After posting a test build of this game a few weeks/months back and having done more work on it since, I thought I should do a devlog. Writing this first post has helped me spot something I may want to change at a later date, so writing about the game is a good way for me to think about what is going on and look at the bigger picture I guess.
Robopolis is a puzzle platformer. It's heavily inspired by cinematic platformers, most notably Abe's Oddysee. It also takes a bit of influence from Fetus/Sutef, but not in its atmosphere. This is a very bright and cheery game! The gameboy Donkey Kong game and Krusty's super fun house have a less notable influence but these are games I bore in mind when I started making this game (the influence may be more noticeable with progression of the game).
About the actual gameYou play as a little robot guy who can manipulate (some but not all) other robots. He has to use their abilities to help him reach the end of the level. Some can push blocks, some can climb or destroy things... I'm sure you get the idea. You can only possess robots within a few blocks of yourself, and your main actions are limited to walking, running, and jumping upward/climbing ledges.
CONTROLS:Arrow keys - move
Space - enter scan mode / confirm possession of robot (when cursor turns green) / cancel possession of current robot
X key - perform robot action (not every robot has one - the main character included!)
- also chooses the level on the select screen
Shift key - hold to run (this may change to the X key in the future)
R - restart level
F4 - fullscreen/windowed
F5/F6 - quick save/load - this is a game maker function that I will remove in the final release.
The original post (and build) is here:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=26457.0The newest build can be found at the bottom of this post.Since then I've tried to take on board as much of the feedback as I could, and have since added:
- level select & save system
- begin run/stop run animations for the main robot guy
- this includes the character moving an extra 'step' (or 8 pixels) while he comes to a halt, akin to cinematic platformers
- new graphics for the main robot in his 'scan' mode and a new scanning cursor
- new graphics for force fields
- some new levels! Including a few new enemies/hazards/possessable characters.
(this also includes tutorial levels at the start)
- screen transitions between levels
I've also:
- Tweaked the contrast of some of the tiles a bit
- Tried to condense the levels a bit (this is mostly/only the lab levels, as they're indoors)
- Accommodated the running ability into the game design (before I wasn't sure whether to keep it, but moving about is painfully slow without it and)
- there is still a level where you can omit the actual 'puzzle' and run through with a bit of timing, but for now I'm leaving this as-is
There's a few other things I've added or changed for polish too, but nothing really game-changing.
Here's two screengrabs (they're from the same levels as my original post, for comparison):


And here's some of the new levels:



The August '12 build can be found here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?cmh1jiu6ig55e9wThere's a little industrial-factory-robot-arm tech demo thing I made earlier which I'll stick up soon too, as it uses trigonometry which is the closest I ever get to programming-genius, and the arm will feature in my game somehow.
(the incomplete) TODO list:
- Tidy up the level select screen
- Find a way to do the shadows section that doesn't cause slow down on my old timey laptop
(I think I know how I'll do it, just need to get around to actually doing it)
- Polish the carryman in the factory levels