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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogs-NARCISSUS- Now available on iOS!
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AlexVsCoding
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« on: August 01, 2013, 06:55:01 PM »




"Johansson has produced a unique,
 multi-faceted game offering two different but equally
appealing experiences well worth your time."


~DESTRUCTOID



"Player one jumps with the up button,
player two the down, and then you tap and
swear until you're not friends anymore."


~KOTAKU



"When things go right it's a sight to behold.
Twin wakes wrapping around thick lumps of scenery as
a pair of monochrome avatars rush from A to B with
precision and perfect timing."


~POCKETGAMER



"Click here to play again... NO!"

~MICHAEL JONES, PLAYPALS




PLAY ORIGINAL
BUY
SOUNDTRACK
STEAM
TRAILER
PRESS







Fail in love with Narcissus, the perfect game to put any healthy relationship to the test. Guide the reflections of Narcissus as they leap and weave through increasingly mind-melting scatterings of earth - all to a smorgasbord of electronic music.

Either be a Narcissist and sink into multitasking madness and play the entire game solo, or seek Narcassistance and team up to share the cognitive burden. How many levels will your friendship last?












https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBhe3I9i4iA

GAMEPLAY


Narcissus has two contrasting gameplay experiences, yet no change in design. It all depends on how, but more importantly, who you play it with.

I wanted to build a game that encouraged people to play games in the same physical space. Narcissus has been built to be easier when accompanied by another person, but still possible to complete alone.

Narcissus best fits into the category of a “finite” runner, with 50 levels that the player/s power their way through by getting both characters from one side to the other without either falling off the world. Control is simple (up to make one player jump and down for the other), whilst the level design is “hatingly crafted”.



ORIGINS

The Don is a river that cuts through the heart of Sheffield and passes near where I live. Back in 2011, I was out on a walk along it with my little brother (he was still little at the time), and I watched him cross via a set of stepping-stones. The bright autumn sky and the stillness of the river meant I could see his faint reflection mimicking his acrobatic movements. With a sketchbook shoved in the back of my jeans, I sat down and scribbled down the core idea and fleshed out the mechanics. At this point I couldn’t code, so it remained dormant in my sketchbook.

A few weeks later, I visited EGX London and met Alistair Aitcheson. A really helpful bloke who showed me that I could build games without relying on programmers. I tinkered on with the game whilst finishing University then spent just over a year getting the game finished, in which time I’ve taken it to a pile of festivals and events. Now the game is finally done and I’m looking to what release will bring and the prospects of working on something new. [/size]

[/font]
« Last Edit: February 08, 2017, 10:44:39 AM by AlexVsCoding » Logged

AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2013, 04:47:05 PM »

Hey Folks!

Some quick updates of things that I've added/improved since the last update ^^


IMPROVEMENTS
Multiple Jump Animations
3 Different Speed settings
Backdrop with two layers of stars
30+ Tree Designs
Level Select Revamped
Fixed end of level exploit that allowed the players to progress to the next level without finishing.
Built a functional version for iPad
Constructed an arcade machine to house the project in, showcased at Game Makers Yorkshire earlier in the month! (Box featured in the video by 100% Indie a couple of times ^^)






Give the latest version a try now!

http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/9768
« Last Edit: November 19, 2014, 02:28:00 PM by AlexVsCoding » Logged

noumenus
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« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2013, 05:39:30 PM »

Looks pretty cool. The tiles look a bit plain, but the mechanic looks really interesting.
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2013, 03:46:01 PM »

Doing a late nighter tonight to try and get these final things ironed out:
1. Testing to see if the bug that allows the characters to run off the screen being fixed. Latest build is up, please if you can take the time to test this and provide feedback here: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=25504.0
2. Key binding left half of the keyboard to one character and the right half to the other. DONE
3. Final check through visuals to see if there's any issues/mistakes with block placement. DONE
4. Refinement of early levels. DONE
5. Cleaning out old assets that aren't used in final game. DONE
6. Implementing Linked buttons to stuff like twitter and the testing page in Tigsource. DONE
7. Attempting to unify typography and design a new font for title. DONE

LETS SEE HOW WE DO!
« Last Edit: December 09, 2013, 07:28:40 PM by AlexVsCoding » Logged

Decent Machine
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« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2013, 04:07:33 PM »

It is a cool mechanic, i like it even though the game seems pretty simple. Double runner game? :D
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2013, 04:37:39 PM »

It is a cool mechanic, i like it even though the game seems pretty simple. Double runner game? :D

Thanks! New mechanics get introduced as the game progresses and I'm experimenting with some nifty new mechanics e.g. reversing characters directions, moving around corners and speed boost points.

New Logo font ^^




Typography question - I've updated the logo with some more legible text - out of the lettered options below, which do you prefer?

