Flux World had now been released. After rigorous testing, this game, which introduces the player to the new genre of Flux-Based Computer Gaming, is now available as shareware. The full version game may be downloaded free of charge at the Flux World website (http://www.replinemeadowsoftware.com/fluxworld). This is a complete version; no features have been disabled, and you can play the game through to its surprising conclusion. When you have finished playing, if you enjoyed the game, there is a page on my website for you to make a payment.
(http://www.replinemeadowsoftware.com/screenshots/Screenshot.png)
Here, basically, is what the game is about: You are alone in your home when, suddenly, you are taken away to a strange place. You are constantly attacked by beasts. You have a weapon to fight the beasts, but, much to your horror, the laws of physics in this world are different from what you are accustomed to. You fire a missle at one of the beasts, but it veers off to one side.
You come to learn that there is an everpresent Flux that alters the way things behave in this world. As you progress in the game, you come to learn the nature of the Flux and to use it to your advantage. The object of the game is to escape from this world and return home.
Although the game does contain combat, completing the game is accomplished primarily through problem solving. Every object in the game is symbolic of something, and unlocking the symbolism is the key to the game. And, although Flux World has an alternate physics, you don't need to know any physics to play the game. Like everything else in the game, the physics is simply symbolic of something else.
EDIT: Replaced screenshot with one in PNG format.
Neato. I'll check it out once I have some time. But you may want to replace that screenshot...
/EDIT: By which I mean, use a different file format.
So what don't you like about the screenshot? It's taken from an early part of the game in a room where much of the action occurs. There are other "better" screenshots, but not much action occurs in those rooms, so I didn't think that they would be good to use. For example, the room with the man behind the desk is the help screen; you are taken to that room whenever you click on the Help button. Fribbi drew that room, so the graphics are nicer, but it's not really representative of what goes on in the game, so I didn't think it would be appropriate to use that screenshot to represent the game.
I think he meant you saved it as a JPEG, but IMO it does no harm at all using JPEGS.
That's what I meant, sorry if it was unclear. :-[
QuoteI think he meant you saved it as a JPEG, but IMO it does no harm at all using JPEGS.
Not neccessarily, but in this particular screenshot, the lossy compression really hurts the quality. PNG wouldn't hurt here.
Okay, I replaced the screenshot with one in PNG format.
I've played the game through to the end, and I have to say that the release version is a huge improvement over the beta version. In the beta version, the second half of the game never got a lot of testing and had numerous bugs. In this version those bugs have all been fixed. Fluxmaster obviously put a lot of work into this and tested the whole game thougoughly, not just the first half.
Another thing that I noticed was that there were a few animations that were added to the first half of the game that weren't there in the beta version. They make the game more understandable for the player. For a game that can be somewhat cryptic, those added animations certainly helped. Also, in both the first and second half, when a conversation occurs between NPC's of different tribes, the text window makes it clear who is speaking, and the color of the caption bar corresponds to the color of the tribe. This feature was also not present in the beta version, and it also makes the game easier to understand.
I definitely recommend this game to anyone looking for an interesting, original game to play.
A few things I want to point out, though:
In the first half, there's still one room where the character sprites can walk a couple of pixels above the horizon. I suppose you can attribute that to the influence of the Flux, if you wish.
When the player clicks on the "About" button he gets a message that gives copyright information but also supplies the URL of the website to go to to pay for the shareware. However, if the player clicks the "About" button at the end of the game, it only gives copyright information; it doesn't supply the URL to pay for the game. I would think that most players would want to pay after finishing the game, so it's strange that the URL is missing at the one time that it would be most useful. I sent my payment, anyway, but I still thought that was strange.
I noticed a new feature added to your website that allows your home page to be translated into other languages. However, no matter which language I choose, the final sentence, "May the Flux be with you!" gets translated as "The Flux be with you during the month of May!" I don't think that that was what you intended.
Quote from: fluxmaster on Sat 21/06/2008 15:41:14
[T]he room with the man behind the desk is the help screen; you are taken to that room whenever you click on the Help button.
But only in the first half of the game.
Quote from: egamer on Wed 25/06/2008 06:44:57
In the first half, there's still one room where the character sprites can walk a couple of pixels above the horizon.
