Videogame Bookclub [Archive]

Melon

22 Jul 2009, 20:07

There's only one thing I like more than games and it's girls free games. The idea for this thread originally started over in the RealVG forums but that place is dead and I thought this was a cool idea so I'm bringing it to this forum. Why spend loads of money on new titles in the current economic downturn when you can play mildly inferior titles at no cost?

I've been a poor student for the last few years and so I've built up a collection of free games that I think people should try out, but rather than unceremoniously dumping a list of them in the General Video Game Gabbin' thread, I thought I'd share them in a more interesting way. Every Wednesday we'll put a new free game up for discussion for everyone to try for the following week, and maybe we'll even get a discussion out of it. Maybe. I've only got so many games, so if anyone else has any games they'd like to share then you can post it up next time a Wednesday comes round. Mentioning new games slowly not only makes the thread low-maintenance and last longer, but it also lets us give each game a bit of time to play it while the discussion is hot lukewarm tepid.

Just remember that these games, what with being free and all, aren't likely to be A++ grade quality but I know the games I'm going to submit have my rigorous quality standard of "it's alright I guess" so hopefully there won't be too many turkeys. There's actually a surprising amount of decent free games out there.

Fun Bullet Points:
Only one game per week please. If you want to show off a game you like then reserve your slot for an upcoming Wednesday.
No abandonware! Not only is it against the spirit of the thread but I'm not even sure if it's legal.
No shareware either. Full free games only please.
We've all heard of Cave Story, Nethack and Dwarf Fortress, no need to submit these three.
Have fun!

Edit: If someone doesn't post there game on the Wednesday they've reserved for whatever reason, then the next person in line can post theirs on Thursday. Also if you're a late comer to the thread and want to talk about a game that's already gone, feel free.

Showcased games
22nd Jul - An Untitled Story (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=700264&postcount=2) (Platform/exploration)
29th Jul - The Spirit Engine (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=700786&postcount=88) (RPG)
5th Aug - Deadly Rooms Of Death: Architects Edition (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=701573&postcount=128) (Puzzle)
12th Aug - Super Mario War (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=702016&postcount=158) (Multiplayer)
19th Aug - ZELDA CLASSIC - Lost Isle (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=702401&postcount=162) (Action)
26th Aug - Tasty Static (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=702776&postcount=169) (Driving (sort of))
19th Sep - Armagetron Advanced (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=704025&postcount=177) (Tron clone)
23rd Sep - Dirty Split (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=704384&postcount=180) (Point & Click Adventure)
30th Sep - Castle of the Winds (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=704854&postcount=216) (RPG)
7th Oct - Ninjah (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=705199&postcount=226) (Platform)
14th Oct - Lego Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=705698&postcount=228) (Turn-based strategy)
21st Oct - Enviro-Bear 2000: Operation: Hibernation (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=706245&postcount=232) (Driving Bear Simulator)

Other free games mentioned outside of this thread that are also awesome
Ben There, Dan That! (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=702748&postcount=2783) (Point & Click Adventure)
Syobon Action! (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39518) (Mario Spoof)
Runman : Race Around the World (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=705083&postcount=2916) (Platform)

Melon

22 Jul 2009, 20:20

An Untitled Story

Website: http://www.mattmakesgames.com
Download Link: http://www.mattmakesgames.com/games/AnUntitledStory.zip

http://www.kieranmillar.com/bookclub/aus.png

I'm choosing this game to start off the thread because even though it's a few years old now, it's been updated twice in the last week. It's a platform game that's a bit Metroid/Knytt-esque, you explore a world and pickup powerups so you can explore more of the world etc. etc. You know the drill.

Un-spoileriffic plot synopsis: You're an egg!

The game is surprisingly large. Not too large, I'll admit, but I thought it wasn't going to be as big as it is.

The game supports gamepads supposedly, but I've not got one so I can't tell you how well it works. The game is made in Game Maker, which means Direct X so it only natively works in Windows, but it might work under Wine (Linux) and Crossover (Mac), but again I haven't tested this. EDIT: Doesn't work in Wine according to Muzer below.

I don't want to spoil anything as this is most fun if you're experiencing it without any knowledge of what you're going in for, so stay away from any Let's Plays of the game. I will tell you a few things though:
Don't choose the easiest difficulty or the hardest, Simple is laughably easy and Masterful is far too hard.
It's easy to get lost at the start. Although the game keeps a map, you have no idea where to go and I got stuck somewhat early on.
Sometimes you can't progress without finding one or two secret things. I think this is a bad move, but maybe that's just me.
One "puzzle" a bit later in to the game was a real dick move in my opinion Good luck getting to the save point in Skyands. Yes, this is required to do.

Otherwise I thought this game was really fun and it's one of my favourite free games, so enjoy!

Muzer

22 Jul 2009, 21:21

AFAIK GM games don't work under wine. I'll just give it a test though...

EDIT: It sort of half-works. The backgrounds don't load, and a bit seems to be missed off the top of the screen. It isn't really playable due to the latter, and I'm sure the former causes problems (as an example you can't see the menu).

GrimOswald

23 Jul 2009, 03:29

Interesting idea. I have a game that I reckon is pretty neat, so whenever there is a free Wednesday...

Anyhow, downloaded An Untitled Story, but won't be able to play it until later. But I'll be sure to give my extremely professional critique.

First impression from the screenshot: it was made in Paint. :p

MtlAngelus

23 Jul 2009, 04:51

We've all heard of Cave Story, Nethack and Dwarf Fortress, no need to submit these three.
But I want to play Cavestory for a week. :(

yakuza

23 Jul 2009, 08:25

edit: fair enough

[reserved]

franpa

23 Jul 2009, 09:15

every wednesday we'll put a new free game up for discussion for everyone to try for the following week, and maybe we'll even get a discussion out of it. Maybe. I've only got so many games, so if anyone else has any games they'd like to share then you can post it up next time a wednesday comes round. fun bullet points:
only one game per week please. If you want to show off a game you like then reserve your slot for an upcoming wednesday.
. .

Melon

23 Jul 2009, 09:29

Seeing as yakuza accidentally posted a game there (EDIT: Seems to have removed while I was typing this up, heh) and it looks like great fun, shall we have yakuza's game next week and Grim's the week after that?

I'll add that into the first post.
First impression from the screenshot: it was made in Paint. :p
It probably was, although his other games don't look the same way, it's some sort of style choice supposedly. I thought the graphics weren't actually all that bad and at least it's consistent.
But I want to play Cavestory for a week. :(
I decided against those three because I assume that everyone here has played them all already at some point, so there probably won't be too much to say about them that hasn't been said already.

Plasma

23 Jul 2009, 09:37

You should make a limit on the number of reservation slots. For example, 3. That way its not blocked up way back by people who either forgot their game or just don't have one.

Also, *I RESERVE*

Shadowmoon

23 Jul 2009, 09:49

Nice idea, hopefully this is popular. Downloaded An Untitled Story just now, gonna play it now too.

GrimOswald

23 Jul 2009, 09:54

franpa

23 Jul 2009, 09:55

*I RESERVE*
^ what he said and also, maybe exclude the name of the game (even from the OP) you want to discuss until your week comes up? to maintain a bit of mystery and to prevent people from passing a game and waiting for the next if it better suits there taste etc.

Melon

23 Jul 2009, 09:56

You should make a limit on the number of reservation slots. For example, 3. That way its not blocked up way back by people who either forgot their game or just don't have one.

Also, *I RESERVE*
I don't suppose it really matters how many reservations there are, and multiple people could well be reserving the same game anyway. I'll add in a little note saying that if someone doesn't or can't post their game that Wednesday for whatever reason then the next person in line can post it Thursday. It's not really super important, it's just a forum thread.

Shadowmoon

23 Jul 2009, 10:00

Well so far untitled story is ok...... I have a game created by someone who no longer posts here but i'll need to check with the person first.

robowurmz

23 Jul 2009, 11:43

I reserve too.

I played An Untitled Story a while back when he first released it.

Plasma

23 Jul 2009, 14:11

Well I played it, and... I can't say that I liked it. The 5-seconds-in-MSpaint style is rather sucky, as you'd expect from 5-seconds-in-MSpaint. The music is ear-achingly bad! Its very confusing trying to figure out what to do next, its ridiculous trying to figure out how to beat bosses that can't just be jumped on, nearly all blue power-ups are mandatory some way or another, even if they look like they should be just something a little extra to help. And if there's some sort of story or, ah hell, even a miniscule bit of an explanation to any of it, I can't see it.

In other words, the game fairly damn sucks! And where you say the most fun comes from not knowing anything about it, I say that's not fun at all!

Muzer

23 Jul 2009, 15:59

Reserv'd .

franpa

23 Jul 2009, 16:17

I've given it a good go so far, on regular enemies do so much damage ._. I've managed to make it to the big chasm with a white glowing light of some sort but keep falling down the chasm >_<" and since it is 1am, I'm giving up for now :)

Shadowmoon

23 Jul 2009, 16:27

franpa

23 Jul 2009, 16:37

I'll agree the music is pretty bad, the music notes for the jumping fx aren't that good either and the graphics are pretty poor but the gameplay is pretty good :)

Melon

23 Jul 2009, 16:53

The music is ear-achingly bad!
Yeah I've gotta agree. The guy who made isn't really a musician and all of the music he's made for is games is pretty rubbish (can you believe some people asked for the soundtrack? lol)
its ridiculous trying to figure out how to beat bosses that can't just be jumped on
Maybe you're missing a certain power? It should have been one of the early ones.
And if there's some sort of story or, ah hell, even a miniscule bit of an explanation to any of it, I can't see it.
You don't find any semblance of story until some way into the game. You been through the obligatory lava stage yet?
In other words, the game fairly damn sucks! And where you say the most fun comes from not knowing anything about it, I say that's not fun at all!
I enjoyed exploring, and so finding stuff out in advance would probably ruin that part, but I guess I just like terrible games. Given that I liked Lemmings 3 and Donkey Kong 64, maybe this is the case.
I've given it a good go so far, on regular enemies do so much damage ._.
You should try Masterful. They literally do hundreds of points of damage. At the end of the game you're being hit for about 300 damage each time!

GrimOswald

23 Jul 2009, 17:03

WELL I DISAGREE WITH ALL YOU SUCKY PEOPLE :mad:

Seriously though, I tried it a bit, and I like it! The graphics, while Paint-looking, actually have their charm I find. I think the music is fine, and some of it I actively enjoyed (The Stonecastle level or whatever it is called.) The gameplay is fun...granted not much innovation, but some solid platforming. And I think it has a style of its own, which is important.

I haven't gotten hugely far yet (Oh hey I'm falling OH GOD SPIKES FFFFF), but I am enjoying it so far and shall continue to play it. So this thread is already a success for me! :cool:

I've managed to make it to the big chasm with a white glowing light of some sort but keep falling down the chasm >_<"

Give up! You'll never figure it out! :p

EDIT:

Given that I liked Lemmings 3

Is that the one with three tribes? (Classic, Egyptian, Shadow?) While inferior to its predecessors (Or successors) I found it alright. Those little ninja lemmings were pretty cool. :p

Melon

23 Jul 2009, 17:20

(The Stonecastle level or whatever it is called.)
You found that all on your own? I'm so bad finding secrets. (After completing the game I had to walkthrough the remaining hearts and skills, some of the hearts are actually pretty ridiculous). EDIT: Wait, I'm thinking of somewhere else entirely. Stonecastle is easy to get to.
I've managed to make it to the big chasm with a white glowing light of some sort but keep falling down the chasm >_<"
Give up! You'll never figure it out! :p
Pay more attention when entering the screen franpa, you should be able to figure it out. Keep trying!
Is that the one with three tribes? (Classic, Egyptian, Shadow?) While inferior to its predecessors (Or successors) I found it alright. Those little ninja lemmings were pretty cool. :p
That's exactly right. It was pretty easy (why yes I will have infinite blockers that can be turned back at any time), but I thought it was fun. Definitely different to the other games.

