I like the way Valve and various FPS games do it. When you play the game in 16:9, it lets you see a wider view of the game playing field. No stretching involved, you just see more of the game (the map or level or whatever).

Some games might not be able to do this though.

I'm thinking specifically of single-screen platformer/puzzle games or point-and-click adventure games with pre-rendered/hand-drawn background art.

(the logic and render loops are independent).

Enjoying the game but for the intermittent hiccups - I have a suggestion related to that.

For a game requiring this much precision, completely independent logic and render can be a bad thing; I wouldn't have a serious issue with the game slowing down if I was able to see the character moving and continue maneuvering. While it means I would have to change my timing, that's a lesser evil than "I start a jump, the game hiccups, and the next frame rendered is a dead MoneySeize."

If your approach is also using a delta time value you can still get the benefits of that, you just have to specify a maximum amount of time a single frame of gameplay can simulate - below the maximum, frames are skipped, above the max the logic slows down.

I'll play around with it thanks.

Just out of curiosity, are you working on any more exploration-oriented projects like An Untitled Story?  Would you even say if you were?  :D

I actually have a few concepts for exploration-style games right now!  I've been mentioning all over the place that I feel like I'm in the mood to do a less difficult game next.

One concept I have for an exploration game is sort of like Spelunky meets Super Metroid with an added twist.  I'll have to do a lot of prototyping though before I even know if I can make the idea fun to play.

I might also do some iPhone development, but probably not this summer.

The game is well put together, and it starts out pretty fun, but it seems like it just gets to be more trouble than it's worth.  I played through An Untitled Story, and I didn't think it was this unforgiving.

It's purposefully meant to be my most difficult game yet (though some of my fans have told me I didn't quite achieve that goal).  Definitely not for everyone. 

Thanks for giving it a try though! Maybe my next one won't be so brutal

Featured on Bytejacker (http://www.bytejacker.com/episodes/044), Jayisgames (http://jayisgames.com/archives/2009/07/moneyseize.php).

Just wanted to say to those saying I'm just recycling my old games with MoneySeize: You're pretty much right.

There is some new things but a big part of it is I just felt like continuing where I left off with Jumper Two and making a really tough platformer to break into the Flash scene.

I had a lot of fun doing Assembly in University (wrote Tron and Pong clones for my final project), but I wouldn't want to use it for a personal project.  It would take forever to get anything done.

Thanks for the frontpage Derek

Two other guys from my forum beat it just after him too (he found the 3 ultra-secret coins first, then gave them a hint - they were stuck at 1007).

From my blog:

Less than 24 hours after the release of the game, Matt Makes Games Forum-member Zecks has found all 1010 coins in MoneySeize with a total of 1877 deaths.

ETA: I guess I'll have to wait for the "Not laggy-as-fuck" version to go on

Downloadable version released!

http://mattmakesgames.com/games/MoneySeize/MoneySeize.zip

Why is this laggier 

No clue What's your OS/Browser/Specs?  Does the whole game freeze during lag, or does the game keep going it just doesn't render (ie: you character "teleports" across the screen during lag)?

I've had a lot of lag complaints on Kongregate but for the life of me can't repro it.  I even ran 20 simultaneous instances of the game on my tiny netbook and got some render lag but the game still played like normal (the logic and render loops are independent).

ETA: I guess I'll have to wait for the "Not laggy-as-fuck" version to go on

Downloadable version released!

http://mattmakesgames.com/games/MoneySeize/MoneySeize.zip

Congrats on getting everything cleared up with Microsoft and all that

Unfortunately I don't have an xbox, but if you did a Steam/Greenhouse release I'd be all up ons.

Thanks guys, this praise means a lot coming from you guys

I've been taking a beating in the Kongregate comments :D I was ready for it because I know MoneySeize isn't at all a typical Flash game (mostly because of the difficulty), but it's still a bit of a downer.  It's nice to come here and get hugz.

Bloody Brilliant!  

The gentlemanly platforming faintly reminds me of Henry Hatsworth for the DS.


Any chances of releasing a downloadable version? Please?  

I'm working on a downloadable version.  Hopefully I'll have that out within the next few days (I'm also in the process of moving).  Stay tuned!

Tight gameplay! 

Is it intentional that the "open sponsor's page" key is right next to the "return to map" key?   

I use left shift, so I didn't notice.  I can see how that could be annoying.

You never fail to impress, monsieur.  Another fine platformer! 

Cheers

Best comment so far on Kongregate:

I hate this game so much 5/5

Soundtrack is here if anyone wants it.  Editables are included!

Welcome to world of flash games!!!!

congrast!

I now have a strange urge to develop a tower defense game... 

(no seriously, I feel like making one)

MoneySeize is a game about selling out.  It's a Flash platformer.

At my site: http://mattmakesgames.com/games/MoneySeize/
On Kongregate: http://www.kongregate.com/games/YMM315/moneyseize
Downloadable: http://mattmakesgames.com/games/MoneySeize/MoneySeize.zip

Sir Reginald MoneySeize II, Esq. must collect coins to fund construction of the tallest tower in the world! Jump through stages ranging from simple to ridiculously difficult in your quest to find all 1010 coins. Features 50 stages: 40 regular and 10 secret.

I appreciate any positive ratings on Kongregate, because they increase traffic and make me eligible for cash prizes

Happy birthday!