Games I Play #10: Anodyne

I have very mixed feelings about Anodyne. It's been quite fun to play, but it's been equally frustrating in many parts. It plays a little like the original Legend of Zelda, from back in the days of the NES. Most of the gameplay is fun, but it's also littered with annoying segments, particularly in the form of jumping puzzles.

-The Good-

The environments are quite pretty, and diverse as well. I didn't think to take more screenshots while playing, unfortunately. Anyways, each area has a very nice and distinct feeling to it, and it often felt to me like they each had a story of their own to tell. The music adds well to the feel of the game. It tends to be fairly mellow, and never really takes over anything in particular. One big thing that I have to mention is that the game has a mostly-open world. Having played up to the final boss, I can definitely say that for most of the game you can choose the order in which you complete things. The game also has quite a bit of exploration, and there are plenty of screens that exist solely to show you something pretty. 

-The Bad-

Oh boy, where to begin... Starting off, it's one of the buggier indie games I've played. I've run into a number of little oddities. Once, I got teleported through a wall into a boss room(which saved me some time, but still...). Another time, my body appeared to be perpetually stuck in the air while my hitbox(and weapon) remained firmly planted on the ground. These bugs, and a number of other things make me wonder if perhaps the programmer was a bit inexperienced when they made this. For instance, the final upgrade that you receive allows you to swap tiles, but only seems to work in one screen in the entire game to swap a few blocks around. This, coupled with a few areas blocked off by pushable-looking objects makes me wonder if perhaps there was a pushing mechanic that was scrapped, either because of time constraints or programming issues. Another letdown was the jumping. When you get the ability to jump, it feels like many possibilities have opened. However, you can only jump over things, not on top of them. All of the tiny little ledges in the game are still completely insurmountable. You also can't attack while jumping(another missed opportunity), but you stop in place like you did! The hit detection when it comes to jumping feels pretty terrible. Oftentimes I'd fall into a pit when it felt like I'd made the jump. The eventual addition if speed boosting tiles just makes this problem worse, especially once they expect you to hit them at weird angles. When you get hit, instead of being knocked away from the source you seem to be knocked in the opposite direction that you're facing. This can make even simple obstacles a huge pain to deal with. Finally, most bosses can be defeated rather easily by just sticking to them and mashing the attack button. It feels like such a cheap tactic should've been noticed and removed, because it completely takes the skill out of the fight. It's not a big deal, but it's still a bit sad to see all of those interesting attack patterns go to waste thanks to a simple cheese tactic.

-Final Thoughts-

The game's not really as bad as I might've made it out to be. It was a big pain in the rear at times, but it also gave me hours of fun. I didn't quite manage to beat the final boss in time, but the fact that I played almost all the way through while making this certainly stands in its' favor. Lastly I feel like I should point out that the game is pretty much a giant fetch quest. To be fair, so were Ultima 1 and Bastion to some extent, and it's also a part of the general genre. Still, collection does end up being the main focus of the game, so just be aware of that. If you really enjoy these sorts of old-school, top-down, hack-and.....beat with a broom games, then you should probably check this out. Otherwise, you may want to wait for a sale or bundle to grab it.

You can buy the game here.

AMAZE - 10 - Some Gameplay Improvements

Well, I've made some good progress. After all of those engine updates, I spent a while making some more game-related updates.

Here, you can also see the graphical bits that I redid

First, I started implementing a basic equipment system, beginning with doors and keys. This change also allowed me to make solid objects in general, so I can now do some fun things like invisible walls. The box in the gui now shows whatever piece of equipment is being held, and the bar next to it represents either how much charge is left or how many of it you've got(depends on the item). Above it, I added a lives counter. To test it, I also added the ability for objects to kill you. If you die, the level will reset with one life missing, and you'll also keep the points you've gained during that level(I might change this). If you run out, the game resets. Next on the list, I'm going to work on proper animation support, and try to upgrade the player's graphics a bit. Following that, I'll make a couple of nicer-looking fonts and finish the top bar.

