-- Ark 22 -- Adventure/rpg; Complete., Updated 08.11.07 Options

[Mark Daniel]

Well, the bad news for me is that my old computer had motherboard issues, and then my hard drive crashed... and I lost my Ark 22 save file.  The GOOD news for me is that I get to play through the entire game again. 

That's a good one!

Ark22 is still one of the best games here in GMC.

[MaxAstro]

So, just beat the first dungeon again. Here are a few things that come to mind:

The bug where you can create multiple balls in the hit-the-ball game doesn't seem to be fixed...

It would make more sense in my opinion if it brought up the save menu and THEN asked you about overwriting data, instead of the other way around; the wording right now is a little confusing because of the way it is.

Finally got the crystal from the rifle game; it would be REALLY nice if there was some hint as to what score you need to achieve to get the crystal, as I was about to give up in frustration when I finally got it.

Also, especially early on, this game has a little bit of what I now like to call Twilight Princess syndrome, that is, money is REALLY common, to the extent that the money chests in the first dungeon are basically worthless because I always have 500 credits long before I get there. This isn't really a bad thing, especially with how much money you need to be able to get the minigame crystals, it's just that those chests are a little pointless unless you bypass them completely and come back much later in the game.

EDIT: Also, it would be nice to have some indication of how many more crystals you need total. Maybe not in the beginning, but it would help reduce late game frustration if once you got within a certain number of crystals from having them all the guy would start saying something like "I think I'll need X more crystals." Just so that you have some idea how many you are missing.

EDIT 2: Okay, Bagatelle officially ~pisses me off~. I'm sorry to say, it is currently the absolute most hated part of your game at the moment. There is no indication of how many points you need to get, there is no clue as to what makes the value of the tiles vary at seemingly random, it seems to be completely impossible to reach the goal value on any difficulty but easy, as I can't seem to manage a score above 240 on hard or 300-some on medium, and it's apparently stupidly hard to reach the goal on easy. Either I'm completely missing something, or this minigame is seriously screwed up...

Sorry to come off so forcefully, but I'm really, really frustrated at that minigame right now as I just spent basically the last half hour trying to beat it to no avail.

This post has been edited by MaxAstro: Feb 2 2007, 09:25 PM

[Seco Xekko]

MaxAstro:

Okay, Bagatelle officially ~pisses me off~...

I don't think bagatelle has kytri crystals to offer, so you can skip it. Only the quickdraw arena, the shooting gallery and the hit the ball game offer crystals. Just to tell you I got mad at bagatelle too.

Mark Daniel:

Ark22 is still one of the best games here in GMC.

I agree. Contrary to what $Texas had been saying...

kingjay:
Behave more maturely, please. If you can't beat dungeon 1, go back to page one of this topic and there is a walkthrough of dungeon one available.

Woo Hoi:

you shoudn't use 3 years to make this game...aren't it is so hard?You enjoy it?

- It IS hard. Can you make something like this in 3 months? I guess not.
- I'm sure Srehpog enjoyed making Ark22 and it has given him a lot of experience. Now his new project is underway and I saw it... it was awesome.

Srehpog (finally):
I've finally beaten the game with the good ending! I played through the game 5 times now and I really liked this game. I recommended it to 3 friends who are still trying to beat it...
Now that the bugs and lags are gone, I can finally raise the rating to 10/10 from 9/10. Excellent job. I look forward to your new project about that little gopher of yours...

[MaxAstro]

*does a happy dance* I FINALLY got the rifle upgrade. Holy crap is that powerful...

A couple bug reports:

The guy who sells you the 20-mine bag says it costs 600, but you only lose 400 credits.

The funny flying creatures that teleport and create damage rings (the small ones) strangely seem to GAIN health from the rifle upgrade; shooting them with it causes them to take more normal hits to kill.

After beating the pyramid dungeon, if you re-enter it and leave immediately after the cutscene, the cutscene will play again.

And a random suggestion:

As all-purpose as it is, the sword is the only item that never really gets "upgraded". The rifle gets the power and capacity upgrades, the mines get capacity upgrades, you can activate new teleport points for the bracelet, and find new things to put in the flask (Yay Supreme Blend... )... but the sword remains the same throughout the game. This isn't really a problem, I just think it would be cool if there was an upgrade for the sword, such as someone who will reforge the blade to make it do more damage (or shoot waves of energy when you are at full health, perhaps? XD).

