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[Jonathan Whiting]

<edit>
Heya, finally got round to finishing the game off.  So here it is v1.00:

http://jwhiting.nfshost.com/coding/jed_1_00.zip

New stuff since the last preview version is:

• Unlockables
• An extra hard challenge level
• A vague story
• 3 all new (way better) music tracks courtesy of Demoscene Time Machine (www.demoscenetimemachine.com)
• Access to the in-game level editor
• A Linux Port (same download)
• A whole load of more subtle tweaks and improvements

So there's a few bits and pieces there

Enjoy (hopefully) and keep the feedback coming, this isn't a "It's finished so I'll forget about it", more "It's finished, what next?"

Cheers 

(original post for preview version follows)
</edit>

Hi,

I've been working on and off (but as my main indie project) a retro platformer with ultra low native resolution (don't worry, it scales up) and a few twists.

I'm approaching a point at which it's beginning to resemble something that is actually finished, and at the moment I'm focussing on trying to polish it to a sheen (or at very least, take some of the rust off) before I declare that it's done.

As such the more feedback and critism I get at the moment the better!  I'm particularly interested in hearing about anything small (or large) that just feels wrong, is confusing etc.  Also any ideas for small changes that would improve the game significantly would be very gratefully recieved.  All and any general feedback would be fantastic too.

You can download a preview (beta I guess) build from http://jwhiting.nfshost.com/coding/jed.zip (2.6MB).  It's windows only for the moment I'm afraid, but it should be fairly easy for me to port it to linux (mac too if I ever have access to one), so feel free to bug me about porting if it matters to you.

Finally some screenshots, to give you a taste of what it's about:



Thanks very much in advance, cheers

[Craig Stern]

Interesting. Are you supposed to be playing a little floating fetus? Anyway, the game is pretty good. I really like the little karma switches that switch the background and foreground. The jet packs are cool too.

The one thing that bugs me about the game is that the controls don't feel very precise. I feel like I'm floating when I hit UP rather than jumping.

Also, a small bug: I completed a level (level 3 I think) and then a saw blade came by and damaged me! I had an extra life, so I didn't die, but if I hadn't, I wonder whether the game would have said I had died.

[Jonathan Whiting]

Interesting. Are you supposed to be playing a little floating fetus? Anyway, the game is pretty good. I really like the little karma switches that switch the background and foreground. The jet packs are cool too.

Hehe, you're meant to be playing as a robot, but I do sort of see where you are coming from :/

The one thing that bugs me about the game is that the controls don't feel very precise. I feel like I'm floating when I hit UP rather than jumping.

The problem I found with making such low native resolution game was that high and low travel speeds feel and look really icky.  The jumping that's there is the best compromise I could make, I actually quite like the retro feel of it, but it's definitely not to everybodies taste unfortunately.

Also, a small bug: I completed a level (level 3 I think) and then a saw blade came by and damaged me! I had an extra life, so I didn't die, but if I hadn't, I wonder whether the game would have said I had died.

Hmm, intresting, I'll have to look into that one.

Thanks very much for the feedback

[Xion]

There's a robot named Jed in a Grandaddy song.

Anyway, I really like this quite much. As I was going through the first level, looking at the "background," I instantly knew what the twist would be, and it's pretty cool. I don't mind the floatiness of the controls. Feels like it handles like it should to me.

[Jonathan Whiting]

There's a robot named Jed in a Grandaddy song.

.. and a very good song (and album) it is too

Anyway, I really like this quite much. As I was going through the first level, looking at the "background," I instantly knew what the twist would be, and it's pretty cool. I don't mind the floatiness of the controls. Feels like it handles like it should to me.

Thankyou, you're very kind, and yep the twist is definitely foreshadowed fairly heavily (in its own way).

[nanotie]

It's very nice.

It's easy to go through most of the levels (I'm in level 9), but not easy to rescue all the robots, so it's well balanced.
The controls are just fine for me.
The colors and sounds are relaxing.
The quick restart of the level is great, it keeps you playing.
Secret passages are always a plus.



Little things I would change :

* Get rid of the mouse cursor while on fullscreen.

* Add some minimalistic animations here and there (especially for the robot)
ex :

* About jumps : I would check if up is unpressed between two jumps, this made me jump (and die) unwantedly.

