Release date?

[exfret]

It's starting to be more like 6 months instead of 6 weeks... Anyways, the level creator need some changes, it's super hard to create levels at this point.

[testtubegames]

Yikes. I'm a notoriously bad predictor of timing apparently.

So here's where things stand with the game right now (on my computer, not quite on fgl):

-There are 45 whole levels to the game!
-There are new improved graphics.
-The simulation has been super-optimized, so it doesn't lag (as it was doing on my old laptop)
-The boss battle is nearly done!
-The game has some rad new sound effects
-Editing works much better (less lag as you add things in - as per your suggestion at FIG, in fact )
-The intro animation actually has an animation! (woohoo, my first 'real' animating)

Left to do:
-Finish animating the Yeti-robot for the final battle
-Double check to make sure all the levels rock.
-Little tweaks here and there

So we're getting close, folks. The game won't be released immediately when I'm done with it, mind you. I'm going to be showing it around to potential sponsors - which takes some amount of time. A few weeks, say.

But, in the interest of making sure I keep you all in the loop: I'll be posting the new & nearly complete version of the game next week Monday.

[exfret]

-Editing works much better (less lag as you add things in - as per your suggestion at FIG, in fact )

Yeah, I noticed, except now you have to exit out of it and go back in to save changes and it feels and likely is quite glitchy. I also think you should place the level editor tab off to the side. There's no use in it being in the actual level, and it blocks me from seeing the whole picture. Other than that, it's pretty cool.

[testtubegames]

The new version is up. All 45 levels, a boss battle, **SOUND EFFECTS** etc. Still a work in progress, but it's getting closer. As always, I'd really appreciate any and all feedback on how to make the game radder!

Within the level editor, like always, there's some code that you can use to share levels with me/each other.

Ah, and exfret, I'm not able to get the 'editor box' to go outside the window -- since the level takes up the whole frame. So if it's around, it has to block something. My first solution was to make the box appear and disappear... but people were more interested in having it always present, like in the Agent Higgs editor. But yeah, it really gets in the way. So in this version I experimented with making the box semi-transparent. That way it's still there for you to click on it, but you can see the level behind it.

[exfret]

Why not just shrink the level to scale for editing and have the editing box go around the top left corner?

[testtubegames]

Why not just shrink the level to scale for editing and have the editing box go around the top left corner?

That's another possibility. I had to do something similar for Velocity Raptor -- where the level shifts slightly for you to edit it. Scaling could work the same way. But the transition from 'edit' to 'play' in Velocity Raptor strikes me as slightly jarring. Not terribly, but enough that I'm interested in exploring different options this time. And in a game like Shocktopus, with such small tiles, if you want to put a tile at one particular point, but then it shifts just as you go into edit mode, that might make things extra confusing.

Try out the version with the translucent version of the box. If that's still too obtrusive on the screen, we could always have the box be even smaller (then expandable if you want the full set of options). It could even minimize down to nearly nothing. Just a list of the 4 most common tiles or the 4 last tile types you used, say, and you expand to change it.

[exfret]

It worked out well. I just had to adjust because it's not what I'm used to. The large number of tiles and the fact that it's a platformer can make level design tenfold the difficulty of designing levels in VP, though.

[exfret]

*cough* *cough*

[testtubegames]

*cough* *cough*

You alright? Need a cough-drop?

Update: things are moving along slowly, and no one is more anxious/frustrated/excited than me to get this out there. I just opened the game up again the other day... said "whoa, that's right, people really need to play this thing!"

Anyway, still hunting for sponsors. Getting the game in front of a bunch of new eyes in the coming week as part of a promotion, which is good. Will be actively tracking down buyers more, and barring anything else, I'll "get creative".

[exfret]

*cough* *cough*