SupSuper

23 Jul 2009, 17:27

Is that the one with three tribes? (Classic, Egyptian, Shadow?) While inferior to its predecessors (Or successors) I found it alright. Those little ninja lemmings were pretty cool. :pughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 02:52

Pay more attention when entering the screen franpa, you should be able to figure it out. Keep trying!
I know what the screen contains, just need to not fall down ._. I suppose theres some visible clue or something to help prevent you from falling ._.

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 03:37

1) where do you learn to use yellow clusters?
2) how to open red heart doors?

aside from that I'm doing pretty good now, 180 health I think plus various other coo' upgrades.

MtlAngelus

24 Jul 2009, 05:13

To open heart doors you need to arrive with full health. :p

I'm about halfway through this game and I love it. The graphics get the job done well, gameplay is solid, and the boss fights are fun. But yeah, the music... sounds like it was made by a four year old... I also wish the game would offer some kind of visual hint on how to deal with each boss. So far I've done well without a guide tho.

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 05:23

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 06:03

I assume water or lava next?

GrimOswald

24 Jul 2009, 06:06

Ugh, as far as I can tell I'm at a point where the only way to progress is to go about smashing pots again and again and again until I get enough to buy the yellow thing at the shop. >_<

That or I'm missing something, as I'm not the leafiest tree in the forest. :(

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 06:11

what ARE the yellow orbs for?

GrimOswald

24 Jul 2009, 06:28

what ARE the yellow orbs for?

Considering they look exactly the same as the red ones (And their placement), I can only assume they do the same thing.

MtlAngelus

24 Jul 2009, 06:59

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 08:01

Yeah, pretty arbitrary thing imho.

GrimOswald

24 Jul 2009, 10:17

Nevermind, turns out I was even more stupid than I thought. :p Stupid blue energy...

Melon

24 Jul 2009, 10:17

Yeah I'm not stuck anymore ^_^" and the heart doors work much the same as the musical note doors from Banjo Kazooie but they unlock when you have so much health (like one heart door needed 160 health or something iirc) so you need to find health upgrades to unlock 'em.
Nope, it is full health. Heart upgrades won't help for them.
Ugh, as far as I can tell I'm at a point where the only way to progress is to go about smashing pots again and again and again until I get enough to buy the yellow thing at the shop. >_<

That or I'm missing something, as I'm not the leafiest tree in the forest. :(
I did that. The yellow orbs have their own function, but if you don't know what it is yet, then you don't need them. Yet.

GrimOswald

24 Jul 2009, 11:07

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 11:15

I found what the yellow orb is for :) I need to reach some castle afaik to progress.

Plasma

24 Jul 2009, 11:21

Maybe you're missing a certain power? It should have been one of the early ones.
I mean bosses in general! Take the first boss that can't be attacked using simple means (so not to ruin it for anyone): the first shooting boss. He shoots between two or three shots that you have to dodge. Some of them are yellow, but occassionally he shoots a blue one. So what do you have to do? Purposely get hit by the blue bullets!
I mean, when I went against him the first few times, I did what any sane person would do and avoided them! I thought they'd do double damage or something, especially since they usually only appeared with only one other yellow bullet. When the only way to defeat a boss by getting shot, its most certainly NOT what I call a good puzzle!

MtlAngelus

24 Jul 2009, 11:31

I mean bosses in general! Take the first boss that can't be attacked using simple means (so not to ruin it for anyone): the first shooting boss. He shoots between two or three shots that you have to dodge. Some of them are yellow, but occassionally he shoots a blue one. So what do you have to do? Purposely get hit by the blue bullets!
I mean, when I went against him the first few times, I did what any sane person would do and avoided them! I thought they'd do double damage or something, especially since they usually only appeared with only one other yellow bullet. When the only way to defeat a boss by getting shot, its most certainly NOT what I call a good puzzle!

You're just mad because you suck at it. :rolleyes:

yakuza

24 Jul 2009, 11:31

philby4000

24 Jul 2009, 12:38

Hitting back projectiles of a different colour is a pretty standard videogame trope.

The health door at the bottom of Farfall is a dick move and a half. Also, you can break pots? time to grind some cash.

So far this game is pretty neat. The author was clearly influenced by Knytt Stories. I like how the title references the mspaint grahics, an untitled story indeed.

Edit: Now that I can play blackjack, money is no longer an issue.

Melon

24 Jul 2009, 13:43

The money system is rage inducing. I lost it all and was like "Herp derp that was fun, but for srs this time" and loaded.

BUT NO THAT WOULD BE TOO EASY WOULDN'T IT GAME DON'T LET ME REGAIN MY MONEY :mad:

Now I have to go hunting again and painfully slowly build up the hundreds I had before piddling it away.

FFFFF MONEY
This game is wise to your cheating ways!
I mean bosses in general! Take the first boss that can't be attacked using simple means (so not to ruin it for anyone): the first shooting boss. He shoots between two or three shots that you have to dodge. Some of them are yellow, but occassionally he shoots a blue one. So what do you have to do? Purposely get hit by the blue bullets!
I mean, when I went against him the first few times, I did what any sane person would do and avoided them! I thought they'd do double damage or something, especially since they usually only appeared with only one other yellow bullet. When the only way to defeat a boss by getting shot, its most certainly NOT what I call a good puzzle!
Maybe it's just me, but the very first thing I did when the boss fired a different coloured bullet was jump into it. I thought it was obvious :confused:

Muzer

24 Jul 2009, 13:59

Maybe it's just me, but the very first thing I did when the boss fired a different coloured bullet was jump into it. I thought it was obvious http://forum.team17.co.uk/images/newsmilies/confused.gif
It would be great if that worked in real life.

"Hey, Osama Bin Laden is firing blue bullets at me instead of silver ones! I'll get hit by them and that will make him die!"

Plasma

24 Jul 2009, 13:59

Hitting back projectiles of a different colour is a pretty standard videogame trope.
Yeah, but there's a difference between hitting them back with, say, a sword, and... just getting hit.

philby4000

24 Jul 2009, 14:14

Yeah, but there's a difference between hitting them back with, say, a sword, and... just getting hit.
So far your only means of attack has been to jump on things.

speaking of bosses, how do you hurt the undewater dragon thing?

I've noticed one of his segments becomes transparrent, but jumping on it does nothing.

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 14:24

Where are the last 2 blue power ups? :/ (3rd last and last)

power slam the blue segment. (press down)

Melon

24 Jul 2009, 14:24

So far your only means of attack has been to jump on things.

speaking of bosses, how do you hurt the undewater dragon thing?

I've noticed one of his segments becomes transparrent, but jumping on it does nothing.
If landing on it doesn't work, then maybe you need to land on it a bit harder. Also, I hope you like holding up and down at the same time, because you'll need to jump off of it the second you slam into it.
Where are the last 2 blue power ups? :/ (3rd last and last)
By 3rd last do you mean between magetism and toughness 1? If so: keep looking underwater. As for the last one: it's a secret! Hunt around Farfall.

philby4000

24 Jul 2009, 14:44

If landing on it doesn't work, then maybe you need to land on it a bit harder. Also, I hope you like holding up and down at the same time, because you'll need to jump off of it the second you slam into it.

I thought I tried that, must have hit it just as the spikes reapeared.

Also I've long since switched control method, there's no excuse for up being jump.

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 14:46

between "shoot ice" and "toughness 2" (I assume it is called toughness 1?) and damn far fall -.-

found the one in Far Fall, that one was hidden in a way that you could only find it by mistake -_-"

Melon

24 Jul 2009, 15:25

between "shoot ice" and "toughness 2" (I assume it is called toughness 1?) and damn far fall -.-

found the one in Far Fall, that one was hidden in a way that you could only find it by mistake -_-"
I can't remember specifically which toughness upgrade is where, but it's either:
at the end of MountSide, that place you teleport to with the spinning arrow blocks or behind the super annoying heart door on the "hidden" upper path of Nightwalk (the starting area)

franpa

24 Jul 2009, 15:48

found the night walk one ^_^" but probably can't be bothered getting it ._.

Melon

24 Jul 2009, 17:07

I'm posting this from my new MacBook! Well, it's actually a used MacBook which I bought off my brother, but it's new to me. I'm going to try some iPhone prototyping shortly (as soon as I can get my hands on an iPod Touch).

As well, I just moved and was without internet for a while. Between sessions of working on Runman, I whipped up another quick AUS update. It's now at v1.17.

Bug Fixes:

* Fixed JumpBox highscore recognition not working in all cases.
* Fixed all empty rooms in SkyTown behaving as though they were at the edge of the map.

Balance Changes:

* Red energy in NightWalk now appears once you can duck.
* Made the DeepTower secret passage a bit more obvious again.
* Made Grotto eye boss easier on all difficulties.
* Added a savepoint to DeepDive on Regular and Simple.
Third An Untitled Story update this week! Just download it again and replace the current version. Your saves will still work. (You may want to clear your cache first so you don't re-download v1.16)

Shadowmoon

24 Jul 2009, 17:18

I shall try this again now..... maybe the fact I only played a bit of it made it seem "meh" to me.... so I shall try again and play a lot more.

yakuza

24 Jul 2009, 17:30

I shall try this again now..... maybe the fact I only played a bit of it made it seem "meh" to me.... so I shall try again and play a lot more.

Yes, now that you've noticed everyone likes it you will also like it.

philby4000

24 Jul 2009, 17:53

Well I beat the water boss and found out what the orbs are for, is that area an extra or do I have to do it to get the ending?

Screw the fire area, how am I suposed to avoid all those lava pellets? I got squished almost instantly when I finaly made it to the second screen.

The only other place I can get to at the moment (afaik) is the mountain with the falling boulders and the dark spike filled cave. I need to find another toughness updrade.

Oh, and Skysand, but I think I need a jump upgrade to get any further there, and I've a sneaking suspicion it's the upgrade next to the save point there. The save point I can't get to.

I'm going to stop playing for today because Blankland has given me a headache.

Shadowmoon

24 Jul 2009, 18:15

Yes, now that you've noticed everyone likes it you will also like it.

Actually, no, I didn't have much patience yesterday and gave up quickly.

So shut the hell up.

I'm enjoying it more now, although I went too fast and fell down the chasm :/

SupSuper

24 Jul 2009, 19:33

Yes, now that you've noticed everyone likes it you will also like it.If it makes you feel better, I don't.

I don't know who spread the idea that throwing players mindlessly into games and simply dishing onto them every idea you can come up with is extremely clever well-done game design. It's not. It grew old and annoying the last hundred times it's been done.

MtlAngelus

24 Jul 2009, 21:38

If it makes you feel better, I don't.

