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[Pishtaco]

Greetings! Please peruse the latest Silver Sword build. Featuring the all-new Level 2!

Here's a level-skip cheat if you already played Level 1: on the title screen, mash the Up key until your menu cursor changes.

I just tried this. I got as far as the ice snakes, but didn't see how to proceed after that, although I didn't look too hard.

I like the idea of the different engagement distances a lot, and it's very satisfying when it works. I didn't understand it at first; the text doesn't explain much, the graphical effect is a bit subtle unless you're looking for it, and the enemies in the first room stuck so close to me that I never saw it, fighting them. In general, the character feels too slow to be able to choose what distance he's fighting at; in fact, slow enough that just moving around can feel frustrating.

Also, what's up with shots recharging; are they timed, or is it something else?

[Scattle]

Hey guys, here's a lil' playable buid of Lollipops (though some bugs still exist..  ) Anyways..


(The demo ends when you reach the end of the screen..blargh)

Get it here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2074248/Lollipops_Demo.zip

Big thanks to Roy Nathan de Groot (Enemies), Cow (Player Animation) and of course, HyperDuck Music Studios (Awesome Music)

[EruditeDragon]

Hey guys, here's a lil' playable buid of Lollipops (though some bugs still exist..  ) Anyways..


(The demo ends when you reach the end of the screen..blargh)

Get it here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2074248/Lollipops_Demo.zip

Big thanks to Roy Nathan de Groot (Enemies), Cow (Player Animation) and of course, HyperDuck Music Studios (Awesome Music)

Just played this, it's fun.   However, I found the collision on the candies (the ones that let you charge again) to be a bit suspect... I went through the candies on more than one occasion, and didn't get the extra boost.  Also, would it be possible to get a charge attack that creates a longer wave?  As it stands, the range on the main attack seems a bit low, but it may just be me.

By the way, is the music a heavily remixed version of the original theme from the A52 version?  Not that it matters - the A52 Lollipops theme was probably pretty forgettable... I certainly don't remember it  

Liking the music in your version, though.  Fitting for a post-apocalyptic Candyland.

[MaloEspada]

Played lollipops. The art and music is great, but I found the gameplay pretty lacking. The attack could be abit more ranged imo. Right now it's too short and you can easily get hit by enemies.
Another thing that happened is, I couldn't jump/dash midair for some weird reason. It happened some times and I ended up dying.

Well, in the end I expected a way longer game. This is too short for a game almost 1 month in the makings.

[deathtotheweird]

If you would have paid attention he said it's not done, it's a demo.

[MaloEspada]

If you would have paid attention he said it's not done, it's a demo.

Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't imply it was done. I just expected it to be longer since he's working on it for so long.

[L]

I just tried this. I got as far as the ice snakes, but didn't see how to proceed after that, although I didn't look too hard.

I like the idea of the different engagement distances a lot, and it's very satisfying when it works. I didn't understand it at first; the text doesn't explain much, the graphical effect is a bit subtle unless you're looking for it, and the enemies in the first room stuck so close to me that I never saw it, fighting them. In general, the character feels too slow to be able to choose what distance he's fighting at; in fact, slow enough that just moving around can feel frustrating.

Also, what's up with shots recharging; are they timed, or is it something else?

You gave up on the fifth screen of level 1? ...Well, anyway, what you should do there is aquire the skill of shooting forward while moving backward - use the C button to lock your firing direction (as the title screen tells you).

Also you have a maximum of one sword beam onscreen at a time. You can fire another beam in half a second, or when the first beam vanishes, whichever comes later.

Also: there are 19 screens in Level 1 and 20 in Level 2.

[L]

Hey guys, here's a lil' playable buid of Lollipops (though some bugs still exist..  ) Anyways..

Hmmm... good.

