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[Digital Awakening]

You guys might like this. I was going to post this earlier but it's been one tiering week at work. This is an unofficial release I put together after implementing the smoother controls. I still ended up doing them quite stiff because you need sharp controls to play this game. To compensate for sliding forward when stopping, the hit box for the sword is placed ahead of you when moving. This one also got the updates I posted about earlier, but the new backgrounds hasn't been coded in. So, if you are interested in the new controls (no special moves yet) give this one a download and tell me what you think. I hope all works as it should, I have not tested this download as much as I usually do.

Windows
Android/OUYA

[diegzumillo]

I thought this was enjoyable. I could play some more. Here are some impressions.

I used my xbox controller. Finding the inventory and menu buttons was fairly easy but the whole bottom of the screen seems unnecessary when you use a controller. Not an issue, but it's an ugly result of aiming for such different control schemes at the same time. Probably worth the price though.

The gameplay itself felt a bit uncomfortable, especially the attack range. Seems like you need to get pixel-close to the enemies in order to land a hit.

I noticed when equipping my new sword that I didn't know which one was the new sword. I tried clicking one and then the other to see if anything changed. It would be nice to show some more information in that screen too, so I know which item does what.

[Digital Awakening]

I thought this was enjoyable. I could play some more. Here are some impressions.

Thanks

I used my xbox controller. Finding the inventory and menu buttons was fairly easy but the whole bottom of the screen seems unnecessary when you use a controller. Not an issue, but it's an ugly result of aiming for such different control schemes at the same time. Probably worth the price though.

I think it's a good idea to display the controls on the map all the time. That way players know which button does what even if they haven't played for a while. I thought about hiding them and allowing the user to open up a menu to access them but that would require too many presses for my taste. I wanted single button access to everything. If you start the game with no controller plugged in you get the keys instead, so that's nice too.

The gameplay itself felt a bit uncomfortable, especially the attack range. Seems like you need to get pixel-close to the enemies in order to land a hit.

The hit box is only slightly longer than the sword. You are not the only one to complain about this. Have you tried the new version that I just posted? It should make it easier to get close enough to the enemies. I could always extend the range but then I might need to extend the range of enemy attacks. Or just a tiny tweak is enough? But then, should you be able to hit beyond the range of the sword? Maybe alter the range depending on the difficulty?

I noticed when equipping my new sword that I didn't know which one was the new sword. I tried clicking one and then the other to see if anything changed. It would be nice to show some more information in that screen too, so I know which item does what.

Hmm, you are the first to bring this up as an issue. If you had open up the inventory earlier you would have noticed what equipment you had started with. The sign to the left of the village gives you a tip that you can open up information about your selected items by selecting them again. Currently selected items are highlighted so when you open up your inventory for the first time you notice what you are currently equipped with. And finally, the equipment that you have is to the left with empty space to the right, so logic says that newer equipment is to the right. The equipped weight also changes (from 3 to 4) when you choose the new sword.

[Digital Awakening]

I am thinking about popping up a message on how to bring up the weapon information when you first open up the inventory. And then again, as a reminder, when you access it after getting your first weapon. Anyone got a better idea?

[Digital Awakening]

Here's the new cave background. I really like the light effects on this. Not sure if I'm happy with all the rock formations so I might redo parts of it in the future.

I have posted the new version to other forums as well to get opinions on the attack range and control stiffness. I really want to know what people thinks. Your opinion omatters so please download this version and tell me what you think. (Same as previous post)

Windows
Android/OUYA

BTW, was watching AVGN play Castlevania yesterday and those games (at least the 8-bit ones) doesn't seem so have any smoothing on the controls. But the attack range is far longer of course. Castlevania is another game that inspired me to make RTA, just forgot about it

[Ancient Account]

The screenshot looks beautiful!

[Digital Awakening]

Thanks

Still have the forest background to do. But I don't think it will look that good.

[Digital Awakening]

I have been working a lot on the new gameplay and implemented the new moves. This is an unofficial release that doesn't include the new backgrounds and the levels have not been updated to match the new gameplay. Also, the content is still the same. I would really love some feedback on this update.


Here comes the updates:

You now get an option to start a new game or continue when there is an existing save file. Taking damage from enemies always results in a knockback in the correct direction. And an end of level sign, in the shape of an arrow, now automagically appears at the end of every level.

I've increased the hero attack hit box, both length and height. The hero now crouches on landing when falling more than 3-4 tiles (visual only). Tweaked energy recovery, removed the delay after attack and slightly increased the rate on higher difficulties (to compensate for the increased cost). Movement and animation speed have also been increased for the hero.

New moves. These will be unlockable in the alpha but here you got all of them unlocked from the start. Special button is CTRL by default but can be changed in the Options. On OUYA both Y and A are special buttons. Y and B if you play with a 360 controller on your PC.

- Dashing
Double tap and hold direction while on ground to activate. Once you light up you got maximum speed. You can now jump further and attacking (even in mid air) is now considered a Dash Strike, adding 2 more to damage but drains extra energy.

- Jump Strike
Hit the special button in mid air to strike down at enemies on the ground. Costs a little extra energy.

- Power Strike
This requires 3 stars minimum. Hold the special button while on ground to start charging. When ready you lift the sword up. Release the special button to unleash your most powerful attack. It costs twice as much energy as a regular attack but adds extra power based on the weight of your sword. Jumping cancels the charge.


Downloads:
Windows
Andorid/OUYA

[Digital Awakening]

Finally the new forest background has been completed. I am really happy with how this turned out. Much better than I had expected. I think it's actually my favorite.

[dlan]

I played the windows version to the end of the alpha. The movement are ok, jumping and moving through the levels feel natural, nothing problematic here.

