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[Franklin's Ghost]

Prefer the 1st

[etodd]

Thanks for teh feedbacks everyone!

Some peeps on Twitter (er, Tweeps) suggested combining the two, maybe like this:

[Taugeshtu]

Colors from 1st, shape from 2nd. Like that:


Just spotted your project... Now I feel like I'm in danger :D

[etodd]

Woah dude, your project is AWESOME! Love the graphics, and it looks like a ton of fun! And don't worry, I think there's room in the first-person parkour genre for both of us.

btw, you gained a Twitter follower! I'll be watching closely so I can steal ideas so I can play it when it's done!

[Inanimate]

I like the pastel, but red does pop more. Why not try a more earth-y red?

[etodd]

Like this?



I like it, but I think I'm gonna stick with the blue. I know it's overused, but I think it fits the game's feel more.

[SolarLune]

Interesting game - not enough parkour games out there. Keep making it!

[cirolve]

interesting stuff, really looking forward to the alpha! also I still think I like the first logo with just the four squares better.

[Pemanent]

I'm really impressed with your progress so far. It looks really fun!

I think this one is bar far the best. I don't really like the connected part of the feet on the 'm's being raised. It doesn't seem to fit the style of the text. I do like them connected like that though. Just my opinion

Thanks for teh feedbacks everyone!

Some peeps on Twitter (er, Tweeps) suggested combining the two, maybe like this:

[etodd]

Initial test of the dialog system. It works a lot like texting in real life.

[etodd]

Working frantically to get the alpha out in the next few days... in the mean time, check out the brand new website! lemmagame.com

The DNS might not show up yet, in which case try lemmagame.nfshost.com.

The alpha is basically code complete, now it's just a matter of finishing the content and building the installer!

[Danmark]

Have I seen this on GameDev?

Gotta say, it looks more faithful to the feeling of parkour than Mirror's Edge, despite (even) lower realism. Looking forward to the alpha.

[etodd]

Have I seen this on GameDev?

Yes you have!

In other news...

The alpha is out! Gameplay trailer

. MSI Installer THERE.

Play it and leave feedback! Please and thank you!

edit: Is there a way to embed YouTube videos? I can't remember...

[Danmark]

^ No, you can't embed YouTube videos. I've seen people post screenshots of their videos that link to them on YouTube, a practice I started copying. Makes the link obvious at a glance.

Around 15 minutes into the demo, I got this:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at Lemma.Components.Water.Lemma.Components.IUpdateableComponent.Update(Single dt)
   at Lemma.Main.Update(GameTime gameTime)
   at Lemma.GameMain.Update(GameTime gameTime)
   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Tick()
   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.HostIdle(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameHost.OnIdle()
   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.RunOneFrame()
   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.ApplicationIdle(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponent.FDoIdle(Int32 grfidlef)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.FPushMessageLoop(IntPtr dwComponentID, Int32 reason, Int32 pvLoopData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.Run(Form mainForm)
   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.Run()
   at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.RunGame(Boolean useBlockingRun)
   at Lemma.Program.Main(String[] args)

It seems pretty solid, but the character controller needs tightening up, or maybe just better explanation. Took tons of attempts to get through the omega chamber. I find the conditions necessary for wall running (why is it called "wall walking"?) very unclear. My best guess is you need lots of momentum parallel to the wall, and some upwards as well. Even if that's right, I found it very fiddly in practice.

Also, I didn't get the thing about rolling on a landing with ctrl. Haven't been able to do it at all so far (though it hasn't been necessary yet).

To get past the first chamber, I guess you're meant to use the RMB focus thing for a precision jump onto the post. I don't remember it being explained at all (and my RMB doesn't work properly, so I couldn't do it anyway). Instead I just climbed up the wall at the entrance to that chamber & went around the top, which gives quite a nice view, except that the far clipping plane reveals itself when you look around from up there.

I really like the atmosphere created by the visuals and audio.

EDIT: played through the demo this time, with no crash. I'm not sure if it's an exploit, but by carefully alternating jumping & wallrunning, you can do it indefinitely (depsite this, I still don't understand when you can and can't wallrun).

Please add a vsync option.

