@Nektonico: Yeah, I think it's a bit of an exaggeration to say 'get out of there before they ban emigration' - and I don't think people who actually live here would be making that kind of statement. But it's still something that we should care about. The worst part about it is not that it's infringing on my inviolable right to buy pornography, but that it discriminates against small-breasted porn stars.

[Survival + space sim]

Survival + space sim

Your ship's engine has broken down in the midst of an asteroid belt, littered with the wrecks of those who came before you. Not only are food and water a valuable resource, but even the air you breathe is precious. You must learn to navigate the asteroid belt, whether in a space suit or inside your ship (your ship can move short distances using thrusters, but this consumes your ever-dwindling supply of fuel.)
If you can survive meteor showers, alien attacks, space pirates and and an insane AI program, then you might just live long enough to be picked up by a passing transport ship. But will that be the end of your troubles, or only the start of a new and more terrible chapter?

These guys have a point, Turner is actually supposed to wear pants. I think the reason people don't want pants is because Rostiger's pants sprite is just a quick mockup and doesn't look very good compared to the finished, pants-less sprite.

Yeah...

I couldn't find any way to make money, or to get the planters to do anything, or to fight effectively. I think the game would be more enjoyable if you explained it a bit more thoroughly. Strategy games have big, bulky manuals for a reason, y'know?

Good luck, I hope you manage to find a new programmer because this game was looking very interesting last time I saw it.

Walker & Silhouette is an interactive fiction by Pacian, creator of Dead Like Ants and Gun Mute, among others. His latest game is set in a fantastical steampunk world and follows the two titular characters on a brief but enjoyable adventure.

In Gun Mute, Pacian made his game more accessible to those unfamiliar with Interactive Fiction by removing most of the directional keywords: Instead of east, west, north and south, the player only had to deal with forward and back. In Walker & Silhouette, he has taken this one step further by highlighting all the keywords within the text. Although you can still type them in if you want to, it's easier to simply click on the highlighted word. This system (which Pacian acknowledges as being derived from Blue Lacuna) makes the game very accessible and fluid. Moreover, when you're stuck on a puzzle, it's nice to know that you have all the pieces in front of you, not hidden away somewhere.

Ultimately, though, this kind of neat gimmick would mean nothing if the story itself were not up to scratch, and fortunately Pacian delivers on this front. His writing is frequently witty and amusing, with the banter between the two characters being his greatest strength. On the other hand, telling the story from both characters' perspectives gives them a little more depth than your standard comedy duo. The puzzles, though few in number, are enjoyable and intuitive. You're unlikely to feel frustrated at any point in the game, but IF veterans may find it a little too easy.

The only criticism that I could level against the game is that it's too short - about 20-30 minutes playtime at the most. This isn't really a problem in itself, especially as Pacian has said that he is considering extending the story with a series of episodic sequels. However, the story in this first 'episode' is a bit too big to fit into the small space provided, resulting in a slightly rushed feeling toward the end. But this is only a small blot on an otherwise charming and memorable little game.

// Posted!  This is awesome, William. -Derek

For the move 'Double Team', I'm thinking of making it so that Barkley throws out the clone, then the clone turns around and strikes the enemy from behind, like in the source material. This would look cool and make the attack a bit more unique. Perhaps a well-placed Double Team can combo into other moves, i.e. the clone hits the enemy toward you and then you hit them again.

In Boom Blox, the player is always being told that they have to help such-and-such a character: Monkeys, kittens, cowboys, knights and so on. But the player themselves is never given any character to play as, but are simply referred to as 'you'.

From this I concluded that the player is actually playing as God, and that to the inhabitants of the Boom Blox universe, divine intervention comes in the form of bowling balls appearing out of thin air at high speed. But then I thought, why would God choose to intervene only in these four cases across space and time? I mean, assisting the cowboy wasn't even an act of virtue or altruism; God was just helping him to get rich. Therefore, I changed my theory from God to a powerful demon. Although it's not shown in the game, each of the four main characters have performed a ritual to summon the player-demon and bind him to their will. This probably involved a sacrifice of terrible proportions.
Now, why is it that the last series of levels are set in a haunted, apocalyptic graveyard world, inhabited by ghosts and skeletons? The answer is that the previous summoner (the monkey) didn't care about the world outside her island. All she cared about was the safety of her children. So the sacrifice she made to the player-demon was the rest of the world. She gave him permission to turn it into a carnival of horror, in exchange for the power she needed to rescue her babies.