That particular room is very "busy"; it is full of objects, hotspots, and walkable areas. If I move the logical horizon down two pixels, it breaks some of the other functionality in the room. I suppose I could redraw the background to move the visual horizon two pixels up to match to the logical horizon. Anyway, I think it's hardly noticible.
Quote from: egamer on Wed 25/06/2008 06:44:57
I suppose you can attribute that to the influence of the Flux, if you wish.
Yes, you can think of it that way, if you wish.
Quote from: egamer on Wed 25/06/2008 06:44:57
When the player clicks on the "About" button he gets a message that gives copyright information but also supplies the URL of the website to go to to pay for the shareware. However, if the player clicks the "About" button at the end of the game, it only gives copyright information; it doesn't supply the URL to pay for the game. I would think that most players would want to pay after finishing the game, so it's strange that the URL is missing at the one time that it would be most useful.
Aaaaaarrrggghhh! I'll have to fix this in the next iteration. In the meantime, if you have finished the game and are ready to make a payment, you may simply restore an earlier saved game and click "About" to get the payment URL. Of course, you don't have to wait until you've finished the game to make a payment. Payments can be made at anytime.
Quote from: egamer on Wed 25/06/2008 06:44:57
I sent my payment, anyway, but I still thought that was strange.
Thank you.
Quote from: egamer on Wed 25/06/2008 06:44:57
I noticed a new feature added to your website that allows your home page to be translated into other languages. However, no matter which language I choose, the final sentence, "May the Flux be with you!" gets translated as "The Flux be with you during the month of May!" I don't think that that was what you intended.
Those are machine translations, so there's nothing that I can do about them.
Quote from: egamer on Wed 25/06/2008 06:44:57
Quote from: fluxmaster on Sat 21/06/2008 15:41:14
[T]he room with the man behind the desk is the help screen; you are taken to that room whenever you click on the Help button.
But only in the first half of the game.
That is correct. The help system works differently in the second half of the game.
May the Flux be with you!
June the Flux be with you!
July the Flux be with you!
All year round the Flux be with you!
After I sent in my $20 payment, you sent me an e-mail with a bunch of different versions of Flux World, including one called "Director's Cut." Does the Director's Cut contain any extra scenes that were edited out of the final version?
I'm not really sure what's going on in this game. I certainly don't see anything that makes it a new genre. A new game mechanic, or unique type of puzzle, maybe, but that doesn't really make a whole genre. Maybe I just didn't get far enough. I couldn't even kill the dog thing.
Shooting missiles makes them fly down and slightly left no matter where I aim them. This is due to the "Flux" I'm told. (If that's what makes it a new genre, then playing baseball in a stiff wind would be a new sport. :=) I can orient the arrow based on what area of the screen I click on. However, I'm still not sure how I'm supposed to kill the dog thing. It seems to me that I should stand above and slightly right of the creature and then fire an arrow with it oriented down or down-left as it would look if I actually were shooting an arrow at the thing. However, the arrow just passes through the dog and it continues following me. Perhaps there's a part to this challenge that I'm not getting. You disabled my speech command, so I can no longer talk to the trainer guy, and the guy in the cottage at the crossroads offers no real help. Perhaps whatever it is that I'm not understanding is the same thing that makes this some exciting new genre.
Also, I think the inteface and controls could use some work. Actually, there's a general lack of polish all over, including broken walkbehinds, no way to walk back into an open door that you've just walked out of, useless dialog options that don't disappear, weird mishmashes of sprites, and a walkcycle that appears to be playing backwards. Default GUI graphics. And slapdash paint backgrounds. I don't mean to sound harsh, I know you're not demanding money for this, I was just curious as to why you think this game warrants me sliding you a donation.
Quote from: egamer on Sat 28/06/2008 04:57:38
After I sent in my $20 payment, you sent me an e-mail with a bunch of different versions of Flux World, including one called "Director's Cut." Does the Director's Cut contain any extra scenes that were edited out of the final version?
