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[Davioware]

TowerClimb

Is a procedurally generated roguelike/platformer concerning towers, and the climbing of them.




 

I don't want to spoil too much about the game, so i'll leave the info short.

Anyhow, I'd love to see what you guys have to say about it.

Read the blog post on Indiegames.com:
http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2010/01/freeware_game_pick_towerclimb.html

Instructions can be found on the game's page.

Play it here:
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/platformer/towerclimb/1459/

[deathtotheweird]

Ah, this game is great. It's so simple. My first time I made it to 424 and fell to my death. Mistimed jump. Love the big chunky pixels and non-obtrusive music.

Also, I had no idea there was an inventory until I read on the IndieGames comments. You should probably indicate that somewhere.

[The North]

Yeah, I'm the one that got 2544 (edit, just looked in game and apparently I actually got 2548) on the Indiegames blog.  Great little time-waster you have, here.  I love scurrying up the little rocks.  In fact, I love doing it quickly more than safely.  Maybe at some point you could add some kind of timer in addition to height.

Can't wait for more areas/more stuff.  Just a few observations/quibbles:

- The jump is easily the most valuable item in the game.  I had like 8 or 9 of these at one point during my run (and subsequently had to use most of them on an absolute whore of a level).  Rarely do you need any of the other items.

- The only time I ever find the corrosion thing useful is when your level generator decides to put a block over the door.  Other than that, I've never found a good use for the things.

- The teleporter is only useful when there are too many enemies around or the way to get up is convoluted, which brings me to my next point...

- The dogs are really annoying, especially when the game decides to spawn 20 of them in one spot that you have to walk through.  This is the only use I found for the teleporter: avoiding the damn dog hallways.  It turns into a waiting game, where you have to wait for every single dog to jump off a cliff or fall asleep at the same time.  Extremely frustrating.

-The revive potion only seems to work consistently when I fall from a height (which I mostly stopped doing after I figured out what the little guy was capable of).  Once it saved me from a worm, but I ran away and somehow it still killed me, even though I wasn't near it at all.  Every time I die by fish with the revive potion, it doesn't seem to give me another chance.

-Get rid of all mouse input.  The shopkeeper, especially, is annoying when I'm trying to buy things, and the game apparently doesn't pause, so I have to move my hands off the keyboard, grab the mouse, then scramble back before I get jumped on by a dog.  Even if the game did pause when you're shopping, the mouse really ruins my flow!  Mouse input is another reason the teleporter is annoying (and impractical when in a hurry) to use.

But yeah, great little game, and I can't wait to see what more you do with it.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I liked how you had a different name each time you played, too.  I thought a randomized shirt color would be pretty cool, too, and help solidify the idea that you're a different guy each time.

[Kicks]

SUPER cool game! I'm having tons of fun right now!
Like others mentioned, I love how simple it is and I love how gratifying it is to get higher. EVERY SINGLE MOMENT IS A NEW CHALLENGE. I cannot express to you how cool this is! The double jump item is very nice because it allows you to skip a challenge if you want and gives you a satisfying rest but still progresses you. I hate the bees though. I got to a really difficult spot where I had to climb really high and the bee just caught up with me. I also had to ctrl-alt-del to get out of the program.
I hated that my guy looked like a peasant in a sack though.
Then the poster above mentioned having random colored outfits. I LOVE IT! Maybe even random skin color. On that same note, I loved how the intro ended "Today, another one tries."
It's like so perfect! It brings you into the game and setting, but it also says 'tries' which implies I'm totally not gonna do it. I LOVE IT!
Great job, man!

[Davioware]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll be sure to address all of these issues, along with a large amount of new content, in the next version.

[Derek]

Love the graphics!  I'll check this out when you release the next version.

[alphasmart]

I very like this.  This is almost the antithesis of Spelunky, in that you have to go up rather than down.  At first I got a bit tired of the laborious pace of the wall-climbing, but then I realised it actually fit very well and in the end I found myself practically willing the character on - just the right kind of emotion.  Perhaps the most annoying thing was when the room-generator gave me a level with blocks too high to climb, forcing me to use up a jump right off the bat.  Perhaps it's just me being a wuss, but it feels a bit unfair, especially given the not-brilliant inventory system as pointed out by others.

Criticism aside, this is a very fine game you got going here.  Pretty, wonderfully atmospheric and contains one of the best water levels I've experienced recently - a feeling compounded by my first experience of it being joined with rising lava (which thematically makes little sense, but it was most exhilarating).  I do look forward to seeing the final version!

[HarrisonJK]

Just wanted to stop by to tell you that this game is awesome! I love the feel of climbing the tower... aaah, the atmosphere!

Here are a few points:
1) as someone mentioned earlier the dogs are really annoying. They just stay put blocking your way until you wait for them to do something stupid. If they moved around more it would be better.

2) I always seem to die while shopping. I think that enemies can hang out behind shopkeepers and even if you have a revive potion you will die. Perhaps a revive potion should teleport you to a safe spot on the screen? Also enemies such as the centepede should not spawn on the same spots as shops.

