Wow.

So after waiting with incredible impatience for the whole day, the Magcon demo of Josh's Adventure finally went live. It's a big gamble trying something like this, but I took a shot at it.

I'll give my thoughts below, if you'd like to watch the videos first, here they are:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/RPGMM/videos/12/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/RPGMM/videos/13/




Ok, so after watching them, you see that things really start screwing up after 2-3. Having only seen the probloem and not going in myself to check it, I can only surmise what happened. The problem stems from replaying that particular set of levels. But you say they only played it once, right? Nope, because according to the game, when they touched the meowing tux guy, they "beat" the game. That wasn't what I had originally intended. Apparently I had left in a glitch with the meowing tux guy, and he caused the levels to go haywire. Those levels all work perfectly on one playthrough, but somehow all the switches in those levels activated, which completely confuses me.

I think I made a rather big oversight by not having anyone playtest it before the Magcon, which might have caught these problems. Try to avoid the meowing tux guy, and maybe the problems won't occur. I'll look into this ASAP, because I'm not even sure completely what happened.

Alrighty, I figured out the problem.

It's not actually the meowing tux guy that causes the problem, although I didn't intend him to give away the victory to the second world. The main problem lies in the intro event. There's an event that turns off most switches, but one of them turned a lot of them on, which caused a huge amount of problems.

The reason I didn't catch this is because the game uses a different intro event page. So if you head straight into world 2, you'll have no problems playing through the game. But warp back to the hubworld, and it goes haywire.

I finished playtesting this, so I'm sure that's where the problem lies.

I'm also taking this opportunity to fix some other things that bothered me, like how enemies don't hurt you in 2-4, and now they do. There's a person who appears at the bottom left of the hubworld to take you to the conceptual levels, which will get cut in the final release. And there are other, smaller nitpicks.

But other than some major bug fixing, I haven't changed that much. It's still mostly the same. I'll sort through all the suggestions I've gotten and try and figure out how to make the game better.

I'm also releasing the demo today. It's a bit of a surprise jump, I know, but I figure I need to make up for the mistake I made at the Magcon. Even if this updated version doesn't get to Magcon in time, at least I can sleep happy knowing I fixed the problem.

That was a good demo, 1ce. I think it was a good kind of random.

It was rather random, wasn't it? Weird and random certainly wasn't what I had in mind when making this game (actually...I may be lying), but I guess those are pretty accurate words for this game.

So after Magcon and the public demo, it's time to get back into gear with this. 3-1 Shoreline and 3-2 is nearly finished, so I went and designed 3-3 and 3-4.

3-3 will have more open areas. I planned it this way because the Magcon guys were saying how it was too easy, so I wanted to make more open areas for such a purpose. After all, if designed incorrectly, random enemies might block passages and make the game more frustrating. This level will also feature random bad guys and (!) enemies that follow you. Aside from some rather cool jumping over hills and wall jumping, the level seems a little bland. I'll try and spruce it up with more exciting things.

Something I've noticed is the fourth level of any given world is usually the longest, most complicated, and toughest of the previous three. 3-4 continues this trend. Right at the beginning you spot the ending, guarded by three enemies that don't move. Travelling higher in the level, you discover rocks that you can drop on the enemies to get rid of them. The last rock puts a little twist on the level; not only do you have to find oil and light a big burner to destroy an enemy leading to the 3rd rock, but that particular rock destroys the enemy, AND the bridge connecting the ending to the walkway. You'll need to travel a bit lower to throw a new bridge into a stream and drop it into the correct spot to finish the level.

Once particulary persisent problem I'm running into is the variety of enemy placement. Sure, I could just make a walkway, have an enemy move back and forth and be done with it. But trying to find creative new ways to place enemies and keep both difficult and variety is difficult. I'm trying my best to come up with new ideas, and it's becoming more challenging one-upping myself. So there's no doubt in my mind that this will be the last platformer I make for RPGM1. There aren't enough new things to warrant one, since I'm using everything I've got for this one.

