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[Digital Awakening]

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.

 - Up and Enter are both jump. Enter is simply used because currently jump is also confirm.


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

 - Fixed for the Alpha.


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

 -  It's not 100% suitable for games. I got permission to use existing tracks from the composer but he doesn't have the original files any more, so he can't make changes.


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

 - Great It's a lot of extra work so I hope it pays off.


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.

 - Already coded for the Alpha.


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?

 - This was done in the Pre-Alpha to make sure the player got 2 strength, enough to equip the new sword. Won't be the same in later versions.


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

 - I've modified it for the Alpha. Not sure if it's enough, we'll see.


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 thought stars was a good option for it, to match the harts. The bar has been moved to under the harts because people didn't notice it over on the other side.


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.

 - The current levels are meant as early levels and meant to not be as hard. I have made a better editor now and later maps will be more interesting. The Alpha has backgrounds so the levels look much better now. The castle tiles might still get changed.


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

 - Ah, have too look into that!


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.

 - That sounds strange. I have no clue what could be causing it and there's nothing special about that level.


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.

 - Thanks, different is good And thanks for taking time to test the game and give me feedback.

[Quicksand-S]

About the jump key, UP was the second key I tried. It didn't work. I just double-checked and can confirm that the key does not make my character jump.

[Digital Awakening]

Do you have a controller plugged in? The game checks for controllers at startup. If one is found then up to jump is disabled. If the buttons on the map shows controller icons and not keyboard shortcuts then the game is detecting a controller.

Should probably make an option for this though.

[Quicksand-S]

Do you have a controller plugged in? The game checks for controllers at startup. If one is found then up to jump is disabled. If the buttons on the map shows controller icons and not keyboard shortcuts then the game is detecting a controller.

Should probably make an option for this though.

Ah, that's it. What you could do instead is check if the player has actually used the gamepad before disabling the keyboard control. Really, though, I'm curious why it would be disabled at all since none of the other controls are.

I also had no idea that those colored circles were controller icons. I realized they must have some meaning, but they don't really look to me like controller buttons so I never considered it.

[Digital Awakening]

Ah, that's it. What you could do instead is check if the player has actually used the gamepad before disabling the keyboard control. Really, though, I'm curious why it would be disabled at all since none of the other controls are.

I also had no idea that those colored circles were controller icons. I realized they must have some meaning, but they don't really look to me like controller buttons so I never considered it.

I don't want up to jump on a controller but I like it on keyboard But adding an option for it is probably the best solution.

Those use the same colors as a 360 controller, which are also used on Ouya. Gonna make an option for that as well.

[Quicksand-S]

Ohhhh, I see. That explains it. In my current work-in-progress, I've store the controls for gamepad and keyboard separately, so they don't interfere with one another and can be customized separately. It works great, but I guess it may not be worth the effort when just making the gamepad optional is so much simpler.

[Digital Awakening]

I store both key up and joystick up into the same variable to make it easier to handle. I could of course for jumping just check if a key was pressed or not. But I believe on Ouya it registers the d-pad as arrow keys. Also for the sake of compatibility and user's choice I think an option is the best way anyway.

This and other minor fixes will be added once I'm done with the map, which is coming along nicely. Just wish I has more time to code. Then it should just be the world map character left to do before the full alpha release.

[Digital Awakening]

The alpha is getting very close now. I would like to get it out there this weekend or during next week. I'm working on pathfinding for having the hero walking around on the world map. An animated character on the world map is more immersive. You get direct control with a keyboard or controller but mouse and touch will also work.

Blog update: 12 Jul 2014 - Adventuring: Exploring, discovery and questing

[Quicksand-S]

The link to your blog is broken. It's got quotes around the URL.

Personally, I felt like the lack of a character on the world map was one of the things that made this game feel special. I also felt more immersed (as strange as that may seem). My guess is that it was because there was nothing between me and the levels. No character acting as a middle-man or delaying things.

I liked that, but I expect you'll handle it well this way too. Should be interesting to see.

[Digital Awakening]

The link to your blog is broken. It's got quotes around the URL.

Thanks. I copied it from another forum where it works. I have previously posted here first and then copied it to that forum without editing so I though it would work fine

Personally, I felt like the lack of a character on the world map was one of the things that made this game feel special. I also felt more immersed (as strange as that may seem). My guess is that it was because there was nothing between me and the levels. No character acting as a middle-man or delaying things.

I quite liked the cursor myself but got requests to use a character instead. Like you say, it's faster to navigate with a cursor. And I think most users will prefer to see the hero on the map. I think it will increase the sense of exploration.

I liked that, but I expect you'll handle it well this way too. Should be interesting to see.

Almost there now

[Digital Awakening]

The alpha is launching on Sunday together with a new website with new screenshots and movies.

For those with an Android phone or an OUYA, you will be able to find the game in the app stores.

Quicksand-S:
Now that I have the hero walking around on the map I quite like it. Like so many other visual details this also add to the experience. It becomes even more adventuring and less level selection screen. You can use the map to drag the worldmap and you can use the map screen to fast travel. So getting around is still pretty fast if you want it to be.

[Digital Awakening]

New website just went up! Got all the downloads working now, I hope. Here's a link: Rush to Adventure

More videos coming.

And I am so tired right now.

[Digital Awakening]

Finally got the front page updated!

If you haven't seen it already, here's a link to a Youtube video.




And a quote from my biggest fan:
"The feeling of running through a level, nailing every hit, getting perfect jumps, and navigating it perfectly. It becomes a dance. I really, really enjoy that. It's quite a hard thing to achieve in game design. You've done it, and I love it. Can't get enough of this game." @greenlig

[Digital Awakening]

RTA just went up on this week's indie game roundup by Super Game Droid, do give a vote if you like the game. http://goo.gl/EQgNFZ

Also got into the top 200 on Ouya's O-Rank

[Digital Awakening]

I got my first written article on the alpha! RTA is also the winner of this week's indie game roundup on the same website :D

News article by Super Game Droid
"This addicting action RPG employs absolutely perfect side-scrolling gameplay reminiscent of Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link
that when mixed with its Dark Souls style combat system, makes for a sublime gaming experience."