Limey Lizard: Waste Wizard! (A Halloween Gift)

[TheJBurger]

I have to say that I do like the interface even if I also find it confusing having the mouse buttons switched when using the interface.

What I don´t like is the beginning of the game. You´re trapped in the first room and have to solve a really hard puzzle. Now that I´ve solved it, I´m stuck in the second room without any hint what to do. I would prefer having some easy puzzles at the beginning so you can get used to the style of the game.
I really want to like this game, as it looks good and has got nice voice acting. But until now it seems as it doesn´t want to be liked.   

Sorry, this is my experience too.

First room, I got stuck for an endless amount of time trying to figure out a puzzle when in reality I was struggling with the interface in confusion. After finally solving the puzzle (and I still didn't understand the solution), I get to the next room with no goal of what to do, I walk into a puddle of goo by accident, and then the game kind of laughs at me because I died and had no save games.

I appreciate all the animations and polish, but I just wish it was a bit more user-friendly.

[Helme]

I agree with DrWhite and JBurger.

It's one of the few AGS-Games i played, that i stopped playing in the middle and deleted instantly after ours of frustration.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

First room, I got stuck for an endless amount of time trying to figure out a puzzle when in reality I was struggling with the interface in confusion.

Again, I think this goes back to not spending a couple of minutes reading about how the interface works.

After finally solving the puzzle (and I still didn't understand the solution), I get to the next room with no goal of what to do, I walk into a puddle of goo by accident, and then the game kind of laughs at me because I died and had no save games.

You're told explicitly by Hissington what to do (specifically to 'Clean up that mess by the display', which is of course the puddle of goo.  I don't really understand how walking over a strange puddle of bubbling goo without even examining it is an indication that the game needs to be more user-friendly? 



Also, I don't mean to be rude but this isn't the Critics Lounge.

[TheJBurger]

First room, I got stuck for an endless amount of time trying to figure out a puzzle when in reality I was struggling with the interface in confusion.

Again, I think this goes back to not spending a couple of minutes reading about how the interface works.

You're right, I should've read the the instructions at the beginning of the topic (I missed it the first time I downloaded), but the readme had too much information for me when it first came out, and I honestly avoid the readme in games unless its simple, self-contained, or I want to get more out of the game.

After finally solving the puzzle (and I still didn't understand the solution), I get to the next room with no goal of what to do, I walk into a puddle of goo by accident, and then the game kind of laughs at me because I died and had no save games.

You're told explicitly by Hissington what to do (specifically to 'Clean up that mess by the display', which is of course the puddle of goo.  I don't really understand how walking over a strange puddle of bubbling goo without even examining it is an indication that the game needs to be more user-friendly? 

Okay, I thought he was just saying "the room was messy, clean it up" which I interpreted as a generic task. As for user-friendliness, I'm saying I don't want to to be put at the mercy of "Space-Quest"-esque, unexpected deaths, especially when I've lost my habit of saving at every corner or turn.

Also, I don't mean to be rude but this isn't the Critics Lounge.

Just trying to offer some constructive feedback on the game. If that doesn't belong here, then I don't know where it does.

[MrColossal]

I would like to finish this game but I died very unfairly and wanted to make a suggestion.

Spoiler

I suggest you revisit the maze part of the game. I got to the rats and beat them on my first try but still lost because I only repaired one pipe. The maze is a maze and I didn't see an obvious map anywhere to show me where to go so I was walking aimlessly and just happened upon the rats, as soon as that cutscene kicks in it's walking dead if you haven't fixed all the pipes.

I found that the lizard walked slow in the first place but the fact that he walks slower in the maze also put me off, personally. When I reloaded the game I would go down a tunnel, find it a dead end and just reload to my previous point because I didn't want to walk all the way back.

Also, did anyone tell me how many pipes to fix? I don't know how many to look for before I can walk into the whack-a-rat room. I guess I should just walk through every room down here?

