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[Jason Rohrer]

100x16 (or 100x12, if you don't count the scoreboard at the top).  Blown up to 640x480 fullscreen for your viewing pleasure.

UPDATE 1: Got 360 controller working, thanks to people on here and in the TIGS IRC.  Eternally grateful!

UPDATE 2: Added a chiptune soundtrack, fixed some bugs, etc.  Also got the Mac OSX build (PPC only, for now) working, and a Unix source build posted.

The new release, version 2, is now available here:  http://hcsoftware.sf.net/passage

That counts as a public release.

>>>>> start older stuff >>>>

Okay... deadline is tonight...  I need a quick bit of help from anyone who has an XBox 360 controller handy.

I coded up support for the 360 controller, and it should "just work", but I don't have a 360 controller to test with.  Can anybody out there give my game a try and let me know if:

1) You can start the game, from the title screen, but pushing "any button" (or at least some convenient button) on the 360 controller

2) You can move the guy around with the D-Pad

As a sanity check, the keyboard certainly works (any key to start, arrow keys to move around).  Using the 360 controller should "feel" the same as the keyboard.

If the 360 controller doesn't work... can you Alt-Tab out of fullscreen mode and look at what is printed in the command window?

Mine says:   "Found 0 joysticks"

Here's the game:

http://northcountrynotes.org/files/Passage.exe

Only the windows build is there right now...  Mac build and unix sourcecode coming soon.  Also working on some music for it.  Please don't cross-post the game anywhere yet, since it's not quite done yet.

Jason

[Guert]

Unfortunatly, I can't check it out right now, I'm at the job and I don't have any 360 controllers.

Anyone can help out?

[gummikana]

Sorry, it didn't seem to work with my Xbox360 controller.

First I had two controllers hooked up and it found the second one (not the 360).

After I removed it, I got this message:

Code:

Found 1 joysticks
Couldn't open joystick 1: There are 1 joysticks available
No d-pad found on joystick

[Jason Rohrer]

Yikes...  stupid mistake on my part (the first joystick is 0, and my code was assuming it was 1).  Anyway, did you say that it *worked* with the other controller?  That's comforting, 'cause that means that the rest of my joystick code might be working.

Just fixed that joystick number issue and posted a new build in the same place... can someone give it a try with their 360 controller?

If you just want the new app (instead of a new installer package), here is a direct link to the app (drop it into your Passage folder, and then you can try both the new and the old versions as a sanity check):

http://northcountrynotes.org/files/PassageApp.exe

Funny... I just had a 360 controller in my hands (I went to the game lab at our local university), but we couldn't get Windows XP to recognize it (tried installing drivers, etc).  Of course, I found out later that it was actually a *wireless* controller with a wire adapter attached, so maybe that was the problem.  Anyway, I'm really flying blind here...  And I really appreciate the help so far.

So much time wasted on this controller issue... no time for more important things, like music!

Jason

[Guert]

Luckyly, sound and music are not part of the competitionrequirements!

[fish]

not a competition!

[Guert]

True true, sorry!
Part of the requirements!

[Jason Rohrer]

Okay...

With the help of some people on the TIGS IRC channel, I have ironed out a few more stupid mistakes with joysicks.

One person has even reported that it works with a 360 controller...  Anyway, new build is here (at the same URL):

http://northcountrynotes.org/files/Passage.exe

[gummikana]

Okay, now it works at least with my Xbox 360 controller.

[Guert]

ditto

[Jason Rohrer]

Wow... excellent news.  I've been working on (and worrying about) this all day.

Thanks a lot for your help, all of you (including the people on the IRC channel).

Jason

[Gainsworthy]

UNCULTURED QUESTION:

Is walking all there is to the game? Cool effect with the pixels going in and out of focus, but there didn't seem to be much else. Did i miss something?

[Jason Rohrer]

Yep... as far as the controls go, you're not missing anything (walking around is it, no other buttons).  But as for the point, it sounds like you're missing something...

A couple of hints, so as not to forcibly culture you:

--How long did you play for?

--What is your score?

[Dusty Spur]

Just 'finished' the game twice. Scores were around 450 and around 1240.

Strange concept, but I like it.

[Gainsworthy]

I'm supposed to have a SCORE? I'll get working on that.

Be right back.

EDIT:

Well, that was depressing. Just walking, nothing to stop the flow of time, wandering from chest to chest in some vain attempt to enrich my life with pretty blue stars, only to end up bald, worn out and alone, in some field so far from where it all began. Never occurred to me to stop, spend time with my companion, just appreciate the bricks and flowers and checkerboard tiles.

Hi-Score is 857!

[Jason Rohrer]

Gainsworthy:

And you call yourself uncultured?  Your observations about the game are spot-on.  (And I'm feeling all jolly because people actually seem to get it.)

[bigpants]

I played your game for the first time a few days ago. I walked mostly East, found a wife (who died), then died old and alone. Combined with that sombre music, it was a very sad affair.

The next day my friend played it (I didn't tell him anything about the game). He walked along, did a lot of exploring, and then died. He never even found a wife. That made me feel better.

The fact the tombstone appears almost instantly, in stark contrast to the slow moments leading up to your death, is classic.

[Golds]

I would love to see this pushed further.  If you could somehow represent making choices like having an affair and losing your wife, having kids...  But it's also cool in it's simplicity -- I was not expecting it to end the way it did.

And you are a master of Rock Paper Scissors, Jason

[György Straub]

this is treasure. sad treasure, but still (or all the more!).

on first play, I just walked east (I figure that's what a lot of people do seeing that their character is on the left side of the screen - which, in turn, is a thin horizontal 'track'), and found a partner. there and then I thought it's a compulsory element, never mind randomness. on second play, I didn't go that way and I haven't found a partner. not having to see 'her' 'die' (which, on the first play, happened at 'old age') made playing the game an easier experience.

another interesting piece of the concept is that your possibilities are sort of restrained when you have a partner (first I wanted to make a (supposedly funny) comment about that I could get to a chest were it not for the bloody wife), and it's a shame that the positive side of having her around isn't emphasized (living longer, the world looking a better place (more vivid colors)... dunno).

great concept, cool technicals -- thanks for the experience!

(ps.: I wouldn't call the game depressing. it's sad, but that's a different affair, and there is beauty in sadness that isn't in depression.)

[skaldicpoet9]

Beautiful.

 

It is just so simple yet elegant.

Made even more potent by the lower resolution...I don't think this game could have been made any other way.

btw...I really love the effects in the game, I liked how it felt as if my character was constantly in a state of flux...transitional and was only static at the very end.

Great work