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I want to further develop this game I created for a game jam. Currently spiders chase squirrels with the same speed. Tree branches are randomly generated. Even if you perfectly time your jumps the spiders will eventually catch you. Squirrels are able to pick up randomly generated acorns to throw at the spiders knocking them back.

I want to implement some kind of difficulty progression. Any ideas are appreciated. My main idea is to accelerate the spiders, but the squirrels can't jump any quicker because of physics. They are propelled by one of two jump strengths, and gravity.

The question is: Would it be a good idea to increase the jump high and/or gravity accordingly to the speed of the spiders? (allowing the player to continue to evade the spiders)

Please take into consideration that other obstacles will be added; for example a bat attacking the squirrel from a hole in the tree trunk.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I was going to improve the English in this question, but found it too ambiguous at points, and felt it best to leave it encase I misinterpret it. \$\endgroup\$ – rom016 Jan 23 '16 at 9:53
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Increasing how fast they can jump is only a temporary solution. Eventually, the speed will get to be too fast for a person to physically do. Infinite runners get their difficulty from endurance (how far can you get before you mess up?). Increasing the speed makes this more challenging, but there should be a cap on it and let endurance be the challenge from there.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ You're right, so do I need to make my runner as hard as possible from the very beginning? \$\endgroup\$ – Dzianis Yafimau Jan 14 '16 at 8:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ Not necessarily. Starting slow and speeding up as you go (up to a cap) gives a feel of excitement. A lot of runners do this sort of thing, though some just change the background (star streaks, etc.) to look like the game is going faster. \$\endgroup\$ – Silent137 Jan 14 '16 at 18:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ok, will take this into account as i also have paralax scrolling layer. \$\endgroup\$ – Dzianis Yafimau Jan 14 '16 at 19:36
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Depends how you want the game to work.

Guaranteed capture: The enemy accelerates so only perfect timing, and luck of more power ups, or bonuses can get you further. This can severely diminish replay value.

Pure obstetrical avoidance (Probably won't work for this game): The enemy remains at a constant distance behind the player. When the player hits an obstetrical the distance is decreased. Perfect play for a certain length of time may increase the gap again.

Obstetrical avoidance, and independent enemy speed: The enemy moves at a constant speed, and have a maximum distance between them and the player; in the case of excellent player skill and/or power ups that increase player speed.

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