I don't know who spread the idea that throwing players mindlessly into games and simply dishing onto them every idea you can come up with is extremely clever well-done game design. It's not. It grew old and annoying the last hundred times it's been done.
Nonsense. If the gameplay is good then I don't see anything wrong with doing that. This game is plenty of fun despite its flaws.

Muzer

24 Jul 2009, 21:42

Still doesn't work in wine :(

FutureWorm

25 Jul 2009, 01:18

plasma is bad at video games

GrimOswald

25 Jul 2009, 03:55

MtlAngelus

25 Jul 2009, 04:43

Am I the only one who expected that bird in the Lava place to betray you? It had all the telltale signs! I was almost disappointed that it didn't happen.

Anyhow, got a few options where I want to go now, which is nice. A little non-linearity is always welcome. Time for a swim!

Haha, I was expecting the same thing indeed.

Does anybody know if there's any practical reason to buy all that fancy stuff for my house other than the mini-game(s)?

franpa

25 Jul 2009, 05:16

not sure, I need over a thousand crystals to buy the last 2 items ._.

edit: Any bonus for finding all the gold orbs? killing all bosses?

Shadowmoon

25 Jul 2009, 08:45

I'm stuck on the spike pit bit, where you have to pass it without getting hurt to open the heart door and get the powerup.... is there a power up i've missed out or something? will have another check now, thanks in advance.

Never mind, found out, and also found Shooting powerup+ stick to ceiling powerup.

philby4000

25 Jul 2009, 11:00

All the rewards behind the heart doors are optional upgrades, you don't need any of them, but they definitely help.

Shadowmoon

25 Jul 2009, 11:33

Pretty stuck now.

Beaten the stone thing, jelly thing, flying thing that sprays enemies at you, the boss that just moves and jumps, and the firing cannons.

A new route has just opened up in nightwalk, I took it, only to find the rest of the route is blocked by a yellow door.

How do you open yellow doors? and in Skysand, how am I supposed to get past the fire at the beginning? get a powerup?

franpa

25 Jul 2009, 11:35

in Skysand, how am I supposed to get past the fire at the beginning? get a powerup?SPOILER:

You can get past it by using an ice shot.

Melon

25 Jul 2009, 12:39

I should probably be leaving all this for you all to figure out yourselves, but I can't help myself! So...uh... spoiler warning.
Well I beat the water boss and found out what the orbs are for, is that area an extra or do I have to do it to get the ending?
It's the final area of the game. It's necessary, but you don't need all of the orbs.
Oh, and Skysand, but I think I need a jump upgrade to get any further there, and I've a sneaking suspicion it's the upgrade next to the save point there. The save point I can't get to.
It is. You can't get further in SkySand without that upgrade, and you also need that upgrade to complete the game, but getting to that save point is without a doubt the least intuitive and rubbish "puzzle" in the game. If you want to avoid a lot of frustration, here's how you do it:
You can warp to save points just by visiting the screen they are on once and not by actually touching them, so need to walk onto that screen and then go back and find another save point and warp to it. I wasn't expecting this behaviour, and every time I would try to press on and end up dying, so it lost my progress. I stumbled upon the solution by accident once when I gave up and turned around and wasn't really very happy. I think it's a total dick move.
Does anybody know if there's any practical reason to buy all that fancy stuff for my house other than the mini-game(s)?
No. It doesn't even count for completion percentage, so save your money. You can almost never have too much money in this game.
edit: Any bonus for finding all the gold orbs? killing all bosses?
Completion percentage? Some of the areas may have a few hearts lying around too, so it probably wouldn't hurt, but if you just can't do a boss and don't need the orb, you may be able to miss it out entirely, which is nice.

Shadowmoon

25 Jul 2009, 12:49

Well I found out what to do- by accident. Kept pressing the duck button while messing about, and at one certain area woot, magic platforms appeared :D

franpa

25 Jul 2009, 13:13

So many heart pieces, I can easily get the following on Simple/Regular difficulty.

Hearts = 54~/95
Skill Upgrades = 21/22
Orange Orbs = 10/10
Bosses = 17/17

GrimOswald

25 Jul 2009, 13:17

I'm guessing the harder the difficulty setting, the more orbs you need? (Could be wrong, but it seems logical.)

I'm torn, because on the one hand I want to see absolutely every area and collect absolutely every item, but on the other hand, I'm thinking maybe I should save that for the hardest difficulty setting, since I'll probably play through it after anyway.

In any case, woooo I'm on the home stretch of the game.

And I hella bought everything. Everyone wants a piece of my solid gold statue. :cool:

franpa

25 Jul 2009, 13:21

hardest difficulty = instant death spikes.

GrimOswald

26 Jul 2009, 07:03

Yay, beaten the game on Regular. :cool: I decided not to collect everything, but rather play through again on Masterful and collect everything.

*Dies in first five seconds*

ffffffff

MtlAngelus

26 Jul 2009, 09:34

I'm playing on hard and for me it's enough to try and get everything. Then I'll do it again on masterful.

Speaking of getting everything, Rainbow Dive. GASKGASJDAKJEFASHOWAMISUPPOSEDTOGETTHATMANYSTARS?? ?.
Kids, don't read the bright text if you don't want to be spoiled. Sort of. I don't really think it's an spoiler but just in case anyway:

I am well aware that you can shoot stars to grab them and stuff, but it's still hard to try and get them all... not to mention that stupid spinning thing that you have to catch in the right moment... I'm guessing this is just a matter of trial and error but it's so annoying... Oh and I made a map of the thing for analysis purposes :p. It's >>HERE<<
(http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/4352/rainbowdive.png)
On the second screen from the top there's a green star where the bird is located, which I accidentally grabbed as I was falling and taking the screenshot.

GrimOswald

26 Jul 2009, 09:36

Farfall boss on Masterful is hilarious.

SO MANY BABIES

EDIT: It is now less hilarious after an hour and a half of trying and failing to beat him. fffffffff

Melon

26 Jul 2009, 10:51

Speaking of getting everything, Rainbow Dive. GASKGASJDAKJEFASHOWAMISUPPOSEDTOGETTHATMANYSTARS?? ?.
If it makes you feel better, I can't get that either. I did a 100% run on regular, but it needs almost every star on Masterful (and Hard, apparently). I've just got that and the final area to complete, and I can't do either (the final area on Masterful is horrendous) :(

Metacooler

26 Jul 2009, 23:48

Nice idea. Haven't got time for this one really due to driving test around the corner and stuff, but i played the first couple of minutes and it seems fun if a bit tricky.

Anyway, *RESERVE*

philby4000

27 Jul 2009, 22:35

Guh, the dark grotto would be a lot less annoying if I didn't have to reset the game because the lighting fllat out stops working whenever I die to the boss.

MtlAngelus

28 Jul 2009, 08:45

I've only got one boss left, which I guess is the last one. I have all yellow orbs, I'm missing one blue orb and a bunch of hearts. I'm guessing that last blue orb is in the possession of that annoying flower loving freak...

Also I hate the ghosts. They always show up in the worst possible time... :mad:

GrimOswald

28 Jul 2009, 12:43

Also I hate the ghosts. They always show up in the worst possible time... :mad:

For me they actually tend to show up when they're easily avoidable. :cool: I think it's a poor idea though...it doesn't add anything.

As for myself, I am stuck on the second Stonecastle boss right now (The eye). Funny, he was one of the easiest on Regular mode, and now I can't get past him. I suck at this game. :p

Also, does anyone else like the Mountainside music? I can't stop listening to it!

EDIT: Hah, beat him just now. It seems this "dodging" malarkey is not such a bad idea after all!

Metal Alex

28 Jul 2009, 15:24

Played it, beated it, and I really enjoyed it. Just one question... Where are the last 3 hearts? 91, 92, and 93?

Also, the Paint drawn style quite fits perfectly.

Melon

28 Jul 2009, 17:32

Played it, beated it, and I really enjoyed it. Just one question... Where are the last 3 hearts? 91, 92, and 93?

Also, the Paint drawn style quite fits perfectly.
I don't understand how you missed 93 if you got 94 and 95. Check that area again.

91 is in the same place as toughness upgrade 3. If you've got all the abilities, then you should have seen it.

92 is in Skylands.

Metal Alex

28 Jul 2009, 22:13

I don't understand how you missed 93 if you got 94 and 95. Check that area again.

91 is in the same place as toughness upgrade 3. If you've got all the abilities, then you should have seen it.

92 is in Skylands.

Woops... Apparently, what I was missing was 93, 94 and 95 :p

EDIT: Nevermind, I found it by sheer luck pouncing the sand like a bloody idiot.

Metacooler

28 Jul 2009, 23:13

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST!!! SUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Then i played the game a bit more. I've gutted my available area of powerups etc, and i've come to the falling-through-spike-chambers section (Farfall). I'm having trouble with it - as i understand, you have to have full hp to get the upgrade past the heart door?? I can't even reach the second red energy boost thing in the 3rd chamber from the bottom; and so i have to take damage to get to the heart door. I have Jump Upgrade 1, Double jump + Upgrade, and Energy Jump 1. Do i need more upgrades to get the upgrade at the bottom of farfall? Or am i just lame @ jumping? :confused:

On that note, is anyone else plagued by bouts of unwanted slow-motion, lags and commands not working from time to time?

PS: I was sickened to discover that after at least ten minutes of repetition to build up enough coinage to buy the yellow thing from Sky Town, that it didn't allow me to jump on the yellow energy pockets! In fact, it seems to serve no purpose at all at this stage of the game!

Weak!

GrimOswald

29 Jul 2009, 04:12

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST!!! SUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Congratulations. :p

Then i played the game a bit more. I've gutted my available area of powerups etc, and i've come to the falling-through-spike-chambers section (Farfall). I'm having trouble with it - as i understand, you have to have full hp to get the upgrade past the heart door?? I can't even reach the second red energy boost thing in the 3rd chamber from the bottom; and so i have to take damage to get to the heart door. I have Jump Upgrade 1, Double jump + Upgrade, and Energy Jump 1. Do i need more upgrades to get the upgrade at the bottom of farfall? Or am i just lame @ jumping? :confused:

Hah, I had the exact same problem. I kept trying for ages to no avail. You need another upgrade, yeah.

PS: I was sickened to discover that after at least ten minutes of repetition to build up enough coinage to buy the yellow thing from Sky Town, that it didn't allow me to jump on the yellow energy pockets! In fact, it seems to serve no purpose at all at this stage of the game!

Weak!

I had the exact same experience! I kept gambling and gambling and Ctrl+Alt+Del-ing (:p) until I had enough to buy it, then "Oops, sorry, turns out you don't actually need this right now."

Sucker punched. :(

franpa

29 Jul 2009, 06:28

time for Yakuza's game?

yakuza

29 Jul 2009, 07:38

The Spirit Engine

website:http://thespiritengine.com/tse1.html
download link:http://www.sendspace.com/file/l1lqxb

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/6708/spiritenginela9.png

The Spirit Engine is a two-dimensional sidescrolling RPG created by Mark Pay for Natomic Studios that combines a unique gameplay system with rich graphics, a soundtrack composed by Josh Whelchel with contributions by Nobuyuki` and Yoshiman, and a deep storyline. The current version is version 1.04.

