17 replies to this topic

[banov]

Escape from the Underworld


Get the game at: GameJolt / YoYoGames

I made this for Indie Kombat, in which I competed against a developer named Andrew Brophy during the month of October 2010. We had to make a game using elements of our opponent's games, and at the end of the month both games are released and users vote on the best one. There was also some trash talking involved. If you enjoy the game, you should totally go to the Indie Kombat site and vote for it (when the voting goes up, sometime today or tomorrow).

Otherwise, I'm really proud of this game and I'm looking forward to hearing player reactions. Thanks for playing!

[imam_mashur]

Yeah...
This is a very exciting game, but his music is too creepy.

[orange08]

Spoiler

I'm stuck on the boss :\
I don't quite understand how to avoid his attacks and how/when I should attack him.

Other than that, this is awesome.

Edit: I've tried 3 or 4 times already, that boss is WAY too hard. 3=<
Edit2: All right, I finally beat him I realized that you have to attack him with those color things as much as possible.. Also, to always keep the X key held :3
That boss really didn't seem banov-ish. =s

Edited by orange08, 01 November 2010 - 09:01 PM.

[Zccc]

The begining was great! But I think I'm stuck. where do I get the key? And what do those red crosses in the door mean? Nevermind, I got it. The game is very confusing, even in the beggining, where I was supposed to dodge the rocks, I just landed on the checkpoint. But I like it.

Edited by Zccc, 31 October 2010 - 10:26 PM.

[brod]

It's great! I highly suggest everyone to give it a try, the difficulty curve is steep at first but it is definitely an awesome experience and TOTALLY worth the high death count in the end.

[Cesque]

I'm a bit late, but - great game (especially for a competition one).

What I loved the most is how seamlessly it started out for me - I just went left, saw a guy, thought "hey, let's see what happens if I kill him", provoked the angels to appear, tried killing all of them, but ultimately lost and got banished to the underworld...

And only at that point I realised it was all a preplanned sequence. Nice

The game itself is pretty neat, even with the simplistic enemy graphics (I found the orb-shaped enemies a bit weird-looking for the setting, though). I missed two rooms with health upgrades (haven't found a way to get in). The final boss fight was pretty intense... I suppose I wish there was something more of an ending, but it's not a big deal. A pretty solid game overall.

[banov]

Thanks for the kind responses! I've just uploaded a newer post-comp version with a few things fixed and added.

Changelog:
-"Challenge Mode" and GameJolt trophy integration--unlocked by reaching the credits screen. Adds replayability.
-Config menu added so you can edit scaling properties to make it look nice on larger monitors
-Small HUD/interface fixes in areas like the Game Over screen
-Some terrain edits in places that used to be troublesome to platform in

Edited by banov, 10 November 2010 - 09:53 PM.

[skunkchop]

DUDE! You're the guy that made Dubloon! DUBLOON WAS PROBABLY THE BEST GM GAME EVER!
I will totally play this.

EDIT:
Alright, I beat it. Holy crap. I don't know what to say.
From the moment I started, I saw how polished the game felt. I was shocked to see how freakishly well this engine worked with slopes. What happened after the game prompted me to press Z was a hilarious twist. Brilliant.
You pulled a very awesome "Metroid Prime 2," showing me how powerful I could be right from the start, then taking it all away. It gives a great incentive to get it all back.
To think that you made this game in only one month is pretty insane. The Underworld was AWESOME. The boss fight was AWESOME. The exploration was AWESOME. Easy 10/10.

One thing though. How come when I beat the game, it said "CHALLENGE COMPLETE: Win without dying." I'm sure I died several times.

Edited by skunkchop, 13 November 2010 - 03:09 AM.

[banov]

Thanks very much, skunkchop. I've just uploaded a fix for that Challenge bug...

Also, I'd like to announce that Escape from the Underworld is on BYTEJACKER! (click to visit link). Please vote for it under "free indie of the week" if you like it--I'll need all the votes I can get, as the competition is pretty fierce!

Edited by banov, 14 November 2010 - 02:24 AM.

[Super NES 64 DS]

Amazing as always, Banov.

I didn't even realize there was a map until the very end of the game. I guess I didn't realize "C" meant press "C" at first. But by the time I figured it out, I only had one secret room with a power up to find, so I guess that means I did pretty good? It's near the start. You know the one...

Anyway, I ended up 100% it in 48:42. I may try the hard mode later.

Once again, amazing game.

[zanzindorf]

Excellent game. I appreciated the non-verbal communication with the player. I also thought the music was very fitting. Good job

[yalmic]

I didn't really like the ending, it just kinda ended after I beat im.
Something shoulda happened.
The first time I tried it I didn't know Z was attack i thought it was talk
so when I killed him I was really surprised.
Then angels started killing me.
anyhow 7/10

[jon sploder]

Very well made.

[aattss]

When it first showed the attack button, I went like "what does that do?". Then I accidentally used it on a person and went, like, oh well.

[Darkenblade]

fun game, the music also fitted well with the levels

[Altreal_Gaming]

I have not downloaded or played the game yet. The graphics seem simplistic yet retro which to me is a good thing. I look forward to playing and will post afterwards. Or amend this post if no one has posted before my return.

[Dannerz]

Too hard for me. But i love the music.

[fyaopo]

This is an overall great game, with an awesome soundtrack and pleasing aesthetic.

The main problem I had with this game was the difficulty curve. You could so easily accidentally die and get punished by death (sometimes making people put down the game just a few minutes in) and restarting near the beginning of the game, but as you get the colourful shooty sword, everything is amazingly easy. You felt compulsed to find the black health powerups because you needed them to not die, but there should have been just enough health for you at the very start of the game to get hit by a spike and be just almost dead, just so you can learn.

As for the red powerups, I just picked them up to 100% the game . I was a bit disappointed that it just determined how much confetti you could spew, as you didn't need, really, any more than 6 or 7 to win the game and defeat the boss easily.

That being said, I did enjoy the game, quite a lot actually. The intro scene was genius. I loved the exploration and premise, and I played it through to the end in one sitting. Good work, looking forward to Phantasmaburbia.