No, it doesn't contain any extra sceens. However, two of the rooms in that version are scrolling rooms that are not scrolling rooms in the final version. I called it the "Director's Cut" because Fribbi wanted to make those rooms scrolling. When Fribbi dropped out of the project, I put them back to non-scrolling rooms.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Sat 28/06/2008 14:57:44
I'm not really sure what's going on in this game. I certainly don't see anything that makes it a new genre. A new game mechanic, or unique type of puzzle, maybe, but that doesn't really make a whole genre. Maybe I just didn't get far enough.
The game may not seem at the beginning to be of a new genre. However, when you make it to the end of the game and understand the symbolism behind everything, you'll understand what I mean when I say that it's a new genre. I can't really say anytbing else without giving the game away.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Sat 28/06/2008 14:57:44I couldn't even kill the dog thing.
The Gonthanten (the "dog") rolls over and plays dead, but, unlike the other beasts in the game, doesn't actually die. He's only there for you to practice on.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Sat 28/06/2008 14:57:44
Shooting missiles makes them fly down and slightly left no matter where I aim them. This is due to the "Flux" I'm told. (If that's what makes it a new genre, then playing baseball in a stiff wind would be a new sport. :=)
It's not the Flux itself that makes it a new genre, but what the Flux, and everytbing else in the game, represent.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Sat 28/06/2008 14:57:44I can orient the arrow based on what area of the screen I click on. However, I'm still not sure how I'm supposed to kill the dog thing. It seems to me that I should stand above and slightly right of the creature and then fire an arrow with it oriented down or down-left as it would look if I actually were shooting an arrow at the thing.
Actually, it doesn't make any difference where you stand. Simply shoot an arrow in any direction, and watch where the arrow goes. Then shoot the next arrow in the opposite direction that the first arrow went. Shoot the third arrow in the opposite direction that the second arrow went. Keep doing that until you see the vortex approaching the beast that you are trying to kill. Then shoot in the direction that will pull the vortex into the beast. The arrows do not actually kill the beast; it is the vortex that does that. The arrows merely pull the vortex in a particular direction. The arrows are always sucked into the vortex, so shooting in the opposite direction that the last arrow went will pull the vortex in the direction that you need to knock down the beast.
If you need any more hints, you can ask for them on this thread (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=35082.0).
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Sat 28/06/2008 14:57:44However, the arrow just passes through the dog and it continues following me. Perhaps there's a part to this challenge that I'm not getting. You disabled my speech command, so I can no longer talk to the trainer guy, and the guy in the cottage at the crossroads offers no real help. Perhaps whatever it is that I'm not understanding is the same thing that makes this some exciting new genre.
I tried to make the help system as robust as possible, but I couldn't anticipate every question or provide every detail. So if you need more help, you can ask at one of the two places I mentioned above.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Sat 28/06/2008 14:57:44
Also, I think the inteface and controls could use some work. Actually, there's a general lack of polish all over, including broken walkbehinds, no way to walk back into an open door that you've just walked out of, useless dialog options that don't disappear, weird mishmashes of sprites, and a walkcycle that appears to be playing backwards. Default GUI graphics. And slapdash paint backgrounds. I don't mean to sound harsh, I know you're not demanding money for this, I was just curious as to why you think this game warrants me sliding you a donation.
I know the graphics aren't great; that's why I'm offering the game as shareware. If I can find a good artist, I'll produce a regular, non-shareware version. But, as I've said, there's a lot in this game to understand. When you get to the end of the game and figure out all the symbolism, you'll see what I mean. Perhaps then you'll think it's worth a donation.
EDIT: Link changed.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Sat 28/06/2008 14:57:44
I'm not really sure what's going on in this game. I certainly don't see anything that makes it a new genre. A new game mechanic, or unique type of puzzle, maybe, but that doesn't really make a whole genre. Maybe I just didn't get far enough. I couldn't even kill the dog thing.
Shooting missiles makes them fly down and slightly left no matter where I aim them. This is due to the "Flux" I'm told. (If that's what makes it a new genre, then playing baseball in a stiff wind would be a new sport. :=)
You really do need to get to the end of the game for this to make sense. When I started playing the game, I didn't get right away how it was a new genre. It just seemed like some really strange game. But as I got into it some more, certain things started falling into place. The ending really blew me away. The ending is rather subtle, until you think about it some more, and then it makes everything else in the game make sense.