« Last Edit: November 19, 2014, 02:28:40 PM by AlexVsCoding » Logged

SolarLune
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« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2013, 05:16:55 PM »

Yo! The game looks pretty cool, but the purple seems to be a bit too saturated. Maybe push more towards white? Anyway, the new logo looks cool, too.
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2013, 04:22:41 AM »

Yo! The game looks pretty cool, but the purple seems to be a bit too saturated. Maybe push more towards white? Anyway, the new logo looks cool, too.

Thanks! The colour of the levels can be manipulated pretty easily, so I'll put up a selection of different palettes and let people vote ^^
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2013, 05:44:53 PM »

Some pretty mind-numbing things completed today:

I've been working on a keyboard only version of Narcissus to give it that arcadey feel to it. This involved the joyous task of assigning numbers to every button in the game and telling the game how to navigate to those buttons and what to do when spacebar is pressed.
A rather sketchy example for the menu for this is:

We have 3 buttons (and a number based variable for whether the current button is selected)

Current menu button (Numeric Variable)

Button 1
Button 2
Button 3

Then to move between options, we determine how input changes the current button variable

If left is pressed and current menu button = 1
Set Selected button to 3
else if button = 2
Set Selected button to 1
otherwise
Set Selected button to 2

The opposite is used for going right.

The final part is telling the game what to do if the spacebar is pressed on the current menu button number

E.g.
If space is pressed and button = 1
Start Game
else if button = 2
Cycle difficulty (code is more complex than this)
otherwise
Switch to level select

To go with that there's a visual indicator to show which button is selected. This is accomplished by creating a named animation that combines the current number (e.g. 1) with the current state of the button (on) so what you get is 1on or on (highlighted and unhighlighted) and 1off and off. This is particularly useful when dealing with the levels which require the two states (is level selected and is level unlocked) being checked before giving visual feedback.

Not 100% sure whether that all made sense as I'm rather tired but I'll check back tomorrow and make any amendments if necessary! Hope someone finds this useful!

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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #9 on: December 18, 2013, 07:24:48 AM »

Hey folks!

Updated the latest build of Narcissus with a functional custom pause menu and am testing a key based equivalent of the game. Also fixed the issue of the character running up the slopes doing the wall sliding animation.

There was also a couple of levels that hadn't had their graphics updated, so that was fixed as well!

Audio will be updated this week, so stay tuned for that.

http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/9768

Give it a try and let me know what you think, am particularly interested to hear your thoughts on how to improve the menu.

Also, the Youtube channel, OhMyNugget will be putting up a video of him playing Narcissus soon, here is his channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/OhMyNugget
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2014, 12:41:31 PM »

Hey Folks!

Final updates for the online build of Narcissus:

Altered the menu so it was mouse controlled, along with the pause menu.

I got the audio from Luke for the remastered version of the soundtrack.

Other than experimenting with Kong/Mochi/Newgrounds API's, there isn't really anything else to fix! (although if you find anything I'd be very happy if you let me know so I can make the appropriate improvements!)
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2014, 03:34:55 AM »

Hey Folks!

It's been a long time coming, but Narcissus is finally finished! It's only taken me 3 years to finish the online version to a level that I'm satisfied with, but hey, I've loved every minute of building the project. Here are some screenshots and a link to the game!

I really hope you have fun playing this, it's been my pleasure to make. Once again, massive thanks to Stencyl for making this project and all of my games based achievements thus far possible!

Also, big thanks to Paul from Gamejolt for featuring Narcissus on it's first day of release! That day consisted of lots of dancing around the house.

Alex

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NARCISSUS

Narcissus is a platformer that requires the player to control two characters simultaneously (or more specifically, reflections of one another). The game can either be played alone or with a friend. One button for each character, and both must make it to the end of the level in order to proceed.

Game Link: http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/9768
Gamejolt Link: http://gamejolt.com/dashboard/developer/games/view/20461/

Screenshots:





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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #12 on: January 08, 2014, 03:58:52 AM »

Hey Folks!

I figured it might be a good idea to talk about the way that I'll be marketing/showcasing Narcissus and the project's future!

Alongside the online build, I've been constructing a compatible version for iPad. This version has (as explained by previous builds) been built into a custom cocktail arcade cabinet that I will be taking to various events.

A photoshoot I did of the box is can be viewed here!
http://gamejolt.com/games/narcissus/news/narcissus-arcade-box-photo-shoot/10112/

To accompany the arcade set, I've manufactured some shiny perspex coins to hand out at events for people who complete Narcissus (colour coin depends on who you play as).

Here is a short article I wrote about their manufacture and of course, lots of pictures ^^
http://gamejolt.com/games/narcissus/news/shiny-narcissus-coins/10501/

Additionally, Narcissus will be featured as an Easter egg in an upcoming Greenlit title! What game it is for now is a secret whilst we sort out the paperwork!

The game itself I am currently building for tablet, with the intention of then building levels for phone. The charger for my mac died in a crackle and puff a couple of days ago, so it's just a matter of waiting for a new one before I can continue work!

Finally, anyone interested making a lets play about Narcissus, drop me a message.
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #13 on: March 03, 2014, 02:28:11 AM »

Hey Folks!

