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[ponchou]

Hi there~
Just wanted to tell you about this little thing I've been tinkering with lately.

It looks like this:

And it plays exactly as it looks like it would: Just a fun, short, challenging platformer where you move from screen to screen while attempting not to explode all over the place. (Spoiler: you will explode all over the place. Unless your name is ortoslon.)

Using your t(h)rusty jetpack, you zip about collecting mail and avoiding spikes and other deadly traps. It'll be a fairly short game, around 10-20 minutes long, I think?

There's really no story to speak of. It's about a robot mailman whose ship crashes on a mysterious alien planet, all the letters flying every which way. It's up to you to help him/her recover all the lost mail before it becomes breakfast to some mischievous space creature.

And well, that's it.

Just thought I'd make a devlog thread for motivational purposes, because I really like the feel of the game so far and it would be awfully sad if it would end up like all the other abandoned, broken projects I've started lately. But it really feels different this time. And I'm trying to keep it simple, so it won't grow out of control and become this huge, broken mess of ideas and goals that I never seem to be able to live up to. So, I'm aiming for a June release.

Thanks for reading! And I do apologize for the ridiculous title.
Don't know what I was thinking. Let us all hope I'll come to my senses before the game is done.

[melos]

It looks neat, I like the color scheme. Do you have a video or a demo?

[ponchou]

It looks neat, I like the color scheme. Do you have a video or a demo?

Thank you!  That's such a relief. Was afraid my awful pixel 'art' would scare everyone away.

Nope, sorry. Pretty sure there won't be a demo. Since this is such a small, simple game, I'd rather just release the full game right away, instead of spoiling it with a demo. If that makes sense?

Might try to record a video, though. If Fraps starts to behave. :|

Working on some new areas right now... nothing too exciting, sorry. 

[ponchou]

So, I've been thinking about going in a more exploration/adventure direction than what I'm doing right now, which is just the player moving from screen to screen in a linear fashion. Maybe hide a few jetpack upgrades that the player would need to find to access new areas?

I'd love to get a few opinions on this. The game would still be a pretty short experience, ideally played in one sitting, so I don't know which style would fit the best...

So, exploration. Yay or nay?

[SolarLune]

Everybody loves exploration (usually). If you do, you might need save points, even if the game's short, so that people can easily backtrack and go to different areas.

EDIT: And yeah, the art's nice and solid. I like the colors as well. Very colorful, and it contrasts well (i.e. the Player's not fading into the background or surrounding tiles).

[Superb Joe]

i could easily defeat ortoslon in unarmed combat

[ponchou]

<3

Wish I had something more exciting to show. Sorry.

[eigenbom]

looking good, although i like the early screenshots because they have solid colours, the latest one is a nit of a visual mess.

[ponchou]

looking good, although i like the early screenshots because they have solid colours, the latest one is a nit of a visual mess.

I know ._.

Just thought it looked too simple. But I guess that's better than this... mess...

Dunno. Will try to find some kinda balance to it. ^^;

[matwek]

looking good, although i like the early screenshots because they have solid colours, the latest one is a nit of a visual mess.

I know ._.

Just thought it looked too simple. But I guess that's better than this... mess...

Dunno. Will try to find some kinda balance to it. ^^;

How many art assets do you have in total?
I'm a pixel artist and have been looking for a little project to do some art for, that I can then add to my portfolio. Its always nice to have work done for a simple finished game rather than a complex delayed game.
Are you still aiming for a June release?

Shoot me an email and I might be able to help you out, you can find my address here...
http://www.facebook.com/matwekpixel

[eigenbom]

looking good, although i like the early screenshots because they have solid colours, the latest one is a nit of a visual mess.

I know ._.
Just thought it looked too simple.

Nah man it looks wonderful. Even with the simpler look there's a combinatorial explosion of variations and parameters to tune. But the focus should really be on the level design.

Other visual improvements that could be done include making it more juicy, adding some particle effects (but retain the visual simplicity), and really working on the palette until each level shines.

But anyway, keep it simple and get it finished.

[sabajt]

I agree with Eigenbom that the simple style of the first images looks great.  The nice colors really sell it for me.