Think of it this way: Suppose you're playing baseball in a stiff wind. Someone tells you that it's a new sport, but you don't understand what he means. But, when you get to the end of the baseball game, you discover that the wind isn't really the wind at all; the wind is actually a Scrabble board, and the baseballs are actually Scrabble tiles. So you weren't actually playing baseball at all, you were playing Scrabble!
I know that this probably makes less sense than anything else posted on this thread, but that's the best way for me to explain it.
Quote from: egamer on Sun 29/06/2008 05:06:42
Think of it this way: Suppose you're playing baseball in a stiff wind. Someone tells you that it's a new sport, but you don't understand what he means. But, when you get to the end of the baseball game, you discover that the wind isn't really the wind at all; the wind is actually a Scrabble board, and the baseballs are actually Scrabble tiles. So you weren't actually playing baseball at all, you were playing Scrabble!
Hey, that's a great analogy! I wish I had thought of that.
Let me also point out one thing that I mentioned on my website: Flux World isn't a true Flux-Based Computer Game; rather, it's an introduction to Flux-Based Computer Gaming in the form of an adventure game. Flux Warrior, which is still under development, will be the first true Flux-Based Computer Game. This game is more of a transitional game, to introduce players to some of the concepts of the new genre. I deliberately made the beginning of the game have the feel of an adventure game, with a familiar interface, so that the game would not feel too strange. Flux Warrior, on the other hand, has a completely different interface. That's one of the reasons that I didn't spend any time customizing the menu bar--Flux Warrior has its own menu bar which is quite different. Also, in Flux Warrior you left-click to shoot arrows, right-click to command soldiers, and mouse-over to look at objects. But I tried to make this game have a familiar feel, so, if it doesn't feel like a new genre, that's the reason.
Having played the game (though not to the end yet), let me throw in my two cents about this genre issue, because I smell this thread will focus on it. The words are too big, far too big.
New genres don't crop up that often, and not in Flux World.
You say that finishing the game will make me see it all in a new light and understand it all and see why your game is a new genre. Then I must say: I don't want to finish a game to see that, I want to sense the new genre throughout the whole gameplay. Right now I have a crude system of ballistics and logic. I shoot around to move a vortex. Okay. That is an interesting puzzle idea, and I found it quite nice to figure out how to use this all to my advantage, but... it's not enough. Not even if I later experience that I *was playing Scrabble*. Because I am a gamer. I like games that challenge my brain, but I don't want a philosophical treatise; especially not at the end of the game, when the *playing* itself is over.
Half Life 2 had a new kind of gun, the "Gravity Gun". When it was released (the game, not the gun), it was not actually totally new, but implemented so perfectly as no game did before. Half Life 2 wasn't a new genre. It was a shooter. It only had a new type of game element, or a perfected one at least.
Why not say what you really have: You have a nice concept and a story that is hinting at being well thought-off, and quite mystifying. You have probably chosen a not perfect environment to show off the vortex and flux idea, though. AGS can do a lot, but this game would've been more comfortable in a 3D environment, like maybe 3D Game Studio or whatnot, that allows a better navigation of a three dimensional world. I won't say anything about the patchwork graphics and suchlike, because well, I really do not care. No part of the game was really *ugly*.
I see your heart is in your concept and idea. That's perfect, because it can carry you a long way, such an enthusiasm. But new genre, no.
Quote from: Ghost on Wed 02/07/2008 22:22:19
I don't want to finish a game to see that, I want to sense the new genre throughout the whole gameplay. . . . I don't want a philosophical treatise; especially not at the end of the game, when the *playing* itself is over.
When I developed this game, I had a choice to make: Do I let the player know from the beginning exactly what the game is about, or do I save that for the ending. I decided on the second choice. Maybe it was a good choice, or maybe it was a bad choice, but it was the choice that I made. You may think it was rather sneaky, what I did. I'll be interested to see what you think at the end of the game.
Quote from: Ghost on Wed 02/07/2008 22:22:19[T]his game would've been more comfortable in a 3D environment . . . that allows a better navigation of a three dimensional world.
Yes, definitely. In fact, I originally developed the game as a 3D game. However, casual graphics don't go over as well in 3D as they do in 2D. (Download the 3D demo on my website (http://www.fluxwarrior.com), and you'll see what I mean.) If any 3D artist plays this game and would like to do 3D graphics for the 3D version, please contact me.
