maresheppard

Short answer, nope, this is it! The goal with N++ was to not leave anything on the table, so we could make an absolutely great, definitive game we could never top. We think we nailed it :)

Longer answer: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4zjjd8/were_metanet_software_developers_of_n_n_and_n_ama/d6wc4jb

Awesome! that's so cool to hear! The UI for the community-made levels section in N++ was incredibly complex (all UI is pretty complex, actually -- it's a really hard problem to solve), and while trying to design it, we just couldn't find a way to implement all the features we were trying to (like comments/rating/etc) while keeping it simple, clean and easy-to-use.

To compensate, we added a lot of features in N++ to help with visibility and discoverability for community-made levels, but you're right that there's just no substitute for being able to comment and review maps.

Fear not! A player like yourself has taken up the NUMA mantle (NUMA was also created by a player) and is trying to make something like that happen (as with NUMA, we're helping and supporting as much as possible from our end). You can find out more on the N++ discord: https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?url=https://discord.gg/umGncGh

I wonder if it will be called NUMA++ ;)

we really hope to add online MP, and we will be able to if it sells well enough on Steam and we have the resources (ie money).

we had to choose between adding a level-editor and global level-sharing for all players, cross-platform, or online multiplayer. It was a very tough call, because we know some players really enjoyed that in N+, but in the end we went with the level-editor because we also received a ton of complaints about N+'s multiplayer and how lag makes the game very frustrating. (It's true, even a non-low-latency tv/monitor really makes the game very annoying)

So we went with the feature that has been universally loved over the course of the series to try to make the largest number of people happy. But we want to keep supporting and updating N++, so hopefully we'll be able to add some more cool stuff down the road!

more discussion: http://steamcommunity.com/app/230270/discussions/1/405692224242680020/

thanks, glad to hear you found the tutorials useful!

So when we made N, we were just learning how to program and didn't have a plan at first -- we spent about 3 years just experimenting on little chunks of things, to see how things worked. Some of them were the collision detection and ragdoll physics that eventually ended up in N, and others were things that were less useful, like a drunk person on roller skates sim ;)

Then we started to combine elements together, and eventually arrived at the idea of making a stealth platformer starring a ninja, where you sneak around slowly -- but when we added the movement and controls, we realized it was way more fun to race around, and that you could pull off some pretty acrobatic moves. So we switched gears immediately, and that was the basis for N.

One of the benefits of being such a small team is being able to be flexible like that, and go where the design takes you.

or a big ol' room full of gold ;)