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[dto1138]

XONG 1.2 is released for Windows, Macintosh (intel), and GNU/Linux.

XONG is a fast-moving retro-puzzler that playtesters are enjoying very much! You control a vulnerable white square attempting to infiltrate a semi-randomly generated abstract color field environment infested with robots. You are armed with a paint-absorbent hockey puck that can pick up color and transfer it to other objects. If you lose your puck, you have to find another; these are scattered through the environment and look like the letter P. There are no hit points; any hit kills you, and completely ends your game. You cannot shoot enemies; instead you drop direction-changing arrows called "chevrons" to guide them to their doom in one of XONG's many black holes. But your puck will also follow the arrows, so be careful where you fire; otherwise you'll lose it down a black hole.

To clear a level, one must defeat all the enemies and use the paint to open the coded lock that blocks the exit to the next level. The game generates boards of increasing difficulty as one clears them, and there is no win-condition at all; you just keep playing until you die.

http://dto.github.com/notebook/xong.html

Here's a pic:

[ak]

You should post screenshots, promote it a little better.

[dto1138]

Ok  :D I've added a screenshot, can't really think of much to say that the website doesn't, so i pasted in some of the description.

[deathtotheweird]

Level 5 is impossible 

[dto1138]

I'm still working on the level generator. Sometimes it will make a really hard or impossible level. Sorry about this.

[PKBT]

Awesome! I've been waiting for this to come out. Got to level 2 on my first try, and then I got owned pretty quickly by the swarms. But I'm loving it!

[dto1138]

Annihilator: thanks for checking out XONG. It takes some strategy and quick fingers but you can get to level 4 and 5, this is about where it starts to get difficult and i am going to change the level generator formula to smooth out the difficulty curve.

Please keep in touch, you can post feedback here or join irc.freenode.net channel #lispgames

[mcc]

I like the music, is it procedural?

This game is very confusing. I tried (at first) playing it without reading the help or your description, but there was just no hope without reading the F1 screen. The just general weirdness is so intense that it actually seems like it would be kind of fun and absurdist if part of the point of the game was just trying to figure out what was going on (like being introduced to a roguelike) but the controls are keys that it would never occur to me to press if left to my own devices (option-arrow?). The "click any object" open message actually made me think at first that you were actually meant to play with the mouse.

I think I get the idea now, I will try to see if I can eventually beat at least one level. One thing I am still a little confused about is the purpose of the puck-coloring mechanic. Since the blocks disappear regardless of the color of the puck, there doesn't seem to be much of a point to the puck or the walls for that matter having color. Or is the point of the colors that you need appropriate coloring to beat the snake?

[dto1138]

Hi,

The music is not procedural, most of it is made "by hand" with Milky Tracker and some other tools.

In the new version 1.4 (to be released soon), there is a "quick reference" for the controls onscreen at all times. In addition there have been many other improvements and bugfixes and play-balancing issues fixed. I'll keep the forums posted about the release. Right now the puck coloring only applies to the snake really, this part of the system needs to be fleshed out more.

You will (i hope) start to like levels 2 and 3 because new enemies and stuff are introduced.

Thanks for your feedback and response! Please visit us on irc.freenode.net channel #lispgames if you have questions or want to chat.

[mcc]

I got to level 4, it definitely did get more interesting. Thanks