Note that if there IS a sword upgrade already, and I just haven't found it, you can feel free to ignore me completely.

This post has been edited by MaxAstro: Feb 4 2007, 12:56 AM

[jonV]

GOOD WORK, IN HOVERTANK 3D's LEAGUE!

[punkonjunk1024]

Ark 22

Screen 01 | Screen 02 | Screen 03
Screen 04 | Screen 05 | Screen 06
Screen 07 | Screen 08 | Screen 09
Screen 10 | Screen 11 | Screen 12

The entire contents of the development folder.

Download

Download Replacement .exe file
If you already have the whole package...

Info:

Filesize: 20Mb
File type: .zip
File contents: Ark22 Game and Soundtrack
Genre: Action/RPG
Playtime: 6-10 Hrs.

Zelda-style action/RPG with original story, graphics, enemies and weapons. Has taken so far three years to make, and hopefully it will last you a while too.

Enjoy.

Music by Hurtdeer

Ship Section FAQ:

- Talk to the NPC in the furthest south-east room, by the desk with a monitor on it. He'll ask you for a decrypted disk.
- Get the disk from the small table in the bottom-left corner of the main room.
- Press Enter on the glass of drink by the main desk to distract the guy standing there.
- Use the PC behind the main desk. The disk is now decrypted.
- Return to the first NPC and talk to him.
- Go to the bar and grab the tray of drinks waiting. Answer "Yes!".
- Go left to the front deck, and talk to the NPC on the platform, return to the main area and use the lift.
- Use the PC at the desk in the little room up here to launch a cutscene.
- After cutscene, use the lift to leave.
- On arrival in the main area, run RIGHT to leave the ship...

Initial New Samosa Village FAQ:

- Watch the 'waking up' cutscene and enter your name.
- Talk to the NPC sitting at the table to receive the sword.
- Go outside, and into the building with a computer symbol over the door (south).
- In here, talk to the NPC next to the teleport machine. He'll turn it on.
- Outside again, go east to the little kiosk. Talk there.
- Then head to the large building on the hill and if you like, talk to the NPC next to the bath-like machine to restore health. (costs 200 Credits).
- Finally, talk to the yellow NPC on the podium. Receive the key to the village gate and a radio transmitter.
- Head north outside to the gate. Press Enter on the lock to unlock it, and head out into the overworld.

Help me! I cannot complete Dungeon 1!

GMA 2006 Success

Just so you know I'm not lying to you here...

-- BEST OVERALL GAME --
1st: Ark 22 by Srehpog

-- BEST GAMEPLAY --
1st: Ark 22 by Srehpog

-- BEST GAME MUSIC --
2nd: Ark22 by Srehpog

-- BEST GAME SOUND EFFECTS --
2nd: Ark 22 by Srehpog

-- BEST RPG --
1st: Ark 22 by Srehpog

How long did it take you to make this game exactly though and did the registered version of Game Maker (GM) [which version was it made also] used?

[Kristian]

IF you read his post, you would see that it took him 3 years and that he obviously did use registered because you dont see a logo when the game loads. And now you have copied his entire first post in your quote, leaving a massive load of unnecessary junk in your post.

Hang your head in shame

[IsmAvatar]

I really like the game. It's nicely done. 3 years? Wow... That's crazy. It really shows, though.
I might make my own walkthrough.

I'm in the 3rd dungeon, with the teleportation stations...
I've opened up all the doors in that central room, and the two rooms I have yet to do much in are the NorthEast room and the South room. I can't use the south room because the station doesn't have enough power. The north room called "Void Steps"......... I haven't a clue how to walk through that. Could someone please explain this to me?

Picture:


I keep falling down and having to restart the room at random points, which must be part of the puzzle. I guess I have to flip certain switches and walk very carefully. You see, I get past the 3rd switch and get to the 4th switch (center of room), but then I don't know where to go...

