Frumpy

[Ast A. Moore]

I give up. Can’t jump out of the little space between two magenta spikes on the second screen.

Spoiler

http://www.thefossilrecord.co.uk/wp-con ... -room2.mp4

Yeah, I know how it’s supposed to be done; I just can never manage to jump over the left thingy. Keep brushing it by a few pixels and dying.

[Ast A. Moore]

Okay, now I get it what people mean when they say Yankee is too hard.

[Morkin]

Plays very nicely, but yep, far too difficult... Am assuming this is the final screen

I can't get through that hole on the right without hitting the spikes...

[bob_fossil]

I was wondering if you thought about making it possible to move left and right when jumping in the air? You could then not just jump to the opposite wall but back to the wall you just jumped from. I could also then move when falling into that gap on the right on level 1 that I couldn't do after 10 attempts. Just an idea. I do actually want to progress in your game so you've done something right

I have made a change so if you jump and hit a wall and fall against it, you can now move into gaps. So if you jump left and hit a wall and start falling, you can now press left during the fall to move into gaps or holes. Previously, you could only move during a jump. So now you can either jump through a gap from the opposite wall or jump onto the wall, fall down and then move into the gap.

Plays very nicely, but yep, far too difficult... Am assuming this is the final screen

I can't get through that hole on the right without hitting the spikes...

You need to time the jump so you hit the piece of wall below the long row of spikes. This will stop your jump but if you hold down the right key, when you clear the wall block, you will start moving right again which should get you clear of the spikes.

I've added a new first screen which lets you get to grips with the mechanics of the game - or if you're double hard you can just move on to the next screen. I've also modified the graphics slightly, so you can get a better idea of what point of the walk cycle the character is in, which might make positioning the player before a crucial jump a bit easier. These changes and the above fix for falling can be found here.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and all your patience so far. Looks like my poor history in games completion (Bruce Lee and Robocop) has made me a horrible level creator.

[Morkin]

Thanks everyone for the feedback and all your patience so far. Looks like my poor history in games completion (Bruce Lee and Robocop) has made me a horrible level creator.

That tweak to the controls is nice, the movement is good and controls are responsive.

Soft Play aside I still can't get past the first (proper) level, though I can now get into that middle section with the crumbling platforms.

For me it's not a case of me knowing how you're supposed to do it, or getting used to the controls/game mechanics... It's just that the the first (proper) screen is from the Dinamic school of level design... Personally I think everything else about the game is great, but the first level just needs to be a (much, much!) later level.

[R-Tape]

Finally managed screen 1 in 00:28:06

[Freespirit]

Thanks, it's still hard, but nice hard and i did the first screen in 23.4 Great game.

[Freespirit]

I've completed all the levels now. I thought they were really clever, one of the best games i've played for awhile. Well done!

I noticed you introduced the rotation of the main character, i'm not sure that works, just looks like a blur at speed.

[bob_fossil]

I've completed all the levels now. I thought they were really clever, one of the best games i've played for awhile. Well done!

I noticed you introduced the rotation of the main character, i'm not sure that works, just looks like a blur at speed.

Wasn't expecting that! I thought the levels after 'First Things First' - which seems to be giving people a lot of grief - were harder. You sir, are a gaming colossus!

The rotation was just an experiment to let you know where the position of the player was to help with locating your jumps and letting you know when you're about to fall off a platform. Like a lot of things in the game, it's all up for grabs at the moment.

[Ast A. Moore]

I must say, I’m not sold on the rolling animation either. Then again, I’m stuck in room 6, so what do I know?

[scoppack]

Just played it, loved it! and completed v1 all in 25 mins but very tough.
Then found 002 but like others, dont like the roll anim
Enjoyed it though, good job!

[Ersh]

Very addictive! I've made it to Room 6 on the 002 version, I don't mind the difficulty at all since you've got unlimited tries. Going against the flow here, but I like the rolling animation.

[bob_fossil]

Thanks for the positive feedback. Guess I need to add some new screens.