There's been one ugly bug that's been killing me for the the past 4 weeks. When I showed Narcissus at Game Dev North, I woke up at 7am to catch the bus to Manchester and started the day with no port to iOS for the game. I made my way to media city, found the fancy pub that the event was hosted in then worked like a nutcase from 9 till 4pm when the event started. At that point, I had just about ported the game to iOS, but in the process made some brutal cuts to the game (70% of the graphics in the game were cut, leaving the juicy 30% that mattered).

With this 30%, there also exhisted a shedload of bugs. Probably the first 60 minutes of the event consisted of fixing things as people broke them, excellent user testing but for the purposes of the event not the greatest showcase of Narcissus. When I got back home, I began addressing the bugs and show stoppers and managed to get rid of every last one with the exception of 1. Every time level 10 would load, it would crash upon either ending the level or restarting the level.

After 3 weeks of rebuilding the game, taking the code apart and putting it back together in every way I could think, debugging and tearing facial hair out, I showed it to a programmer at an event that I run in Huddersfield for Devs. After a week and a bit of communication and mind breaking problems, we tracked the crashes down to two main things:

1. When a character dies, a piece of code that they hold restarts the level - both of them doing so at the same time reloads the level twice, causing the iPad to throw a hissy fit.

2. There are too many tiles! The game is filled with tiles, and unfortunately certain levels are overpopulated with them - there's not only the geometry to jump on, but also the decoration that covers every surface. To get the game back to a manageable framerate, I've introduced a new tileset to allow me to cut the stone columns down to floating stumps. Personally I'd prefer the columns but what I prefer more than that is a game without a choppy framerate.

Before


After*


(*Stars and moon and stuff are still included, just aren't in the screenshot)

With the exception of a couple more levels, Narcissus is nearing completion for iPad. Following the fixing of the bug above, I will also be starting work on the iPhone version, along with testing how the game copes running on android devices.


For his help with the project, Dan will be getting one of my tickets for Rezzed for his fantastic contribution to helping me get the project finished. Couldn't have done it without you mate!
« Last Edit: September 27, 2014, 07:51:20 AM by AlexVsCoding » Logged

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« Reply #14 on: March 03, 2014, 04:07:05 AM »

This looks brilliant! The iPad needs more same-screen multiplayer games.  Beer!
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #15 on: March 03, 2014, 04:50:50 AM »

This looks brilliant! The iPad needs more same-screen multiplayer games.  Beer!

Thanks Jonkk! If you're wanting a look at it more, I've put together a trailer for it!





Your own game is looking ace! Love how the blueprints level looks. Would really like to see this blueprint idea extended to a level editor.
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« Reply #16 on: March 03, 2014, 05:01:53 AM »

Holy fucks  My Word! How for the life of me did I miss this project up until now?

Loving the minimalistic aesthetics and gameplay, absolutely charming and very elegant.

I wish you the best with the iPad/Android port, looking forward to playing this on my own device  Beer!
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2014, 05:50:32 AM »

Holy fucks  My Word! How for the life of me did I miss this project up until now?

Loving the minimalistic aesthetics and gameplay, absolutely charming and very elegant.

I wish you the best with the iPad/Android port, looking forward to playing this on my own device  Beer!

Thanks Bandreus, to be fair the updates for this game have been pretty sporadic. I've got an event coming up at the end of the month where I'm exhibiting the game. I've been updating gamejolt quite a bit, so quite a lot of the news and stuff from there should bleed over, along with a bunch of new updates and info in the coming weeks!
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AlexVsCoding
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« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2014, 11:32:44 AM »

Hey Folks! A bit of a delay to it but I'm happy to announce that Narcissus will be shown at Eurogamer Expo REZZED at the end of March in the Leftfield collection! I was totally stoked to find out I got the place, especially since Narcissus is finally coming together. I would love to hear from any devs or Tigsource members that will be coming along as it would be great to meet them that weekend!
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« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2014, 04:56:56 AM »

Hey Folks! I figured I'd post the pictures up of the arcade machine that I built to house my iPad. It's styled off the old cocktail cabinets but with a little more height so it's usable at expos.

After a long period of development for Narcissus, an opportunity to showcase the game arose. Rather than taking my iPad, I shifted my focus toward production of an arcade unit. I love the topdown cocktail arcade machines and wanted to build my own representation.

So, me and my dad set to work to build the case. After getting custom graphics printed, tediously sanding slightly missaligned lasercut perspex and floating against the ceiling from getting too much white spraypaint in the air, I had myself a neat little arcade unit.

All planned perfectly with the exception of carrying it to Leeds from halfway across Yorkshire.

With one half of the box in a suitcase and the other under my other arm, I made my way to Ga-Ma-Yo and decided in the club to set up next to the bar.

Long story short the event went well and got lots of great feedback, met some ace people and felt thoroughly re-invigorated. Also had the fun experience of my first interview (DISCLAIMER, MAY CONTAIN "ERM").













« Last Edit: November 19, 2014, 02:33:18 PM by AlexVsCoding » Logged

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