This post has been edited by IsmAvatar: Feb 10 2007, 11:04 PM

[TechnoSuperguy]

I keep falling down and having to restart the room at random points, which must be part of the puzzle. I guess I have to flip certain switches and walk very carefully. You see, I get past the 3rd switch and get to the 4th switch (center of room), but then I don't know where to go...

If I remember correctly, you must bypass some switches, such as the fourth one, entirely. Here's what you do:
1. Skip the first switch and turn on the second
2. Walk across the hole to reach the third switch, but don't hit it
3. From there, walk right, up, left, and up to reach the uppermost switch
4. Turn it off. From there, you can walk safely across solid ground to reach the exit.

I might be wrong, because it's been a while since I played that area.

[IsmAvatar]

You're right. I was able to get through the rest of the dungeon after that.
Now I'm at part 4, where the guys are at the hole shooting at the horde, and I'm supposed to be going somewhere... I found this pyramid temple, and go inside, but can't find anything to do in there..

I like the coin minigame in the Comm center, that was cute.

Oh, I also got around to trying out the phone, and got through to someone... I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to say/do there to keep them on the line. If I say "Hello" back they ask me what I want, but then I don't know what to tell them that would make it so they don't hang up on me.

This post has been edited by IsmAvatar: Feb 11 2007, 08:06 AM

[Ross Lam.]

You're right. I was able to get through the rest of the dungeon after that.
Now I'm at part 4, where the guys are at the hole shooting at the horde, and I'm supposed to be going somewhere... I found this pyramid temple, and go inside, but can't find anything to do in there..

I like the coin minigame in the Comm center, that was cute.

Oh, I also got around to trying out the phone, and got through to someone... I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to say/do there to keep them on the line. If I say "Hello" back they ask me what I want, but then I don't know what to tell them that would make it so they don't hang up on me.

In the Pyramid Dungeon you have to hit both switches so they are on at the same time. And on the phone, try "I want my Flask empty"

[Srehpog]

Update: v04.02.2007

Version: 04.02.2007 - cosmetic/flow fixes.

Download .exe

Unfixed:

CONS:
> One some of the messages that have a "more" option it treats "more" as the first option.

I can't find this at all. Do you know where you saw it?

- The guy who sells you the 20-mine bag says it costs 600, but you only lose 400 credits.

As far as I can see, he asks for 500 and charges 500. I must have missed the one you mean. Can you be more specific? A screenshot? That would help.

Fixed:

- The bug where you can create multiple balls in the hit-the-ball game doesn't seem to be fixed...

- Finally got the crystal from the rifle game; it would be REALLY nice if there was some hint as to what score you need to achieve to get the crystal, as I was about to give up in frustration when I finally got it.

- Okay, Bagatelle officially ~pisses me off~.  I'm sorry to say, it is currently the absolute most hated part of your game at the moment.  There is no indication of how many points you need to get, there is no clue as to what makes the value of the tiles vary at seemingly random, etc.

- The funny flying creatures that teleport and create damage rings (the small ones) strangely seem to GAIN health from the rifle upgrade; shooting them with it causes them to take more normal hits to kill.

- After beating the pyramid dungeon, if you re-enter it and leave immediately after the cutscene, the cutscene will play again.

- Multiple balls - fixed. Not sure why that didn't work the first time...
- Rifle hint - added.
- Bagatelle - added some NPC text to warn you there's no crystal and that things are a bit crazy. You're right, it doesn't quite work the way it should but.... it's only Credits.
- Enemies - it's odd that you should find that; they definitely lose health... Hmm.
- Pyramid cutscene: Thanks for that - quite serious. Fixed.

Thanks for the bugs.

Other:

Ark22 is still one of the best games here in GMC.

I agree. Contrary to what $Texas had been saying...

Oh? Tell me more.

Now that the bugs and lags are gone, I can finally raise the rating to 10/10 from 9/10. Excellent job. I look forward to your new project about that little gopher of yours...

Glad you like it. That won't be for quite a while, though...

2. Walk across the hole to reach the third switch, but don't hit it

Aha. Now that's interesting - I built it with a longer path in mind. Very true.

I found this pyramid temple, and go inside, but can't find anything to do in there..

I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to say/do there to keep them on the line. If I say "Hello" back they ask me what I want, but then I don't know what to tell them that would make it so they don't hang up on me.

