Mirror’s Edge 2D Beta

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Brad Borne and Electronic Arts are partnering up for the release of Mirror’s Edge 2D!

I made a post about it in the forum a few days ago, but it looks like the news is out, so here’s the official post about it.

We’re still a week or two away from full launch, but I’d like to get as much feedback about the beta as possible, so if you find anything glitching out, or anything you’d like to comment on, just comment this post.

Update: Just added a timer, lets see those scores! Finish the level to store best time.

Play the beta here!

To anyone having problems with high jumping from ledges:

Run at the ledge

Jump right before you hit it (or go too high from a wall climb)

Hold jump when she snaps to it

Keep holding jump

Annnd yeah

Criticism and responses: there has been a ton of aspects of the game that have been tweaked to address some criticism. I’ll try to address things that I’m not changing, or won’t add until the final game (most likely, at least) here:

Enemies?

There will be some sections with enemies (like, mini-levels), if I can get the balance right and keep it fun. Basically, enemies slow the player down, I know that most people want to keep moving on big sections.

Wall jump / jump is too powerful / not realistic enough

Well, yes, the wall jump probably seems to powerful in this level. I had it toned down much more at first, but that made Level 2 impossible in some parts. Same thing with the jump height. Certain level designs just aren’t possible if I keep the movement too conservative. And this is 2d, I need to use those two d’s as much as I can! That means lots of vertical ground covered, far more than in the console counterpart.

Re-mappable controls

This definitely highlights my hatred of the keyboard as the standard of input for computer games, but what can I do about that (besides tell you guys to use joytokey, darwiinremote, gamepad companion, etc)? Re-mappable controls are only necessary when games get too complex, devs ignore standards, or in the case of PC gaming, there are hardly any standards at all. I’ll try and add a few different control types to the game if I have the time, but I like to try and keep all my games so that the arrow keys map to the d-pad, and the WASD map to the face buttons. Basically, I’m a console gamer developing for a mouse and keyboard input scheme.

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282 Comments

  2. cynic

    Same error here.
    I checked it in chrome, firefox 3, and internet explorer 7.
    I get the same error message in each.
    Windows Vista btw if that makes any difference

  13. DrNeroCF

    Yeah, that’s a new bug. I’ve gotten a few bug reports about that collision being over the actual rope, so I trimmed it down a bit, and lo and behold, I delete part of it without looking at where the actual wall collision is and ya, there’s a hole.

    I made some of the jumping quicker, that should shave a few nanoseconds from times. I adjusted some of the sliding surfaces for level 3, that might have an effect on the times for level 1, not sure.

  19. Donna

    I´m having the same problem with the hooks too.

    I e-mailed about this but I thought I would make a post so that maybe people can post pictures of what I mean:

    Near the second bag that is up on a platform above the “Danger-danger-high voltage-achtung”.

    Before update .10 I could do a wallrun while holding the jumpbutton.
    Thus I would make a high jump and be able to reach the ledge above where the bag is located and take the bag without having to go the other way around with the hook-swinging.

    If someone understands what I am talking about please post a picture or a vid.

    This wallrun-jump can still be done but Faith does not grab the ledge.

    I don´t know if this is a bug or if Brad intended for this bag to be unreachable this way.

    Sorry for really long post, and thanks for reading.

    Oh and Great Game btw!

  20. DrNeroCF

    Donna, I just replied to your email, actually.

    You’re not supposed to be able to get that bag that way. No idea why I ever set that platform as hangable.

    What was the last version you played? .10b should have addressed the problem with the hooks.

  22. mohler47

    I’ve been playing the beta for about a week now, and I am really impressed. The game is a great flash representation of the console game. I have noticed one thing that is more aesthetic than important for the gameplay.

    I do think however that it may improve the flow of the game if you could add the ability to turn the opposite direction on a wall that you are hanging from and jump in that direction instead of seeing Faith jump backwards with her back facing the direction she is going.

    Much like in the console game you can grab a ledge and turn around then jump towards another ledge or wall. You don’t jump backwards towards a wall and then magically turn around once you run into another wall or ledge. I think it might be a semi-easy fix if you add a simple turning animation for when you hold left while hanging from a ledge. Then when jumping from that position just flip Faith over horizontally so she is facing the correct direction.

    Thanks for the great game!

  26. ikon

    New to the forum but not the game. Aidis… I swear… I hate you. HAHA The day I get 48:73… thinkin I’m getting closer to your 48:5… you go and do that. Great time.

