This is the current game I'm working on at the moment (it's a working title). It is a difficult platformer game that will require you to pass through each level dodging obstacles and making tricky jumps. There will be a brief storyline that I'm not going to give away yet because I haven't completely worked out all the kinks yet.
Most of the games I've made have been for casual gamers or someone who might not play games all the time. This one is the complete opposite. It will hopefully be a challenge for even the most seasoned players but without being too frustrating for those who are persistent.
One of the things I learned quickly was that I needed to have checkpoints. This makes the levels much less frustrating without reducing the challenge of the game. Which is why I think the game VVVVVV is a lot of fun without making me want to throw my computer out a 10 story building.
I spent quite a bit of time refining the controls to make it feel right. This was important before creating levels because it determined how high the player could jump and how they would slide along the walls. I'm hoping people will agree that the controls feel good.
The artwork was a new challenge for me. I've done some animations of people before but not anything quite this detailed, and for programmer art I feel it looks pretty good. The tileset was a challenge to give it that 3d effect and I had to sink the player character into the tiles to make it look like he was standing properly on the ground. I also found that creating background elements (even as simple as they are) really help bring out the foreground and make it look more interesting.
I'm hoping I can finish up the game in the next 2 weeks or so and have it available for testing. If anyone is interested in testing and is willing to provide a good amount of feedback on the game just send me an email and I'll let you try out the beta. Those who provide good feedback will be listed in the credits of the game.