50 replies to this topic

[ScaryPotato]

Hello, and welcome back to the world of the Adventure Apes! This is a project that I've been working on for years in one form or another, but finally, after many trials and tribulations, have something ready to go...

The Adventure Apes and the Mayan Mystery is a single-player, retro inspired platformer. So if you liked the old Metroid games, chances are you'll like this. It is tricky, but there are save locations scattered throughout the game. The extracted size is about 7mb, and there is a little screen in-game to describe the controls, however, here's the basics:

Controls:

Arrow keys to run, roll, jump, and swim
'A' button to lift and throw small blocks
'S' to shoot your weapon
'D' to lay a bomb
'spacebar' scrolls through/selects your weaponry
'P' to pause/unpause
'Esc' to bring up the quit dialogue

Screenies:





Downloads:

There are several downloads to choose from, the uppermost link being the latest and most complete, but feel free to compare the older version to it. There is also a full version ready to go for $2.99US, and it includes the world famous instruction booklet


Demo Version

YoYo Games Download

Version 5
Version 4
Version 3
Version 2
Version 1

As an alternative, you can try out the QuickPlay feature over at GameJolt if you don't want to download the file directly! Here is the link to the Game Overview Page

There are a bunch of goodies to download on the website as well, so if you're not in any particular hurry, why not take a look around the Adventure Apes page?


If there are any problems or errors that pop up while playing the game, please let me know! Likewise if there's anything that you would want to change/improve

Thanks,
ScaryPotato

Edited by ScaryPotato, 19 September 2012 - 02:10 AM.

[novaz]

hi, the links for the download doesnt work. The screenshots are good

[ScaryPotato]

Oh man, how embarassing...
Thanks for pointing that out novaz, should all be good now!

[ScaryPotato]

Whew! Over a month since the last post....lots has changed in the game after getting some good feedback. The graphics for the blocks have been totally redone, and same goes for the player (I tweaked the colours on him to make it looks like there is a little more form to him), Jumping physics have been altered to make things a bit easier to get around, even the first level has a slightly different layout. So much stuff!
Even though it's still in progress, there is the makings of an introduction to the game when you start a New Game.

Please give the latest version of my game a shot, and if you like it, please checkout the game's facebook page (there is a sneak peek at my next project up there!)

As always, your feedback is much appreciated

[ScaryPotato]

Tweaked a few more things (error messages when you die mainly), made the jumping a little easier still, and made it so the message border spans the width of the screen on all messages. I've also recently made the jump to GM 8.1, and had to update some fonts as it seemed like it only recognizes True Type fonts? Either way, the new fonts used are very similar, and hopefully just as easy to read:)

You can try the latest version of the game here:

Mayan Mystery Download



Also, I made this little trailer thing to quickly show the levels and bosses in the demo version.



Hope you all like it!

[ScaryPotato]

Some more changes have been made, woo hoo!

-The piranhas have been tweaked so they circle around properly after you move out of range

-Screen resolution has been embiggened to be played at 300% rather than 200% in the previous releases.

-I got rid of the doors leaving the boss rooms, simply to make things more challenging.

-The second boss (Arachnomax) now shoots an array of exploding egg-bombs at you!

-Arachnomax's spiderlings now occasionally drop powerups when you shoot 'em.

-The Time and Score HUD elements are gone now. As was pointed out a while back, they really served no purpose.

-A bunch of other things I can't remember, hmm, plants and weeds can no longer be blown up (t looked kind of like a glitch whenever it happened, so it's gone).



If you could try out the latest version of the game and let me know what you think, that would be awesome! Just click on the picture and have fun:)

[novaz]

very good work the intro graphic is very good.
I found also many weapons

[ScaryPotato]

Thanks a lot novaz, the intro part is the main thing holding the game back. I'm finding it tough to finish off those drawings, soon though!

Here is a video teaser for level five, one of the levels that will be ready once the demo is finished off:)

[ScaryPotato]

I've got a big stinky update for the game, here's a few of the updates:

-Intro story/poem illustrations are done!
-Skulls proliferate the Skull Demon temple (level 2)
-Funky reggae music added to Level 1
-When your game is over, you can continue where you last saved
-The view lags slightly behind the player's motion to smooth out sudden movements
-Smoother transitions from room to room
-Probably lots more...but you'll only find out if you play it



Download Link

All the versions are available here

[darthlupi]

I wanted to reply real quick like and tell you that I really enjoyed the graphical presentation in this game!

This is one of more solid platformers that I have seen coming from the Indy scene. The movement is very easy, and difficulty is seems like a nice slope.
More play time would need to be dedicated before I feel I could give a nice full critique.

Keep rocking is my only real advice at this point!

[ScaryPotato]

Wow darthlupi, thank you so much! Your words carry some weight for me considering the time you've put in making games:)


I actually wanted to update this thread and say that the demo version of the game is finished (finally)! Not much changed with the game since the last post, however I did implement a Tips system, where you can get some hints on what you need to do next if you get lost. It's pretty handy if you find the game too difficult!

