Flux World is Still Recruiting Background/Sprite Artists

[fluxmaster]

I am pleased to announce a new game, Flux World, is now ready for beta testing.

Flux World is based on the game Flux Warrior, which is still under development.  Flux Warrior will be the first game of a new genre of games that I have created, called Flux-Based Computer Gaming.  Flux World has much of the same story as Flux Warrior, but with an adventure-game interface.

Anyone who is interested in beta-testing Flux World should go to the Flux World website to download the game and manual.

The graphics in Flux World are my own.  If any graphic artist who enjoyed the game would like to produce enhanced graphics for the release version, please contact me at fluxmaster@replinemeadowsoftware.com to discuss.





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.

[Meistari F]

Great game! I hope you can get great artist to make this game look better.

[fluxmaster]

I am pleased to announce that Fribbi has voluntered to be that "great artist" and is now at work on the enhanced graphics for the game.

Here is a view of the new main character sprite:



Here is what a screenshot would look like with the main character (with red suspenders added) in various positions:



Beta testers are still welcome to join.  And don't let the alternate "laws of physics" discourage you.  You don't have to know anything about physics to play this game.  Physics is just an analogy for something else, which you have to figure out to complete the game.

[Meistari F]

Here are updated background image from the game Flux World.

[Akatosh]

You may want to clean that up, but still, the graphics seem to be improving!

[fluxmaster]

A new version of the game incorporating the new background and sprites is now available for download on the Flux World website.  The 16-bit color version incorporates the new graphics; the 8-bit color version remains unchanged for comparison purposes.

[Meistari F]

Fluxmaster

When I was testing the sprite of the main character with the new background I had him 100% scaled not 150% or above that. He is too big in your game. It is easy to change that size you know.

[vertigoaddict]

I can't wait to play this game! Good luck in completing it! OwO

[fluxmaster]

vertigoaddict:

You can play the beta version right now.  If you have any questions about how to play the game, or any bugs to report, you may post them right here.

Fribbi:

I have changed the scale of the main character in the room that you provided a background for, and I have adjusted the horizon in that room as well.

[vertigoaddict]

What I meant was, I can't wait to play the absolute complete version. This way it would be more fun than if I had played the beta version.

[Meistari F]

I figured it out how to catch the beast with that tornado thing. How many times do I have to catch the first beast ? But I thought I had to do it only once.   

[fluxmaster]

Over and over again.  Rather annoying, isn't it?  That's why you're trying to escape from this place:  You're sick and tired of hunting down these beasts, and no sooner do you hunt one down and offer it up to one of the gods, then another beasts appears!  But the gods are watching you and taking note of your labors.

If you click on the '?' icon on the menu bar, it will bring up a bar graph showing your approval rating from each of the gods.  It might take a while for the progress bars to advance, but you should notice your approval rating rise as you become more skilled at hunting down the beasts.  When your approval rating for any one god reaches 100%, that god will construct for you a tower from atop which you will be able to see the beasts approach from a distance.  Once you have a tower in any given precinct, you will no longer have to hunt the beasts in that precinct.

When you have both the stone tower and the wooden tower, you will advance to the second level of the game.  In the second level, there will still be beasts to hunt, but you will have much more interesting tasks to accomplish.  When you've satisfied all the gods in the second level, you will be permitted to return home and complete the game.

The "tornadoes" that you are talking about are the vortices.  The Flux manifests itself in the form of vortices, which are what cause your arrows to veer off course.  As you have figured out, when you shoot an arrow, it is sucked into a vortex, but, at the same time, the arrow causes the vortex to move in the direction that you have shot the arrow.

I'm glad to see that you are making progress in the game.

[Meistari F]

WTF! 
I just saved that game when I had finally killed that beast. And suddenly another beast came and grabbed me so quickly. I used restore button but the game always put me in the big area with the skeletor so I had no other option to escape. I had to restart the game. And like I told you. The character are then frozen in the first room area. So I Quit the game and had to play the game from the beginning.

Sometimes those beasts are too fast to grab me. When I am trying to shot on those vortices things. I can't run and shoot in same time as you know.

I think you should change the big area with the skeletor and make it smaller and just let the skeletor grab you. I mean since I have no option  to hide from it or kill it it makes no sense letting me run in such huge area.  And they run so slow but I can understand why.

[fluxmaster]

WTF! 
I just saved that game when I had finally killed that beast. And suddenly another beast came and grabbed me so quickly.

When a new beast appears, you should have two minutes to travel to the proper precinct, then about 20 seconds to dispatch the beast once you arrive in the proper precinct.  This gets shortened to about 15 seconds as you gain more experience.  If you are already in the proper precinct when the new beast appears, you have about 15-20 seconds to dispatch it.  But in that case it should be easier, as the vortex that you use to dispatch the beast is already in the right position, so it should only take one mouse-click to dispatch the beast, in the southwest (lower left) corner of the screen.  That is because the game repositions the vortex to the northeast of the beast when the same beast reappears, and you always fire in the opposite direction of the vortex with respect to the beast.