I also went back and changed some things that were presented in the Magcon. The lady before Captain Calcium now warns you against stepping on the steam vents (the brown ground), and you're limited to carrying one shield at a time.That's something I never thought about during my playthroughs, so it was good to get some feedback and have someone try something different.

Other improvements I'd like to make are little text intros in each level, making more custom graphics for various reasons, and get the white table at the top left of the hubworld working.

If you saw the Magcon demo or played it, lemme know what you think. And if you haven't, I'd love to hear your input on it.

Steam vents? Really? Why not just make it lava? Because you see those "steam vents" in other areas, yet stepping on them there doesn't hurt. You need to keep consistant.

Also, I touched upon this in the video, but the opening area (the spiral ground) just looks ugly. I hope your hub level has more effort put into it than that. Also, I hope that the title screen "Josh's Adventure" becomes a real title screen and not just something you walk up to and activate on your own, because what it is now is just unprofessional.

The title screen won't be in the final version, it was something to simply add for that "wow" factor.

Although your hubworld comment hurts a bit, since that was the first thing I designed. I actually really like it, but I can understand how it looks cluttered. I'll look into it.

You can have the title screen in the final version. It just should already be arranged by the time the player sees it, and it should act as an actual title screen, rather than something you see in the background as you're walking along. That is to say, have the screen start off black, arrange the title, fade in, wait a few seconds, do something special after the title shows up if you'd like (like if Josh came onscreen and introduced himself), and then fade out to the actual game.

To be clear, I expected your title screen to look like your sig.

Kupid's coming out soon. I'm really excited for this and will definitely be ordering one from Thutmose.

Unfortunately, Josh's Adventure won't benefit so much from this, because the game doesn't have large amounts of text. D'oh!

No progress lately. Just thought I'd talk about the game some more.

Why'd I go with an original game?

Well, originally I was going to stay safe and make Donkey Kong Jr. But it was Syn/SF/whoever that kinda pushed me to make something original. It wasn't safe, and definitely was going to be tougher to make. I'm kinda glad that I decided to go this route, though.It is a hell of a lot tougher, but it's more in-line with what I wanted to do, taking the DK foundation and improving it. And judging by the reactions of the JA demo, it was a move that paid off, which is a huge relief.

Maybe more progress next time.

So I haven't touched the game in awhile. I suppose the disappointment of the Magcon demo and the expectations set for the game are getting to me.

I need to remember that I'm making this game for myself, first and foremost. I don't know how I forgot this simple little detail, but it's something I still need to keep in mind. It helps motivate me to continue working on the game.

I decided to pick up the controller again today, and try and work out what I liked and what I didn't. I like the first and fourth levels I made, but didn't really like either the second or third. So I'm trying to revise the world into something I like. The new result is World 3, called Ash Island. It's a tropical, volcanic island that will hopefully have some new tricks and surprises in store for the player, as well as some new challenges.

Level 3-1, Shoreline, is finished, and I'm working on level 3-2, which I think will be called See The Saw. When you pop up in this level, you'll fall to a platform. However, a nasty monster will always push you off it! And he's blocking the end of the level, of course. So what do you do? As you've probably guessed from the level name, you'll head over to the other side of the level, where you'll find a seesaw! Climb up high enough, and land on that seesaw to send the rock on the other side over the mountain ridge and take out that baddie!

I'm currently trying to work out the level design. It's not so easy trying to make unique levels that are challenging in new ways after the last two levels. I'll try and figure out something though.

I've played both Nano-bot and Fufu...I think it may be time to try playing Jester's Hunt for some inspiration. I haven't played it since I first got here at the Mag.

So, things are going along, even if one baby step at a time.

So, finding the motivation to work on the title has been a little hard. With a little help from the Mag chartroom and some gusto, I pushed on with progress.

All my work as been for 3-2. I have been doing more planning for this level simply because I haven't had time to work on it, and I plan it out during my downtime at work. It's been very productive; the whole level design is finished, and the scripting for enemies and other events is coming along nicely.

The level is littered with holes.....on purpose, of course. This will provide an obstacle for the player to avoid, lest they fall and have to start over. It's not a huge game advancement, but it's a little new feature that adds a little depth to the game.