* In the icy level 6 : if I fall in the water (with a rescued robot) I am sent back to the platform I was before but the inertia due to ice is not set back to 0 and I keep falling again and again in the water till I die. I would reset the speed to 0.


An idea with the circle saws : why not add a switch here and there to invert their path, thus giving you the possibility to go somewhere else (find robots in distress).
By the way I thought that level 4 was way more difficult than level 5 (with the "boss").


Also I would say thank you very much for a linux version of it.
Good job !
 

[eddietree]

SDL! Yum!

[JLJac]

Cool! I really like the foreground/background thing you've got going on there, it's a simple and geniuos mechanic that I can't recall seeing in any other platformer. I think the robots in the bubbles should be a bit smaller, sometimes they get in the way and also I think it would be somehow more convinsing for them to float in a bubble if they were not so big As said, some animation here and there would not hurt. I would also add some sprite effects(jetpack). I think the jump felt kind of horrible, it was like he was accelerating up in the air... Propably as far as you can get from a natural path of trajectory. If you feel a sudden interest for mine and others opinions on this you can check out this thread: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=3730.0 But maybe you wanted an extreme retro feel to the physics, and then it's all good

Liked it!

[Terry]

Just checked this out - it's looking really good, graphics and music are excellent and I love the lofi touches (like the slow scanline by scanline change between the two worlds). You've obviously taken a lot of care to get the details right

I'm particularly interested in hearing about anything small (or large) that just feels wrong, is confusing etc.  Also any ideas for small changes that would improve the game significantly would be very gratefully recieved.  All and any general feedback would be fantastic too.

Fraid I have to agree with CraigStern (and I hope this doesn't come across as too negative), but the jumping just doesn't seem right to me. There's a constant force pushing you up when you hold jump rather than an acceleration, which really feels at odds with how it should be. Also, I think there's way too much analogue precision with your jump height. You have to hold up for way longer than you should have to to reach your maximum jump, the your minimum jump is far too low to be useful - the result (for me) is that platforming felt cumbersome and akward. Maybe it is just a matter of taste, as you say, but I really think there's a lot of room for improvement there... Maybe it's worth having another look at?

It would be nicer if the player was just a fraction faster too, I think - though that one is definitely just a matter of my preferences, heh. Oh! Having an option to have Z as a jump button instead of pressing up would be very much appreciated - some people are totally allergic to your type of control scheme...

Sparky's discussion on the feeling of good platform mechanics was pretty interesting reading, I think, though I don't know if you're at a point where that's something that's still up for discussion for you...

Again, just want to say that this is looking really good I really liked the level design and the gameplay twist was really interesting too! Looking forward to the final version!

[Jonathan Whiting]

It's very nice.

It's easy to go through most of the levels (I'm in level 9), but not easy to rescue all the robots, so it's well balanced.
The controls are just fine for me.
The colors and sounds are relaxing.
The quick restart of the level is great, it keeps you playing.
Secret passages are always a plus.

Excellent, it's great to hear that I must have done at least something right

Little things I would change :

* Get rid of the mouse cursor while on fullscreen.

Oh, drat.  That was something I thought of a while back and then complete forgot to actual implement, thanks very much for the reminder

* Add some minimalistic animations here and there (especially for the robot)
ex :

Yes, I rather fear I hit the limitations of my rather primitive pixel art abilities last time I attempted doing some animation on Jed, was very unhappy with the results I achieved.  I'm liking what you've done here a lot though, so I guess it has to be worth giving it another go.

* About jumps : I would check if up is unpressed between two jumps, this made me jump (and die) unwantedly.

I always considered this a matter of taste thing, but it's becoming clear that taste is generally against rather than for jump repeat, so it should at very least not repeat by default.  Thanks for confirming it.

* In the icy level 6 : if I fall in the water (with a rescued robot) I am sent back to the platform I was before but the inertia due to ice is not set back to 0 and I keep falling again and again in the water till I die. I would reset the speed to 0.

Ooh, that sounds like a bug.  I'd better fix that one then.

An idea with the circle saws : why not add a switch here and there to invert their path, thus giving you the possibility to go somewhere else (find robots in distress).
By the way I thought that level 4 was way more difficult than level 5 (with the "boss").

Hmm, yeah, that could be pretty cool.

Also I would say thank you very much for a linux version of it.
Good job !
 

Yes, I'm definitely thinking one of those should be on the cards before I consider it finished.