Also also, I just had to give up, I can't keep walking around down in the maze. He moves so slow and I don't want to explore anymore wondering if I'll hit a dead end and have to walk back. I had to stop reloading because I was losing my place. I spent more time in the maze walking than I did on the game play. Speed up his walk is my suggestion.

[close]

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Jburger:

I don't have a problem with you telling me what you liked/disliked about the game, and my comment wasn't directed to you in any way, so don't worry about it .  As far as being at the mercy of deaths, that was sort of the point of the game when I made it for MAGS: Limey was my stab at Sierra for all those 'woops!' deaths in games, though oddly enough I couldn't bring myself to be nearly as cruel as they were!

Mr. Colossal:

Spoiler

What you describe isn't a walking dead because you cannot save beyond the entrance to the whack-a-rat game, and you can actually go back all the way to the elevator entrance (and to any room in the maze aside from the room with the rats).  I did this purposefully so you would not get stuck, so I don't really see this as unfair.  As for a map, here's a tip:  Switch the difficulty to easy and open the drawer where you found the pipe patches ^_^.  Also, when you have fixed all the pipe patches the inventory item disappears, so you will have no leftovers!  I made him walk slow because he's wading through very viscous poo and doesn't want to fall over into it (he actually makes the comment when he gets in), and I actually sped up his movement between beta and release because Grundislav made the same comment, though he wasn't bothered after I increased the speed.  Fun Fact:  He's actually only moving 1 unit slower than his normal walk animation (originally it was 2).

[close]

[DrWhite]

Now I´ve reached he maze and I wouldn´t consider it being unfair. After a while I found some rooms that seemed to have puzzles (but again I didn´t see any hint how to solve them).

What I disliked the most is the lack of hints. For example in the first room, I got rid of that little parasite, but then I was stuck. The scanatron told me that the power port is working. But Limey says that "it still ain´t workin". I really don´t know what Lucky did to make it work.

In the second room I got into the little chamber with the eyes. But never would have thought that from there I could grab into the box and get the gun.
Then I entered the maze and after a while I fixed the pipes and found a big computer and a door. But again, the computer´s not working for some reason and there´s no hint how to repair it.
So ... I think this game really needs a walkthrough. Otherwise it´s just frustrating.

[Leon]

Well, then you haven't been to the right place. 

[MrColossal]

Mr. Colossal:

Spoiler

What you describe isn't a walking dead because you cannot save beyond the entrance to the whack-a-rat game, and you can actually go back all the way to the elevator entrance (and to any room in the maze aside from the room with the rats).  I did this purposefully so you would not get stuck, so I don't really see this as unfair.  As for a map, here's a tip:  Switch the difficulty to easy and open the drawer where you found the pipe patches ^_^.  Also, when you have fixed all the pipe patches the inventory item disappears, so you will have no leftovers!  I made him walk slow because he's wading through very viscous poo and doesn't want to fall over into it (he actually makes the comment when he gets in), and I actually sped up his movement between beta and release because Grundislav made the same comment, though he wasn't bothered after I increased the speed.  Fun Fact:  He's actually only moving 1 unit slower than his normal walk animation (originally it was 2).

[close]

Sure it's not a walking dead but it is a hopeless situation. The only way for me to know that I had to fix all the pipes before exploring the maze is to die. That's unfair in my opinion. I am being punished for exploring the maze in the wrong order and since it's a maze there is no obvious order to go in.

I understand that he's only walking 1 unit slower than his normal walk speed but I think his normal walk speed is too slow anyway. Like I said, I spent more time just slowly walking through hallways than I did solving puzzles, that wasn't fun for me so I quit.

[DrWhite]

Well, then you haven't been to the right place.  Grin

Oh stupid me! Thanks a lot. I thought I already looked for it everywhere.

[ALPHATT]

Ok so.

GFX - Brilliant.

Difficulity - It is true that it's damn hard but I didn't seem to have too much trouble solving the game.

Voice - The best thing about the game.