Quote from: Ghost on Wed 02/07/2008 22:22:19
I see your heart is in your concept and idea. That's perfect, because it can carry you a long way, such an enthusiasm.
I appreciate your comments. I'd also like to read your comments when you've finished the game.
Ok, my morbid curiosity led me to pick this up again. I did what you said and fired multiple times in the opposite direction as the projectile was traveling (nothing in the game suggested to me that I was supposed to do this, if you hadn't told me I would never have even gotten this far) and finally got the vortex to appear and clicked around to direct it onto the dog thing. So, I've done the whole practice thing. Then, nothing happened for a while, I talked to everyone, but the other monsters wouldn't come. After five minutes or so of wondering what I was supposed to do, they finally started coming, but I'm not sure what I did to trigger it. I killed a couple, and I now know that some are not good for offering. Now, some other red guys come and steal my meat. I'm not sure how to stop them. One of the villagers in the new house says he'll try to stop them, but I have to hold the mirror to them first. I do so. But nothing happens. He still steals my meat. What am I supposed to do to stop him? EDIT: Never mind, I think a bug led me to receive something I wasn't supposed to have and it let me skip something now. And then I noticed that you left on debug mode, so I skipped forward through many rooms and saw how long this game was. There's no way I'm going to slog through all of that with the game being as unplayable as it is now. I guess whatever it is that makes this a new genre is going to have to remain a mystery to me, because I can't be bothered to find out until the game gets some polish.
Your game is lacking in several areas other than graphics, so don't worry about graphics for now, there are plenty of people on these forums who care nothing for graphics, just story and gameplay. What you need to do is make sure this game is playable, because right now it's pretty much a mess. The cursors have no clear hotspots which makes clicking on the tiny guys frustrating, you can walk right through trees, you can't re-enter the house in the center without pressing the help button which warps you in there, there's no in-game indication of how you're supposed to go about what you're supposed to be doing, multiple bugs, walk cycles playing in reverse (have you not noticed that your main character is walking backwards?), typos, and a slew of other problems. And those are just in the few parts of the game that I've managed to stumble my way into. No matter how interesting a story might be, these things are going to prevent anyone from noticing.
And I think what ghost was trying to tell you was not that it's bad to not know what's going on until the end, which is fine if you want to save everything for a big reveal. That's quite a common storytelling technique, go for it. What Ghost was telling you is that there's nothing here that makes this a new genre, no matter what you reveal to us at the end of the game. Again, a new game mechanic doesn't make a new game genre.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
I did what you said and fired multiple times in the opposite direction as the projectile was traveling (nothing in the game suggested to me that I was supposed to do this, if you hadn't told me I would never have even gotten this far) and finally got the vortex to appear and clicked around to direct it onto the dog thing.
Did you download the game manual before playing? The game manual states: "You fire your weapon by clicking anywhere in the screen. Note carefully which direction the missle flies. To move the flux properly, you must keep clicking in the direction opposite that to which the missles are moving--that will drag the flux in that direction. When the vortex is alligned with the beast, the vortex will knock over the beast." I thought I had the Skeftist say the same thing, but apparently I didn't. I'll have the Skeftist say this in the next iteration.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
So, I've done the whole practice thing. Then, nothing happened for a while, I talked to everyone, but the other monsters wouldn't come. After five minutes or so of wondering what I was supposed to do, they finally started coming, but I'm not sure what I did to trigger it.
You shouldn't have to wait to trigger the beast. The beast will come after you have looked at all the buildings in Troforia, clicked on the two barracks, looked at the two soldiers, and talked to the two soldiers.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
I killed a couple, and I now know that some are not good for offering. Now, some other red guys come and steal my meat. I'm not sure how to stop them. One of the villagers in the new house says he'll try to stop them, but I have to hold the mirror to them first. I do so. But nothing happens. He still steals my meat. What am I supposed to do to stop him?
I have started a new thread (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=35082.0) in the "Hints and Tips" section to answer this.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
And then I noticed that you left on debug mode, so I skipped forward through many rooms and saw how long this game was.
