Hello, hello, and welcome to this month’s edition of testgame.exe: Making the Adventure! I guess you guys are pretty used to this by now, but there’s not too much new stuff this month, but those things that are new are pretty exciting! (Or at least I think so!)
We’ve got the usual work on background graphics, for starters. I’m actually pretty well convinced that the background for the castle hallway (the one with Hans in it) may in fact be finished. I’m generally very happy with how it’s turned out, so yay for backgrounds.
As of this month, I’ve also started re-thinking Paul’s stats and leveling-up trajectory. I’m still really happy with the three different possible “classes” (as it were), depending on which item Paul chooses from Lily’s bag in the beginning, but the “warrior” class (via the fish) has been gaining strength a little more slowly than I think it should as Paul levels up. So you’ll start seeing some small changes in that area over the next few months as I continue to tweak the character growth system.
Something else that’s been bothering me recently is the battle with Artie on the road to the castle. This month, I’ve gotten rid of some of Artie’s more ridiculous (read: impossibly powerful) attacks, because while they look cool, they’re just really annoying to deal with in the actual battle. So no more “Aaarrrrgh!DiePaulDie!” or “Kilt Man Flash.” I’m sorry to everyone who liked those attacks, but like I said, they were just getting out of hand. I am, however, keeping his “Stones’ Throw Away” attack, because, let’s face it, the idea of Artie summoning his pile of magical stones into battle is both poignant (poor Artie, with only stones to keep him company) and hilarious.
One last thing to keep an eye out for in terms of changes in this month’s update: I’ve added a handful of cool new equipment items for the little vine, so go to the various shops and check them out. There’s also one particularly powerful item (new weapon, anyone?) that you can only get by defeating Stone Gargoyles in the castle. There’s only a 1 in 100 chance of them dropping it, though—that should keep all you item-collecting-perfectionists busy. 😀
So go ahead and check out the game!
(no extra programs needed to run this file)
(Also, if anyone gets the chance, could you let me know if the game still freezes when Paul reaches level 100? I thought I fixed that problem last month, but I’m afraid it may still be there…. *sigh* Maybe I should just go back to capping the level at 99. 🙁 )
Things to do/new features of note:
- Some tweaks to Paul’s “warrior” class leveling up stats.
- Changes to the boss battle with Artie (fewer super-powerful attacks to deal with).
- New weapons/equipment for the little vine.
- Background work: castle hallway (I think this background might actually be finished….), pathway to castle.1
All the graphics and design are by Lizo. The story and dialogue were written by Lizo, with significant input by Paul. The background music is by Lizo. “Let’s Go Skateboard” is written and performed by The Word Problems. Adventure Game Studio (the program used to create this game) can be downloaded at http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/.
1. P.S. Erm…. April fools? 😉 2
2. Seriously, though, the background work is real. And I’m still working on the dialogue/cutscene with Herkimer. It’s going to be awesome when it’s finally in the game, I promise.