  34. mattismee

    i think that if you put enemies in the game you should have them be avoided at all costs.
    like you need to find ways around them instead of this turning into a shoot em up.
    Mirror’s Edge is all about stealth and stuff.
    Right?
    so yeah i just thought that you should know that because i think it was kirby kid was talking about them coming at you or something

    i think that they should just like have posts where they stand on a certain roof top and if they see you take fire and chase if possible
    they should not be as agile as faith but able to do a little bit

    that way you have the ability to lose them over a big gap

    just think about it if you are still putting stuff into the final version
    but i love the beta

    i found it today and have been playing for hours!
    keep up the good work

  35. mattismee

    another thing i just noticed

    that annoying leaning against the wall could be used for when police are passing to go unnoticed
    it would be really weird to see a random girl standing in the middle of the roof but if you are leaning up against the wall or put random benches or something that you can sit in by like up or something since that doesn’t have much use while walking/running
    that way you never get completely stuck on a roof with a cop and he would walk right by and you can run once his back is turned

    that is if they are in the game

  36. DrNeroCF

    Well mattismee, I can tell you that most of what you’re saying is way out of the budget, but I can tell you that we’re pretty on the same page with how bad guys should integrate in the game. Having them actually chase you would be out of our budget / timeframe, but I’m pretty sure I found a way to not make anyone unhappy with their inclusion in the game. Still, wish me luck with that one, haha.

  37. OreganoAc

    I’m not trying to be contrary, but your explanation for mapping the controls to the arrow keys doesn’t really make sense to me.

    You say you are a console gamer making games for keyboard and mouse but, if anything, that should predispose you to use WASD for movement even more.

    Every console ever made (excepting the Atari 2600 era) has movement controlled by the left hand, buttons on the right. That’s what WASD control is supposed to mimic.

    I just don’t understand how a lifelong console gamer could find movement with the right hand to be more comfortable.

    Still, a brilliant game. I will be playing it regardless, whenever it’s finally released (longest “week or two” ever ;)).

  41. ikon

    rawcru… you’ve got almost a whole second to become Champion. Check the Speedruns topic in the forum. DaWhiteAsian is the leader with 47.07… i’m in 2nd with 47.17… and Aidis is at 47.27. You’ll get there =D

  42. Dogpup4

    It seems that a lot of people have mixed opinions. I dislike using arrow keys since my right arrow key broke off. The rubbery thing snapped off too, so I have to push my finger right into the button to press the arrow. Hurts if you keep doing it, and makes my nails all weird.

  43. Donna

    Hello! I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas and that this new year 2009 will be a great one for us all!!

    I am dropping by to say that when you try to jump from the red slide/line up to the hook above, it takes a lot of timing and resently I tried a few times and then gave up on it without succeeding.

    Is there a way to make the grabbing a bit easier? Because this little problem slows down the pace of the game since it is supposed to be “run through the stage”.

    Anyway, hope everyone has a nice continued weekend!

  44. VERTiGO

    Hi there!

    For several years, I’ve been a huge fan of your work. I read your tick about remappable controls in your post, and I would highly recommend putting them to use. If not, than I do have a suggestion for an alternate control mapping.

    I was born with a defect that renders my left hand with virtually no dexterity. I have alot of trouble using keys on opposite sides of the keyboard to control a character. Not saying I can’t, it’s just awkward. I would suggest a control scheme that would map out the d-pad on the arrow keys, but instead of using WASD for the face buttons, use 0124 on the number pad. This setup has allowed me to play many games otherwise unplayable in my day. Also, it’s a great pinky workout :3

    Now try not to take me as a greedy bastard that wants you to do this just for himself. I speak for all disabled/amputees/whatevers when I say this, save for those who do not wish to be spoken for. Again, it’s just a suggestion.

    Keep up the great work, Brad! And congrats on the engagement!

  45. DrNeroCF

    Donna: it’s true, it appears I tightened that up too much, I’ll have that changed in .11.

    rawcru: can’t really say for sure, we’re trying to release ASAP, this month, basically.

    VERTiGO: First off, welcome to the site. I’ve actually been in correspondence with a few gamers who have similar disabilities. The latest version of World 2 on MochiAds actually lets you select any button as jump in the pause menu (though it’s admittedly quite the dirty hack). At some point in development I set backslash as jump also in ME2D, does that work well enough for you? I could probably just have any button that’s not a menu command already (like music, scrolling background, pause) or an arrow as jump…

  47. Jogo de Parkour em Flash - Mirror's Edge 2D | Pois Bem
  48. Aidis

    Hello again!

    A few suggestions:

    1) Would love to have a more responsive way to reset the level if possible. Atm it feels like you have to wait about a second at the pause screen before you can reset it and yea it gets annoying when trying to speedrun (resetting often).

    2) Please make it possible to turn off all the sound not only the music.

  49. WJUK

    So that’s why there’s a loading screen of sorts when resetting. I was wondering about that.

    I guess there might be some people who want to listen to their own music while playing. Not that the sound design and music in the game is bad, some people just prefer their own music. And after extensive plays, the same music/sounds can get quite annoying.

    That being said, out of pure curiosity, is the same music going to be playing throughout the whole game?

  50. DrNeroCF

    WJUK: I understand turning off the music, I do that all the time since I usually have something else playing while I’m working. Never found the sound effects to ruin my music listening, though.

    Probably not, have to go through the music files again searching for loopable sections. Finding video game music in dance remixes is a bit harder than I would have though :/ Got a great one for the menu, though. It’s always weird hearing clips I’ve been scrubbing through on the TV whenever a ME commercial comes on, heh.

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