* I'm looking at the original Lollipops, and something's missing from yours... distant purple stars in the sky! That'd make that flat expanse of grey look more interesting.
* I like the non-at-all subtle musical reference to "Theme of Simon Belmont".
* I don't see the point of the high platform just after the first pit. It seems to me a bit of a trap - new players could dash right into it and then fall uselessly into the pit.
* I can also report a bug that prevents jumping occasionally. It tends to happen when you airdash and fall onto the ground.
* I totally got beaned by an enemy while the "Dash into candies" message was onscreen. Boo!
* Humiliating game over screen pechance? Possibly showing a busted green lollipop?
* Idle animations?
* Put in some top secret Bubblegum Rosie references somewhere. (Maybe make Rosie quickly float past on the top of the screen in a bubble at some point, and popping her gives you a 1UP?)

[Scattle]

I fixed that "trap" pit, as well as added a longer range to the attack, and fixed the dash-candy bug. Fixed the occasional jump bug as well! 

Maybe I'm missing something, but where is this flat expanse of gray you're talking about? I mean, it's probably the purple, but yeah...

I'll add the stars in the 2nd stage (takes place at night)

And, that's a no go on the Bubblegum Rosie reference...

[EruditeDragon]

Well, I did a quick Lollipops bughunt just now (and my last one for now, I need sleep).  I found three things, two of which can be reproduced:

1.  Similar to L's 'cannot jump' bug, I may have run across a 'cannot dash' bug.  Not sure what causes this, or even if it's really a bug (I could just suck that much).  File this one under cannot currently be reproduced.

2.  It appears that if you airdash, and then immediately try to attack once the dash stops, you just go back into the airdash pose.  I reproduced this multiple times.

3.  I ran into a nice little Game Maker warning notice when I airdashed off the side of the screen at the end of the demo.  Unfortunately, I don't have the error report.  My bad.  (I'm a budding programmer; you'd think I'd pay more attention...)

Finally my suggestions, which you can add to L's lengthy list.

1: I'd eventually like to see a death animation.  To build on L's suggestion for a game over screen, why not have the lollipop weapon break, then have the hero fall to the ground?  Or explode?  Or, maybe, do both?

2:  The main attack needs either longer range, or a longer enemy stunlock period.  It's too easy to get hit right now.

3:  If the dash doesn't have an invulnerability period, it could use one.  I remember a few times where I got hit in the middle of my dash from below, and died (but again, maybe I just suck )

4:  Finally, I've got more ideas on a possible charge attack for you to use.  Essentially, the wave from this attack should be longer and more powerful (at the least, it should kill the roving gumballs - and it's so tempting to type goombas there... I need sleep - in one hit).  Not sure how to balance this, though.  At the moment, I'm just about asleep at my keyboard.  

More ideas forthcoming... once I get some shut-eye.  Still enjoying the game, BTW.  It's fun, despite the unfinished-ness.  You've got the makings of a good game here.  Just need more stuff.

[Scattle]

Hey EruditeDragon,

In response to your list of bugs:
1 - UNKNOWN, PROBABLY FIXED
2 - FIXED
3 - FIXED

In reply to your list of suggestions:

1 - Game Over screen will be in game soon, Death animation will probably be a remake of the original death animation, seriously.

2 - Range has been increased

3 - Eh, dunno about that

4 - No charge attack, but maybe a secondary weapon like in Castlevania

[I UPDATED THE LINK WITH THE NEW BUILD!]
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2074248/Lollipops_Demo.zip

[FrankieSmileShow]

I finished 7 gigantic animations this weekend, 3 more to go and the hard diff enemies are all done. Theyre all new animations for the zombies only.... At hard difficulty, they become by far the biggest threat in the game

Then its finishing up the bosses, and then some lil things there and there.
I might have this finished by next weekend. Otherwise I will at least have a new version by then.

(ya, I can work on this again!)

[Fifth]

Storm Over the Desert

Very fun!  After getting used to controlling all the tanks at once (which took a bit of practice), I found that you actually had quite a bit of maneuverability.  I managed to get to the second wall without loosing a tank my second time through (as my first time was rudely interrupted).  And yes, the part after that is delicious.

Kudos!