Oops, I'll have to turn this off for the next iteration. Actually, I consider this a medium-length game.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
The cursors have no clear hotspots which makes clicking on the tiny guys frustrating, . . .
I know that the characters are small, and that makes it hard to click on them. The hotspot is in the exact center of the mirror. Since the mirror is larger than the character that you are clicking it on, I'm not sure that marking the hotspot would do any good. I suppose I could put a hole in the center of the mirror so that you could line up the NPC with the hole. It would make the mirror look funny, but it would make it easier to click. Would you like me to do that?
In the meantime, just remember that when you click the mirror on the proper soldier, the game will always give you a message. If you don't get the message, then you have not clicked on the right spot.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
. . . you can walk right through trees, . . .
More beta-testers would have helped.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
. . . you can't re-enter the house in the center without pressing the help button which warps you in there, . . .
I thought this would make it easier for the player, since you can go there from any room without having to walk all the way back there from wherever you are. It's unlikely that you'd already be right outside that building when you needed help. But, okay, I can make the doorway lead back into the building if you'd really like that feature.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
. . . there's no in-game indication of how you're supposed to go about what you're supposed to be doing, . . .
The help system was supposed to do that. If you notice, a different dialog comes up depending upon what point you're at at any particular point in the game. The game manual, the help system, plus talking to all the NPC's should tell you all you need to know to play the game. But if you can point out some more questions to add to the dialogs, then I can add them.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
. . . multiple bugs, . . .
Could you please list them. Thank you.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
walk cycles playing in reverse (have you not noticed that your main character is walking backwards?), . . .
I have looked at this over and over, with the game both in windowed mode and in full-screen mode, and I could not see what you're referring to. Are you referring to the large sprite that Fribbi drew or the tiny sprite that I drew? Do you mean when the character is walking to the right, left, forwards, or backwards?
Here is the walkcycle (http://replinemeadowsoftware.com/screenshots/Walkcycle.bmp) that Fribbi drew for the main character walking to the right. I don't see anything wrong with it.
(http://replinemeadowsoftware.com/screenshots/Walkcycle.jpg)
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
. . . typos, and a slew of other problems.
Again, could you please list them. Thank you.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 11/07/2008 05:42:11
[A] new game mechanic doesn't make a new game genre.
It's not the game mechanics that make this a new genre.
Vince Twelve, I'd really like you to continue playing the game, so just tell me what I need to do to get you to play some more. Would you like me to put a hole in the mirror to make it easier to click it on the soldier? Allow the player to reenter the help screen through the doorway without having to click on the Help button? Just make a list of all the things that I would need to do to get you to keep playing, and, if they're reasonable, I'll do them and upload a new version, probably in about a week or so. I think that hints would be more useful than game changes, but I'll try to do whatever I need to do to get you to keep playing.
May the Flux be with you.
The walkcycle looks fine except for the fact that the frames have been imported backwards. Look at each frame and compare to the one next to it.
I have uploaded a new version of the game with the following changes:
The Gold Mirror and Silver Mirror now each have a hole in the middle to make it easier to find the hot spot.
You may now enter the help screen by walking through the doorway as well as by pressing the help button.
The main character's walkcycles have all been reversed.
The trees are now solid objects.
Debug mode has been disabled.
The About button now behaves in a consistant manner throughout.
The Skeftist now clearly explains that you must aim in the opposite direction to the direction that the arrows go.
In the help screen there is a new dialog option which also explains that you must aim in the opposite direction to the direction that the arrows go.
The Gonthanten will be properly scaled when you return from the help screen.
The game manual is now part of the download zip file, rather than a separate download.
I have also fixed two additional bugs that nobody has reported yet.
Well, I've finished the first half and am now struggling with the second half. The game IS original and different. I'm not sure about all the symbolism, but I think I've figured out the symbolism with the Telnorg versus the Telmorg (I won't say here, though.)
The second half is a bit more interesting than the first half, at least so far. The first half is rather repetitive after a while. Once you've constructed all the barracks, you keep doing the same stuff over and over until your "approval" ratings get high enough to get you to the second half. In the second half there is an armory where you go to create new weapons, and you have to figure out what weapons to create based on your "memories," which are painted on the wall. In the first half, the gods just "give" you the weapons whenever they feel like it. The thing about creating the weapons is that you have to click your mouse at just the right place on the "memories" and drag them to just the right spot.