The Spirit Engine (note, not The Spirit Engine 2) is a freeware RPG I played through years ago and that for some reason has stayed under the radar as far as indie game development goes.
It's a turn based RPG with a mix. At the begining you create your party of three guys, choosing from a range of aviable classes and then you jump into the story. Battle happens in realtime, and party members fight automaticly with the AI you configure them to.
The game can be a little hard at the begining since it really punishes you for not choosing a good party / skillset but all in all it's pretty straight forward.

http://curlysworldoffreeware.com/files/tsecompiled_169.png

Metal Alex

29 Jul 2009, 13:00

RPGs never where my games of choice, but I'll give it a try later. The customization seems interesting.

Melon

29 Jul 2009, 14:15

I've not had too much time to play this today so far, but from what I've played it looks pretty good. My party is Clara, Zepher and Samuel, so here's hoping I've not screwed myself over. It seems like a pretty well rounded team though.

Plasma

29 Jul 2009, 15:26

I have only started it, so I certainly haven't got far, but I will say one thing:

WALL OF TEXT!
Apparently nobody pointed out to the writers that in a text-based game, you want the text to be brief! It should not take 10 minutes to explain that "There are three guys. Ones a mercenary, ones a ranger, ones a high priest; they get teleported to somewhere else for no apparent reason".
I mean, when there's several paragraphs explaining how one guy spent too much on "magic" beans, its not a good sign.

The second thing I noticed is that the characters don't show emotion well. What they should've done is large headshot portraits of the characters expressing whatever emotion, not a really tiny generic portrait. Sure, its not necessary for many RPGs (Pokemon springs to mind), but those ones have both smaller bits of dialogue and have writers more capable of giving characters personality; in other words, they're capable of expressing emotion in dialogue alone.

Edit: right, that sounded awfully negative for a game I haven't got much of an impression of yet. That's just my initial thoughts.

super_frea

29 Jul 2009, 15:44

It sounds like you were expecting a tour de force Plasma.

Melon

29 Jul 2009, 15:56

Goddamn this game is difficult. I've got up to the snowy area near the beginning and I'm getting destroyed. I've got a party healing talisman and my healer is continuously using party heal, but the enemies keep freezing me and so I can't get enough attacks in before they drain all my health. Maybe I'll try using the kinetic shield a bit more.

Fighting enemies with over 400 HP in the second area seems a bit much, but I'm sure I'll get used to it soon.

Muzer

31 Jul 2009, 00:49

Just downloading now. I'll check if it works on wine out of the box (if not, there's a wine patch here (http://cmdftp.sourceforge.net/cfontana/hobbies.php#se) that's supposed to work but I can't be bothered to try it)

Melon

31 Jul 2009, 12:57

Does anybody else keep getting this?
http://www.kieranmillar.com/bookclub/tseerror.png
It occasionally crashes on me at the end of a fight which is annoying, but otherwise the game's fun. It seems that sometimes you have to grind areas a bit to afford the latest equipment before progressing, but it's not much (or maybe I'm just sucking). The game is pretty much what I was expecting otherwise.

Muzer

31 Jul 2009, 13:42

I barely played it (I hate RPGs), but I don't believe the saving works in wine. So yeah, you'd need to use that patch if you want to play it in wine in more than one sitting.

franpa

31 Jul 2009, 15:15

I got a random crash here :/ Windows 7 RTM.

Edit: it occured in the 4th area after some grinding in previous areas.

philby4000

31 Jul 2009, 17:45

Downlaoded, but I probably won't get a chance to play it untill sunday.

The graphics look nice though.

franpa

1 Aug 2009, 10:07

http://thespiritengine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Discussion of the crash bug and the end result of it never going to get fixed.

Metacooler

2 Aug 2009, 00:27

{Sorry to backtrack during discussion of Spirit Engine, but i just don't have the time to play that one, so i'm gonna stick with progressing through an untitled story bit by bit in my free time}

Congratulations. :p

Ty Ty :D

Hah, I had the exact same problem. I kept trying for ages to no avail. You need another upgrade, yeah.

Just got the aforementioned difficult-to-reach upgrade - which turned out to be a money-pot gimic. To add insult to injury, aside from being a rubbish upgrade, it doesn't help me progress in any other area of the game. Grrrrrrrr!

New tactic; since i have come across two yellow doors with unresponsive yellow merchant guys in front of them, i'll take a shot in the dark and assume that i have to buy every item from the first one in Skytown before i can deal with them. Here I go with the money-collecting again....lets hope my theory works out, even if it is kind of a crappy roadblock to put in the game.

I had the exact same experience! I kept gambling and gambling and Ctrl+Alt+Del-ing (:p) until I had enough to buy it, then "Oops, sorry, turns out you don't actually need this right now."

Sucker punched. :(

Ctrl+Alt+Del-ing you say? What result does that yield?

In any case, in accordance with my new tactic I would have needed to buy that stupid yellow orb thing anyway. Now back to the game...

EDIT: I was wrong. I visited the yellow dude to the east after cleaning out the Skytown shop, and he still only blinked at me.....however, as i hopped dejectedly back westward, thinking to myself what a silly waste of time all the pot-breaking and money-grabbing was, I stumbled across the answer by complete accident!! How amazingly lucky, it probably would have taken ages to discover hatching otherwise.... :D

philby4000

2 Aug 2009, 05:02

The whole hatching upgrade was a prety cool puzzle, except for you needing an upgrade to duck which was pretty bull****.

I've given up on ever completing the ganme now, after geting gangraped by ghosts half way up the curtain. (The godamn random plot ghosts rather than the easily avoidable pacman style ghosts)

GrimOswald

2 Aug 2009, 05:14

Ctrl+Alt+Del-ing you say? What result does that yield?

Well, if I get a bad streak and lose all my money gambling, I force the game to shut down so it does not save. :p Sure, in some craaaazy circles that may be considered cheating, but honestly the money system is silly (As they usually are) and I will cut down on it as much as possible.

(When I tried doing that via the game options it saved my current money total, but maybe I just chose the wrong one like "Reset from last save" or something. Oh well.)

EDIT: I was wrong. I visited the yellow dude to the east after cleaning out the Skytown shop, and he still only blinked at me.....however, as i hopped dejectedly back westward, thinking to myself what a silly waste of time all the pot-breaking and money-grabbing was, I stumbled across the answer by complete accident!! How amazingly lucky, it probably would have taken ages to discover hatching otherwise.... :D

Woo! From there the game really opens up, so you probably won't get stuck in a "where the hell do I go from here" sort of way.

I thought the hatching bit was neat, though quite obvious if you find the clue.

MtlAngelus

2 Aug 2009, 08:52

While on the subject, I hate Blackcastle. NEEDS MORE SAVEPOINTS, GODDAMMIT.

franpa

2 Aug 2009, 09:54

Use a easier difficulty setting then ._. unless you suck at "Simple" mode.

MtlAngelus

2 Aug 2009, 10:53

Use a easier difficulty setting then ._. unless you suck at "Simple" mode.
No, because real gamers only game in hard or above. :cool:

Melon

2 Aug 2009, 12:04

I've given up on ever completing the ganme now, after geting gangraped by ghosts half way up the curtain. (The godamn random plot ghosts rather than the easily avoidable pacman style ghosts)
The funny thing is that those random ghosts weren't usually in the game. He added them in in an update a while ago, and in a more recent update even upped the chance of them appearing slightly. I just don't understand why, because they don't add anything other than the random chance for frustration. What a dumb move.

Metacooler

2 Aug 2009, 12:58

Well, if I get a bad streak and lose all my money gambling, I force the game to shut down so it does not save. :p Sure, in some craaaazy circles that may be considered cheating, but honestly the money system is silly (As they usually are) and I will cut down on it as much as possible..

I'm morally obligated to summon the gaming police!

:eek:"M3ntal, he's cheating, I have his confession right here!..."

Woo! From there the game really opens up, so you probably won't get stuck in a "where the hell do I go from here" sort of way.

I thought the hatching bit was neat, though quite obvious if you find the clue.

Lovely. Yeah the hatching was very cool...unexpected! I had no idea those little walking things in Skytown were birds..... x)

I'm really enjoying this game. Don't understand the amount of dislike going it's way... It's unique and well thought out - challenging but usually not overly frustrating.

One complaint i have is that every section full of nasty things like spikes and fire seem to be preceded by one of those heart doors, blocking the way to the reward you get for making it through the gauntlet, so that you have to repeat the process until you get it perfect...This is bad development IMO, it means that all the HP you gather is really only useful for fighting bosses. :-/

MtlAngelus

2 Aug 2009, 13:01

The Pac-man style ghosts bother me more tho. In Blackcastle that is, they were fairly harmless in the curtain.

Did I mention that I hate Blackcastle? Because I do. I hate Blackcastle. Hate. Hate.

HATE.

GrimOswald

2 Aug 2009, 15:14

No, because real gamers only game in hard or above. :cool:

Hah, I am playing on Masterful! That makes me the realest of all. :cool:

The Pac-man style ghosts bother me more tho. In Blackcastle that is, they were fairly harmless in the curtain.

Did I mention that I hate Blackcastle? Because I do. I hate Blackcastle. Hate. Hate.

HATE.

I think someone's got a crush on Blackcastle. ;)

I too am up to Blackcastle. Caught me by surprise when I realized one of the save points from Regular mode wasn't there. I was like FFFFFFF.

Of course, I still have some hearts to get before finishing the game, but I figure I will get to the last save point first so I can get all the flowers in one go. And then I will go searching for the 14 or so hearts I have left to find, while will take me approximately an eternity since I refuse to use the help in Skylands. REFUUUUUUUSE!

Melon

2 Aug 2009, 16:09

Just an FYI, Blackcastle is the only thing I have left to do on Masterful difficulty and I still can't do it. It's stupidly difficult. About 10 rooms in a row allowing about 5 hits and no saves is hard enough, but having one of those rooms be pitch black with ghosts is ridiculous. I can get up to that room with full health, but have never managed to pass it.

franpa

2 Aug 2009, 16:54

I just don't understand why, because they don't add anything other than the random chance for frustration. What a dumb move.
Enter screen, wait 5 or 10 seconds, if they appear retreat to previous screen then come back. Rinse repeat and you never have to deal with them.

GrimOswald

2 Aug 2009, 17:34

Enter screen, wait 5 or 10 seconds, if they appear retreat to previous screen then come back. Rinse repeat and you never have to deal with them.

A: Not always possible (The Curtain for instance).
B: While they usually appear quickly, sometimes it takes a while.
C: Having to wait 10 seconds each time you enter an area is ridiculous.

The ghosts are indeed dumb.

MtlAngelus

2 Aug 2009, 18:48

Melon

2 Aug 2009, 19:11

They tend to show when I'm in one of those areas full of spikes that need careful maneuvering. Plus they can show after 10 seconds. I don't know if there's actually a time limit for them to show on a screen...
While I can't answer that, here's something the creator posted about them (bear in mind that this was before he upped the chance slightly):
The random ghost appearances was something that came to me the other day for no apparent reason. I like the idea of a random event that can suddenly change the player's short-term goals completely. In this case, there is a very small chance that a ghost or two will appear and force you to flee from the room. The frequency is pretty low, and it can only occur in about half the game's rooms, but it should add a bit more variety to exploring the game world.