Despite all the planning for this particular level, I'm still not completely happy with it, because it's a little too easy. I tried to mix it up with enemies that hunt you down and more random enemies, but it's still something of a cakewalk. At least this particular level has some original design to it and some new ideas, I'm just not sure it flows completely together. Maybe it's something I'll get back to. Right now my motivation is kinda low, even if the title is making some good progress. I've also started to question if I'll make the winter release I've set for myself. I might have to push the title back. It's a little early to say, but it's something to think about.

I've also got the Wiki page updated to reflect changes in the game and the demo reactions.

Hope you guys will keep reading these little progress updates as I continue working. Thanks for reading, and look forward to the next update.

So, here's my newest update.

There's good news and bad. The good news is I have been tapping into my creative spirit and am thinking up new and exciting levels and ideas all the time. With this many new ideas I won't have a problem fleshing out the remaining levels I need to have four worlds. The bad news is my work schedule has been very haywire for some time now, and even getting any time to work on the title is limited, and having any motivation to do so is even rarer. The first couple of weeks of this wasn't much of a problem, but four weeks in with no end in sight, it's getting tiring.

I have managed to get a bit of work done on 3-2. The events are almost complete. I need to add some more and playtest what's already there. I'm eager to move on to other levels.

Hopefully my life will stop being so jumbled and crazy and I can get my head straight enough to keep it up. I just gotta keep working on it a little bit, and not let it slip into some infinite timewarp where it's neither cancelled or complete; that's what scares me most about the production of this game. It's much larger than what I'm used to making, and if it starts getting too big, I may not be able to complete it. I've struck a really good balance with this game before, and I hope I can keep it.

Things are calming down and a bit more work has been done, though more in the planning stage than actually making anything.

The bottom of the level is unique and working, and I haven't talked about it yet, so let's fix that. At the right of the level you can climb up to reach the seesaw, or down to enter an extra challenge. Here below the level are several holes and following monsters. Get past everything and you'll get a chest. There's one catch though; the chest is locked tight and won't budge. It will only open when you've used the seesaw that the rock will fall through the level and smash the chest open. So it adds a little depth to the level.

I've gone ahead and finished 3-2 as well. I admit I did rush through it a bit, but I'm eager to continue and I'll playtest it fully later.

Right now progress is more important. And it's with that in mind that I started making a new level, 3-3 Tightrope. This level is based around the idea (obviously) of walking on tightropes. You'll travel downward walking on tightropes, avoiding monsters and fire, and make it to the bottom, using two tightropes to avoid lava and hot fire. To finish the level you'll need to find a shred of rope to tie it together with the end of the level marker. To do that, you head to a platform on the upper-left of the level. One problem though; after getting the rope, the wire holding the platform snaps, and you're flung downward! After making a daring rescue/escape jump, you'll navigate back down and finish the level.

The falling platform is a neat visual effect I want to try out. I'm not sure if it will work, but here's what I'm going to try. Since you can't move two things at the same time, making the platform actually fall is pretty impossible. So what I'd like to do is make everything around the platform move. Instead of the platform moving, the rope holding the platform up will move upward, and lava will rise up indicating that the platform is nearing the ground. I'll also have to move around other platforms to give a feeling of movement.

....You know, it's still irritates me that it takes so long to design, make and playlets this stuff when the player finishes it all so quickly. Oh well.

The level design is about half done, and the rest is sitting around in drawn concept.

Speaking of concept designs, that may be a special feature I could add to the game's file. You can see how I designed certain levels from the little notes I make during my lunch breaks at work. What do you chaps think? I rather like the idea myself.

Okay, hopefully I'll have played a bit more to give you another progress update real soon. Until then!

Alright, so after taking a much needed RPG break, I think I'm back in the saddle ready to give this another go. Life is finally slowing back down to a much calmer pace, so I've come back to this.

I'm working on my game as I type this out. I'll have 3-3 finalized by the end of the post.

