I posted about it the other day, and now I'm officially releasing it. Mods, feel free to lock/delete the other topic. Spheer is my most advanced game to date. The concept of the game is incredibly simple; you are a ball, and you have to navigate the eight levels in order to find these little balls of light called "Electrodes." The thing that's unique about Spheer is the level design. I put my heart and soul into crafting levels that are challenging, abstract, original, and most of all, fun. It's comparable to a video game Rubik's Cube. There's also a Multiplayer Mode that allows for up to four players. In the Multiplayer Mode, you want to collect 25 Electrodes faster than everybody else.

This is my first RPGM2 game, and it's also my most mature game, creatively speaking (it's rated for everyone). I guess you could say that Crazy Skating sowed the seeds, and Spheer is the tree. It's a bit of an artsy game, but not to the point where it's too weird to play.

It's currently up in the Submissions Forum: http://www.rpgmmag.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4210

If you play it, please make sure to read the in-game instructions, it will likely answer all of your questions. Also, there's a special hidden mode, so see if you can find it.

Holy shipple! This game sounds like "the shiz". Good job on finishing it, man!

Thanks, Ix. Judging from my other topic, I knew you'd be pretty excited. I definitely think you'll like this game.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I'm gonna wait about a week before I submit it to the Pav. I know there's no real competition/animosity or anything between you two, but you guys have always treated me a lot better than the Pav. This way, you'll get a little exclusivity, if not for only a little while.

Hey Jerbils,

First of all, congratulations on getting a game finished using RPG Maker 2.

Second, I downloaded this game an hour ago and have played it for about 45 minutes or so.

The Title Screen - really well done, nice selection menu.
The in-game help really is helpful.

I have played through the 1st level (won't give away the color) in free play mode. [Having the free play mode is an awesome idea]. I've also played through the first level in Challenge mode (and beat it) Woo Hoo!!

The time it must have taken you to design this is...well, wow! This is really a fun game to play. I love the fact that you can play a while, then save, and come back to the same level where you left off. I'm planning on taking my time with this one as I play it all the way through.

The level 1 puzzle. There were certain points when I was saying to myself "How in the world can I get to that "electrode" and sure enough there was a way - and you did quite the creative job of thinking of unique ways to do it. Seriously, there are little puzzles and special effects that make you want to keep playing.

Tips to anyone else who downloads it.
-Read the in-game tips, they really help.
-Use your camera motion. This game would have been a pain without it, but with it, the puzzle-solving becomes quite fun.

Nice nice job Jerbils!

Thanks for your little micro-review, Pagerron, feedback is really the best feeling after finishing a major project like this. You don't have to worry about giving away the colors, it's not like you're spoiling a story. As far as time is concerned, I officially started Spheer on December 1, 2006 (I like to record this kind of stuff), and finished it this afternoon. When you do the math, that's exactly 5 months and a week. I've almost certainly put over 100 hours into this, but I've become more focused on game making than I was in the past. For example, Crazy Skating took just under 90 hours to make, but was in production for over a year. As far as Electrode placement was concerned, I put a few in places that will really make you scratch your head, but I made a few that were basically just gimmes. I figured it was a matter of balance, no one is going to want to spend ten minutes on every Electrode.

I'm actually a little disappointed with the Red level. Like Crazy Skating, I was just getting a feel for things for the first level. But, if you liked Level 1, you're gonna kick out of some of the things in later levels.

Again, thanks for the feedback, I look forward to seeing what you have to say about the rest of the game.

Today I beat Level 2. I was kind of frustrated with that level at first because there were several electrodes I couldn't seem to get to. I saw four of five of them, but had no idea how to reach the areas where they were. I thought that maybe there was a glitch in the game, but nope, the glitch was me!

-Play multiplayer mode. Beat Level 1 of multiplayer in under 61 seconds. That's my record so far.

Such an amazing game!
I wish i had a Max Drive

From the laughing face, it's hard to tell if you're being serious or not, but we know you pretty well DP.

It's a simple concept but A LOT of fun to play (especially if you like puzzle games).

I've made some more progress. (Please note the time between posts so as not to be mad at me for double-posting)

Level 3 - beaten!
Level 4 - yep, conquered!

I liked Level 3, especially the one part where the sides of the walls were a different pattern than the floors and ceilings. Being able to differenciate them is so helpful.

I hope I can play some more today and beat Level 5.

Oh, I've also found one of the hidden secrets, totally by accident of course. (that is the point of hidden secrets, after all, right?)

Level 5 was one of the hardest levels to make, it should keep you busy for a while. You hadn't posted about the game for a while, I was wondering if you were still playing it. =)

And do try to find to find all of the Supa Secrets, they open up something very nice.

Hey jerbils,

I had the chance to play Level 5 on Sunday. Yep, it did keep me busy for a while. It's your best one yet. I really like the little puzzle where you have to manipulate those four blocks to get the two out of reach electrodes.

I found 28 out of 40 electrodes, but unfortunately, I had to turn it off at that point because of time constraints. (I kind of wish it were possible to have save points within a level, but I can understand the reasoning behind not doing that.)

The next time I pop it in, I'll let you know what happened.

I'll be curious to know how long it takes you to beat the game once you're finished. I obviously can blow through it in about an hour, but that's not indicative of a real-world playthrough. Don't feel rushed, and you don't have to time it exactly or anything, but I'd appreciate an estimation of how long it takes to finish the game once you do.

Level 5 -
I liked:
The group of balls that you had to "run" away from
the puzzle where you had to build a couple of bridges in order to get some of the electrodes.

Level 6-
I liked:
-moving platforms (working your way up to the top)
-the camera effect when you step on one of the blocks with an exclamation point. Zooms way out to let you see exactly what's happening with the puzzle structure.
-the blocks that "walk" with you. Nice effect.

Level 7
-This Level is my favorite!!
-Plays with your mind (anti-gravity effect is really cool [although it was a little hard to get used to the upside down movement at first])
-The first time I saw the effect of the speed pad sending me off the edge of the puzzle, I laughed at loud. I liked that a lot.
-The constantly shifting ramps were cool.

Level 8 -
That was a good idea not to make this available in the free play mode, in my opinion.
A good combo of all previous effects.

The ending - It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Actually, I had no idea what to expect, but that wasn't it. (You'll just have to play to see what I mean.)

I had a good experience playing this game. Good job Jerbils. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks for playing Pag, I really mean that. It's not an easy game to play, and the skill that it took to beat it is an accomplishment in and of itself. Seriously, a lot of people I showed the game to stopped playing because it was too hard for them.

By the way, did you get all the Supa Secrets? It opens up a super-hard special mode. For what it's worth, Level 7 is my favorite one as well. One of the things I was trying to do was make each level more interesting and varied than the one that came before it. I didn't just want to make 50 generic puzzles, I tried to keep the "recycling" to a minimum. As far as the ending is concerned, I didn't just want to make some predictable cinematic of the ball rolling through the areas as the credits roll, I felt the ending I used was much more... memorable. But again, thanks for playing, I'm really glad you liked it.