PlumberBoy - A Platform Game CRUCIAL UPDATE 31/1 09

[Mazoliin]

Deep down under our civilization, there's plumbing to be done...



You take the role of our plumbing hero to ensure that life on earth can
continue with no major breakdowns.

Fix taps and avoid the dangers of the sewer in order to complete your quest...
...or die trying!

Brace yourself for this mindblowing adventure in the wet, stinking underground.




[http://www.mediafire.com/?oz25g4ewvmh]PlumberBoy[/url]

Game Page

Scripting, art, animations:
Mazoliin

Music, sfx, beta-testing, proof-reading:
TwinMoon

If you want the whole "Plumberboy" soundtrack, you can get it at:
http://twin-moon.blogspot.com/search/label/PlumberBoy


31/1 2009[/b]
Crucial update since level 35 appears to be impossible to complete

10/8 2008
Yet another version.
* The game now remember the passwords
* Bugg fix

29/7 2008
Yay, finally a new version.
* Added Z & X as alternative controls
* Tweakd walkable area
* Made the "bonus" level an actal bonus
   

Spoiler

You must have played through all rooms in order to enter the "all boss" level

[close]

* Fixed some buggs

[GarageGothic]

Very nice, though I only had time to play the first two levels. Had a bit of trouble determining what I could stand on (such as falling through curved pipes floors and not being able to jump on the machine in the second level). But it seems great fun. Are there enemies on later levels?

So I take it this is your contribution to this months MAGS? If so, the best of luck. The GameBoy kind of retro style works great.

[DazJ]

Wow, reminds me of ODDJOB EDDIE on the ZX Spectrum +2. VERY addictive and a great effort!

[Mazoliin]

GarageGothic:
I have always known that it isn't easy to know where you can go, but I do hope that it isn't to much of a problem.

And, no, this isn't my contribution to the MAGS, but I am working on an entery (just hope I'll finish it. Then I'll have two finished games in one month, ho ho)

[bicilotti]

Nice use of AGS, loved the retro feeling!

One things scares me: 8Mb... how many levels are there?  :o

[Mazoliin]

Enough to make you scream in agony, he he he...

No, seriously, there's a little more than 50, but it's the superb music that makes the file size go through the roof.

[bicilotti]

Playied it a little more and I must saying I'm really enjoying it! After a bit the sense of bewilderment goes away and it is a pleasure to play. Levels are interesting (designed in a way you won't feel bored) and the black&white graphics seems a nice choice.

The only thing I have to complain on is that the jump button (space) seems a bit slow in its response if compared to the directional keys, which makes me fall in the water more often than not.

[BOYD1981]

it's really brilliant, and i love the music.
only i'm on level 25 right now so i pretty much want to kill you
also

Spoiler

the ledge you jump across to the left from seems to be a bit glitchy, a few times i've fallen through before i got to the end and died

[close]

[Mazoliin]

That might have something to do with the fact that the walkable area gets too thin. If it is, then you can't jump and maby it's also possible that you, some times, fall through it.
I should probably do something about it.

[ThreeOhFour]

I've got up to about level 26 in this game (before being interrupted).

Firstly, this is a great little game. The graphics and music work very well together! Congratulations on completing it!

A few little points I'd like to make (not that I'm suggesting you should change anything):

Level difficulty doesn't progress in a smooth curve. I had a lot more trouble with levels 3 and 6 than I did with 4,5,7,8 and 9.

The jumping is very reliant on the player being at the exact pixel when he hits the key. 1 pixel short and the jump is too short, 1 pixel more and he falls off the ledge. (could be more than a pixel, but sure doesn't feel like it )

Climbing the ladder requires me to be in the exact right position when hitting the key! The amount of times I had to restart a level because I was a tiny bit off when trying to climb a ladder had me a little frustrated.

The key configuration makes no sense to me. In certain levels where I have to jump and then hit enter, I had to do a strange hand positioning in which I am hitting space with my pinky whilst hitting enter with my index finger. It'd be easier if the button to jump and the button to use the faucets were right next to each other (like Z and X, for example).

Other than this, I've very much enjoyed playing this game so far and hope to finish it .

[BOYD1981]

yay i just finished it (without breaking anything... too much), and i pretty much enjoyed it apart from a few moments where i just really wanted to punch the screen
be awesome to see some level packs

to fix that problem couldn't you just make the game 640x480 (just double the graphics image size so it looks the same) to give you thicker walkable areas?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I pretty much agree with what's been said so far.  It's great fun, but the dodgy jumping combined with platforms you can walk across part of and fall through the rest without any visual difference makes it unnecessarily frustrating.  If this was actually a design choice then I understand.  Some people design retro games with difficult controls on purpose, but if it was not then I recommend some fixing here and there.  The nice thing is that with the password system your fixes won't force people to restart .  For the platforms I'd almost recommend making the walkable ones completely solid (I notice you've used only outlines or dithering so far, so solids would add a 3rd 'layer' to the pipes).  Great work!

Edit:  I just noticed something unfortunate.  When you quit the game and re-enter, it no longer seems to recognize the passwords you've acquired.  I tried two of them I'd kept and neither worked.  Ah, I see.  I was playing it from a zip and it creates internal savegames.

[Mazoliin]

Thanks to all positive comments and feedback, nothing have gone un-noticed.

Ben:
Thanks for all your points, I'll reconsider all of them.

Boyd:
Or I'll just make those thin places a little thicker, because I know where they are (this might also solve the jumping problem, since he won't jump when the area is too thin)

[Snake]

The only suggestion I can give is to have UP as an option to jump as well as SPACEBAR.

So far I'm liking this game very much! Like someone else has already said, I'm liking the GameBoy graphics look. The music is also ace


--Snake

[bicilotti]

FINISHED!

[Dualnames]

Wow, I wasn't going to go for a platform game but all say it is addictive, so I'll give it a shot.

[ThreeOhFour]

Fix taps and avoid the dangers of the sewer in order to complete your quest...
...or die trying!

This would be more accurate if adjusted to

"Fix taps and avoid the dangers of the sewer in order to complete your quest...
...and die trying! Many, many, many times."

[moshboy]

Any mirrors for this? Looks good but Mediafire doesn't seem to be working.. at least currently.

[Mazoliin]

I've uploaded a RapidShare link, so hopfully one of them will work

And I'm working on a update, but progress is slow due to mags, so please be patience.

[WHAM]

Alas! I have not succeeded with my quest!

Fun little game, and I like the simple music very much! Great job altogether!