Also, the final project for my graphics programming class has been announced. I'll probably be finishing Space Douchebag for it, so you might not see too much AMAZE progress for a while.

Games I Play #9: Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness

I've played a number of games, both old and new, but this may be the oldest. Originally released in 1981, Ultima I was the first in what would be a 9-part series of computer RPGs. I own the first seven, and have been planning to play through them in order. Since I recently got Ultima I running via dosbox on Elementary, I decided to make it this week's game.

-The Good-

Astoundingly, there's quite a bit of
sci-fi in this game.

It's quite fun! I wasn't sure what to expect when playing a game from 1981, but the gameplay's not bad at all, if a bit simplistic. The general flow of the game is like this:
1. Find a castle, and get a quest from a king.
2. Go to a nearby town to stock up.
3. Either go find the landmark specified, or kill some specified monster deep in one of the game's many dungeons.
4. Return, pay the king for healing, get your reward, and depart.

Doing this, you get the items needed to use the time machine to return to the past and defeat the evil wizard Mondain. There's more to it than that, but that's the general idea. But what was that about a time machine? In reality, this game is an interesting blend of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. While most of the game is fantasy, with wizards and orcs and such, there are also aliens and spaceships. Heck, there's even a flying car you can buy! Back to gameplay, the game actually features a fairly large open world to explore, packed with castles, towns, dungeons, and mysterious landmarks. The dungeons themselves are not too large, but there are many and their layouts are unique.

-The Bad-

Speaking of the dungeons, you will get lost in them without making detailed notes of their layout. They feature many twists and blind corridors. When an enemy attacks you in one, you also have no idea which direction it's attacking from. You may get hit several extra times just trying to find them. Stat-wise, health is the only noticeable part of character growth. In fact, oftentimes I level up without even noticing at all!

There's something very silly
about that skeleton.

Unfortunately, Ultima I's graphics have not aged well, especially in dungeons. I realize that the limitations of the time required these more archaic graphics, but some of them look really awful. This shouldn't influence whether you play the game or not, but just be aware of this.

-Final Thoughts-

You should be aware that in its' age Ultima I is a very different RPG experience than what you're probably used to. With that in mind, this game can be a ton of fun with a pencil and a stack of graph paper. I recommend that you find a site with some general controls and explanations of how the game works before playing for the most enjoyable experience.
You can buy the first three Ultima games together here.

Blog Update: Theming?

You've probably noticed that the blog looks quite different right now. I've been running into a number of little technical issues with Blogger's nice dynamic themes, so I've reverted to the old style. It isn't ideal, but it'll have to do for now.

Sprites: AMAZE rework, part 1

As I mentioned a while back, I'll occasionally post new sprites I've been making in Sundays. I've got a few today from AMAZE.

After the recent jam ended, I decided to try and update some of AMAZE's graphics. So far, the game's graphics have been almost entirely composed of placeholders, and they look really terrible. Along with that, I've been meaning to try and improve my pixel art skills recently.

Here's what I've done so far:

First, I tried to make the generic looking 'diamonds' into some kind of cool blue crystal. It looks pretty, but I probably won't keep this. It doesn't really feel like what I was trying to go for.

The next sprite I went for was the awful giant coin. I tried to turn it into a few modest stacks of gold coins, and I think I succeeded very well here. This sprite is probably a keeper, although I may alter it a bit in the future.

Lastly, I started work on the tileset. Ignore the right half-it's just old stuff. So far, I've only redone the floor texture. It looks much better than before, but I'm still not too happy with it for some reason. For now, I'm gonna stick with it, though.






That's all I've got so far. I think I've made some decent progress in terms of art, but I still have quite a ways to go. Hopefully I'll iron out those pixel art skills with the next few projects. In the meantime, AMAZE is still progressing nicely and I should have plenty to write about on Friday.