Note that the ghosts can only appear once you've encountered them in the story (which can be quite late in the game for some players), and they'll never chase you on Simple mode. The formula for the odds of the ghosts appearing in a room is:

P(ghosts) = 0.015 + (diff * 0.005) + (gold * 0.005)

So if you're playing on Regular (diff = 1) and you have 5 gold orbs (gold = 5), the chance of a ghost ambushing you in a room is 0.045, or 4.5%.
I still think that "hey guys let's randomly waste a bit of your time" is a terrible idea for a game.

...Uh... so what about that Spirit Engine game? Up to the final world now.

franpa

3 Aug 2009, 07:24

I can't be arsed if it is gonna randomly crash.

MtlAngelus

3 Aug 2009, 17:50

Beat the highscore on Jumpbox and didn't get my heart reward. :(

Do I have to beat my own new highscore or will that save never be 100%? T_T

edit: Nope. Just topped my own score and still no heart.

THIS SUCKS.

Melon

3 Aug 2009, 19:27

Are you using v1.17? It supposedly fixes a bug with Jumpbox not recognizing your highscore. Otherwise, I think there may be a problem with the highscores you need to obtain being shown wrong for some difficulties. It should be 9500 for Hard difficulty.

MtlAngelus

3 Aug 2009, 20:29

Metacooler

3 Aug 2009, 20:48

WHAT NINE THOUSAND?!?!? :eek:

/me has flashback to DBZ-series website....:D

franpa

4 Aug 2009, 04:43

What is this jump box people speak of?

GrimOswald

4 Aug 2009, 08:08

What is this jump box people speak of?

From this we can easily deduce that Franpa is in fact homeless.

AND WHAT YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE HIGH SCORE ON JUMPBOX TO GET A HEART??? FFFFFFFFFFF

MtlAngelus

4 Aug 2009, 09:04

On the subject of The Spirit Engine, I barely just got started. :o

franpa

4 Aug 2009, 09:24

Oh, Jumpbox = Jumper, I keep confusing it for something else.

philby4000

4 Aug 2009, 15:51

On the subject of The Spirit Engine, I barely just got started. :o

Same here, I just beat the first chapter.

I'm not really feeling the game so far, the sidescrolling is pretty limiting and it takes ages to get anywhere. Why can't I just jump to another location from the map if evey completed area has that fastforward arrow to skip through them anyway?

The graphics are pretty though. The character animations are kind of ropey though, thats quite a three frame walk cycle they've got going there.

Music's alright I guess and the battle system is actually pretty good, I like the idea of setting up chains beforehand but I wish there were more than three slots per character.

Is there a way to sell items?

MtlAngelus

4 Aug 2009, 16:32

Yeah the movement is something that bugs me too. At least of what I've played so far, I don't know if it gets interesting later on, but so far it's just slowly move left and right.
It would've been nicer if they had introduced at least some platforming action to keep things interesting.

Melon

5 Aug 2009, 22:33

Yo Grim, don't forget that it's your turn now (not that you may have forgotten, but, y'know..)

I uninstalled the Spirit Engine today. I didn't finish it. I liked a lot of things about it, but the bad bits tend to stick in my mind more. I could handle the random crashing, but I felt there were some design flaws. I liked the battle system though.

The whole side-scrolling shtick looked interesting but I felt more could have been done with it, and although RPGs tend to be linear, it just made it feel more linear. This is a minor complaint.

I don't understand why if the game let you warp to the end of a zone once you'd completed it, why the game didn't just let you go anywhere you'd passed through on the map, rather than load one zone at a time just to skip through it each time. Again, another minor and non-serious complaint.

The save points costing money kind of bugged me. I see what the developer was trying to do, making you have to pay to remove some of the risk, but punishing me to save the game is a bit of a no-no in my book, and most of the time I could just trek back to the free save in town anyway.

Maybe I was just bad at the game, but near the beginning especially, I felt like the game required you to grind a bit. I was into the whole grinding thing when I was 12 and had loads of free time, but not any more. This is probably just personal taste. Maybe the game could have been balanced a bit better? (Or maybe it was balanced and I suck?)

The huge complaint I had that caused me to uninstall the game were the starts of worlds 3 and 5. When you get here, you're forced into some fights without the opportunity to leave (so no grinding), and they're a considerable step up from the end of the previous world. If you didn't grind a bit extra before hand, then you can end up hitting what feels like a brick wall and get trapped in an unwinnable situation. After some serious changes of strategy and a bit of luck, I got through the start of world 3, but I ran out of patience trying to get past the start of World 5 and stopped there. I could well have been stuck in an unwinnable situation, but I'll never know.

So oh well. Game looked good, played reasonably well, but I got cocked-blocked by a seemingly unwinnable scenario near the end and I'm certainly not doing it all over again.

GrimOswald

6 Aug 2009, 08:04

Yo Grim, don't forget that it's your turn now (not that you may have forgotten, but, y'know..)

Ah yes, thank you. I do not has enough time just this moment, but I should get it up in a few hours.

GrimOswald

6 Aug 2009, 13:59

Deadly Rooms Of Death: Architects Edition

Website: http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewsitepage.php?id=90294
Download Link: http://www.caravelgames.com/distfiles/CDROD1_6_7setup.exe
Linux Download Link: http://forum.caravelgames.com/downloads.php?dl=1&id=37

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w220/GrimOswald/DrodBook2.png

DROD is a semi turn-based (Sort of) puzzle game. You play as Beethro, who is either an ogre of some kind or a really deformed human. I can't tell. Anyhow, King Dugan has given you the task of cleaning out his dungeons, which have become infested with monsters such as man-sized roaches, snakes, goblins, bats, and weird floating eyes. It's not a pleasant job, but someone has to do it. And that someone is you. Bawls.

It takes place on a grid from a top-down view. You traverse these squares one at a time, and can move in any of the 8 directions. You also have a sword in front of you, which can be swung in either direction. You go from room to room and kill monsters (Or be killed by them, but I don't recommend this), hit switches that raise/lower barriers, create mimics of yourself, and other such things. The goal of each level is to clear all the rooms (Destroy all the monsters), at which point the stairs to the next level can be accessed.

As I said, the game is sort of turn-based. You take an action, be it moving a square, swinging your sword, or using the wait button, and then the monsters in the room make their move, which is usually moving towards you. In this manner you have an endless amount of time to plan your course of action. If you leave a room and re-enter it, it will return to its starting state unless it has been cleared. There are also save points in certain rooms, but these are for mid-room, not mid-level; if you die, the room simply restarts and you return to the spot you entered from, so you can keep trying to beat the room without it jeopardizing the rest of your progress.

The game eases you into it and starts off simple, but after a few levels the difficulty starts to rise, and the puzzles become increasingly devious and require extremely precise movements. The monsters range from the brainless roaches who will simply swarm towards your spot and only just fall short of impaling themselves on your sword, to the relatively smart goblins who will run away if you start to point your sword in their direction, effectively making cornering them your only option, to the often seemingly random movements of the snakes.

I imagine this won't be to everyone's tastes, as much of the time is spent standing still and thinking it out, and the nature of the puzzles means it can sometimes take a fair while to eliminate the hordes of monsters even if you know exactly what to do, which can become tedious. But if you're the type of person who likes staring at the screen for minutes on end trying to figure out what the bloody hell you're going to do, then hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w220/GrimOswald/DrodBook.png

About to be overrun by roaches? Take a screenshot! Your failure will be remembered for all of eternity.

Plasma

6 Aug 2009, 14:10

That is a truly awesome game and anyone who does not try it out THIS INSTANT should be ashamed of themselves!

It's pretty much one of the best puzzles ever. Although it does get ridiculously hard fairly quickly.

Muzer

7 Aug 2009, 00:28

I love you for choosing one with native Linux support :p

philby4000

7 Aug 2009, 01:23

This looks interesting, but it's impossible to control without a num pad.

GrimOswald

7 Aug 2009, 04:09

This looks interesting, but it's impossible to control without a num pad.

Well, you can reconfigure the keys. I mean, I realize the layout of a keyboard is not best suited for it, but I don't think it would be TOO inconvenient to set up nine adjacent keys, even if they're not straightly aligned. For example:

i o p
k l ;
, . /

(Your keyboard may be different, but you get the idea.)

franpa

7 Aug 2009, 05:17

maybe remap Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause Break and the 2 rows under them and then use them? I dunno how silly laptop keyboards are.

Plasma

7 Aug 2009, 10:01

Hah! I've got a behemoth of a laptop, so mine comes with a numpad anyway! I really hate how laptops don't have it, considering how useful it is.

Anyway, since I haven't played in quite some time, I'm starting a new game too. Whee, masochism!

maybe remap Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause Break and the 2 rows under them and then use them? I dunno how silly laptop keyboards are.
http://www.supplierlist.com/photo_images/61985/HP_NC4000_NC4200_NC2400_NC5000_nc6000_nc6120_nc622 0_nc8000_nx7400_nX6325_nx6520__laptop_keyboard.jpg

franpa

7 Aug 2009, 10:07

never seen such a keyboard before o_o

Melon

7 Aug 2009, 11:23

I remapped the keys to

q w e
a s d
z x c

and 1 and 2 for spinning my sword.

This game is really fun, I've hit Level 4, but damn does it make my head hurt. This mimic stuff is crazy complicated <psyduck picture>

Plasma

7 Aug 2009, 12:08

Y'know, when I was younger, I used to have major problems even as soon as level3. Now I'm just waltzing through them! It really does say something about yourself...

Level 5 so far.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/3153/img1f.png
This, folks, is where you start with the expletives.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9316/img2s.png
No mimics were harmed in the making of this solution.

franpa

7 Aug 2009, 12:53

Gave up on level 2, not my kind of game. What is with the area in the first level with the big text telling you to exit the level? (square with arrows pointing at it from all 8 directions) the path beyond the blue door is the exit...

Plasma

7 Aug 2009, 12:57

What is with the area in the first level with the big text telling you to exit the level? (square with arrows pointing at it from all 8 directions)
I... have no idea what you're talking about. I know there's an empty room in the first level with 8 sets of arrows pointing away from a concrete block, and there's a room telling you that you can only exit if you defeat all enemies on the level, but what you said...?

franpa

7 Aug 2009, 15:36

Ah, away from the block then. it had a message in giant yellow letters floating over the block

Plasma

7 Aug 2009, 16:10

Level 5 was definitely my favourite one. Level 6 now.

Y'know, level 6. The level with the three sets of three rooms that are really similar in layout. Its brilliantly done, but its still a bast of a level.

I think Level 7 was the one that I got stuck on last time I played.

Ah, away from the block then. it had a message in giant yellow letters floating over the block
Flo...

AHAHAH! No, no, that yellow "exit level" message was generic, it just appears in the middle of the screen once you cleared out all the enemies.

franpa

7 Aug 2009, 17:15

I c, goes to show how much I was caring about the game ._.

Melon

7 Aug 2009, 20:43

Oh hey I just found the equivalent of a Mario warp room in DROD.

http://www.kieranmillar.com/bookclub/drodwarp.png

Naturally I've blocked out the map and co-ordinates of where it is (find it yourself :p) It can take you directly to levels 6, 7 and... er... 1

Plasma

7 Aug 2009, 21:07

Right, I am finally completely stuck! (and I think this was actually the same place I got stuck on last time)
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/9446/img3n.png

The problem is that the mud keeps growing, and if I advance normally, it blocks off the entrance so I can't get back. The only way I can think of of doing it is to destroy ALL the mud in each corridor, which is really painstaking to do!