GUI thing - I like the traditional way better, since I got used to that one.
Why? Because if I play a different adventure game I'll have to keep using the traditional method so I'll keep forgetting this method. It's not so easy to get used to it after a kind of 'reflex' developed. Also I don't see why the GUI being different would
add to the experience, I felt it was unnessecery.

Well enough bitching about the GUI. Overall I loved it, can't wait for EP2

[LimpingFish]

I kind of agree with Mr Colossal.

Finally beating the rat game after numerous attempts...

Spoiler

...only to find the ship still explodes, can certainly be infuriating if you haven't realized that you need to repair all the pipes.

[close]

I pointed this out to ProgZ as a wee bit unfair, though far from a walking dead scenario. I think not allowing the player to trigger the whack-a-rat game before they've fixed everything would have avoided this. But maybe that's the idea. As a Sierra-esque instant kill chortle, it makes perfect sense.

I had no navigation problems with the maze, as it's layout made more sense than most. Unlike those Sierra ones...

[Snarky]

Ha ha! This was a really fun game. The voices are absolutely brilliant, the song is hilarious, and the graphics and overall style have made me a Limey Lizard fan for life. I would look forward much more to another LL game than to a new SQ, for example. Thanks ProgZ!

At the same time, I do kind of agree with everything people have been saying. It's all well and good to say that people should read the manual, but the fact is that no one ever does, and it's only so far you can get by blaming your users. I actually did read the readme file (mostly because the game is up for the documentation category in the AGS Awards), but you only really learn a UI by using it, and by the time I had worked out how the visible controls function (yes, the switched left/right buttons to use items are inherently confusing), I'd forgotten about the Space key.

Complete lack of feedback on many actions, not even a "that doesn't work"; yeah, I consider that a bug. (By analogy, if a windows app had buttons that didn't do anything when pressed, even though they weren't shown to be disabled, that would be a bug too.)

Also, lack of multiple saves makes me reluctant to go look for the other endings. Since I apparently didn't pick up one particular item before going down into the sewer, I'd have to replay from the beginning. Not that the game is long, but with Limey's sludgey walk-speed... no thanks.

Still, I've had more fun with Limey Lizard than with any other adventure game in quite some time, so none of those issues are show-stoppers, clearly. Also, kudos for sticking in a (mild) maze, even though they are unfairly maligned by many players.

[SuperDre]

I just finished it, took me about an hour to finish.. I really liked the game, but some of the comments about the maze I must agree with, I too finished the minigame only to find out I had to do some other stuff first.. My suggestion for fixing that would be to put the minigame behind the WDU door, and the door could only be openend when all pipes are fixed (until all pipes are fixed a message like something : not enough pressure to open the door, propably a busted pipe is still needing mending..).. also don't let it be possible to get to the next part if you don't have all the items needed..

I loved the character, but I hope next time the graphics are a bit less bulky.. going for the one pixel instead of the double pixel on 320x200.. but I would definitly play the next game no matter if you keep the same double pixels.. hehe..

thanx..

[Igor Hardy]

Is there actually any way to fix the pipe system if I forgot to take items from the chest upstairs? I didn't see that situation covered in any walkthroughs.

[Dualnames]

Ascovel, all you need is there. There are no dead ends.
By the way, finished the game, and I really really liked it. Honest. The graphics are really well done, the game has a nice plot (okay as good as possible), and the action is good.

[LUniqueDan]

*bumps*

I just finished it, took me about an hour to finish.. 

Sounds that it tooks me 20 months but I guess it's ok.  Well done Progzy, Well done. Amazing ways - as usual with your production - to put C64 grafx to paroxysm. Especially enjoyed the wack-a-rat at the end, and also the Limey's close-ups.

Looking for a sequel.

Cheerz

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Glad you finally got around to finishing it, Dan .

[Fonda]

nice game, did you use a special plugin for the agi-look?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

It's actually c-64 style artwork and I drew it all by hand.  There is an ags filter scotch made (I forget what it was) that will auto double-pixel all your artwork while playing an ags game, though.