Comments on: The Running Man: behind the sketchbooks of Adam Saltsman's Canabalt

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Periphera: Actually i’d like some features implented: A game mode in which you should avoid boxes. I found that against my friends it was more fun to compete in these “shorter runs”, where it was all about reflexes. Looking at the scores 30000m+ it gets pretty damn boring already at 5000m.

ps: When i first played the game i actually thought you were supposed to avoid the boxes.

By: Kimmo

Kimmo — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

V2 needs a less sensitive response to how long you hold the button so it’s actually possible for normal humans to control the size of the jump, and some way of preventing the many impossible situations that crop up.

Then I’d play it all day.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Excuse me, I’m madamluna–I’m flattered that you’d think that that Canabalt art is mine, but I just run the oekaki board it came from. The original picture ( http://bit.ly/3RVr2R ) is by GB.

It’s a lovely game, though, and this is a pretty enlightening article. Thanks!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

yea i designed it on a chiclet keyboard and did not notice that it was vicious hard to play on a regular keyboard until like two weeks after it was released…lesson learned :)

By: SeattlePete

SeattlePete — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I got the iPhone/Pod port and play it religiously. Every morning for the past 2 weeks I’ve been tap-tap-taping away on my iPod on the crapper. Is it weird that I only play this while sitting on the John? Something about it just get me GOING – if you know what I mean.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

you can avoid them and some are definitely strategically placed to slow you down. hint: for super long scores its easier to take a break at about 5000m intervals.

By: Santa's Knee

Santa's Knee — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I have absolutely no idea what the hell this is, and with all of the adjectives being vomited into this article – I have no interest in knowing…

By: benher

benher — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Love love love for this game… but reading the notes and gaining insight into the creator’s head is double-plus great. Aesthetically Reminds me of “Out of the World”.

I know the point was to make a simple game, but I’d be psyched for a few more levels, roof changes as you go along, etc.

By: periphera

periphera — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been in game design for 10 years, and I’ve never seen a design doc that wasn’t full of unimplemented features. Sometimes you run out of time/resources, but most often the game goes in a different direction once it leaves paper and enters play.

With a game as simple and beautiful as Canabalt, would you really want more features?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I love it! Nothing more, nothing less…

By: WeightedCompanionCube

WeightedCompanionCube — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It was called Out Of This World here in the states, but yes, that was my first thought too.

By: Mantolith

Mantolith — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You don’t…adjectives…what? Haha! You’re ridiculous.

By: Mantolith

Mantolith — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Good stuff, Brandon. Being is that Adam actually employs his sketchbook effectively, this was totally appropriate. *muah*

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m hoping there’ll eventually be an Android port… iPhones aren’t that special. :(

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It kinda reminds me a little of Another World, but that might be the simple mechanics and flat style

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_(video_game)

By: Brandon Boyer

Brandon Boyer — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks for the correction madamluna! I tried tracking it down further, but you were as far as I could get!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I love this game ’cause it’s a quick way to raise my blood pressure when i’m feeling sleepy. I am super excited to see the sketches.

By: willhopkins

willhopkins — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This game makes my day. The design stuff notes and sketches are really neat. Interesting process.