I'm going to try to finish this thing, but I just thought that I'd give my thoughts so far.
Quote from: Lady Gwen on Tue 09/09/2008 05:49:48
The first half is rather repetitive after a while. Once you've constructed all the barracks, you keep doing the same stuff over and over until your "approval" ratings get high enough to get you to the second half.
Repetitive tasks are rather common in some games. For example, in a certain type of game it's common to fight the same monsters over and over to increase your stats. In this game, your approval ratings are the stats that you're trying to increase. And a certain amount of repetition is necessary in order for the player to recognize certain patterns and figure out the symbolism of the Telmorg and Telnorg, which you state that you have indeed figured out. Without the repetition, you would not have seen the pattern and figured out the symbolism.
Quote from: Lady Gwen on Tue 09/09/2008 05:49:48
I'm going to try to finish this thing . . .
That's what I like to hear!
This game is kinda interesting.
On your website, you have a page about a new game, Flux Warrior 2D. I played the demo of that game, and sometimes one of the vortices flashes on and off. I assume that that's a bug, as it doesn't happen in Flux World. Will that be fixed?
Yes, that is a bug in the demo, and it will be fixed in the final version of Flux Warrior 2D. That was merely an early demo; the game is much further along than that demo would suggest. I don't plan on fixing the demo, as I want to spend time working on the game itself.
I just finished the game. Very interesting ending! It's not quite an adventure game and not quite an RPG. Dragging those icons in the armory was frustrating, though, because it's not clear where the hotspots are.
I checked out the game like you said, and it's kind of interesting so far, but there's one thing I don't understand. I'm supposed to click the mouse in the opposite direction that the arrows go to move that turnip thing so that it hits the beast and knocks it down. But when the beast becomes a ram, it doesn't seem to work any more. To get the turnip thing to hit the ram, I have to ignore the arrows, but then the ram doesn't fall down, or is he supposed to? The ram turns out to be a skeleton in sheep's clothing. When the skeleton takes off his ram's costume, he chases me and bashed me in the head.
When creating accounts to periodically bump your game's threads in the completed games and hints and tips boards, you should probably not make them rhyme so that it isn't so obvious.
These are very schizophrenic times.
Quote from: Lex on Mon 27/04/2009 18:32:25
I checked out the game like you said, and it's kind of interesting so far, but there's one thing I don't understand. I'm supposed to click the mouse in the opposite direction that the arrows go to move that turnip thing so that it hits the beast and knocks it down. But when the beast becomes a ram, it doesn't seem to work any more. To get the turnip thing to hit the ram, I have to ignore the arrows, but then the ram doesn't fall down, or is he supposed to? The ram turns out to be a skeleton in sheep's clothing. When the skeleton takes off his ram's costume, he chases me and bashed me in the head.
All the beasts in the game don't require the same vortex to knock them down. Although the Narulung (the bull) requires the Troforian Vortex (that turnip thing) to knock it down, the Shultung (the ram) requires the Carfurgian Vortex (looks like a child's top). So instead of trying to align the Troforian Vortex with the Shultung, you should try to align the Carfurgian Vortex to it. That should prevent you from being killed by that skeleton thing.
If you have any further questions on playing the game, as opposed to general comments, please post them in the hints and tips thread.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Mon 27/04/2009 18:43:00
When creating accounts to periodically bump your game's threads in the completed games and hints and tips boards, you should probably not make them rhyme so that it isn't so obvious.
It's true that I have asked some people to post here to bump the thread to the top, but I have no control over the names of the accounts that they create. If the mods have any problem with this, they can check the IP addresses of the posters.
Quote from: fluxmaster on Mon 27/04/2009 19:38:15
Quote from: Lex on Mon 27/04/2009 18:32:25
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Mon 27/04/2009 18:43:00
When creating accounts to periodically bump your game's threads in the completed games and hints and tips boards, you should probably not make them rhyme so that it isn't so obvious.
It's true that I have asked some people to post here to bump the thread to the top, but I have no control over the names of the accounts that they create. If the mods have any problem with this, they can check the IP addresses of the posters.
Any idiot can use proxies. Well done