Cool! I really like the foreground/background thing you've got going on there, it's a simple and geniuos mechanic that I can't recall seeing in any other platformer.

Cheers, although I'm not convinced it's quite as original as that (heck, even super mario has had world flipping stuff) I have tried to make it more of a strong mechanic than a little quirky add on.  Hopefully it's worked.

I think the robots in the bubbles should be a bit smaller, sometimes they get in the way and also I think it would be somehow more convinsing for them to float in a bubble if they were not so big As said, some animation here and there would not hurt. I would also add some sprite effects(jetpack). I think the jump felt kind of horrible, it was like he was accelerating up in the air... Propably as far as you can get from a natural path of trajectory. If you feel a sudden interest for mine and others opinions on this you can check out this thread: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=3730.0 But maybe you wanted an extreme retro feel to the physics, and then it's all good

Liked it!

The jump is kind of half and half thing, I kind of wanted a strongly retro feel to the physics (to match everything else), but it's also a result of the very low native resolution (the result of which is 'natural' acceleration can look a bit rubbish).  I definitely see where you (and others that have mentioned it) are coming from, and I might even have a bit more of a play and see if I can get anything better out, but in all honesty I doubt it will change.  I will definitely note that the style of phyics I've coded here is definitely not what I'd consider to be optimal platformer physics, but they do feel right for this particular game to me.

Just checked this out - it's looking really good, graphics and music are excellent and I love the lofi touches (like the slow scanline by scanline change between the two worlds). You've obviously taken a lot of care to get the details right

I definitely try to be a bit obsessive about details.  It doesn't come very naturally to me, but in my experience all the *really* cool games have massive attention to detail, so it's something worth striving for (though I'd definitely far from there yet).  It's always fantastic when people notice that sort of thing.  I also love it when people say nice things about my art/music/etc. because I tend to consider them my weaker areas, so you've made me very happy

Fraid I have to agree with CraigStern (and I hope this doesn't come across as too negative), but the jumping just doesn't seem right to me. There's a constant force pushing you up when you hold jump rather than an acceleration, which really feels at odds with how it should be. Also, I think there's way too much analogue precision with your jump height. You have to hold up for way longer than you should have to to reach your maximum jump, the your minimum jump is far too low to be useful - the result (for me) is that platforming felt cumbersome and akward. Maybe it is just a matter of taste, as you say, but I really think there's a lot of room for improvement there... Maybe it's worth having another look at?

Not at all, negatives are good .  As above, I might well have another look at this stuff, especially since it's coming round again and again, but I do think the likelyhood is it'll remain mostly unchanged.

It would be nicer if the player was just a fraction faster too, I think - though that one is definitely just a matter of my preferences, heh. Oh! Having an option to have Z as a jump button instead of pressing up would be very much appreciated - some people are totally allergic to your type of control scheme...

Ooh, yes, very good call.  Probably wouldn't hurt any to have them both enabled (or I should just add proper control setting into the menu system)

Sparky's discussion on the feeling of good platform mechanics was pretty interesting reading, I think, though I don't know if you're at a point where that's something that's still up for discussion for you...

It's a significant point.  There does seem to be some excellent advice there, but I think I've reached a point at which making changes to the physics would have a major impact on the amount of time I'd have to spend on the game (even minor tweaks would require checking and rechecking all the levels I've got, more major tweaks would require remaking most significantly).  This will be no magnum opus whatever I do, so I'm not sure the time outlay would be worth it (especially given I'm not even sure I want to change the feel anyway).

Again, just want to say that this is looking really good I really liked the level design and the gameplay twist was really interesting too! Looking forward to the final version!

Thanks very much :D

... and thanks to all of you that have commented so far, I've starting to get a decent list of things to fix/think about/work on to make the game better, which is exactly what I'm after.  This is invaluable stuff, cheers! 

[Loren Schmidt]

I really like this game!

I've been wanting to play this since you posted, and I'm glad I did. The level design in particular impressed me. I love the hazards- jumping fish, saw blades, robots. They're all very clean and simple, and you vary the way you use them effectively, which isn't easy to do well.

I like the way you used the world switching mechanic. It didn't feel like a gimmick at all, it felt like a healthy, well-nourished part of the design. To me the novelty of a mechanic is worth absolutely nothing. How much it contributes to the game, how well implemented it is, and how well it is integrated into the world are everything.