3) Whoever said that the jump potion was the only really good one was right. Perhaps while you have a double jump charge if you hit an enemy it will die and you will lose the charge getting rid of the need for the destruction potion. I think consolidating potion types and streamlining the inventory system would be good.

4) The jump potion button should be closer to the jump key for those situations where you need it right away. Someone already mentioned this.

5) I love the variety of levels you already have here. Every tower brings a new sense of dread. This is awesome. I want more. More enemy types from the classic Metroid enemies that follow walls and the ones that fly from left to right bouncing off of walls to new tile types such as blocks that fall apart when you step on them or ice blocks or vines. These could add more theme levels which are what really makes this game fun. You never know what sort of danger awaits.

That was long and full of suggestions, but you don't have to take them. I love your game as it is.

[r.kachowski]

the first time I died my guy had the same name as me 

[linger]

The rate at which the player climbs up walls is tortuously slow. I'd make it faster. It's sort of like a Spelunky that plays at the speed of molasses.

[Nikica]

Awesome game, nice to see a topic here, I can't wait for a new version.

Also, try to beat my 4227!

[Ryx]

The game crashes for me every time I die and start a new game, but not the first time I start a game.
Sometimes I can prevent it by toggling window scale.

[Fate]

I can't get it to run on my system(winXP, already re-installed a bunch of directX stuff, help pls), so i only had a few minutes with it on my brothers system(vista). But i have to say... this game has so much potential! Keep up the great work dude!
Can't make any big suggestion right now, but i agree with linger: movement could use some speed!

[Valter]

I am incapable of exiting the game without use of the task manager 

[alphasmart]

The rate at which the player climbs up walls is tortuously slow. I'd make it faster. It's sort of like a Spelunky that plays at the speed of molasses.

At first, I agreed with you, but as I said I actually grew to like it.  Firstly because it seemed realistic - you ever tried climbing a wall?  Beating gravity like that is no mean feat - and secondly because it runs in stark contrast to Spelunky, which is a good thing.  If it was more like Spelunky speed-wise, people would have cried "Spelunky-clone!" (even though the graphics are entirely distinct)  As it is, I quite like how it feels laborious, since it connects me to the character somewhat.

[Metroid48]

Bit of a bump, but this game deserves more attention. Very fun! With a record of 1407 I've still got a ways to go, but already I've seen a lot of variety in it. The roguelike elements are great for that, as well as how it doesn't kid around with death.

I have a few suggestions for the game. This list looks longer than it is, as it's mainly small tweaks:
1. Revive potions should give you a couple of seconds of invulnerability if you had a non-lava death, as currently most hazards kill you instantly after you revive.
2. Mouse really shouldn't be used. Bind keys 1-4 for the shopkeeper menu, potentially make teleport have the player aim a reticule. As-is the mouse makes teleporting under pressure impossible and buying potions cumbersome.
3. Keep the game running when you are at a shopkeeper or selecting a teleport destination, like it does now - the mortality of the character should be a focus, as it isn't reasonable to go shopping when there's rising lava right?
4. The dogs can be a bit excessive on some levels, which sometimes forces the use of a teleport or several corrodes.
5. Duplicating the potion keys down to ASD would be a nice option.
6. Could corrode potions work for straight down as well? Useful for escaping the gas-trap.
7. Problematically, pressing jump when hanging from the ceiling wastes a double jump potion. Also, not sure if this is my playing or the engine, but I seem to waste double jumps when jumping out of a block-high gap, despite feeling that without the double jump I still would have jumped regularly.
8. I like Justic Jones's suggestion for some Metroid-style enemies. Having enemies that are crawling around blocks in the level in particular would add a bit more action to the regular platforming portions.

One gametype suggestion would be to have a mode that makes every other level a rising lava level. This would be great (I think) as an alternative play style focusing more on action while still maintaining the same core gameplay.

Final thing, not sure how implementable this is or what you're using to make the game but a co-op feature would be excellent. I've talked to several people who also like the game but it ends up just being highscore comparisons, despite how the game design looks like it could accommodate more than one player. Platformers are perfect for multiplayer and I don't know that there has ever been a randomly-generated level one before!

Just my 2 cents. In any case, cool project and I hope to see you continue it!

[Davioware]

Hey, thanks for the feedback Metroid. I've addressed most of the bugs/annoyances you mentioned. The game's a lot more polished now, and has more content. Keep an eye out for the next release.

I've been toying around with the idea of a co-op mode, with a seperate highscore list. I've had 2 pretty good ideas so far. Local co-op gameplay was on my mind the whole time I developed this, so there's a good chance it'll make it in for the final game.

Forgot to mention: It's been voted Free Indie of the Week on Bytejacker! Also, briefly appeared on G4 when bytejacker got a mention on attack of the show. Cool.

[LazyWaffle]

FUCK, I got to the first water level and got chomped up by a piranha.

This game is pretty fun. Perfect difficulty, and the rising lava levels mix in some variety.

[Nikica]

Argh! Give us some news... 

[AndroidScholar1]

Pretty great game, especially for an "alpha" (at least, that's what it says in the text file). The graphics are good enough to convey what each thing is - the shine of objects obviously showing a collectible, etcetera.

Nice work