Two weeks ago, I talked about the triage we were performing on Beat Drop. A week later we re-evaluated the gameplay with all the planned additions. We still couldn’t find the fun in the systems we had built, so we started over again.
Third time’s the charm. I don’t want to give everything away but I can tell you Wub-Wub has been promoted to protagonist (pugtagonist?) and Oontz repurposed as our professor-in-peril: The Natives have captured Oontz, and it’s Wub-Wub to the Wescue.
We’ve managed to work in the theme in two ways. First, the rhythmic drumming of the Natives controls the appearance of platforms, arrows and boulders. Second, scattered throughout some of the levels are phonographs. Wub-Wub can learn the songs they play to slow down the Native’s drumming and charm unique wild life into helping him reach his goal.
Because we’re a man down and the prototyping phase took so long to bear fruit, we’re way behind where we would like to be. So we’re going to take another week or two to finish this one up. As all the main programming and art is done, we’ll be using this extra time to create a ton of levels that really explore the various mechanics and produce a game we can really be proud of.
These “<noun><verb> the level” themes are brutal. We’re doing a little course correcting this week. The platforming segment of Beat Drop still isn’t feeling any better so we’re cutting the unimplemented rhythm segment. With limited time and resources it doesn’t make sense to split our focus on two types of gameplay until we really nail down the first.
A number of things were working against the original design. Foremost was the layered music approach. Your first encounter with any piece of music in the game is just the bass and drum tracks. Not a great first impression. Additionally the music’s impact on the level was hard to spot. The tempo of the music determined the rate at which the platforms underfoot undulated. Just syncing visuals to music in Flash is challenge because of the lack of interval precision at even 120bpm. Finally, the introduction of a shooting mechanic undermines the primary goal of collecting records.
Of the new drop types added last week (the melting sun, blowing tornado, destructive anvil, and intercepting UFO), the only keeper was Wub-Wub. Controlling both Oontz and his canine companion at the same time introduced some interesting layers to the collection mechanic. The ability to tell your dog (or your dog’s human) to “Stay!” while you continue to move around should make it even more interesting.
We’re also changing the way we integrate music. The level will react to changes in the music. Platforms will change size and position corresponding with different sections of music. Music is being written modularly so we can ultimately randomize the internal sequence of each track which will in turn randomize the level designs.
As a result of the new direction, the narrative has shifted as well. Our protagonist is now a Professor of Archaeology who moonlights as a DJ and, on weekends, raids ruins in search of the records of the ancients. His excursions are haunted by snakes, natives, and the source of all music, The Playhead.
Time for more art! Oontz (who is starting to look like a white collar DJ) is joined by his pet pug, Wub-Wub. (Inspired by this Vine from Adam Saltsman) Wub-Wub will probably be a power-up who, once collected, you’ll control at the same time as Oontz. He can do anything Oontz can except toss record sleeves.
Also adding some more bad drops. The Sun will melt any on-screen records if allowed to set. The Twister will blow any on-screen records left or right if allowed to touch down.
Both have full screen animated effects that I’m going to hold off on revealing until the complete version is done.
Edit Forgot to mention, I’m trying a new art style with this game: no outlines. It seems silly to waste pixels and colors on outlines when there are so few to work with.
Our third podcast is a Paradox Lost postmortem. There’s spoilers, so if you haven’t played through the complete version, you might want to do that first!
We’ll be light on updates during this crunch since we’re a man down. This might be the only one so I better make it count.
A DJ combing the stacks, catching records in his milk crate. Matt noted that the original crate looked like a computer—COMPUTER LUGGING ACTION!—so I changed it up in the animated versions.
Matt joked that he looked like a certain international K-pop sensation. In an effort to make him look more like Psy (and less like generic Army Man) he ended up looking a little more Elvis. You can see the crate continues to evolve too.
Oh, and ears! The final (*cough*) sheet:
In the game records fall from the sky. You have a predefined sequence of record types you need to catch in order. Once completed you need to play the sequence. Some records (large and small) from my Private Press:
Rusty here. Time to get back to it. We are now accepting themes for Game 4. Check back on Wednesday to vote, on Friday we crunch!
During our downtime, I saw a hand surgeon. He thinks I have Myofascial pain from repetitive usage. I don’t have signs of Acute Tendinitis (no single tendon), but rather inflammation spread throughout my hands, wrists, and lower arms. Myofascial pain cannot be treated by just resting. He put me on steroids for six days, followed by a month of stronger anti-inflammatories. He’s also sending me to physical therapy twice a week for four weeks. I’ll see him again in a month.
We don’t want to delay Retro Game Crunch further, so Shaun and Matt are going to start on Game 4 without me. My recovery won’t be fast, but hopefully I can rejoin them in a couple months.
