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> Originally, I wanted to eliminate the time limit and let the player simply roll the katamari to make it bigger. But, I couldn't figure out how to make the gam

> Originally, I wanted to eliminate the time limit and let the player simply roll the katamari to make it bigger. But, I couldn't figure out how to make the game fun without a time limit Better level design (than in the original Katamari Damacy) is the answer. See Carmageddon as an example. Despite having a time limit and technically being in a race against other drivers, you can just go off course and explore the level, picking time bonuses as you do that. It's fun because the levels are full of secret areas and there's always something to explore. The other drivers are just dumb enough to not be a problem, and will also go off course if you do. Or you can play it as a racing game and ignore all that, no problem.

magicalhippo 2y ago
As they wrote in the manual, you can win the race by being the fastest across the finish line, but that's not really the point...
spondylosaurus 2y ago
I think the hurdle with Katamari is that as the katamari gets bigger, smaller objects load out of the game, and eventually there's just less interesting stuff to see. When you're rolling around in someone's house, you get a lot of personality and charm, but when you get bigger than a skyscraper most of the stuff you see is just generic landmasses and foliage. At least Jumboman usually shows up eventually.
danso 2y ago
The sequel introduced a couple of non-time-limited challenges, including: make the biggest katamari with just 50 objects, and make a katamari that’s exactly 50cm. I think the time limits worked fine for adding challenge to the game — IIRC the first game had an eternal level whereas the 2nd game’s longest level was 18min, but that was long enough to swallow most of the earth if you were good enough. I loved the novelty levels where the goal was something different than “biggest katamari” — e.g. roll the most expensive or calorie-dense katamaris, which really let you appreciate the detail and variety of objects that were in the world
- lifthrasiir 2y ago
  Indeed, the sequel was really a huge step up from the original Katamari Damacy in many ways to me, as who have played all available console games in the series. (Nowadays I play in Steam.) Most expensive katamaries are particularly fun because you have much less visual cues than other games, but once you've immersed yourself into the world, you will see likely places to roam around. > IIRC the first game had an eternal level whereas the 2nd game’s longest level was 18min. For the record, a recent remastered version for PC does have eternal levels.
- whywhywhywhy 2y ago
  >the 2nd game’s longest level was 18min, but that was long enough to swallow most of the earth It went past the earth and you eventually swallowed up planets, stars etc if you didn’t know. Really cool for the hardware.
  - rideontime 2y ago
    You may be thinking of the sequel, We Love Katamari, where after completing the individual levels, you would roll up the planets and stars you created in order to roll up the Sun.

magicalhippo 2y ago

As they wrote in the manual, you can win the race by being the fastest across the finish line, but that's not really the point...

spondylosaurus 2y ago

I think the hurdle with Katamari is that as the katamari gets bigger, smaller objects load out of the game, and eventually there's just less interesting stuff to see. When you're rolling around in someone's house, you get a lot of personality and charm, but when you get bigger than a skyscraper most of the stuff you see is just generic landmasses and foliage. At least Jumboman usually shows up eventually.

danso 2y ago

The sequel introduced a couple of non-time-limited challenges, including: make the biggest katamari with just 50 objects, and make a katamari that’s exactly 50cm. I think the time limits worked fine for adding challenge to the game — IIRC the first game had an eternal level whereas the 2nd game’s longest level was 18min, but that was long enough to swallow most of the earth if you were good enough. I loved the novelty levels where the goal was something different than “biggest katamari” — e.g. roll the most expensive or calorie-dense katamaris, which really let you appreciate the detail and variety of objects that were in the world

lifthrasiir 2y ago
Indeed, the sequel was really a huge step up from the original Katamari Damacy in many ways to me, as who have played all available console games in the series. (Nowadays I play in Steam.) Most expensive katamaries are particularly fun because you have much less visual cues than other games, but once you've immersed yourself into the world, you will see likely places to roam around. > IIRC the first game had an eternal level whereas the 2nd game’s longest level was 18min. For the record, a recent remastered version for PC does have eternal levels.
whywhywhywhy 2y ago
>the 2nd game’s longest level was 18min, but that was long enough to swallow most of the earth It went past the earth and you eventually swallowed up planets, stars etc if you didn’t know. Really cool for the hardware.
- rideontime 2y ago
  You may be thinking of the sequel, We Love Katamari, where after completing the individual levels, you would roll up the planets and stars you created in order to roll up the Sun.