There's another update, 003 with the following changes:

• Restored the old player sprite.
• Added new 'first' room 'The Corkscrew'.
• Swapped the order of 'The Ol' Switcheroo' and 'First Things First' rooms around.
• Modified the spike jump in 'The Ol' Switcheroo' to try and make it a bit easier.

Download here.

[Ast A. Moore]

Grrr . . . Now I have to play the whole thing through to Room 6 again.

[Morkin]

I think that's loads better..! The corkscrew seems to be a really good starter room to get you going. I've now managed the heady heights of screen 6, but my terrible finger reactions are letting me down.

Very nice game..!

[Ast A. Moore]

Oh, Room 6 is Room 7 now. Hmm. Still can’t get out of the first switch well.

[Ersh]

Completed version 003 from start to finish this morning. Got the record on all stages, though I had less than a second to spare on Room 7. Such a fun game, I thoroughly enjoyed this! Will there be any more rooms?

[Ersh]

I think I found some unintended cheese in Room 7. You can skip the first switch entirely, it requires a rather pixel perfect jump though. I recorded an RZX of my last playthrough, you can see it in action here.

[bob_fossil]

Completed version 003 from start to finish this morning. Got the record on all stages, though I had less than a second to spare on Room 7. Such a fun game, I thoroughly enjoyed this! Will there be any more rooms?

Thanks for the feedback and the .rzx file. It was very interesting to see your approach for the various screens. I'm back full time at work now, so progress on this and other projects will be a lot slower. I have added another room but I wanted to wait until I've gotten a couple more finished before doing another release.

I did wonder whether you could avoid having to trip the switch if you did some nifty jumping, so well done! I don't think I'll 'fix' that room. if you've got the chops to take the shortcut, then best of luck to you!

[Ast A. Moore]

I recorded an RZX of my last playthrough, you can see it in action here.

Dang it! That was pretty clever (the last room, I mean).

[ianace]

Just downloaded the new version of this game, i am using it on the ZX Vega. It works well and it is a good game.

[bob_fossil]

Just downloaded the new version of this game, i am using it on the ZX Vega. It works well and it is a good game.

Thanks for the feedback and kind words!

For those who've finished the current six room version, I've created 4 new rooms. I'd like to add another 2 before releasing a new version (doubling the room count from the previously released version). So that hopefully shouldn't be too long.

[bob_fossil]

v004:

• Added 6 new screens, taking the total to 12 screens (not included the first tutorial screen).
• Added boxes which can be pushed around and jumped on to clear obstacles.
• Added umbrellas which can be collected and are helpful when falling from a great height.
• You no longer get to set a record time in the tutorial screen.

Download here.

[Ersh]

Took me about an hour and a half to play through, with the last screen (aptly named Kill Screen) taking about 45 minutes or so by itself. Pixel perfect timing and jumps aren't that prevalent in the other stages, but here it was just one after the other. Though I got pretty consistent up to the last part when you unlock the door, but it took forever.

You might want to debounce the jump key when you complete the game, I think I saw a congratulatory screen flash by, but the game went on to the stage 1 screen immediately.

Really like all the new stages! Such a fun game!

[bob_fossil]

Took me about an hour and a half to play through, with the last screen (aptly named Kill Screen) taking about 45 minutes or so by itself. Pixel perfect timing and jumps aren't that prevalent in the other stages, but here it was just one after the other. Though I got pretty consistent up to the last part when you unlock the door, but it took forever.

You might want to debounce the jump key when you complete the game, I think I saw a congratulatory screen flash by, but the game went on to the stage 1 screen immediately.

Really like all the new stages! Such a fun game!

'Kill Screen' was both a reference to those screens in old arcade games like Donkey Kong or Pacman where you end up a screen that kills you immediately due to the game logic overflowing and a warning of things to come for the last screen (I re-used that horrible jump that used to be in 'The Ol' Swictheroo').

Thought I'd fixed the issue with the end screen as the same thing happened to me during testing. I'll give it another look.

Glad you like the new levels. Wasn't sure whether the introduction of new elements would work, so thanks for the feedback.