Alright! I think I know the solution to your walljumping problems: You don’t have to swap arrow keys in order to jump between the walls. Jump at a wall holding, say, the right arrow, then press the space bar twice in order to initiate the wall jump. Continue holding the right arrow, and press the space bar whenever you come in contact with a wall. (Think Metroid: Other M)
I thought the arrows would make for some interesting puzzles as well, but as you pointed out, I have as of yet to include any puzzles. Expect them to show up around LVL 4.
You have an excellent point there, about the frog and the water. Hmm. I’ll look into creating a “Lukewarm” level as a true introduction…
And excellent advice on the music and such. Thanks a heap!
Very good Update: It is indeed necessary to learn these Basics first.
Though I suggest to make that »Corridor« where the Player confronts the red, lethal Spikes for the first Time, you might set the Ceiling a Bit higher, because as narrow as this Corridor is, jumping over the Spikes (for the very first Time) is too difficult. Also, at that very same Place, the Tutorial Text is only half visible when you stand before the Spikes, the Rest is outside the Screen.
And to be honest, the very first Time I ran into the Spikes because they looked so much like Stars. x3
EDIT: Could it be that the Player Character’s Collision Box and the Mesh have some Offset Inaccuracy? His Feet are generally within the Floor, which is a Bit irritating (as it also occured at Times that the Player stuck in the Floor for a short Time… ôh Blender Physics…).
I definitely see why the red spike area was a bit of a problem; I’ll see what I can do about making it more reasonable.
Aha!!! Ground tracking inaccuracies have been resolved. In the next version, he no longer falls through the floor to any degree! (Which means I can also take the cap off of the vertical speed limit!) WHOO!!!
I have listened to the Theme and I really like it as it sounds truly oldschool, like the Jump’n’Runs from the good old Days.
However, I suggest you rather put the Bass in the Center. Right now it feels a Bit uncomfortable, I think, that the Bass takes so much deep Frequency on the left Ear while there is non at all on the right. So, the Midway would probably be best for the Bassline. (Such Balance is always important when playing with Stereo Arrangements.)
Ô, and what did you make it with? (Or did you mention this already? ._. )
Hmm… A good point. I wanted to put the bassline juxtaposed against the melody, the Bassline being the “Black” theme, and the melody being the blue theme… I’ll see what I can do to fix it up.
I composed it with Anvil Studio, and then compiled it with Audacity. Both freeware
Much to my chagrin, I’ve discovered that the new Demo file is too big to upload to Box. I’ve redone Level 1, though, eradicated Most glitches, and made a more complex menu system. I’ve also added an arrow that appears after you stand still for a while to point the way to the nearest Goal object. I’ve planned out all the unlock-able bonus features, but I won’t go in to detail about them: that’ll ruin the discovery! ^^ Regardless, progress is slow, but fortunately, it’s coming along.
Well in Fact, after I had downloaded the first Version I only needed to downloaded the new .exe – interestingly, there even is one enormously huge .dll File or something like that that was too large for me to download and so I skipped it, and see there: The Game worked anyway! o_O
I don’t remember which File it was, was it probably was just the biggest File of them all. Maybe taking that one out of the Folder would solve the Problem with the Filesize.
And by the Way, a .rar File or at Least .zip would be recommendable, as downloading each File singularily (at the first Time only though) was a Bit of a tedious Pain.
I have as of yet to try zipping the new demo; I’ve been somewhat distracted as of late. However! We have a major addition to our host of baddies; the programming for which took me almost a week and a half (needlessly.) WallCrawlers!
They waltz along, climbing the walls and ceiling, and generally getting in the way. So, if I can ever find a way to speed up the frame-rate, level two should be ready shortly.
I’m not sure when I’ll release videos of LVLs one and two; my laptop that had CamStudio on it died a painful death. T-T I also have several more music tracks on the way, but my ambition to vary the genres piece by piece is giving me grief. So far I have a bunch of intro’s and melodies, nothing concrete.
Hey, and C.A.ligari, Thanks a heap for sticking around and giving me prompt advice; it’s easier to convince yourself to push through the doldrums when you know someone’s watching.
