next »

[Spydog]

Psycho2
Made with: Game Maker 7.0
Development Time: About 6 months
File Size: 15.1 MB (contains game files as well as example custom levels)
Compatible with: Windows 98 and up

Psycho2 is a a very strange and very random puzzle-platform game. Features include:

-Over 15 puzzling levels: Most of the solutions are logical in a way, but be prepared to think outside the box. Also includes a cool multi-puzzle boss stage!

-Very robust Level Maker: Design your own levels! Use all of the main features in the game to build your level, then apply special Rules, Themes, and even custom text (victory messages and hints) to your level! Easy to learn, but very functional. When your level is complete, you can save it to a file OR save it onto your clipboard in a code format. Then you can share the level or paste the code into emails, on forums, etc. for others to play!

-Lots of randomness: Expect plenty of funny, surprising moments.
-"Super Psycho" mode: Play through a speedrun version of the original Psycho game. How fast can you complete the game?

Download:
Game Jolt: http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/puzzle/psycho2/462/
YoYo Games: http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/87949

As for feedback I would appreciate just general criticism, as well as mentioning features that could possibly benefit from expanding.

Feel free to share your level codes and files on here. Enjoy, and please comment!
-Spydog

NOTE: You don't have to play the original game to understand anything. So don't worry about that.

[mr. podunkian]

as much as i want to like this, the game feels like a less clever version of karoshi 2.0, which is unfortunate because i was looking forward to a karoshi-like game with puzzles that went beyond 'see this letter in the level title? press that key.'

for the next psycho game, i would suggest giving more thought to the levels, and having puzzles that aren't immediately obvious -- for instance, karoshi 2.0 had a lot of puzzles that were kind of meta -- forcing the player to interact with the game's interface, or do things with the physical computer. the puzzles in psycho 2 seemed far too straightforward and linear, almost to the point of the game not being necessarily about solving puzzles, but about being able to follow instructions. what i'm saying is that the game sort of falls into tedium because you're not actually being challenged.

the plot twist itself is kind of cool, but it's also predictable just from the way you can interact with the computer, and i guess, because i was getting some portal-like vibes from the plot. the first ending got me excited, because i had assumed that the escape sequence of the game would be where the real clever puzzles would be, but the escape sequence proved to be just more of the same, except with moving enemies to worry about. then when the REAL ending came by, i felt a little cheated, until i saw the "it's not over yet...", which reminded me of karoshi 2.0, which in turn gave me more hope that these first two sets of puzzles were just building up to the real meat of the game. instead i got a picture of a raccoon and was sent back to the title screen.

[Don Andy]

I really liked game myself, although I do think you should've made the whole "Disregard the red scribblings that lead to the actual ending" thing a bit less obvious.

Part of the charm in Portal (which does that similar, regardless of whether you got it from there or not) was that you did not initially know that the thing guiding you is the evil one. Well, it became obvious pretty early on, but you didn't know about the scribblings right away.

Also I agree with Mr. P on feeling a little bit cheated on the ending. You at least should've put something along the lines of what's "beyond" the computer and how that leads to a "to be continued". The "fake" ending felt much more fulfilling than the "real" one.

Gameplay wise, I felt the controls were sometimes a bit sluggish, but considering that the amount of precise platforming was rather low that's forgivable. I also noticed that sometimes when on a slope I couldn't jump, but I'm not really sure how to reproduce it. Sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't.

All in all I would've wished for a bit more backstory (but I always want that I'm a sucker for game lore) and as podunkian said, maybe a bit more meta and/or braintwisting puzzles. Although the one with the money was pretty cool.

I'd play a Psycho 3.

[frekir]

This was fun, some levels were a bit on the easy side, and felt like they were just a road to the harder levels and so I think it shouldn't count as a "finished level" if it was just a road. Or something.

I'd play a Psycho 3.

Me too.

[r.kachowski]

maybe it's a new version, but there was a lot more puzzles after the "it's not over yet" screen. i got stuck on cpu level 4 though

is there anyway you could use a better font? comic sans makes me want to murder people

[Luilak]

Seems I'm having an issue with level 14, which is probably on my computer to blame:

(someone really needs to tell me how those spoiler tags work.)

_{[spoiler]It appears that no matter how much I press the dollar button, it doesn't do anything. I suspect it might have something to do with my laptop keyboard, neither one of the dollar buttons working in game. They work fine $$$$$$$ though. The fact that my keyboard doesn't want to work like it should be is frustrating though ;p[/spoiler]}

[Spydog]

Seems I'm having an issue with level 14, which is probably on my computer to blame

That is very odd. I too would blame that one on your laptop (since I've never heard of that problem before), but I will take a look at it and maybe devise a workaround. Thanks for letting me know.

And as for the rest of you (particularly Don Andy and Mr. Podunkian), I'll keep your suggestions and complaints in mind for future games. Thank you very much for your input.

[Spydog]

Okay Luilak, here the temporary solution: http://www.box.net/shared/6he1pag445. Just replace your old savedata with this new file. (Sorry I didn't think of that earlier.  )

Also, since I'm new here, does this post violate any double-posting rules? I looked but couldn't find any rules of that sort, so...

[Spydog]

I would really appreciate more critical feedback...