Silver Sword

The changing elements is an interesting idea, though frustrating at times.  I think you could do more to exaggerate the changes, both visually and sound-wise (like having a different non-critical hit noise for each element).  I didn't like how helpless I seemed when trying to get to the right distance with most enemies.  Since the player already locks direction if you hold the attack button, I think you'd do well to use that second button to add some sort of dodge/move maneuver, like a roll; it wouldn't be too game-breaking to allow such a kindness to the player.

As it is, the game is VERY difficult.  I was able to get through the whole thing, but only just barely in a lot of cases.  The caterpede just seemed too ruthless, and I was only able to beat Hogan by hiding somewhere where he couldn't move, and picking him off with -1s.  Difficulty may be what you're shooting for, but don't get carried away; you may find the difficulty just right, but those not so close to the project will have a much tougher time.

And the save points are clever.


Lollipops

Enjoyable, I guess.  I'm afraid I don't have a whole lot to say about it, but it seems to be going in the right direction.

What exactly do the Christmas lights do?

They're like the windows and clock and so on: they let you see ghouls that walk in front of them. Standing in the middle of a long string of christmas lights can be an effective tactic, though it's not as safe as hiding in a closet.

Heh, spot-on.  But if you keep hiding in closets, I'm gonna come up with enemies that will find you in there.

[pgil]

Rocket Jockey is finished
Yes, I did take long enough.

I think I fixed most of the problems that were in the last build. The first boss is more aggressive, but also easier to attack. I also added the third level and final boss, changed how the lasso works and made an intro animation.

You can get it HERE


On a related note, I kind of inherited Billy Bob, so if it's all right with podunkian and everyone else, I'll take that on as my next project. The engine is already complete (thanks to Tadakuni Amano), so I'll mostly be building new levels.

[Pishtaco]

You gave up on the fifth screen of level 1? ...Well, anyway, what you should do there is aquire the skill of shooting forward while moving backward - use the C button to lock your firing direction (as the title screen tells you).

I got that, it's just that the character would back away so slowly that he would run out of space before getting enough distance from the enemies.

Edit - Sorry, I wrote this without reading your post properly, and the thing I wrote above was more about the first screen with enemies than the fifth screen.

[EruditeDragon]

Hey, pgil, played Rocket Jockey.  It's fun.  I'm horrible at it, but it's fun.

I ran into two glitches regarding the boss of level 2 (I haven't made it to level 3 yet).

1.  It seems that whenever you die against the boss and respawn, 3 - 5 ghost riders (the enemies that appear behind you and charge you, and cannot be killed) spawn on your position.  They don't damage you though.  I'm not really sure if this is a bug (to be honest, it actually looks kinda cool), just thought I'd mention it.

2.  During one of my fights against the second boss (Marge, right?) I ran into a Game Maker error popup.  I'll transcribe it here:
___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event
for object ob_boss_marge:

Error in code at line 56:
            turret_angle_a = point_direction(x,y,ob_player.x,ob_player.y)
                                                           ^
at position 58: Unknown variable x

If it helps, I was killed when one of her missiles turned and hit me in the back.  I think I was carrying a barrel, but I don't recall. 

[pgil]

1. Oops, yeah. The ghost riders always acted weird after you respawn. I just changed how they spawn, and that seems to fix it.
2. Fixed.

I'll upload a new version soon.

[Fifth]

Don't forget to make it so that you can quit from the main menu with ESC!

Anyway, Rocket Jockey was quite fun, and felt really great!  The colors you used, and the music, and the whole feel of cruising through the asteroids (with the foreground stuff and all) really came together well.

[Scattle]

Stage 2 preview

[oranda]

What exactly do the Christmas lights do?

They're like the windows and clock and so on: they let you see ghouls that walk in front of them. Standing in the middle of a long string of christmas lights can be an effective tactic, though it's not as safe as hiding in a closet.

Heh, spot-on.  But if you keep hiding in closets, I'm gonna come up with enemies that will find you in there.

Skeletons in the closet? Make it so!