For me, there were a couple hiccups in the difficulty ramp. Level 6 was more difficult for me than 5 or 7, and I found level 9 to be more challenging than level 10. I didn't like level 6 as much as the rest (though it was still good  ), but all the rest of the levels were really fun and varied. 

Add some minimalistic animations here and there (especially for the robot)

I second Nanotie's comment about animation. I think a tiny bit of player animation and maybe a simple two frame sequence for the blue robotic enemies would go a long way. I also felt like some of the in-game events could use more feedback attached to them. I would include in this list getting hit, picking up a gun / jetpack, enemies in bubbles timing out, and using a jetpack. None of these were problematic, but I think making these more tactile would improve the feel of the game.

The game generally explains itself well. I was only slightly confused a couple of times. I wasn't sure if the jetpack is limited capacity and time limited, or only time limited. I also wasn't sure how falling into water works. I thought it didn't lose me an extra robot a couple of times(?), but other times I definitely died falling into it- I was a little unsure of what the rules were. But all around things felt very intuitive, and your little signs were unobtrusive but effective.

This is a really polished game. Thanks for making it. I found it really inspirational.



P.S.- Would you mind if I try using an enemy based on your patrolling sawblades in the game I'm working on? I really like them, and I think they, or a variant, would fit in to what I'm making.

[Jonathan Whiting]

I really like this game!

I've been wanting to play this since you posted, and I'm glad I did. The level design in particular impressed me. I love the hazards- jumping fish, saw blades, robots. They're all very clean and simple, and you vary the way you use them effectively, which isn't easy to do well.

I like the way you used the world switching mechanic. It didn't feel like a gimmick at all, it felt like a healthy, well-nourished part of the design. To me the novelty of a mechanic is worth absolutely nothing. How much it contributes to the game, how well implemented it is, and how well it is integrated into the world are everything.

Awesome, that all means a lot to me

For me, there were a couple hiccups in the difficulty ramp. Level 6 was more difficult for me than 5 or 7, and I found level 9 to be more challenging than level 10. I didn't like level 6 as much as the rest (though it was still good  ), but all the rest of the levels were really fun and varied. 

This sort of thing is really useful, difficulty is so subjective, and I find it (as I assume most people do) so hard to judge it when you're working on every detail of a game.  The more opinions on this sort of thing the better 

Add some minimalistic animations here and there (especially for the robot)

I second Nanotie's comment about animation. I think a tiny bit of player animation and maybe a simple two frame sequence for the blue robotic enemies would go a long way. I also felt like some of the in-game events could use more feedback attached to them. I would include in this list getting hit, picking up a gun / jetpack, enemies in bubbles timing out, and using a jetpack. None of these were problematic, but I think making these more tactile would improve the feel of the game.

That sounds like a fantastic idea, I only hope my spriting abilities are up to it!

The game generally explains itself well. I was only slightly confused a couple of times. I wasn't sure if the jetpack is limited capacity and time limited, or only time limited. I also wasn't sure how falling into water works. I thought it didn't lose me an extra robot a couple of times(?), but other times I definitely died falling into it- I was a little unsure of what the rules were. But all around things felt very intuitive, and your little signs were unobtrusive but effective.

The jetpack is just time limited, the gun time and capacity limited, but you're correct, it could be much clearer.  Maybe a on-item readout would help out there.

I'm really glad the signs work, I didn't really want an in your face tutorial, it doesn't really feel necessary, but I wanted to make directions and controls clear to the player if possible.

This is a really polished game. Thanks for making it. I found it really inspirational.


P.S.- Would you mind if I try using an enemy based on your patrolling sawblades in the game I'm working on? I really like them, and I think they, or a variant, would fit in to what I'm making.

Thanks very much, you're very kind :D

Also, feel free to use sawblade idea, I'm quite sure it's one I poached from someone else (years and years back), and it has fairly regularly reappeared in my own work over the years.  It's hardly something original, but it's a concept seems to work really well, and it isn't as cliched as a lot of types of enemy, so it's a nice one to use.

Cheers 

[nanotie]

* Add some minimalistic animations here and there (especially for the robot)
ex :

Yes, I rather fear I hit the limitations of my rather primitive pixel art abilities last time I attempted doing some animation on Jed, was very unhappy with the results I achieved.  I'm liking what you've done here a lot though, so I guess it has to be worth giving it another go.