That pyramid is indeed your next dungeon. As for the Samosaphone problem, that's basically a cheats menu. There's a very limited selection of strings which are accepted as replies. As Ross Lam says, "I want my flask empty." does something. You'll have to find the others on your own...

As usual, thank you all for your feedback and suggestions. I can't really add anything 'new' at this stage, but it's a real pleasure to hear what you all think. As usual, if there's anything you don't like, feel free to complain - I may just fix it for you.

This post has been edited by Srehpog: Feb 11 2007, 06:57 PM

[IsmAvatar]

Well, I beat the game.
Why on earth would I want my flask empty? I want it full >.<
Does the phone serve any other purpose besides emptying your flask?

edit started posting before I saw Srehpog's post. I see...

Well, all in all it was a very good game. Very Zelda-esque. Probably took me as long as well

This post has been edited by IsmAvatar: Feb 11 2007, 09:39 PM

[Samwise]

I've wanted to play this game since it came out, but my old computer wouldn't work with it. Now that I got a new computer, it works. A game like this must be the love child of Zelda and Earthbound, on steroids. This game is the best out of the two GM games that i actually play multiple times. 10/10, dude. Nice job.

[Retro-Style]

Great game I will plan to play it fully through this summer... Just curious, have you advertised this game at all outside of the GMC? Im am positive the indie game community/fans would absolutely love that something this good came out from an indie developer.

*Off Topic*
Srehpog - any other big projects in the works yet? Another Ark22 maybe or possibly a different game completely.

This post has been edited by Retro-Style: Feb 13 2007, 11:05 PM

[jengajam]

Anyone have a walkthrough i was stuck after the first chapter and gave up.
Yes i got the direction but when i use them it still does not work. But after seeing the topic again i might start playing again! So help would be nice.

[MaxAstro]

As far as I can see, he asks for 500 and charges 500. I must have missed the one you mean. Can you be more specific? A screenshot? That would help.

I don't have time to re-run the game up to that point at the moment, but I believe it's the guy who sells you the "large, fireproof bags". Come to think of it, though, I might have gotten it mixed up, it might be the guy who gives you the four mine arming upgrade that has an error.

Fixed:

- Multiple balls - fixed. Not sure why that didn't work the first time...
- Rifle hint - added.
- Bagatelle - added some NPC text to warn you there's no crystal and that things are a bit crazy. You're right, it doesn't quite work the way it should but.... it's only Credits.
- Enemies - it's odd that you should find that; they definitely lose health... Hmm.
- Pyramid cutscene: Thanks for that - quite serious. Fixed.

Awesome fixes, thanks.

As far as the enemies, that's odd... Do some of those creatures have more health than others? 'Cause I've definitely killed some of them with three shots, and others with an upgrade shot and six normal shots after that. By my math, the upgrade shot SHOULD kill them in one hit, but it never has as far as I've seen.

EDIT: Well, the upgrade shot does kill them eventually; an upgrade shot, a normal shot, and another upgrade shot killed one I ran into. It still seems like it should only take one upgrade shot, though...

Also, does the gunship ghost take damage from upgrade shots properly? He took around twenty upgrade shots to kill, which seems like a lot. Speaking of the boss rematch rooms, once you've beaten three it probably should stop triggering the cutscene of the final boss chamber, although I can see that being useful to remind someone where it is. And I'd still like it if clearing ones past the first three still caused them to change to the "beaten" graphic instead of staying with the "not done yet" graphic.

Oh, and another bug that I forgot to mention: The high score for the rifle game doesn't seem to save. Every time you load a saved game it resets to zero.

EDIT2: More Bagatelle fun... Firstly, I'd like you to know that the main reason I complain about Bagatelle so much is that it's a highly addictive minigame, and probably the best way to earn credits in the entire game, so I play it more than any other minigame. Now, on to the bugs: On Easy, all the blocks seem to become green after the first drop, which rather takes the skill out of easy mode. If you drop the ball two clicks to the left of the starting position, it will fall straight down without hitting any bumpers, which can also take much of the skill out of the game. And lastly, I played for quite a while (~6000 credits worth of time) without seeing any of the fabled "purple" blocks. Just how rare are they?