Let's talk about motivation. Lately I've had very little. I think it's the lukewarm reaction I got to the demo. A lot of people called it strange, but I don't think too many people really got what I was trying to make. They didn't notice the intrisicites and little tidbits I threw around. The hidden stuff you have to explore to find. The clever level design and enemy placement.

What's really funny about all this is I already know the golden rules to making this stuff, and I just constantly keep forgetting them. Which might explain why development has been so difficult.

First mistake I've been making is developing the title for others and not for myself. Not to say, obviously, that you guys don't matter, but I need to make the game for myself and stop trying to convince others this game is awesome. It already is, in my mind. Better than Fufu, I dare say. I need to get comfortable with that again and stop forcing that opinion on others.

And I need to say this, because I'm sure people already hate me for this, but I'm here to be better than you. Alright, maybe that was a bit harsh. But I compete. Even though that's completely NOT what this community is about, it's what I strive for. I was pretty dang happy when I worked on Donkey Kong, because back then I felt like the underdog. Someone who hadn't released anything good to that point finally does. I need to get that motivation back, and make this game for me. That way, I'll enjoy the game more, which will make other people enjoy it more. Get back into that mindset of "I've got something to prove to the world". It gives me motivation.

Sorry if that sounded a little brash, but what I say tends to be rather unpolished and crude at times.

So, I'm trying to get back in the 'zone', where I can focus on making this game again. Cuts may or may not happen, depending on whether I like it or not. Hey, I'm starting to use what I just talked about!

No idea how to end this particular post, since there are likely many mixed feelings....

Seeya next time!

Just a little progress today.

Did a little work on 3-3. The level design is complete, and pretty technical too. The falling platform is complete in theory. Instead of the platform falling and moving, everything around the platform falls. So the ropes you can see that get cut, move upward, and the ground (in this case, fire) moves upward. I doubt anyone will fall for the trick, but hopefully it'll look cool. I also organized some switches and....that's it. Not a whole lot.

I am, however, up to scenario block no. 7, and I'm starting to worry I'm not gonna have enough memory to make this all work on one card. Best case scenario if I run out, I can move extra stuff to different memory cards. I don't think it's likely I'll run out of memory for the main quest, but it could happen.

Have some free time, and actually got more than one day off this week! WOOHOO!

But enough of the celebrations, back to business.

3-3 is kinda rubbing me the wrong way. The whole this-platform-will-break-and-you'll-be-in-freefall doesn't work for me. The illusion doesn't work and it adds nothing. I was considering starting the level over from scratch, but I think I'm simply going to cut out the falling platform. What I'm going to fill it with, I don't know yet, but it'll likely be better than what I originally planned.

I'm also having trouble with the hubworld. The reaction to it is rather negative, and yet I like it, personally. It was a showcase of what I wanted to do with the game; a more expansive, colorful game than Donkey Kong. I've been trying to think up a new hubworld, but have come up with blanks. Can you guys think of any suggestions to fix it?

Meanwhile I've been working on 3-4, Adventure. Following in the tradition of other -4 levels, it's longer and more complicated than previous levels. This one has you destroying three enemies blocking the exit by dropping rocks on them. At one point you accidentally also break a bridge, which you must replace. The level design is complete for this one; has been for some time. I recently coded in all the jumps and have some ideas planned for how the level will play out. Nothing terribly fancy, but it'll throw some unique challenges your way you haven't seen yet at this point.

Another good thing to mention is I'm starting to get out of the slump I was in earlier. The inspiration, dialogue, and ideas are flowing more freely than what they were after Magcon, so things are getting back to normal. That's always a good thing.

I'm also considering bringing the story back into the game. It will be readable in the readme that the game comes with, so it'll be more like the platforming games of old. This is an idea a few people recommended, and I liked it so much I'll probably implement it. Besides, there's got to be a reason for all this madness, right?

Thanks for sticking around, and I'll see YOU at the next progress update!

Whew. Just like yesterday I cracked down and really got to work.

I spent the better part of today with a pizza, a laptop streaming magcon videos (FINALLY watched ALL of SoE and Acre Age), two Diet Dr. Peppers, and just myself and a PS2. Lots of free time, no distractions, and a lot of progress.