I hope you don't mind, I did an attempt myself at some of the animations :

* the fish :

* the floating bots :

* the jetpack :

* the blue tank :     or simpler


Tell me what you think, and use/modify them if you like. 
Here they are in normal format :
        or

I ran through it again today and found more and more bots in hidden places... again, very nice game 

[Evil-Ville]

I liked the game but ice physics affecting your movement in air has always felt kind of sloppy to me. I can see why you would want to keep it though.

[Jonathan Whiting]

* Add some minimalistic animations here and there (especially for the robot)
ex :

Yes, I rather fear I hit the limitations of my rather primitive pixel art abilities last time I attempted doing some animation on Jed, was very unhappy with the results I achieved.  I'm liking what you've done here a lot though, so I guess it has to be worth giving it another go.

I hope you don't mind, I did an attempt myself at some of the animations :

*snip*

Wow, that was all fantastic and inspiring stuff to see.  So inspiring in fact that I just spent the last few hours putting some animations in (and fixing up/tweaking other things in relation to some of the other feedback).  The ones I've got are more minimalistic than yours (they're 2 frames each), but they still seem to inject some life into the game which is swell.

I've uploaded a new version of the game with these animations in at the same place as the last one (http://jwhiting.nfshost.com/coding/jed.zip).

<edit>If you make sure you keep a hold of your ;save.sav' file it'll work fine with the new version</edit>

Other things that I've changed (in no particular order) are:

* Improved power up feedback (jetpack time remaining, jam shots remaining)
* Stopped holding space causing 'bunny-hopping'
* Fixed falling off ice into water and maintaining velocity bug.

So nothing ground breaking, but improvements nonetheless.

I ran through it again today and found more and more bots in hidden places... again, very nice game 

  Let me know if you hit 100% complete!

I liked the game but ice physics affecting your movement in air has always felt kind of sloppy to me. I can see why you would want to keep it though.

I can't say I was entirely happy about the idea of airborne ice physics for this exact reason , but having tried the game both with an without it I can assure you it feels far more wrong without it.  In a game with weaker general air control I'd scrap it in a minute, as it is it'll stay.

[Craig Stern]

You know what? The jumping wouldn't bother me if you put in little burners that fire up on the bottoms of his feet when he does it. Because then I wouldn't assume that he's jumping: I would assume that he is, in fact, floating with the help of some short-term burners, and then it would feel perfectly natural. Just a thought.

[Jonathan Whiting]

You know what? The jumping wouldn't bother me if you put in little burners that fire up on the bottoms of his feet when he does it. Because then I wouldn't assume that he's jumping: I would assume that he is, in fact, floating with the help of some short-term burners, and then it would feel perfectly natural. Just a thought.

You might just be on to something here actually.  It never quite sat with me right that a wheeled robot could jump 'normally' in the first place.  Just had a little play and I think this could work nicely.  Did you mean something like this?



It does actually feel a bit more natural to me like this anyway.  I suspect I'll need to rustle up a new jump sound though, the current *BOING* doesn't quite fit anymore.

Cheers 

[nanotie]

Wow, that was all fantastic and inspiring stuff to see (...)  The ones I've got are more minimalistic than yours (they're 2 frames each), but they still seem to inject some life into the game which is swell.

I thought they worked perfectly with the style of the game : nice job. 
More animations now would seem too much, so you got it right I think.

* Improved power up feedback (jetpack time remaining, jam shots remaining)
* Stopped holding space causing 'bunny-hopping'
* Fixed falling off ice into water and maintaining velocity bug.

* Now power up is very clear, nothing to worry about anymore.

* There is still some kind of 'bunny-hopping' : if you release then press up before the landing you will jump. I would add a condition : jump key causes jump only if pressed while being on a platform. (this is a really minor detail though)

* Velocity bug tested ok. I don't know if this is a problem but sometimes I fall in the water with quite a few bots but I'm not sent back to any platform, I stay in the water and eventually die.

  Let me know if you hit 100% complete!

My stats for the moment :



I did spot all the bots now, problem is : I can't bring them all home yet ! 
By the way, I can say now that the game is itself quite a lesson about level design ! 
The moment I discovered the hidden part of level 1 was a great feeling ! Also the jetpack+switches associations are amazing !