Speaking of earning credits, it occurs to me that the banking system isn't as useful as it could be, mainly because there really isn't anything to spend credits on late game. Right now I'm amassing huge amount of money just for the sake of amassing huge amounts of money; I don't really have anything to use it for. You can get through the entire game on a little more than 5000 credits easily.

As for the Samosaphone problem, that's basically a cheats menu. There's a very limited selection of strings which are accepted as replies. As Ross Lam says, "I want my flask empty." does something. You'll have to find the others on your own...

A VERY limited selection of strings... I've tried about thirty others and can't find any that work. And I haven't heard of anyone else that has...

Anyone have a walkthrough i was stuck after the first chapter and gave up.
Yes i got the direction but when i use them it still does not work. But after seeing the topic again i might start playing again! So help would be nice.

I've been hoping for a walkthrough of this game to show up for a while; I might even write one myself.

As far as the directions, don't forget that they have to be started from the middle of the storm, not from the edge where the guy is.

This post has been edited by MaxAstro: Feb 14 2007, 06:58 PM

[Srehpog]

Just curious, have you advertised this game at all outside of the GMC? Im am positive the indie game community/fans would absolutely love that something this good came out from an indie developer.

Actually, no, I haven't as such. If you know of anywhere you think would enjoy it, feel free to post it there. Any exposure is good.

*Off Topic*
Srehpog - any other big projects in the works yet? Another Ark22 maybe or possibly a different game completely.

One...

Not Ark-related though...

Come to think of it, though, I might have gotten it mixed up, it might be the guy who gives you the four mine arming upgrade that has an error.

Yeah, it is. That'll be fixed in the next update.

As far as the enemies, that's odd...  Do some of those creatures have more health than others? [...] Also, does the gunship ghost take damage from upgrade shots properly?  He took around twenty upgrade shots to kill, which seems like a lot.

Looks like something with parentage and collisions wasn't quite right. These two enemies do indeed take in general the same damage from an upgraded rifle shot. That's also fixed now - thanks.

Speaking of the boss rematch rooms, once you've beaten three it probably should stop triggering the cutscene of the final boss chamber, although I can see that being useful to remind someone where it is.  And I'd still like it if clearing ones past the first three still caused them to change to the "beaten" graphic instead of staying with the "not done yet" graphic.

That's not a bad idea, but it's not really something I can justify reworking at this late stage. It make save files incompatible again, for one thing.

Oh, and another bug that I forgot to mention: The high score for the rifle game doesn't seem to save.  Every time you load a saved game it resets to zero.

He now says "Today's high score" to make things clear.

Firstly, I'd like you to know that the main reason I complain about Bagatelle so much is that it's a highly addictive minigame, and probably the best way to earn credits in the entire game, so I play it more than any other minigame.    Now, on to the bugs: ...

The whole Bagatelle area's a bit crazy. There's so much random() in there even I don't know what the rules are. That's, in a way, the point, though.

Speaking of earning credits, it occurs to me that the banking system isn't as useful as it could be.

It's not really intended to be useful - if you're opening (or hosting) a bank account on a crash site there's got to be something a bit wrong with you in the first place. The real purpose is to see how well/badly people do on the ridiculous questionnaire - there's not a money-gathering purpose to it as such, unless players want it that way.

A VERY limited selection of strings...  I've tried about thirty others and can't find any that work.  And I haven't heard of anyone else that has...

True. I'll let you know if anyone does.

Thanks for the bugs - they'll be gone next time there's something more significant to update as well.

This post has been edited by Srehpog: Feb 14 2007, 09:14 PM

[Retro-Style]

Srehpog, I did a search for 'submit indie game' and 'submit freeware game' on google and both came up with many sites where people upload there games and others can view/download/and review them. If you get this reviewed by one decent sized site Im sure it would grow quite a lot. I however cannot do it because it asks for some information that I just wouldnt have. Download.com you need to be signed up to submit something but that site would be your best attention getter im sure. just a thought.

Anyway, do you have your new project in WIPs or keeping that a secret for now?

This post has been edited by Retro-Style: Feb 15 2007, 08:40 AM

[jengajam]

Thanks, I started to play again.