Also, Melon, I remember that place. And since you mentioned it, I went back and found it again. Its pretty easy to find, really.

SupSuper

7 Aug 2009, 22:42

Melon

7 Aug 2009, 22:49

Oh boy DROD, haven't played it in ages. It is a very cleverly original game with very clever puzzles, but it quickly gets too clever for me. I got stuck on the Fourth Level with all the mimic crap. :(
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/drod_ae.png
I only just finished the 4th world (and I was hopelessly stuck on one room, but when I stumbled across the solution it was a revelation). Here's a hint for that room you're on.

Spawn your first three mimics right next to a roach to kill it, but so that they can also hit an orb for you. There's only 3 roaches that you can do this with at the start, and the rest should be "obvious" after that.

Plasma

7 Aug 2009, 23:58

So I looked it up and... yeah, I had to destroy all the tar.
Level 8 really sucked! Same goes for level 9, its not so much hard as it is just annoying.
Actually, level 9 isn't difficult because of the enemies, but because its so frustrating. Its all the same puzzle, but in a different scenario. And the puzzle is just "get all the enemies inside a door".

Also, looking online at previous levels, I somehow managed to completely miss the non-mandatory "expert" room on Level 7. Which is odd, because its just a plain path into it.
I went back and played it. It was pretty damn easy, actually.

Spawn your first three mimics right next to a roach to kill it, but so that they can also hit an orb for you. There's only 3 roaches that you can do this with at the start, and the rest should be "obvious" after that.
Umm... there's two roaches for that. For the third one, you just put it next to the extra orb.

Muzer

8 Aug 2009, 02:01

http://www.supplierlist.com/photo_images/61985/HP_NC4000_NC4200_NC2400_NC5000_nc6000_nc6120_nc622 0_nc8000_nx7400_nX6325_nx6520__laptop_keyboard.jpg
WTF at separate Print Screen and System Reqest keys (and Pause and Break keys)?

The only time you would EVER need to use System Reqest is if Linux crashes (which it rarely does). Why not map it to Alt+Print Screen like every SANE keyboard does? (Windows conveniently breaks this trend and ignores the special meaning of Alt+Print Screen. It just uses it for a screenshot of the current window. I'm not sure what it would do when you press System Reqest)

And I don't think anything uses Break any more. Unless you happened to have RISCOS on it and it crashed.

Hmm, that keyboard seems perfect if you want to crash lots of diverse OSes. It even allows you to press Control + Alt + Delete with one hand!

Plasma

8 Aug 2009, 02:43

Man, I'm flying through this game! I'm on level 16 so far!

Well, alright, I got to level 16 by another 'warp' room (I won't give what level its on away like Melon did), but I'm playing through normally anyway. So, I'm not really on 16...

philby4000

8 Aug 2009, 04:24

WTF at separate Print Screen and System Reqest keys (and Pause and Break keys)?

The only time you would EVER need to use System Reqest is if Linux crashes (which it rarely does). Why not map it to Alt+Print Screen like every SANE keyboard does? (Windows conveniently breaks this trend and ignores the special meaning of Alt+Print Screen. It just uses it for a screenshot of the current window. I'm not sure what it would do when you press System Reqest)

And I don't think anything uses Break any more. Unless you happened to have RISCOS on it and it crashed.

Hmm, that keyboard seems perfect if you want to crash lots of diverse OSes. It even allows you to press Control + Alt + Delete with one hand!
What's the purpose of the num lock key when there's no num pad?

That's a terrible layout, it seems to combine the worst aspects of a normal keyboar with the worst aspects of a laptop keyboard. What are those pgup/Pgdn keys doing being arranged horizonatally? Madness!

On my keyboard the Pgup/Pgdn keys are right next to the arrows, which is so useful I end up mashing my fingers into the empty space between the arrows and the number pad on a proper keyboard.

Plasma

8 Aug 2009, 11:15

Well it was just an example keyboard. It still shows that there's no 9 straight-aligned keys on most of them.

Muzer

8 Aug 2009, 12:27

What's the purpose of the num lock key when there's no num pad?
It makes the fake numpad activate (the one you can see on 7890uiopjkl;m./)
On my keyboard the Pgup/Pgdn keys are right next to the arrows, which is so useful I end up mashing my fingers into the empty space between the arrows and the number pad on a proper keyboard.
Same. Although I need to buy a new keyboard, since I spilt coke in it and most of the keys stopped working.

SupSuper

8 Aug 2009, 17:11

I only just finished the 4th world (and I was hopelessly stuck on one room, but when I stumbled across the solution it was a revelation). Here's a hint for that room you're on.

Spawn your first three mimics right next to a roach to kill it, but so that they can also hit an orb for you. There's only 3 roaches that you can do this with at the start, and the rest should be "obvious" after that.Thanks for that. Actually, coming back to it after all these years, I easily figured it out and the only only other room I had left incomplete (you can see it in the minimap in my previous screenshot) and now I'm back to my DROD addiction on my way to the Fifth Level.

It's good to know I've actually gained some brainpower over the years. :p

Melon

8 Aug 2009, 22:13

Level 8 really sucked!
Seconded. It's just not fun at all.

By the way, there was one room in level 7 which had a note saying that you shouldn't bother because the level was for experts only (or something to that effect). Was that a bonus room that you weren't supposed to do? Because it was rock hard but I managed it anyway :cool:

EDIT: This level:
http://www.kieranmillar.com/bookclub/drodhard.png

Plasma

9 Aug 2009, 01:35

Level 21! Woo, five levels left! I laugh at you all.

Also, a rough guide as to what I think of all the levels so far. Largely spoiler free.

#1 - Introduction level. Its just to get you used to how to play.
#2 - The first proper level, yet still something of a warm-up.
#3 - The first not-really-easy level. Its also the last level for some time that doesn't have a 'thing' common to most of the rooms in the level.
#4 - Could be fun, could be brain-wrecking, depending on how good you are at focusing on multiple things. Fortunately for most of you, its the only level like that (although several rooms in other levels will still have it, and worse)
#5 - I liked this one, because it focused more on the other enemies than roaches. A lot less repetitive.
#6 - Like I said: brilliantly done, but pretty hard!
#7 - You might like this level, or you might not. The monsters are easy to dodge, but rather unpredictable. Remember that the level saying "turn back" is non-mandatory.
#8 - This is the first level that has Living Tar. And you will HATE the stuff! This level is a nightmare to play through; not because its hard, but because its really tedious. Also, the Enter button displays the Spawn Countdown, which you'll really need.
#9 - Another tedious level. Its easy to survive, but it'll take a while.
#10 - Personally, I loved this level; one of my favourite! Unlike the others, this one is far more dedicated to close individual puzzles than thinking things out long term.

#11 - Another nightmare level, in the tedious sense; and you'll see why straight away. You will spend AGES on this one!
#12 - Rather fun... but surprisingly easy. Still a good level.
#13 - Oh geezus... there's no monsters in the level (which also means you have to hear the Exit Level tune over and over again), but EVERYONE always hates this level! So, two tips: 1) if you see a arrow pointing left, you have to go through the middle of that arrow, and 2) the 'Restore' part of the main menu really comes in help for this one.
#14 - Another really fun thinking level. Have fun trying to hit the enemies in this one!
#15 - This one... is fun and frustrating at the same time. Its a definite puzzle level rather than a monster-focused level. Oh yeah, and you will have to do some rooms over twice (or three times, if you're unlucky about where you're going), which is tedious.
#16 - Its not... too bad. It can get frustrating, but its pretty easy to do.
#17 - "This level requires a great deal of efficiency". Its like Level 8 in playstyle... only in every way worse! Its really hard, really repetitive, really frustrating, and will definitely take you ages to do!
#18 - This one... has rather a mix of puzzle types, akin to Level 3. Some parts are really easy, some are really hard. But its generally fun anyway.
#19 - Oooh, this one's a real thinking puzzle level! Which, of course, I love; another one of my favourite.
#20 - Right, the Brains finally get introduced! For those that don't know (aka: didn't read the help page), Brains can't move or attack, but as long as there's one in the room, all other monsters get pathfinding. It really adds a new element of gameplay when monsters do actually find their way to you instead of just clumping up against the wall. Which, as you can guess, makes it a whole lot harder, but a whole lot more fun!

And yeah Melon, that was the non-mandatory level.

Plasma

10 Aug 2009, 03:10

Woooo, game beaten in four days! MAN that was fun!

And, continuing on,
#21 - Annoying. Well, a bit annoying anyway, in that you will have to hack through a good lotta roaches in this one! Otherwise, its about as hard as level 20.
#22 - You remember Level 4, right? Well this is what happens when you mix that up with Ninja Gaiden difficulty! Even if you're brilliant at playing with regular mimics, you'll still find this one really hard to do!
#23 - Can be really fun, or can be really frustrating, depending on how well you know your imp movements by this stage.
#24 - As you'd expect from a second last level, the rooms in this one come from a mix of previous level themes. Which is grand, a good variety, and the rooms are actually rather easy. Except for one: the Tar section. Look, believe me when I say, IT IS TRULY UNGODLY!
#25 - By far the best level in the entire game! Not meaning to spoil it or anything, but the entire level is trying to outsmart the boss at his own game! It has its own music, its own graphic style, and its own gameplay element across the floor! Brilliantly done!

I might post the said ungodly tar pile later on. Because its fun to watch people squirm!

Melon

12 Aug 2009, 17:07

OK Plasma it's your turn this week. Also, I think I'll reserve a second slot in this thread.

I'm up to level 15 on DROD now, and it's still ridiculously hard. Quite how Plasma completed it all so quickly I'll never know.

Plasma

12 Aug 2009, 19:04

Right, yes, now I remember what game I wanted to do.
Super Mario War
(Download link (for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux) (http://forum.72dpiarmy.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8843))
(Website Link (http://smw.72dpiarmy.com/))

http://blog.hartwork.org/__images/super_mario_war.png

Super Mario War is quite a large game for a fanproject, especially one with a simple premise.
Y'see, its rather similar in style to Super Smash Bros. Only, instead of where everyone is an elite, evenly-matched fighter of the highest degree, everyone is... a jumping goomba. Yeah. It takes the classic Mario "jump on things to kill them" style of play and applies it to multiplayer combat.
Like I said, its got a lot in it. Its got classic Mario-based items, music, maps (a lot of maps), game modes (a lot of them too. Even one where the mask ghosts chase you if you're carrying a key), and characters from a large variety of games, mostly 8-bit. Its hard to count things like maps, but there's over 100 characters (which is good, but makes it rather daunting to go through them all to get to the one you want).

Its a four-player game that's most ideally played with friends, but the AI is... surprisingly good, for a fan-project. It flunks a little on some of the gamemodes, but its certainly playable against.
Oh, and there's also a huge number of fan-made stuff too, in the forums. It has good support for mods, but since there's so much in the game as-is, you're probably not wanting to bother with them. Except maybe the 8-bit mod.

Umm... that's about all I can say on the matter. Its surprisingly fun and definitely worth checking out.

http://games.softpedia.com/screenshots/1-1603_2.jpg

robowurmz

12 Aug 2009, 20:19

I am in total agreement.
Super Mario War is one of the best local multiplayer games out there.
The AI isn't too shabby either, but you can usually outsmart it.

shadowman

16 Aug 2009, 23:04

DROD is so old.