About the attack, I think jump strike is over powered, or at least the difference between the normal attack and the jump strike is too great. I ended up using almost only this move. While it's an unlockable move, I still think it could be tweaked.

For example,I could kill an enemy with several jump strike in a row, without much risk of getting hit since you get kick backed in the air between jump strike, avoiding most enemies attacks. In contrary, having the ability to cancel a normal attack, by moving in the opposite direction would be great, the pause while attacking in addition of energy drain seem overkill.

Apart from that, the game is quite enjoyable, the difficulty level ramp up nicely, and exploring through the world map is definitely a plus, it give a little zelda like feeling to the game. Bonus point to the music, it give a good vibe to the whole game.

[Digital Awakening]

I played the windows version to the end of the alpha. The movement are ok, jumping and moving through the levels feel natural, nothing problematic here.

Thanks You are playing the latest version with the special moves so most reported issues have been fixed or tweaked.

About the attack, I think jump strike is over powered, or at least the difference between the normal attack and the jump strike is too great. I ended up using almost only this move. While it's an unlockable move, I still think it could be tweaked.

For example,I could kill an enemy with several jump strike in a row, without much risk of getting hit since you get kick backed in the air between jump strike, avoiding most enemies attacks. In contrary, having the ability to cancel a normal attack, by moving in the opposite direction would be great, the pause while attacking in addition of energy drain seem overkill.

I think I should look into the energy cost of the jump strike. It is as you say much easier to use than close combat. If you hit you can run away sooner than you can hit again. Monsters are also halted slightly on hits. Agility increases your attack speed and heavier swords causes a longer stop. This can of course be tweaked. Perhaps as you say, allow the player to move away slightly faster.

Apart from that, the game is quite enjoyable, the difficulty level ramp up nicely, and exploring through the world map is definitely a plus, it give a little zelda like feeling to the game. Bonus point to the music, it give a good vibe to the whole game.

Thank you The game is of course mostly inspired by the two original Zelda games.

[Digital Awakening]

My first Youtube video. Showing the new parallax forest background. This is me rushing through level 2 on insane. Gameplay is still not complete and can change.

[Digital Awakening]

Better late than never. I sent OUYA a build of RTA last week so it should be available to play at their booth at GDC.

I have a new forum set up on my website. I'll be posting my dev blog there and hopefully some interesting posts on RTA.

Last week I spent tweaking the gameplay and the new content. I am now on the last leg of the alpha and I hope to have a release ready in a few weeks.

[Digital Awakening]

This is the new time/score screen. It shows you total score and time for all your levels as well as number of levels played through, completed (all coins and exp) and perfected (completed with no hits). It also shows all your ranks.

Dev blog update: Rushing: Scoring, ranks and replayability

[Digital Awakening]

Image link has been fixed. Apparently it's not a good idea to link to images uploaded to my forum. You can only see them if you are logged in and that wasn't my intent.

[Digital Awakening]

So, time for an update. I haven't been working on RTA much the last few weeks. There have been many things taking up my time and energy. Some of the things I've worked on since my last update are PC screen options, OUYA overscan adjustment, new sound effects and some minor updates. I have looked into converting my music into OGG and M4A to avoid paying MP3 licensing. Not sure what format to use on what platform yet. Still to come is the map screen and a world map character.

Blog update: 15 May 2014 - Gameflow and evolution of gameplay

[Xienen]

For Break Blocks, I used OGG on all platforms: Mac, Windows, and iOS.  M4A, if you're using the AAC codec, may require licensing fees, as well.  On iOS, it is widely believed, though not necessarily confirmed, that if you use the native hardware decoder to play music(rather than implementing your own decoder), AAC is free.  In my experience, though, unless you are playing multiple music streams or your game is CPU intensive, OGG decoding is perfectly fast on iPhone4S and above.  On Android, I believe OpenSL/OGG is pretty standard, from what I can gather.

[Digital Awakening]

Thanks for the info. I did not know that there was licensing issues with M4A or that OGG was that well supported.

[Digital Awakening]

This is what I'm working on right now. The map screen. You will be able to see what areas you haven't completed yet and also quick travel to all unlocked areas.

[Quicksand-S]

What is the default jump key? I pressed what seemed like every button on my keyboard and didn't find it, so I had to reconfigure my controls right away.

For a game called "Rush to Adventure", the character moves surprisingly slowly at the beginning.

I like the music, for the most part, although when the first track slows down at one point it sounds a bit weird.

I like the map screen. It just makes the game feel a bit different from other platformers.

It would be nice if the main screen showed how many coins I have. When the Blacksmith said I needed 50, I had no idea how many more I needed to get.

Do I need to level everything up to level 2 before I can make an attribute level 3? If so, it seems to almost defeat the purpose of giving me a choice. If I can't make the sort of character I want, what's the point?

The sword's range felt shorter than I'm used to for platformers, but I guess I could get used to it.

One thing that struck me as really strange was the stamina meter. At first, I thought there wasn't one. Why stars? I've never seen that symbol used to mean "stamina" or "energy".

I found the level-design a bit uninteresting. The levels are so straightforward and don't have any atmosphere. They seem to just exist to hold enemies. The tower wasn't quite as simple, but I absolutely hated the sprites used for it. It wasn't creepy, oppressive, or even castle-like. It just looked messy. I did kinda like the look of the forest and near-the-beach areas, though.

When I reopened the game, it had saved my progress but not my control changes.

The level that's just above the beach (in the area to the right of the starting point) paused a moment every few seconds. I don't think I saw stuttering in any other levels.

Apart from the issues mentioned above, I think this is pretty good so far and it does feel a bit different from the other games out there.