I said I didn't like the falling platform of 3-3, so I completely changed it to more of a "watch out for the enemies", sort of thing. Nothing with too much waiting thankfully. It turned out pretty good, and with that, 3-3 is finally complete! Woohoo!

I've also got some more work....worked out for 3-4. Coded in jumps and such. Will get to more of that later.

I also decided to completely alter the hubworld. It's completely changed into something far more similar to what Donkey Kong used, some simple platforms and ladders. It looks a bit more organized too. I'm slighty disappointed that I'm still using this hubworld that looks more like DK, but after looking at the Magcon demo again, it's clear there needs to be more structure.

One problem I ran into is a memory card breaking down on me. It simply won't be recognized by the system as easily. I have to shift it around to make it work, and only sometimes will it actually read. Thankfully I uploaded my progress and moved that to a new memory card, so there will be no more of this "can't read the memory card" business.

I'm walking on sunshine. Game development is going very well today.

Funny how you'd mention having Dr. Pepper just after mentioning how you watched the Arc Arath presentation.

That is kind of funny. Merely a coincidence? Maybe....maybe not.

I've also spent the rest of the afternoon changing every event to warp you to the new location of the hubworld. Which meant not only sweeping the entire game and fixing all sorts of events, but that also meant re-doing the events in the first boss level. Which has 70ish events. That all need to be fixed individually. Which is my third time doing. UGH.

Thankfully I finished World 1 by the time both of the Survival 2 videos got done, and the rest were a cakewalk.

Oh, and while on the topic of the first boss, I also changed some stuff. Now the rocks are lava, and fire swirls around you after taking a life. This is something the Magcon pointed out, and make a lot of sense to change, so I decided to do so.

What slighty disturbs me is the fact that after sweeping through most of the enemy events, there were still issues with a select few. Some warped to the wrong point, and some didn't even have the new death animation, like I completely glossed over them. These were few and far between, but it still reinforces the fact I need to playtest this bugger like crazy before releasing. It's not simple to program this game, but that's really no excuse.

And a little more work got done into 3-4, namely enemy placement. It should get finished here sometime soon. I've been playing the game all day, and noted by the above posts.

Another idea I've thrown around is getting some promotional artwork done for the game. With any luck I can get hold of the same guy that did artwork for Lantis's SOE and get some really good looking stuff. I've love to get as much artwork as I could for the game.

That's it for now! Seeya!

So, a bit more progress today.

I didn't like the original design I had in mind for 3-4, so today I spent some time revising it. It's a bit shorter and less open ended. Hopefully it'll still have some challenge to it. Most of today was spent revising the level.

I think I'm getting a more open-minded approach to the game lately. Because at it's core, it's more of an evolution than a revolution, and I need to market it as such, I think.

Y'know, I guess I just don't have anything to really say today.

Again with some progress! Yay!

I started coding more stuff for 3-4. Jumps and enemies are all laid down, and I've been doing some technical stuff for a small cutscene. The level starts out with a fish tank with a single fish blocking your way. Underneath that fish tank is a fire. As you go off to the side, you'll find some kerosene. Bring it back, and you can intensify the fire to boil the water and force the fish out of the tank. From there, you make your way through some enemy fire, and finish the level. It's not nearly as ambitious as regular -4 levels, but it's not bad, and progress is most important at this point.

Kinda off topic but...isn't it crazy how long game making takes? Designing, programming, execution...it takes such a long time to make all this stuff, and it's played and over with so quickly. I mean, I've been working on this stuff since...what, the beginning of October, and 7-8 months later, I have almost 3 worlds done. I still have so much I want to do with the title too. I have at least another world, a co-op mode, different difficulty levels, extra content, and artwork. Whew. Still got some work.

These games are made slowly, one little piece at a time.

It's unlikely I'll be making any more games during the production of JA. I've already cancelled sequels to Don't Move and FtNitH, and any updates are also unlikely. I now need to devote myself entirely to JA, and I simply can't multitask two projects at once.

Just gotta keep at it.