I used to watch my dad playing it. Now I've got to install it for pure nostalgia.

FutureWorm

17 Aug 2009, 00:45

plasma update: still bad at video games

franpa

19 Aug 2009, 06:53

ZELDA CLASSIC - Lost Isle

This is aimed at people who enjoyed Link to the Past, the original Zelda game and the oracle product that was geared towards puzzles.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Finnishflesh/01.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Finnishflesh/008.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Finnishflesh/colorgood.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Finnishflesh/012.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Finnishflesh/011.gif

--- Installation ---
1) Download the "Zelda Classic" program and extract it to somewhere on your hard drive. (EG: C:\Zelda Classic\)

2) Download the "Quest File" and extract it to the same place as the "Zelda Classic" program.

3) Open Zelda-w.exe to open the game, register a character and enter a name then while the curser is on that character press the keyboard button designated as the B button to open a prompt that asks what Custom Quest you would like to play.

4) Browse to where the game is installed to (if needed) then choose "Lost_isle.qst" and choose "OK" on all the prompts.

5) Select the character slot and press Enter to start the game.

(Zelda Classic program, this specific version is recommended to play the quest file) http://koti.welho.com/pranta18/files/Lost-Isle-Build.zip
(mirror 1) http://www.sephiroth.ws/ZC/Lost-Isle-Build.zip
(mirror 2) http://edc-info.net/files/zcf/Lost-Isle-Build.zip

(quest file) http://koti.welho.com/pranta18/files/Lost_Isle.zip
(mirror 1) http://edc-info.net/files/zcf/Lost_Isle.zip
(mirror 2) http://www.sephiroth.ws/ZC/lost_isle.zip

(Thread for getting help if you get stuck.) http://www.armageddongames.net/forums/showthread.php?t=98432

Pressing Escape will open a GUI for you to adjust controls and other options if needed. ZC supports game pads.

franpa

20 Aug 2009, 04:33

I can give hints to finding the first 2 equipment items if needed, the first item would be the Wooden Sword. The quest would be comparable to the difficulty of the 2nd quest in the original LOZ (in some cases harder) but is more puzzle oriented.

Metacooler

22 Aug 2009, 07:16

Thread seems to have at least one foot in the grave already, and still two games to be showcased before mine...:-/

EDIT: I realize I'm contributing to the decline of the thread since I only bothered to download Melon's game....But I have to face the fact that with the others, I'm 95% sure I'd just download, play a minute or two, and say...well I could be doing better things with my time than this game...It looks a little involved...Maybe I'll brush up on my Tekken...I hate you Jinpachi, CRAPPY CHARACTER I CAN'T USE AT THE END OF THE GAME BAAAH

franpa

26 Aug 2009, 05:20

God damn you people, give my game a go :/

MtlAngelus

26 Aug 2009, 07:08

My windows install is at it's highest level of instability ever, so unless there's a Mac version I probably won't contribute much either until I can get a new fresh windows install but for that I need to back up things and do stuff and... well... yeah.

Melon

26 Aug 2009, 09:12

I tried Super Mario War, but because it's solely local multiplayer I wasn't really able to play it properly so I can't really say anything about it.

I downloaded Lost Isle but I'll be perfectly honest, I haven't even ran it yet. I've never actually played a Zelda game before (shocking I know) and I'm sure it's good, but I guess I can't bring myself to play it because that sort of game doesn't really appeal to me (and hey, maybe I'll like it if I actually try it). I'll try and force myself to play it today.

On that note, it's robowurmz's turn today.

franpa

26 Aug 2009, 09:23

It's pretty hard from the start, but perseverance really pays off on it.

robowurmz

26 Aug 2009, 10:49

Tasty Static
Tasty Static is an updated version of MS-DOS classic "Skyroads" by Bluemoon Interactive.
It involves driving very fast, and getting very frustrated if you make a single mistake. It's also a hell of a lot of fun.

Gameplay is much and such the same as the original Skyroads: you have to speed along a track, filled with obstacles, while a timer runs down (the "charge"). The charge can be refilled by touching a certain type of track, and other types (like bouncy track) also come into play. These are introduced in "the elements" tracks.

It also contains something the original did not have (aside from unlockable extras) which is a Track Editor, so now we can make and share tracks, which doubles the awesomeness.

Bluemoon Interactive also recently made Skyroads free for download (http://www.bluemoon.ee/history/skyroads/), but you'll need DOSBox to play it.

http://tastystatic.com/

http://tastystatic.com/media/tstatic1.png
http://tastystatic.com/media/tstatic6.png
http://tastystatic.com/media/tstatic8.png

Gameplay Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK3hebF5CL8)

MtlAngelus

26 Aug 2009, 12:30

Hell yes OS X version. :cool:
*tries*
It's kinda cool, but something that really bugs me is not being able to move while jumping.:(

franpa

26 Aug 2009, 12:50

Iirc the original lets you move while jumping, anyways it is a pretty cool product. I gave up after beating all up to and including the Classic ones... just started getting too rediculous.

robowurmz

27 Aug 2009, 20:16

As a side note, you move faster sideways if your forward speed is high too.

Moving slowly allows you to move sideways slowly too.

Not only that, but if you land, you can jump mid bounce for extra height provided that there is ground beneath you. It's sort of like a double jump.

Melon

29 Aug 2009, 19:08

Tried Lost Isle but I don't think it's really for me. It looks like a good game, but not my type.

Tasty Static is pretty fun. Got up to the level past the one where you first find those turn-around blocks, and now I'm struggling on the one afterwards with lots of reverse gravity pads. Gotta get used to the whole "can't move in mid-air business".

Plasma

30 Aug 2009, 12:00

Tasty Static is... sorta fun, but rather frustrating. Its good for if you haven't really got much else to do, but that's about it.

Also, are the lasers actually used for anything other than giving yourself seizures?

robowurmz

30 Aug 2009, 12:13

The lasers are pretty pointless. As are all the other unlockables really.

Metacooler

19 Sep 2009, 06:43

Muzer has forgotten his game....no one has noticed.....damn you melon, with your threads that collapse before i get my time in the spotlight! :mad:

I'll make my own thread, with blackjack, and hookers!

Muzer

19 Sep 2009, 11:57

Lol, sorry :p

Game: Armagetron advanced.

A tron clone. I love tron, it's very addictive.

Download: http://www.armagetronad.net/

Most Linux distros have it in the repo as armagetron

Plasma

19 Sep 2009, 18:18

Its fun... but its very hard to play in as a beginner. If you know of any good server for a newbie, do say.

Muzer

19 Sep 2009, 18:42

I'm not sure really; I just tend to play it vs the AI on my netbook during boring train journeys... it's very addictive as I said.

You should be able to google it though.

Melon

23 Sep 2009, 20:56

Seeing as it's now technically my turn again I might as well get this thread back on track (Sorry you didn't get all week Muzer). If no-one wants to post a game next week I'll just keep posting the games I have.

Dirty Split

Website: http://www.dreamagination.org
Download Link: http://www.dreamagination.org/?page_id=5

http://www.kieranmillar.com/bookclub/dirtysplit.png

This Point & Click adventure game isn't very long, but it stands out to me for a few reasons. First of all is that it's fully voiced, which is pretty amazing for a free game (but unfortunately means the download is pretty large for a free game), but also that most of the puzzles and the story are "realistic", at least, considerably more realistic than most other adventure games out there. I could easily imagine that what happens in this game could conceivably happen in real life, give or take the odd bit here and there. Don't expect LucasArts adventure game style humour though, because you certainly won't find it here.

It's made using the Wintermute engine, which means I have no idea what systems it's compatible with (I think it uses Direct3D), but I do know it works fine on Windows so there :p.

Not only that, but it's also currently available in 5 languages, so if you're a native German speaker then you're in luck!

If you can bear the somewhat hefty download then this game won't take you too long to complete so you might as well give it a shot. I finished it on one lazy Sunday afternoon whilst also listening to all the sound clips, but then I'm a super genius :cool::cool::cool:

franpa

24 Sep 2009, 07:23

I'll take a turn next week, It will be a game that is easier to setup then my last one and should work on all versions of Windows (even 3.0 or was that 3.1?) except 64bit versions of Windows (due to lack of 16bit program support).

Metacooler

24 Sep 2009, 14:15

Plasma

24 Sep 2009, 14:37

As far as I can tell, Melon actually has no interest in the game (with it being a game based entirely on fake difficulty, that puts a lot of people off), but knows that it's a game that other people would like, so included it anyway.

yakuza

24 Sep 2009, 14:39

tl;dr melon has no interest in your mario cats dude

Metacooler

24 Sep 2009, 15:17

I suppose you both aren't good enough to get through my game. Can't think why else you would take the time to speak for Melon and belittle it :p

On another note, Melon doesn't even seem to have the time to maintain his own threads a lot of the time, so it's easily possible that he'll throw in his two cents at some stage. I'm just leaving him a reminder. It's a very cleverly put together game, it's easy to pick up and play, and the style is in the same ball park as An Untitled Story. I'm sure he at least has an opinion of it.

Shadowmoon

24 Sep 2009, 15:32

Anyway, I may try Syobon action soon and give my opinions on it.

Metacooler

24 Sep 2009, 15:43

Awesome. Better keep your wits about you ;)

Better get outta here before i clutter up the thread....Swoooooosh (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39518)....

Melon

24 Sep 2009, 16:17

Look here Melon, I see you've included my game in your opening post for this thread, which means you've popped into my thread for some Syobon goodness. Given your love of free games, I can't imagine you would decline to try it out - however i haven't heard a word of feedback from you; I'm interested to read what you have to say about it. So C'mon over (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39518) when you have the time and lay some gems on me.
I know the game and seen it before. I was actually going to reply by showing a hilarious video of it I'd seen before, but... alas (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-743039774363154631). So I decided not to reply (had nothing to say about it other than that).

franpa

24 Sep 2009, 17:57

video link error melon.

Plasma

24 Sep 2009, 18:26

video link error melon.
*facepalm*

Take a wild guess as to why he said "but alas" when linking to it.

Metacooler

25 Sep 2009, 04:09

Ah, I see :-/

Well, don't forget the additional 4 levels. (Plus whatever modes come after...)

PS: Franpa is dim-witted ^^

SupSuper

25 Sep 2009, 08:56

Plasma

25 Sep 2009, 08:59

I suppose you both aren't good enough to get through my game. Can't think why else you would take the time to speak for Melon and belittle it :p
Oh, right, obviously it's because it's too hard to play through. Silly me, thinking that people can have some sort of individual opinion!

Your taunt-fu is weak.

yakuza

25 Sep 2009, 09:01

I think you've developed an emotional connection to this game, probably based on the fact you think it makes you unique to have discovered it and shared it with this forum. You take it personal when someone dares say something bad a word about it. You even refer to it as your game.

It's pathetic.

robowurmz

25 Sep 2009, 09:42

It's a game based on false difficulty: therefore it's not that great when you analyze it.

*Splinter*

25 Sep 2009, 10:12

It's a game based on false difficulty: therefore it's not that great when you analyze it.

False difficulty?

Plasma

25 Sep 2009, 11:25

False difficulty?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FakeDifficulty

It's not specifically a bad thing, some people do like that type of challenge, but it does put a lot of people off.

philby4000

25 Sep 2009, 14:15

It's difficult, y'see, but it's the wrong sort of difficult.

franpa

25 Sep 2009, 15:25

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FakeDifficulty

It's not specifically a bad thing, some people do like that type of challenge, but it does put a lot of people off.

