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[gummikana]

It's a simple mechanic, but it works. I played through it on the easy, which is more than I can say for most games. Even though it was a bit too tough for my taste.

I'll have to point out that it took me couple of tries to figure out should I jump or duck during the tunnels. But when I realized they where tunnels it made the whole a lot easier to grasp. (They are tunnels, aren't they?)

While it's logical that everything you can safely walk through is shaded gray, I think gray is bad color choice for the tunnels. I think the reason is that people tend to think that brightly colored objects are on the foreground and darker objects are in the background. This implies that there is some kind of platform there that you have to jump over.

[Spincut]

Yay! Just finished easy. A great game for a short amount of time! I assumed the counter was time left until the train hit your friend. Is that correct? I first thought it was how close to him I was, but then it kept ticking down even when I was standing still. The parallax scrolling is still a tad confusing, but it's not that big of a deal. Great job, Guert!

[Guert]

Gummikana:
Thanks for playing alot! Yes, it's indeed very simple... When I looked at how the event is presented, it reminded me of this arcade where I use to spend my time (and money). Lotsa game, music and players going from one game to another spending only few minutes per games. So I thought that I would create a very simple arcade game. There it is

Good point about the color and the tunnels. I'm gonna experiment a bit just to see if I can find a cleaner way to express this element... Thanks again for playing!

Spincut:
Yes, the time left is the distance between your firend's head and the train. Thanks alot for the kind words!

I really liked creating this game. I made it in about a week and a half. Very fast compared to the time I usualy spend on design (at least a month). It's a very fun exercise!

Thanks to all who played! I hope I get picked for the event
Later!

[Alec]

One small technical question/suggestion:

Haven't been able to play the latest version because my widescreen resolution sometimes throws a fit over 2D fullscreen games. What happens is it kicks back to the desktop and the window can be seen minimized in the task bar. Same thing happens if you try to get into the game again.

Is there a way to run the game windowed?

[Guert]

Yes but not with that version. I'll make one with a windowed mode.

[Tr00jg]

Neat, simplistic game you have here Guert.

Is this game possibly influenced by Sunset Riders? Have you played it. Its an old arcade game.

[Guert]

Thanks!
I've played that game so many years ago I can't remember how it played. All I remember is that A) it was about cowboys B) It was a game that was pirated live before our eyes during a canadian video game show that ran a few years back. There's was this bald guy named the head who we'd only see through a tv monitor. Anyone knows what i'm talking about? There was like a live host, the head and some asian girl in a tv monitor...

On a side note, Sunset runner was actualy inspired by Brokeback mountain. I could've called it "Brokeback train" but I dunno... "Sunset runner" sounds better

[Terry]

Hey Guert, did you realise that this thread was topic number 666?

You should do an evil version of this game or something

[Guert]

Ah ha  I didn't noticed that little detail!
Hmmm... Interesting idea!  Quite interesting...

*Leaves in the shadow, pondering about a dark plan...

[Golds]

Guert, it was really cool meeting you, and I enjoyed Sunset Runner a lot.  It really fits the design goals of the competition well: truly low resolution, interesting aspect ratio, beat in 5 minutes... although the difficulty curve made it take me like 10 minutes, on easy .

Witness Brandon and I, frontin for our favorite game critic.

[bigpants]

I finally had a chance to play your game. I loved the graphics, and thought you did a great job using the aspect ratio restriction to your advantage. I was less enamoured with the gameplay. I would like to humbly suggest a change.

In the current version, when things get faster, I need to start planning my jumps way in advance. I'm jumping way before there's even a threat, or I'm avoiding threats simply because relatively speaking, I have a ton of hang time. In some ways, the game gets slower as it gets faster.

Instead, as everything speeds up, your jumps should speed up accordingly (not stay the same speed). Another way of putting it, increase the framerate of the entire game, not just the things you're jumping. Near the end, you'll be doing fast, quick up & down jumps, like a human pogo stick. While that will turn Sunset Rider into a more standard twitch game, that's not a bad thing.

I'd certainly play that over and over and over again.

[Guert]

Golds: It was a pleasure meeting you guys too... 
And here, witness Toastie and I fronting formy favorite Owen Wilson impersonator.

BigPants: The idea is interesting. I'll see if I can try it out to see how it feels. Thanks alot for playing!
Take care all!

[Bennett]

Guert, I know I'm late to the party, but I think your entry was cool.
I can only clear it on Easy, but I was a little disappointed I only got text as a prize. I wanted the train to stop right in front of my 'friend' so that they could be reunited.

What did you use to make the game, if you don't mind my asking?

[Guert]

Yeah... The game would need a grand finale. I had one thought up where the main character jumped off the train and ran to rescue his best firend. Then there was an embrace. I also had this finale where you'd get to see the character getting ran over by the train up close. But, I ran out of time and I hate coding

I used Blitz basic for this game. I like using blitz for some quick prototypes. Since I don't like coding and never really enjoyed Game maker, Blitz was the best choice for me. Unfortunatly, it causes some bugs in the game that I have no idea how to take care of.   

Thanks for playing!