One thing that may or may not be a bug :
[SPOILER]
When you go get the bot in here and go back towards the left, holding up, you end up floating in the air at the top of the screen through half of the level : snapshot1, snapshot2.
As soon as I release the up key, I fall down normally.
I found that disturbing at first and then It appeared to be very handy to get directly to the jetpack part... so, if it is a bug then I would say keep it in the game ! 
[/SPOILER]

It never quite sat with me right that a wheeled robot could jump 'normally' in the first place.  Just had a little play and I think this could work nicely.  Did you mean something like this?

I think you can also try to differentiate the jump and fall images :


I fear that the jetpack won't have as much impact if the robot is already on boosters.
I like the jump feeling, it doesn't have to be realistic...


  only 9 bots left to rescue... come on, come on, come on ! 

[Jonathan Whiting]

Wow, that was all fantastic and inspiring stuff to see (...)  The ones I've got are more minimalistic than yours (they're 2 frames each), but they still seem to inject some life into the game which is swell.

I thought they worked perfectly with the style of the game : nice job. 
More animations now would seem too much, so you got it right I think.

Cool, glad you like them.

* There is still some kind of 'bunny-hopping' : if you release then press up before the landing you will jump. I would add a condition : jump key causes jump only if pressed while being on a platform. (this is a really minor detail though)

Heh, nicely spotted.  It would be easy enough to fix this but I think I'm actually ok with the way it is now, I like the idea that skilled player *can* pull off a instant bunny hop if they want to.

* Velocity bug tested ok. I don't know if this is a problem but sometimes I fall in the water with quite a few bots but I'm not sent back to any platform, I stay in the water and eventually die.

Bah, I haven't seen that one in a while, I'd thought I might have caught it entirely but apparently not.. I'll have to see if I can tighten this behavior up any further.

I did spot all the bots now, problem is : I can't bring them all home yet ! 

Well, that of course is only half of the problem , excellent effort though.

One thing that may or may not be a bug :
[SPOILER]
When you go get the bot in here and go back towards the left, holding up, you end up floating in the air at the top of the screen through half of the level : snapshot1, snapshot2.
As soon as I release the up key, I fall down normally.
I found that disturbing at first and then It appeared to be very handy to get directly to the jetpack part... so, if it is a bug then I would say keep it in the game ! 
[/SPOILER]

EEEeeep, you appear to have stumbled onto a rather major bug with my anti-bunny hopping code that I wasn't aware of.  Looks like you can do that *anywhere*, not just on that part of that level just by keeping up held on landing any jump, and then walking off a ledge.  Definite priority fix there!

I fear that the jetpack won't have as much impact if the robot is already on boosters.
I like the jump feeling, it doesn't have to be realistic...

I was a little worried about that myself, but having tried it in game I think the two feel sufficently different, even complementary that I'm not so worried any more.  I think this may well be a good middle ground, the game keeps the bizarre (but I like it) jump, but it might feel a little less jar-ing to new players.

only 9 bots left to rescue... come on, come on, come on ! 

Good Luck!

.. and thanks very very much for doing so much thorough testing, very very very much appreciated! 

<edit>

I've updated the zip file with a version that has the major bug fixed, a booster style jump, and saves out your music/sound preferences (it's worth noting that if you're loading an old save the game might be silent until you enable the sounds in the menu, new players should be fine).

Same place as previously http://jwhiting.nfshost.com/coding/jed.zip

Now time to get some sleep I think!

</edit>

[Loren Schmidt]

Hey, if anyone hasn't played this yet- download it now! It's nonviolent OCD robot jetpack semi-exploration puzzle platforming at its finest.

I'm revisiting the game and trying for 100%. The secrets are consistently rewarding and fair. I've had a lot of great revelatory moments when I finally figured out how to get to a hidden robot. I still haven't managed to get all 5 robots in level 6 without getting hit, though! Eep.

The rocket feet animation works well, I think it adds a lot to the game. I never really had any issues with the jump, but hopefully this will make it more intuitive and likeable to those who do.

I don't know if this is a problem but sometimes I fall in the water with quite a few bots but I'm not sent back to any platform, I stay in the water and eventually die.

Bah, I haven't seen that one in a while, I'd thought I might have caught it entirely but apparently not.. I'll have to see if I can tighten this behavior up any further.

I have run into this in the long jetpack section over water in level 3.

Your builds are coming out faster than I can play them.