Also, SolarLune, may I say that your current project Sparky blew my mind? His mobility made me viciously jealous, especially when I was having such a painful time getting my own wall crawlers to work. Well done, and keep it up!
You’re welcome. :}
I like the Design of the Crawley – and even though I cannot see the Functionality yet, it surely is an interesting Behavior.
Concerning the Music, I know how that feels: Just take your Intros and Melodies, rip them apart again and see what Mixtures you can get – that is a pretty easy Way to achieve some Variation.
Heh, thanks. It was a little tough, and there’s still bugs to fix. But your game’s looking like it’s coming along, as well. I know I’m super late for this, but is black and blue wise color decisions? Black and White might make the color pop more. :I Anyway, Bandicam’s a nice screen recorder. Doesn’t cost too much, either (haven’t gotten around to purchasing it myself, either).
Yeah, Black and white would probably have a higher contrast, but it already has a mechanics similarity to Shift, so I wouldn’t want to trespass on that territory. Plus I like Black and Blue for a number of reasons:
1:Title Aesthetics; it flows.
2: Catchphrase reference: it’s not intended to be very easy, so getting beaten “Black and Blue” is a great analogy IMO
3:If I did it “Black and White” I’d feel inclined to turn it all grey scale and play 20’s music. >D
4:I like the color scheme; it goes with my favorite super hero (Nightwing) So now I guess the real secrets out!
Bandicam hmm? As always, your knowledge on my technical troubles is promptly available… I’ll have to see, but I’m kinda on a REALLY tight budget right now…
Yeah, I’m using the free version myself. Still trying to find good settings. Anyway, it’s your game, and Black and Blue does have a kind of flow about it. Continue!
The Track is likable, and as you say, just simple. However, I personally suggest you overthink using it for the Menu. It is a common Mistake to consider a not-so-special Track for the not-so-special Menu. But in Fact, the Menu is what you get on the Startup, it is the first Thing that you see of your Game. Thus, the Menu Music should be the Title Theme of the Game and it should, somehow, rock. While modern Games have let go of this Concept (I think of Assassin’s Creed 2 and Dead Space 2), I would expect a classical Arcade Game, which Black and Blue is more alike, to have something really charismatic going on (I just say: Jazz Jackrabbit ).
You do have a point there… and in the future, I’m planning on spicing up the menu with some background animations anyway. So what I’ll probably do is put the main theme “Duplichromatic” back on the menu, and still use “The Blues” for the intro level music. Time will tell at any rate. (I missed the Jazz Jackrabbit joke though… is it on the style of the track, or the charisma comment?)
Yes, the misspelled title is intentional (Unfortunately. I can’t stand it when musicians do that but there you go.)
Initially I was going for a trancy-techno piece, but since I’m not well acquainted with that genre in the first place, it turned out quite… different. But I’m rather fond of it, so I don’t think I’ll change it. I reversed the track halfway through, mostly because I ran out of creativity (My music mind shuts down after a limited number of measures) but now I like the shift; it provides an interesting cool-down. I used your advice on this piece too, C.A.Ligari; I spliced the echoey Lead synth from a previously dead project.
Next on my task list:
1: obtain video capture equipment (probably gonna try Bandicam)
2: obtain a Zipping program (There was one listed on here earlier, I’ve just been too lazy to go get it. :p)
3: release new demo
4: begin building level 3: which introduces traps
Cool Track. It even feels like what I actually had in Mind back then when I described what i would imagine the Music for your Game like! : D
Concerning Jazz Jackrabbit, that is one of those Classic Platformers, made by Epic Games (indeed) and it’s Title Theme is just musificated Coolness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnnFFEStA3c
(First Half is the Original Theme, second Half is Alexander Brandon’s Remix for the Sequel. Hey, Alexander Brandon could be a good Source of Inspiration for your Style, actually!)
I’ve redone Level 1, though, eradicated Most glitches, and made a more complex menu system. I’ve also added an arrow that appears after you stand still for a while to point the way to the nearest Goal object. I’ve planned out all the unlock-able bonus features, but I won’t go in to detail about them: that’ll ruin the discovery! ^^ Regardless, progress is slow, but fortunately, it’s coming along.
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