See also my comment below about saving the game and the 20-second timer.

I used restore button but the game always put me in the big area with the skeleton . . .

Once the skeleton appears, it is too late to do anything.  You are a dead man walking (or running).  The skeleton will always catch you.  So you must save your game before the skeleton appears.

Note that if you save your game right when when the new beast appears, the 20-second timer is still running while you are saving your game.  So I think that is the reason that the skeleton seems to appear so quickly.  You should save the game as soon as the god accepts your offering of the previous beast.  Then you will have the full 20 seconds to dispatch the next beast.

. . . so I had no other option to escape. I had to restart the game. And like I told you. The character are then frozen in the first room area. So I Quit the game and had to play the game from the beginning.

This is a bug that I will fix in the next beta version.  Thank you for reporting the first bug.  In the meantime, here is the workaround:  After you press the F9 key, the cursor will be invisible, but the mouse will still work.  Move the mouse to the top of the screen and click on the '?' icon on the menu bar.  Remember, the mouse cursor will be invisible, but it will still work.  Next, click on the "Help" button.  You can then resume the game normally.

Sometimes those beasts are too fast to grab me. When I am trying to shot on those vortices things. I can't run and shoot in same time as you know.

Actually, there is no need to run and shoot at the same time.  Running from the beast does you no good.  You must emulate a good bullfighter:  A good bullfighter always remains completely still while the bull is charging him.  If you are in the wrong precinct, then proceed quickly to the proper precinct--Troforia for the Narulung, Carfurgia for the Shultung.  Once you are in the right precinct, simply stand still and shoot.  The beast will not hurt you until the 20-second timer has expired.  Then the death-skeleton will emerge from the beast.  At this point, it is too late; you must restore or restart the game.

I think you should change the big area with the skeletor and make it smaller and just let the skeletor grab you. I mean since I have no option  to hide from it or kill it it makes no sense letting me run in such huge area.  And they run so slow but I can understand why.

As I have said, once you are in the close-up view with the skeleton, you have reached a dead-end.  But you have already figured that out, and I think that any player would be able to figure that out as well.  A game such as this is about figuring things out, and this is not difficult to figure out.  Plus, the death message says that you should have killed the beast more quickly, so I think that the game makes it clear that the close-up view with the skeleton is merely an extended death scene.

[vertigoaddict]

when is this game going to be out? It's already been beta-tested right?

[fluxmaster]

Unfortunately, I cannot specify a release date as this is a part-time enterprise.  Beta testing is still in progress.  I would like to have the enhanced graphics completed before releasing a final version.  The enhanced graphics will likely take longer to do than the beta testing.

The beta version is highly playable if you want to give it a try.  I don't think that it contains too many bugs.

[Akatosh]

Oh, just a quick thing before I forget it again... I tried that game a lot of a while ago, and I found it pretty difficult to remember the names of the locations, beasts and gods. You might want to make them less... random-seeming.

[fluxmaster]

Actually, although they may seem random, quite a lot of thought went into choosing the names.

As I've said previously, the game is one huge analogy, and everything in the game is symbolic of something else.  The names in the game are actually hints to what they represent.  The names are based on Greek, Latin, and Norse roots, with the spellings changed slightly so as not to make them too obvious.  It is not necessary to decode the names in order to figure out the game, but to those with a knowledge of ancient languages it could be a slight help.

Take, for instance, the precinct of Skefalia.  The one soldier that you've met so far in that precinct is called the Skeftist.  Can you think of any Greek, Latin, or Norse word that these words resemble?  This is the easiest one to figure out.

Note that, after I came up with the names, I didn't keep my notes to where the names came from, so, for some of the names, I can't remember how I came up with them.

EDIT:  If you don't know Greek, Latin, or Norse, can you think of any English word that resembles Skefalia or Skeftist?

[Radiant]

The names are based on Greek, Latin, and Norse roots, with the spellings changed slightly so as not to make them too obvious.

Perhaps you've overdone the slight changes a bit.

Can you think of any Greek, Latin, or Norse word that these words resemble?

Frankly, no.

EDIT:  If you don't know Greek, Latin, or Norse, can you think of any English word that resembles Skefalia or Skeftist?

Not particularly. Skeleton? Screw? Scientist? Skittish? Skates?

[fluxmaster]

Skeleton? Screw? Scientist? Skittish? Skates?

None of these.  The actual word I had in mind is much closer than any of these guesses.  Think of an English word of Greek origin that is a philosophical term but that is frequently used in everyday speach.