next »

[droqen]

The mode's version is unique and gives you multiple head-jumps

[mokesmoe]

Yeah, the smoke/ghost enemies are basically engineered to be jackasses. It's really terrible when you get them in an egg, too D:

The smoke enemies are my easiest to kill actually. They are predictable and fast, so you can lead them away from other enemies and kill them with ease. They are sometimes easy to miss with forward stars or punches though, when they hover a bit too high off the ground. I haven't seen a ghost yet though. (But they may have seen me...)

Also, the jumping eater guys can sometimes hurt you from below when you should be stomping them.

The eater should explode if he eats an explosive guy.

[droqen]

He's trying to eat you from below, buddy. Think a little stomp action's gonna change his mind well think again

Also, that's a fantastic idea. Boom! That never even came to mind, thanks :3

[droqen]

Alterations:

Stomp tweaked. Leap/Uppercut tweaked, added to ORTOSLONAUT! (name change still pending)

ORTOSLONAUT!-unique punch (2 damage, bigger hitbox) successfully added.

uh

some other stuff, maybe. who knows.


EDIT :: Spawn rate chilled out as per request. *2.3 of normal rather than *3 of normal

EDIT :: Holy shit the Devourers (eaters, whatever) go crazy in this mode. With their stomp resistance, and penchant for eating enemies, in an environment where you have super-stomp and there is tons of food lying around...

awesome 

[ortoslon]

with increased density, enemies often form clusters where they can't be easily distinguished at a glance. even a lighter background color would help

[mokesmoe]

I managed to get the super tier up, (and killed my first boss! Super jumped into a thundercloud.) but no more powers showed up in the menu. I had the whole left side, so I assumed I would have all I needed for double jump.

[droqen]

New minor(?) update. It's gettin' there!

- Rebalanced bosses. Spider boss in particular has added resistance to falling off the top of the screen, simply breaking offending blocks in its way. It's a much more interesting threat now.

- Added an easy/beginner mode which appears before the regular play game menu item. Will probably shift all playtypes to a submenu beneath 'play game' later on. It differs in block layout (jumps are generally easier when they are possible), and in spawn rate (60% of normal).

- Tutorial screen modified


Nearly finished, to be honest.
Someone has told me to consider contacting Adult Swim.

TODO:

Tweaking all content
Add late-game content
Modify ORTOSLONAUT! mode
Good scoring system?
High score tables?

(Contact possible sponsors)
(Consider other methods of $$$ Dolla Dolla Bill $$$)

[mokesmoe]

The easy mode tends to have simpler block layouts, making jumps easier. (most of the time, but random is random) However, there tends to be less blocks total on screen, and so it's a lot more punishing if you miss a jump.

Also, are mario boots and knees supposed to be switched?

EDIT: just got a impossible to advance scenario in beginner. (impossible without the breaking blocks power at least) It also likes to make me run from one side of the screen to the other in a small corridor every once in a while. It's mostly horizontal platforms makes these tend to happen more often.

EDIT2: I played beginner again and the level felt really good, so I guess I just got really unlucky before.

[droqen]

Yeah, I switched boots and knees.

Most of tier 2 was utility/situational, while tier 3 is reliable; I switched them to fall more in line with that pattern.

What I'll do for Beginner is lighten up concentration again but add some blocks to the interior of the 'holes' (don't worry if that doesn't make much sense). It's a pretty simple modulation of the current generator, but it's worked out well so far!

Should I reduce the spawn rate further? I would like it to be a good introduction to very new players (though not necessarily players who are absolutely new to platformers -- just to ease players into the mechanics of the game).

[Inane]

Yum mario boots. Makes melee builds a lot more aggressive.
The build I'm using, which I usually die between super-tier up and a super ability with, is:

Code:

1: Fist+
2: Mario Boots
3: Tier Up
4: Teleport

Don't know what's best for the build after that, but the instakill fist can be used against any boss except the spider if you're lucky. Fist+ and mario boots+star combo let you kill any early game enemy, and teleport lets you escape closed paths and enemies with projectiles (and leads in to the only super ability option of the build, excluding the default one [is that too spoilery?])

[mokesmoe]

Since health is a valuable commodity, I always get knees+. I'm so used to it that once I get mario boots I keep taking falling damage, but I'll get used to that. I usually go with super jump after tier up, as it's good at killing things and safer than teleport. (Although teleport would probably be fine if your used to it.)
The star skill tree is nice too though, especially with the attract and star recycle combo.

I think you should add in 'talent' mode again, as that functions as sort of a beginner mode. Give them enough points that they can't get a final power, and that should be a good incentive to try the real game.

[droqen]

BRAND NEWS:

1. Beginner mode is well underway. I'm really enjoying it.

2. There will be a demotrial mode, and a $$$ mode. The demotrial might be browser-playable.
--> The demotrial mode will contain only Beginner mode.

3. I'm going to make a manual for Probability 0 because it feels like the kind of game that could actually benefit from one! O: It'd have a bunch of legitimately useful guide stuff, and a bunch of silly lore stuff (probably). Also, if anyone wants to make manual art for a game with uh four colours in it, that'd be awesome and you should get in touch with me.

4. I'm planning to sell:
a) The game, in swf&exe format (sitelocked to 'local' or something, just to keep people from uploading the swf to a portal)
b) The game plus manual, to be mailed, I guess? I don't know how the hell people sell physical stuff but I'm going to do it.
c) That's it.



I HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG IT'LL TAKE TO GET THINGS DONE! HOWEVER, I'M STILL REALLY ENJOYING MYSELF PLAYING P0 AND THAT'S RAD. I am spending more time playing it than I am making it. I finally made it to 1km (albeit in Beginner mode).

5. I'm adding a few enemies to the later bits of the game. One of them is a huge jerk.

6. Boss enemies are still huge jerks.

POLL:

If a big, scary enemy appears at reliable intervals (such that eventually it's guaranteed that more than one show up at once), should I...

OPTION #1: Make them stick around more reliably than other enemies? Right now they never, EVER fall off-screen. You MUST deal with them.

Pros: Makes bosses real hardasses

Cons: Makes bosses real hardasses



OPTION #2: Make them leave after a fixed time has passed? I have never implemented this.

Pros: Bosses can be avoided, rather than fought. In a different game there could be an element of choice. In P0, there's pretty much no way to do a pacifist run.

Cons: The bosses can be avoided, rather than fought. It makes them less terrifying. It's also really disappointing when an almost-dead boss suddenly falls off-screen.



OPTION #3: Bosses don't have any special way of forcing themselves back on-screen. They might last 10 seconds, or they might linger forfuckingever. This is the way OLD P0's bosses worked.

Pros: You can devise clever plans to get rid of bosses.

Cons: No you fucking can't. It doesn't really work that way, ever, what with things being as frantic as they are. It also kind of messes with the difficulty of the game in general too much. I like them being reliable challenges! It's also really disappointing when an almost-dead boss suddenly falls off-screen.



7. Speaking of pacifist runs, I'm planning to add some weird modes. I already have ORTOSLONAUT! so I might add a pacifist-run-mode where your aim is not to kill enemies but to simply progress as far as possible? (and you slowly gain levelups? or maybe they just spawn randomly from the bottom? and some of the attack talents can't be bought? I dunno!) That's kind of a bad idea. I'll see what happens when I try it out, but... it's not really a good idea.

8. Fullscreen is already working, for those who requested it for the first P0. It's great and I love it and I love you guys for suggesting it.


i just did a run to get infinite stars and i goddamn got it


I am now drawing up some new enemies. Maybe some new block types if I'm feeling particularly fun???

Regarding Mario Boots: I have recently come to terms with this ability being really good early-game, because it kind of blows late-game and/or it doesn't stack with anything! It's awful against bosses, and it's tough to use against enemies with >2 health, and it's useless against most enemies with 2 health if you purchase bigstars.

So basically it's a good early-game way to mid-air deal with small fries (who are already not that hard to deal with, but it's handy) and late-game it's a good mobility trick that's also really tough to use.



Talent mode may come back.

[mokesmoe]

What about 2 and 3 together? They stop forcing themselves on-screen after a fixed time limit.


WAIT NO! Option 3, but about 10 seconds after they leave they come back with the same health as before but they are ANGRY!!1! faster. And they don't leave a second time.
You're all like "Phew, I'm safe." but then the boss is all like "NOPE, YOUR DEAD" and then you are all like "That's the wrong yo" but you don't finish your sentence because the boss kills you and then mokesmoe is all like "BLARGLE BLAGLE BLURGLE DURGLE" and then I forgot what I was talking about.


Also I'd rather get a pdf manual instead of waiting for one to come in the mail.

[droqen]

Well, yes. There will totally be a pdf manual also! but i really like paper double also
I am just going to start making a crazy manual in my spare time now.


mokesmoe: ANGRY BOSS O: that'd be pretty cool but maybe also kind of horrifying D:
Is this based on experience with the way bosses currently work or is it based on craziness >:0
(both are okay things to base it on)

I think your best work was around "BLAGLE"... but "DURGLE" was a lovely departure from your trend of B- words. What about "BURGLE"? Why isn't that in there anywhere, to allude to the coming "DURGLE"?

[BlueSweatshirt]

In true PROBABILITY fashion you should do a combination of all 3.

It will keep the player always guessing.
They will have no pattern to rely on.

Some bosses may go away after a time, but you don't know that.
So you could try to avoid it, but at the same time, it might not go away.
And some bosses might just go away with the terrain if it permits.
But maybe they won't.

Make war not love. [with the player] 

[mokesmoe]

The whole blargle thing was there to show that it was based off of craziness.

Well actually the thought process started with how to go with options B or C but eliminate the boss leaving just before it dies downside. Then I got a bit excited.

[droqen]

They will have no pattern to rely on.

To be honest, 'when a boss appears it does not go away ever and it just keeps trying to kill you mercilessly so deal with it isn't really the sort of pattern one 'relies' on, per se.

(Also keep in mind that boss fights are rather different every time, given the terrain is always different, the mix of supporting enemies is different, and also you are different. So there's not too much worry of too much of a pattern getting stucky, I think.)

I am going to argue for option #1, and wondering why everyone's going for 2 and 3 ):

[JMickle]

i think 1 is kinda fine, but i prefer 2. 3 is just bleh.

what about 2 but the time they stay on screen is longer the more you attack them? people who attack a lot get a chance to kill them, people who avoid them get a chance to survive, and people who CAN'T DECIDE DESERVE TO LOSE

[droqen]

Oh man.

Maybe if you mess around too long without attacking a boss, it EXPLODES in a boss-specific way and turns into like... a whole bunch of nasty stuff that the player now has to dodge O:

[mokesmoe]

The reason I don't want 1 is that whenever I have bad luck killing enemies in the beginning of the game, I'll only be level 2 and have no chance of killing the boss. Maybe delay the boss until you earn 3 points? Or at least make him take longer.