for the support. ^^ Looks like my buddy McBradders has already addressed the time trials as well.
That's correct, there is no HD rumble implemented in the game.
stargateheaven
Member
Had this very minor bug. Quite creepy with those sounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYMS-Cw137I
Had to restart the game to stop it.
Any tips for the not touching the water trophy? I swear i did it but i guess his tail musta dipped in or something. (i was super pissed lol)
Also, the idols? what are they? those stone things? i noticed some levels have 2.. do i need to touch them all?
Are time trials required for plat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYMS-Cw137I
Had to restart the game to stop it.
Any tips for the not touching the water trophy? I swear i did it but i guess his tail musta dipped in or something. (i was super pissed lol)
Also, the idols? what are they? those stone things? i noticed some levels have 2.. do i need to touch them all?
Are time trials required for plat?
RichiRamjag
Member
Good news. It'd be nice to see the switch version sharpened up a bit in portable mode, but that aside, it's a really good game that just grows on me every time I play it (when docked).
Can't wait for time trials!
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Had this very minor bug. Quite creepy with those sounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYMS-Cw137I
Had to restart the game to stop it.
Any tips for the not touching the water trophy? I swear i did it but i guess his tail musta dipped in or something. (i was super pissed lol)
Also, the idols? what are they? those stone things? i noticed some levels have 2.. do i need to touch them all?
Are time trials required for plat?
Time Trials aren't part of the platinum requirement.
Snkfanatic
Banned
Pretty torn on what console to get this on right now lol...I have a PC, PS4 Pro and a Switch. All have their benefits with the PC and Pro being pretty similar. The draw to the Switch is portable mode...and honestly just having more awesome games on my Switch.
Feeroper
Member
I had the same debate with myself but went with the Switch. It's great to bring this game with you as it's very suitable for a portable game. It looks and runs great on the switch too given the art style.
I considered the pro for 60 fps, but ultimately the portability won me over. I do t find the resolution to be an issue on the switch in portable or docked, but ymmv on that depending on your sensitivity to that kind of thing.
one4myhomies
Neo Member
I'm curious as to how to do this. I bought both PS4 and switch versions and find it super annoying they have different controls between them (seemingly for no reason). For instance on switch lift head is "A" which would be the "O" on Ps4 but for some reason lift head is "X". Makes it so I can't play both at the same time. Would love it if I could change them to match.
Bog
Junior Ace
That's pretty obnoxious. I was considering the PS4 version down the line (playing on Switch now).
I suppose that you could do a remap on PS4 to make Circle act like X and make it uniform.
My PC is my number 1 game machine and I also have an OG PS4. I went with Switch for this one ¯\_(ツ
_/¯re_fan1996
Member
Yes checkpoints would be great! Some of these levels can be super long and as it stands you have to complete whatever you're going to complete in one sitting.
Great idea on the collectibles also, that would make things much easier!
It's the lighting and shadows. You can see the difference between the two.
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