People are still making stuff for the Sinclair related machines. Tell us about new games and other software that runs on the Spectrum, ZX80/ZX81, Pentagon and Next.
Turrican wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:13 am
Goooood game! It´s funny and haaaard.
I can´t reach the top.
Thank you!
While I wouldn't really want to encourage cheating, I'd rather people cheat and see the completion screen (which took me ages to get right!), than have players give up and know that final bit of work is not seen by anyone. So when you're at the point of giving up, set the emulator to 50% speed and have another go. It's pretty easy then.
I'm playing it on real hardware!
A Brazilian Spectrum clone: TK90X.
djnzx48 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:07 am
Well I just tried jumping into the exit on the first level (off the pad next to the dot) and I ended up landing down the bottom on the right hand side.
When I was finalising the level I decided to extend that little platform one to the left so I could put a slow down pill on it. The next bit, i.e. the bit you're supposed to do, off to the right, is a bit tricky, so I thought a slow down was fair there. But in extending the platform one block so the slow down pill would fit I made it such that if you fall off it you land on the exit platform!
I'm going to call that a shortcut, open to those smart enough to spot it.
dfzx wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:02 am
Aw, cr@p! I thought I'd managed to close all the possibilities of that sort of thing. Can you explain exactly where you found a way through?
I jumped from the spring platform over the right wall here:
dfzx wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:02 am
Aw, cr@p! I thought I'd managed to close all the possibilities of that sort of thing. Can you explain exactly where you found a way through?
I jumped from the spring platform over the right wall here:
Onto level 3 now. Fun!
Ha! OK, that means there's 2 ways out of the level which aren't supposed to be there! Although it rather looks like turning and jumping off that single block is probably harder than just jumping to the left and walking across the top.
This is great...! A simple idea but very well executed.
It can get frustratingly easy to plummet right back to the start just as you were doing well, but in that respect it reminds me of Jumping Jack, in that it has that 'just one more go' feel to it... Some proper 'twitch' gameplay going on too..
[Edit: no idea what I'm supposed to do for level 2 though?? ]
I would've suggested making the levels a touch easier, but if there are only five that's fair enough I guess... Though it's going to take me a lot longer than 15 minutes..
Morkin wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:43 am
I would've suggested making the levels a touch easier, but if there are only five that's fair enough I guess...
Any suggestions on how I could have made it a bit easier? I always liked the manic, 50fps speed, so I didn't really want to slow it down any. Any ideas on what I could have done to make it just a bit easier?
Completed it! Really enjoyed that! It said I had 4 bonuses left and then there were some nice fireworks. Very well though-out level design, one mistake doesn't automatically mean all progress is lost.
Morkin wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:43 am
I would've suggested making the levels a touch easier, but if there are only five that's fair enough I guess...
Any suggestions on how I could have made it a bit easier? I always liked the manic, 50fps speed, so I didn't really want to slow it down any. Any ideas on what I could have done to make it just a bit easier?
It's probably just my reactions slowing with age.. The number of precision jumps you have to make in a row to complete that second level, I just can't get them.. But obviously Ersh has better skills..
The only suggestion I would make is perhaps a visual/audio warning when it's about to speed up again (after the slow down), as I found it hard to adjust my reaction time when it happens.
Don't get me wrong - there's nothing bad about wanting your game to be challenging (it's 'good' challenging rather than 'unfair' challenging ). But I'm definitely going to need snapshots to get to level 5.
I went through it again a couple of times also recorded a RZX, you can download it here. I struggled a bit on the third stage but you can always fast forward that bit in the emulator
Think the difficulty is spot on really, you've only got the 'time' as your opponent, so just keep at it.
Ralf wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:17 pm
I've just only tried it.
Simple to learn, hard to master
The game mechanics are simple but very original in their simplicity.
The game engine is all right, everythings moves smoothly
Thanks, good to hear.
Ralf wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:17 pm
Unfortuantely it's too hard, as other say. Probably redesigning the levels would help but I guess the levels remain as they are.
Yes, OK, I think the lesson here, and it is a lesson because I keen to learn, is that if the author feels it's "about right", or maybe "a bit of a challenge", which is what I felt with this game, then it's probably too hard. Probably best to err on the side of too easy to prevent losing the interest of the player too early. I'll definitely take that on board.
Ralf, before you lose interest entirely, try it in an emulator at 50% speed.
Ersh wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:38 pm
I went through it again a couple of times also recorded a RZX, you can download it here. I struggled a bit on the third stage but you can always fast forward that bit in the emulator
Think the difficulty is spot on really, you've only got the 'time' as your opponent, so just keep at it.