For the 'Slam Dunk' and 'Vamp Slam' moves, I'm thinking that they could work like Bowser's and Yoshi's down-specials - that is, in the air, they will send you straight down, but on the ground, you will actually fly up in the air and then come back down quickly. This sounds counterintuitive since they are mapped to a downward direction, but it works fine in SSB.

Also, any suggestions on how to differentiate between those two moves? Maybe Vamp Slam has a shorter range and is a little slower, but of course it has the advantage of leeching health. And should Vamp Slam 'stick' to the enemy, like a grappling attack?

Oh.
Hm.
...

Well, maybe we can try contacting ZUN in english?

I did send an email to ZUN some time ago, but he didn't respond. I don't know if this is because the email address was incorrect, or he couldn't read english, or he was just too busy. We should probably try again.

[Movelist]

A while ago there was some discussion about Barkley's movelist, but it got forgotten amongst discussion of the idle sprite. Some people were saying that he had too many slam dunks and not enough other basketball moves, which makes sense to me, but I haven't played BSUJG enough to make good suggestions for his moves. So if there are any changes people want to suggest go for it.


I'll quote the current movelist here:

Movelist

A- Shove- Barkley delivers a quick shove with his basketball.

>A- Double Team- An illusionary double of Barkley runs forward and delivers a melee attack.

^A- BBall Spin- Barkley spins his basketball above him, delivering a few weak hits.

vA- Slam Dunk- Barkley slams his basketball into his opponent, for a powerful melee attack. When used in the air, it is a stall-then-fall.

S- Pass- Barkley throws a basketball in front of him. It deals fairly high damage and is affected by gravity.

>S- Showboat Jam- Barkley jumps forward as cameras flash. He finally lands with a devastating explosion. It’s a slow, but very strong attack.

^S- Holy Slam- Barkley floats upwards in a beam of light, then comes down, dealing massive damage.

vS- Vamp Slam- Barkley attacks with a slam dunk. He heals some damage if it connects.

This game was really cool. I liked the story a lot. However, there were some things that marred the experience. In particular, the platforming physics - well, I don't want to sound rude, but they were really horrible. The way the screen bobs up and down every time you jump is headache-inducing, and the painfully short time you spend in the air makes it very hard to get the timing right during the cave level. I didn't really see why you needed to include a coin-collecting level anyway, since the rest of the game was basically a passive, art-game-y affair.
Another thing was that your text boxes would sometimes cut off letters at the edge, so for example, the guy at the end says "Come with me to next word" when in fact I'm pretty sure it was meant to be "come with me to the next world".

All griping aside, I thought the story (especially the bunny segment) was great, and the use of art was very smartly done.

her

That's debatable.

Haha, I know, I figured I would just say 'her' since that's canonically correct.

Incidentally, I really think Nintendo should acknowledge Birdo's "life choice" rather than sweeping it under the rug. Just imagine a game starring Birdo, in which the player can switch between male and female personas at will, each with their own set of abilities.

What kind of fucked up physiology must Birdo have to be able to lay eggs out of her mouth?

I didn't really like the shooting game in SSB. It seems like a bit of a waste of effort, especially since nobody is going to be looking at the credits at least until we make a singleplayer mode.

EDIT: Also it would seem kind of like we're imitating Brawl a little too closely.

It should have a sad ending where you get stripped of all your powers and have to fight an endless stream of enemies until you die.

[GOOD TIMES.]

When I'm eating cereal, I will always push it down into the milk with my spoon until all the bits of cereal are wet. I can't stand even a tiny bit of dry cereal.


Also this:

I like to make sandwiches out of all my food. GOOD TIMES.

My favourite combination is mi goreng, egg and veggie burger.

Well, xenophobia is usually a product of fear and ignorance. Are you sure you haven't just learned too much about other cultures to feel prejudice against them any longer?

How the hell do you guys play this game?

Whenever I start playing, I get killed within a few seconds by a monster that I didn't even see, or when I do see them they run around way too fast for me to have any chance of aiming at them.

Is there something I'm doing wrong?

I really liked Space Smuggler. The way you make all the game elements visible on a single screen is neat. However, I thought the walls breaking when you shoot them was a bit cheap, since the player has to remember where each one is. Maybe on easy mode, you could use a different sprite for weak walls?

I also couldn't work out how to open the doors in the bottom-left, and without that I couldn't kill the second octopus. Any hints?