Wouldn't most DOS and non-FPS games fall under the 3rd defined criteria?

Plasma

25 Sep 2009, 15:34

Wouldn't most DOS and non-FPS games fall under the 3rd defined criteria?
Well it's meant to be fore when the computer is presented as being an equal opponent, not when the opponent is entirely meant to be of a different 'character type'.

Metacooler

26 Sep 2009, 08:28

Oh, right, obviously it's because it's too hard to play through. Silly me, thinking that people can have some sort of individual opinion!

Your taunt-fu is weak.

You basically posted your opinion as Melon's as well, when there was no need for you to post anything in reply at all ITT. Practice what you preach, Mr. individual. (I love you really :p)

I think you've developed an emotional connection to this game, probably based on the fact you think it makes you unique to have discovered it and shared it with this forum. You take it personal when someone dares say something bad a word about it. You even refer to it as your game.

It's pathetic.

tl;dr melon has no interest in YOUR mario cats dude

My mario cat. My showcased game - My game for short. You are just a **** yakuza. I vote you take your scum attitude and go troll somewhere else. Can I make a poll for that or something? No love for you

It's more like I Wanna Be The Guy really.

That game frustrated the crap out of me! After that, Syobon seems much friendlier. What I meant was just the 2d sidescrollling part really...And the puzzles I guess.

philby4000

26 Sep 2009, 23:03

You need to chill.

Some people aren't going to want to play a game that revolves around creatively killing the player over and over. Different stokes and all that.

Is it really worth getting into a flame war with Plasma and Yakuza over this?

SupSuper

27 Sep 2009, 01:01

To be fair, it's hard not to get into a flame war with them.

Metacooler

27 Sep 2009, 04:47

I'm not flaming anyone, and it's got nothing to do with syobon action anymore, not once did I try to persuade them to play it :p

Plasma is silly, I don't mind what he says really because there's no spite attached to any of it as far as I can see x)

As for yakuza, he just peddles aggressive bull****. Don't know why you all put up with him.

philby4000

27 Sep 2009, 15:10

You revived this thread just to announce that you were starting a seperate thread for your game (Although no one would have complained if you had simply taken your turn there and then) then you derail the discusion by demanding Melon post in your thread.

As for you not flaming anyone:

My mario cat. My showcased game - My game for short. You are just a **** yakuza. I vote you take your scum attitude and go troll somewhere else. Can I make a poll for that or something? No love for you

You're the one being agressive here, the apropriate response to someone being an ******** isn't always to be an ****head back.

Metacooler

27 Sep 2009, 16:00

You revived this thread just to announce that you were starting a seperate thread for your game (Although no one would have complained if you had simply taken your turn there and then) then you derail the discusion by demanding Melon post in your thread.

I didn't try to revive it, I'm surprised my post wasn't the last of the thread altogether. Now it looks like there was no point to what I did at all, but I couldn't have predicted what would happen. Sorry about that. (But demanding is too strong a word, and you know it).

You're the one being agressive here,

I won't argue, but maybe reread his post :-/

the apropriate response to someone being an ******** isn't always to be an ****head back.

Certainly not always. But I don't see a better time than now, when I'm complaining for a genuine reason, for the good of the forum. I'm not just trying to sting someone over hurt pride. The guy has a reputation for being unpleasent. Since I have no decision-making power in here, what else am I to do about it than point it out.

franpa

27 Sep 2009, 17:20

report his post via the black and red triangle icon when he harrases you on the forum?

yakuza

27 Sep 2009, 19:07

Since I have no decision-making power in here, what else am I to do about it than point it out.

You could cry me a river

Metacooler

28 Sep 2009, 12:21

report his post via the black and red triangle icon when he harrases you on the forum?

That's more or less taking a shot at the guy behind his back. If the mods wanna step in, I'd rather leave it to their own discretion. It's not like he's gonna spoil my day by being mean on a forum..

Looks like he's run out of material anyway.

As for that tron game, I found I couldn't beat the AI because it could just choose the optimal path every time and never crash, and also survive longer than me when we were both making tighter and tighter circles due to the not crashing thing...And when I tried playing online, the game was different. When I hit anything, my lightcycle just stopped for a second, giving me a chance to change direction. Made it almost 100% less skillful/fun, and I lost interest after 2 mins of everyone filling up the grid with trails until they got boxed in and exploded. The point of the game was lost on me. Any words of advice Muzer?

Plasma

28 Sep 2009, 12:40

Ooooh.... I have a really fun game, if nobody has next Wednesday's slot! I didn't realise Web.Archive saved the good ol' Shockwave programs from the Lego website. Before they removed them due to Shockwave having largely died out.

And when I tried playing online, the game was different. When I hit anything, my lightcycle just stopped for a second, giving me a chance to change direction. Made it almost 100% less skillful/fun, and I lost interest after 2 mins of everyone filling up the grid with trails until they got boxed in and exploded.
Personally, I much preferred the 'stop for a second' method, since it means that you're actually able to box someone in completely, rather than making it a who-can-get-closest-to-the-wall-without-crashing competition.
And most online servers have a limited trail setting, so that you can't just fill up the grid, and do actually have to entrap the opponent in a relatively small box.

Metacooler

28 Sep 2009, 13:14

But you can also turn around on a pin-head, and grind back up the side of your own trail to get out of any box-like situation :-/

I'd definitely get stuck into the game if it was instant-impact-death. It's the essence of the idea for me. No wonder muzer only plays against the AI :confused:

Melon

30 Sep 2009, 15:18

SupSuper

1 Oct 2009, 13:28

except 64bit versions of Windows (due to lack of 16bit program support).Nooooooooo! :(

franpa

1 Oct 2009, 15:30

Use virtual PC or something and emulate a 32bit O/S. The game would run on a 486 processor so I doubt it would lag at all.

Plasma

1 Oct 2009, 15:52

Franpa,

You're an idiot.

Or, to put it in a less insulting way, you need to tell us what game we're meant to be playing before you tell us how to make it work!

franpa

1 Oct 2009, 16:34

Oh uh hum wasn't paying attention to this and dates... my game is Castle of the Winds by Rick Saada.

(Game)
http://www.exmsft.com/~ricks/castl11a.zip

(Information on game)
http://lkbm.ecritters.biz/cotw/

Plasma

2 Oct 2009, 12:07

I tried playing it... but I just could not get into it! Probably because the gameplay system is really horrible. I mean, it's actually pretty easy to get killed straight off by a rat, simply because it's based far too much on chance!

franpa

2 Oct 2009, 12:27

The game tends to rely heavily on magical ranged attacks then any other form of attacking. I recommend getting the Arrow spell at the start then any of the others.

yakuza

2 Oct 2009, 13:10

philby4000

2 Oct 2009, 16:12

Oh hey I remember playing this when I was like 8.

franpa

2 Oct 2009, 16:32

Yeah it's an old game, one that many others use features from. It was designed for Windows 3.1 iirc but works on all 32bit Windows O/S's.

philby4000

2 Oct 2009, 16:51

Whelp got to the second floor and died of snake poison.

Also finaly realized my laptop doees have a num pad, but It involves holding down the function button.

franpa

2 Oct 2009, 16:59

turn on Sticky Keys? would let you keep the num pad functioning without needing to hold down the function key.

Metacooler

3 Oct 2009, 05:23

I tried playing it..(White noise)..killed straight off by a rat..(White noise)..

Shame descends upon the Plasma household :D

MtlAngelus

3 Oct 2009, 14:12

Shame descends upon the Plasma household :D
Pretty sure that shame was already there.

Melon

7 Oct 2009, 14:52

Ninjah

Website: http://www.acid-play.com/download/ninjah/ (Not the proper site, which unfortunately doesn't exist anymore)
Download Link: http://www.acid-play.com/file/Ninjah_v1-03.zip

http://www.kieranmillar.com/bookclub/ninjah.jpg

Imagine your typical platform game with a more elastic version of Worms's ninja rope and you're already most of the way to imagining Ninjah. Armed with the aforementioned rope and a machine gun, you need to use your acrobatic skills to get to the exit in the shortest time possible, picking up coloured blobs in the process. Bear in mind that there aren't any enemies to shoot, instead the gun is used to push yourself away from the direction you're firing in. Some levels will also mix things up by disabling one or both of these items, or even disabling your ability to walk and jump all together, so mastering all three is essential to scoring a good time.

On that note, scoring a good time is pretty much all there is to this game. It comes with 50 levels and a level editor so you can make and share your own, but the act of getting through the levels isn't always that difficult if you go slowly, so the game won't last you very long at all unless you go for the highscore (but is still fun none-the-less).

Finally, just to confuse matters further, you can only touch one colour of floor/walls at a time, so it's not just a case of flinging yourself across the level as fast as possible, as you'll probably die in an instant if you do that. Can you be dexterous and speedy at the same time?

Oh yeah, watch out for the physics in this game too, there's an annoying lack of friction and it's very easy to cause yourself to bounce all over the place uncontrollably, but you'll get used to it soon enough.

robowurmz

7 Oct 2009, 16:25

Oh man! Ninjah! I even made level packs for that.
It was sad when the site went down, but yay! Alternate downloads!

Plasma

14 Oct 2009, 11:23

I keep meaning to play every game here, but for some reason I always end up forgetting about the ones that Melon post. Well, except for that adventure game one - I still remember the last adventure game he posted (on RealVG), so yeah...

Anyway, I believe I called this week already! So,
Lego Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident

http://jayisgames.com/images/spybotdatabattle.jpg

Short history lesson: basically, Lego was well known for it's online flash/shockwave games on it's website! They had a good reputation of genuinely good gameplay and suitable graphics that're neither a straight rip-off of a basic genre (such as most retail games), or unformulated cough-ups that're too focused on being unique than being good (such as most flash games). Now... it's not really so much the case, since they took down the old games that have compatibility problems nowadays. Not all of them went, but Spybotics sure did.

One of my favourites of them was the turn-based, grid-based strategy game, Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident. Basically, it's done in levels, where at the start of each level you pick a certain number of units (determined by the level) that you bought before from the shop, with the aim being to wipe out the opponent's units. Simple enough. But rather than simply having basic unit HP, the unit's health is actually based on how long it is on the grid; each unit grows everytime it moves into an open space, but can only have a maximum length and a maximum speed. Everytime a unit is attacked, it shortens by the corresponding damage, but it's max length doesn't change; get hit too much without being able to stretch back out, and you've lost. In other words, you need to out-manoeuvre your opponent.
The unit types are very varied, and a lot of the battle is just having a plan of what to do rather than taking it one step at a time, although you'll need to buy them in the shop. Nearly every level will be unbalanced in the opponent's favour, but the AI is deliberately simplistic.

There's one thing though: it's a Shockwave game, and an old one. You'll need to install the Shockwave player if you haven't already, and even then, you may have trouble loading it (try using different browsers, if you have them installed)

Don'cha just love web archives? (http://web.archive.org/web/20070629134531/www.lego.com/eng/spybotics/game.asp)

And a direct link to the file (because for my Chrome, this one loaded while the other one didn't) (http://web.archive.org/web/20070721234839/cache.lego.com/eng/games/spybotics/spynet/spybot_0807_sw.dcr)