I am utterly blown away that someone played it, mastered it and finished it at full speed, and even made a recording of it. You're right, that 3rd level is far too difficult, especially the left side near the start. Lesson learned, I assure you.
What I wasn't quite ready for is the feeling of elation caused by a handful of people I don't really know having a few minutes of fun playing something I created. It makes the project hugely worthwhile and rewarding. What it must have been like, back in the day, to have created a game tens of thousands of people enjoyed...
Thanks to everyone who gave it a try. Made my day.
dfzx wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 1:00 pm
I am utterly blown away that someone played it, mastered it and finished it at full speed, and even made a recording of it. You're right, that 3rd level is far too difficult, especially the left side near the start. Lesson learned, I assure you.
I wouldn't say it's too difficult, if you pick up the pills in those two parts in stage 3 then it's pretty easy to tackle. Though I found that picking up pills could end up screwing you when time sped up in other places, so I just avoided them all together. Helps to have an even rhythm to platforming.
My eyes! I am blinded by the celestial light emitted by the game finale!
This is a great game, and it joins Dave Infuriators in the 'one key' genre.
It seemed impossible at first, but after I saw how Ersh completed level 2 (IMO the hardest level by far), it was manageable after that. I liked the in-game music, but the charm wore off pretty quickly and I went for the 'M' key!
This is annoyingly good for a first project. Well done Derek. Don't stop!
Been playing some more on ZXDS trying to get a better time, works remarkably well on there even though the DS' LCD isn't the best for fast (50hz) moving objects.
Stumbled upon a bug though, I failed on the 5th and last level and got sent back to the title screen, when I started a new game the pill on the left platform (shortcut to the goal) wasn't there anymore. Thought nothing of it and continued on, made it to the final level but there I couldn't pick up the first key, the graphic was there but it would not get collected when walked past so I couldn't complete it. Had to reload the game.
It appears that if objects are 'collected' and not 'respawned' when one finishes a level, they won't appear if the player starts over. Try collecting the 'shortcut-pill' and then finish the first level, let the timer run out on the second level and start a new game. The pill is gone. Same goes for the key on the last level (most likely all other objects), the key is there but can't be collected.
Ersh wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:13 pm
It appears that if objects are 'collected' and not 'respawned' when one finishes a level, they won't appear if the player starts over.
Ooh, good spot. The game restart code isn't resetting objects which have gone into that un-displayed state. Easy fix, thanks for the report.
Had a great no-pill (5 bonuses) run, only lost a couple of seconds on the first level, had a flawless 2nd and only one tiny mistake on the third (which to me is the toughest if you're going for speed). Naturally I missed the pixel perfect jump twice(!) on the fourth level, first jump was one pixel early, second jump one pixel late so I lost around 10 seconds there. No mistakes on the last level. Total time around 3:30. It's not perfect, those two missed jumps on the 4th level pains me, but I've submitted the recording to the RZX-Archive nonetheless. You can download it from here in the meantime.
Finally managed to complete this without using snapshots, but man it's hard. The jumps on the third screen require some insane reactions, and it doesn't help that you need to leave the music on to keep the game at a playable speed! The most frustrating parts are the jumps where you bounce off a wall and have to quickly change direction. Nonetheless the design is quite good and it would be great to see more games from you.
I tried improving my time and this is the best I could manage - it's around 2:40. I just can't do the right-hand section of level 3 reliably. wonky.szx wonky.rzx
Pretty cute. The one-key gimmick is original (at least on the Spectrum -- I may have seen some browser games that did this). And I really like the man's little animation, and the varied use of colour in the levels. Also it's a platformer that doesn't use AGD/PGD, so +1000 points there. (Sorry Jonathan.)
Regarding difficulty: is there no way to tell which teleporter will take you to which other one? That is quite savage, considering you immediately run out of the other end. How about a little beaming animation or a flashing indicator of where you are about to appear? Or even just use different colour schemes or patterns on the matched teleporter pairs.
Having moving "baddies" might be nice, but they definitely wouldn't be needed or wanted on the first few levels. If the learning curve is too steep, people will quit in frustration; if it's too shallow, they will just think "YEAH I'm great at this game!", or in the worst case just feel minor boredom, but will probably continue to the tricky stuff.
The music is totally, ear-destroyingly out of tune, but I see someone has explained the mathematics behind this, and I suppose awful music follows the grand tradition of Manic Miner's horror piano.
The music does sound a lot better if the offending notes are POKEd to the correct values. I actually thought the main sprite was from Lemmings, but after looking at that game they are completely different. It's a nice looking sprite anyway.
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