Anyhow, I put the game up on the YoYo Games page. If you play if there, please rate and/or comment on it:)

YoYo Games Download

But, if you want to get a copy from the website, that option is there for you too, as well as a couple other sites. Check it out!

Website Download Page

Edited by ScaryPotato, 05 May 2012 - 10:27 PM.

[JAk HAk]

About five minutes into the game, I was leaving a shop or lab of some sort and got an error message about not knowing of a variable image_alpha while trying to check for chest.image_alpha<1. I had previously opened the underwater chest to the left of the start and read the note in the first chest to the right of the start.

[ScaryPotato]

JAk HAk, when I saw a new message this morning, that was exciting. When I read the new message this morning, that was depressing! I didn't think it was possible that after all the time I put in playing through the game to iron out any wrinkles that one would slip through...but there it was. ARGH!

Thanks so much for pointing it out though! The code has been changed so you shouldn't get the error message again.

ScaryPotato

[2d_games]

This is a very well made game but I did find one bug. The fish to the left as you start the game got stuck in a wall for me. I don't have a screenshot since I got a game over seeing if I could fix the glitch. This happened after I jumped in the water and had him start chasing me. I ran out of the water and the fish swam towards a wall and stopped. Then he began turning left and right as if he was spasming and wouldn't, or couldn't, chase me at all after that.

But really, it's a fun game.

Edited by 2d_games, 07 May 2012 - 02:12 AM.

[ScaryPotato]

Hi 2d_games! Thanks for pointing that out about the piranha... I'm going to have to give him some code so that if he's within a distance to solid land that he retreats or something, I'll tweak things around and see how it ends up...

In the meantime, he's been replaced by a much slower (and easier to deal with) pinchy-crab.

I'm glad you enjoyed the game, aside from the spasmatic fish

[2d_games]

Are the drop rates on stuff affected by advancing in the game at all? Before the first boss everything dropped so much health and ammo. After I beat the boss and warped to the next area everything became rarer. I dunno if that's just me or what.

EDIT: I got to the second boss but I ran completely out of ammo on everything and couldn't do anything. I could kill the small spiders by touching them but they don't drop enough to replenish me and eventually just kill me over and over. With no way to leave the boss room I cannot win. When I'm completely out of ammo, can I get some use out of my gear? If I can't use any of my equipment, let me fire my weapons at a heavily decreased fire rate to at least give me something to work with. Also, how rare is sawgun ammo? NOTHING drops it for me. Everything drops health, blaster ammo, bombs, but no sawgun ammo.

Edited by 2d_games, 07 May 2012 - 09:24 PM.

[Daddio]

Totally awesome! Fantastic demo!

If somebody asks me, "Hey man, what's better than a monkey with a ray gun?" now I can answer confidently "Not much, my friend. Not much."

[theweirdn8]

"http://www.adventure...ysteryDEMO.zip" from the Complete Demo Version says Not found


So I downloaded version 5 of this demo and I got this lovely error message while going from area to area.:

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event
for object NoKeyMessageObj:

Error in code at line 4:
   if !place_meeting(x,y,LgChestObj) or chest.image_alpha<1
                                              ^
at position 45: Unknown variable image_alpha
___________________________________________

Edited by theweirdn8, 08 May 2012 - 09:02 PM.

[ScaryPotato]

Dang, if it isn't one thing, then it's another! After thinking I had this game pretty much ironed out, you guys go and pick it apart....and because of that, you're helping it become better than I could have ever done on my own. So thank you!


2d_games - The rate at which powerups are dropped doesn't change throughout the game, but the more weapons you acquire, the less likely it will be that you get a specific item. Right now it is set up like this:

If you have one weapon, it's Health/Powerup/Nothing.
If you have two weapons, it's Health/Powerup/Powerup/Nothing/Nothing.
etc etc

Your odds of getting one powerup over the other should remain constant throughout the game. I did add some blocks that you can toss at the first and second bosses in case you do run out of ammo.

Daddio - Thanks so much:) I've worked hard on getting this game finished off, but little things still crop up now and then. I'm glad you like the game so far!

theweirdn8 - The issue with the link not working is fixed. The error you took the shot of is the same that JAh_HAk mentioned in an earlier post, so the latest (working link!) version has it all sorted out. Thanks for giving the game a try:)

[2d_games]

Alright, I'm going to try my hand at this again so I can see what's past the second boss.

If I may make a suggestion though, have you thought of making a particular item drop more common if you're low on it? I know Metroid did that and it was a life saver for the more difficult areas. If you were low on missiles more missiles would drop until you reached a certain amount. This amount varied since you could increase your capacity but it was helpful. Same goes for health. Another idea is increasing the chances of an enemy dropping ammo of a certain kind if you killed it with the corresponding weapon. Killing a bat with a sawgun would yield a higher chance of earning extra sawgun ammo.

Running low on ammo is my only real gripe. I feel I should be able to kill every enemy in every room at least once and still be able to defend myself. In other words, ammo shouldn't be an issue when fighting regular enemies. So I'm just trying to help resolve this.