[etodd]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

• A few others have reported that exact crash, I'm looking into it. Thanks for reporting it!
• The roll move is pretty simple. If you're falling at high speed, hit Ctrl right before you pancake on the ground. You'll roll nicely instead of suffering fall damage.
• No idea why I decided to call it wall-walking. Fixed! Also, the only conditions for wall-running are that you must be in the air facing parallel along a wall. If the wall is to your left, hold Q, otherwise hold E for walls to your right. You shouldn't need momentum, but it does help to have upward momentum because you'll go farther.
• The tutorial system is pretty subtle. On the first chamber, when you first burst through that dirt blockade, a tutorial pops up for a few seconds explaining the RMB focus thing. I didn't want it to interfere with the atmosphere. Still, I'll try to time it better and make it last longer without making it too annoying.
• I'll add the vsync option next release, along with gamma controls and some other commonly requested options.

I'm going to take another pass at the controls next release. Most importantly, I need to fix all the physics wonkiness. I'm also probably going to combine wall-running, sliding, and rolling all on the Shift key.

Thanks again for playing!

[rek]

• No idea why I decided to call it wall-walking. Fixed! Also, the only conditions for wall-running are that you must be in the air facing parallel along a wall. If the wall is to your left, hold Q, otherwise hold E for walls to your right. You shouldn't need momentum, but it does help to have upward momentum because you'll go farther.

Why two different keys to do essentially the same thing?

[etodd]

Why two different keys to do essentially the same thing?

I was wanting to give the player as much control as possible. I hate it when you only have a single button to automagically do everything, and then it doesn't do what you want. But I didn't realize that there's no way you'd have two walls that close to each other on your left AND right, so it's completely unnecessary.

I dunno, it sounded good in my head at the time.

I'm also probably going to combine wall-running, sliding, and rolling all on the Shift key.

[Taugeshtu]

I dunno, it sounded good in my head at the time.

Same thing with my "lazy" trick - I thought it would be good to have Q/E controls, then I realized that there's no need since I KNOW which feet does step at the moment, and now I don't even think I need a key - just context application...

Speaking of alpha: do it _really_ needs dx10 hardware? I got Ati x1950Pro (SM3.0 supported, but not dx10)

[etodd]

Speaking of alpha: do it _really_ needs dx10 hardware? I got Ati x1950Pro (SM3.0 supported, but not dx10)

Basically yes, it needs DX10. It's an XNA thing. In theory, there could be a DX9 card that supports everything Lemma needs, but I don't think there is one.

[etodd]

(Update from the developer blog)

Thanks so much to everyone who made the alpha a great success! I'm blown away that people were able to look past the bugs and crashes and clunky controls and somehow get a positive experience out of it! It gives me hope and motivation to press on.

I got a ton of very useful feedback. Here's a quick summary of what I learned:

• The atmosphere and tone is cool and unique.
• The text-message-driven story works pretty well.
• Everyone immediately says "Mirror's Edge + Minecraft"... but then realize they're okay with that!
• The physics is kinda buggy.
• Mouse inversion, gamma settings, and vsync toggling are a must.
• The controls are unnecessarily complex. Too many keys.
• Buggy physics. Player gets stuck in the environment a lot. Large objects occasionally start floating around on their own. Swimming doesn't really work at all.
• Combat is weak. You left-click once and hope that kills the enemy before it kills you.
• It's rather disconcerting being able to look down your own nose. Also, everyone thinks the player model is a female when in fact it's a male with big pecs. Yikes.
• Oh yes, there's lots of physics bugs.
• The tutorials are sometimes easy to miss, and the game expects you to have a move fully mastered immediately after learning it.
• Handling publicity and responding to feedback is a lot more work than I originally thought! And hosting large downloads on "pay for what you use" web hosts is a baaad idea. Good problems to have though.

I've already set to work fixing a lot of these issues, especially with the controls and physics. My number one priority is getting the player animation and movement perfect, which is a pretty long way from where we are now.

I tentatively fixed the "seeing down your own nose" issue. But look what I had to do:



Freaking creepy, amirite? But this way facial features don't show up in first-person view, and the shadows still look okay.

Could make for an interesting creepy NPC maybe. Who knows.

Also someone on Reddit I think asked about the possibility of a third-person view. I don't think it will make it into the final cut, but I got a quick demo working. Here's what it looks like:



Notice I switched to a female model since everyone thought that's what it was anyway. The animations look pretty rough in third person, but then again, Mirror's Edge looks like this in third person.

Just a quick update this time. Been thinking about creating little development videos similar to Wolfire's. Would anyone be interested in seeing that?