Netshift is the Web-based successor to Blackshift, an action puzzle game download from Rob Allen (foon.co.uk) the man who brought us the Hapland series and many other excellent titles from the Farcade. Netshift, currently in beta, makes the original game much more accessible, and even includes a level editor with which to create and share levels with the Netshift community.
Control is with the keyboard, use the [arrow] keys to move your little Klingon destroyer around. You will need to push blocks, pick-up keys and items, and find the checker board exit to each level. Press [enter] to pick-up items, and press [space] to fire when in possession of a missile. The game includes a variety of objects that you can interact with: locked doors, guns that fire when stepped over, moving enemies, conveyor belts, and a host of other traps and contraptions that are all left up to your discovery. Figuring out what does what is part of the fun. If you need to restart a level, press [R].
To rate your success at the end of a level, your total time to completion is recorded. You can even watch a replay of your run-through, which makes for another interesting feature: you can watch run-throughs of the best players for each level.
On the front-page level selection screen, you can choose one from the most popular levels, the most recent or try a random level. Some are poorly designed and very challenging, others are smoothly paced and intriguing. This diversity is due to the level editor, which makes it fun and easy to build levels in mere minutes.
Analysis: As a game, Netshift is pretty good but it does suffer from a couple of flaws, such as the ease of death, and the lack of an audio-off button. As a service, however, Netshift is very promising and offers a lot of potential. The level editor is a very good tool, and it's fun to use. The population of content that results will grow and yield some amazing specimens as the game's popularity increases. Also, you can expect the niggling flaws and occasional bug to be worked out when the game sees a final release. There are many games-as-game-creation-services appearing across the Web, some of which we'll be covering in the near future, and Netshift serves as a promising example of this coming new wave.
When you shift your mental image of what Web-games can be, please remember to hold the clutch.
Cheers to Yuval and Tomhd for sending this one in! =)
Great find! I finished Blackshift and looking forward to checking out the levels.
Restart is the 'r' key btw...
I hope the people who are rating this game low are not rating the one or two levels you tried since the game engine is solid and offers a wide variety of elements that make some excellent levels possible.
Just because you tried a level that wasn't very good doesn't make the game a bad one.
In other words, please refrain from rating the game based on the user-created content alone. If you don't find a level you like, try creating one instead, and include the URL to it here for others to try.
Would it have killed him to write a manual explaining what everything does?
Just like Blackshift and as mentioned in the review, I think part of the fun is experimenting with the various objects...
I do know the lack of one is by design: he wishes the game to be a voyage of discovery.
The game is still in beta, perhaps Rob will come around and create a help screen for those who need one.
The game does seem to have a few problems. Most notably, at least for me, it tends to freeze pretty often, which makes it harder to enjoy.
Otherwise, it's a great concept with lots of things to discover about the game.
Ok, there was a game just like this, before blackshift that I used to play on an old iMac I think. It was downloadable, and had lots of obstacles and pickups and stuff, and there were also green blobs...I think, that spread like fire around the level too. If anyone remembers what it was called, let me know. It was so much fun back then! And it was electronic-ey themed I think.
I made a level, number 103 (here's a link for ya to try it out: http://www.foon.co.uk/farcade/netshift/play/103).
But for some reason I can't get any credit for it. I even sent Rob Allen an e-mail, since I really worked hard on this one, and it even turned out really difficult, but he hasn't replied yet.
Rob, If you're reading this, please fix this bug! I can't get credit for anything I do in netshift!
Reminds me of Chip's Challenge, but that's a good thing.
Mordecai,
It sounds to me like you are thinking of S.C.OUT by Kalisto Entertainment. When I was playing this game, I thought of that one as well.
Unfortunately, the only references I can find that show any screenshots are "abandonware" sites, which I suspect would violate forum rules.
I like this - very much.
But I am old and boring enough to wish that Rob had created a basic number of levels which people had to conplete before they were let loose on the level editors.
Some folk who have launched into making their own levels have gone for the totally OTT route making levels which are all oooomph and no substance - or skill. After having a go at one level which seemed to involve me moving my little Klingon aimlessly round a huge level for no apparent reason I gave up.
And as I am old and boring, I also found that on what were obviously carefully constructed levels, the fact that I had to figure out what does what ended up being annoying and frustrating rather than making me what to carry on - and on.
It is interesting to see how many views some levels have compared to how many have actually completed them. Food for thought!
I hope I don't sound too negative about the game, as I said, I love it - this type of game is the sort I really enjoy.
I hope Rob sorts his beta out and gets betta ;)
I ran into the same bug as Yuval. I can create levels, but the game doesn't link them to my account, so I can't come back to a level and edit it later. If Rob gets that sorted out, I'll take another look at this one. Seems like it could be really fun, once the rating system starts sorting the good levels to the top. Rob's own levels are great, both for learning what the objects do, and in terms of fun.
Excellent game. Frozenfloes - it reminds me of Mr Chips too - which I loved (as my RSI will attest).
Any chance of a Forum? I am stuck on "The Final Thursday" and would really appreciate some help.
A lot of the value does depend on the quality of the levels, so how about a star rating and a list of all the levels with their ranking? As others have said , some of the levels seem repetitive, but horses for course - maybe some people enjoy them.
For The Final Thursday:
Hints:
Figure out what the objects on the floor do.
One step requires a bit of speed on your part.
You have to redirect a shot from the golden cannon on the top left area.
Solution:
Go up to the top left area where the moving jellies are. Take the item (bomb) at the bottom of the area and go to the top right area.
Place the bomb next to the blinking thing that's in your way and step on the gold cannon. Push the brown block to uncover an item (paddle). Take it and place it so that a shot from the cannon will bounce and hit the little red square.
Take the paddle and go to the top left area again. This is the trickiest part. Place the paddle three squares above the gold cannon. Then fire the cannon and move so that you are next to the cannon but out of the line of fire. Wait until the ball just hits the paddle and starts to go right, then grab the paddle quickly and place it on the left side of the wall so that the ball will bounce downward and hit one of the two jellies down there.
Go back to the starting area and go left. Now you can safely grab the key. Do so and unlock the missile. Watch which way they face; this is the direction it will fire when you press the spacebar no matter which way you are facing at the time. Once you unlock the missile that faces right, shoot the bombs and go to the exit.
Seems to of stopped working? It loads really really slowly now. Is this just my computer or is it like this for everyone?
I've tried to load the game several times over the last few days with no success. Too bad - looks like it could be fun
Give Rob a day or two to get things sorted. I'm sure the server troubles are just temporary.
I wish there was a way of 'bumping' this up!
The game's playing well now - and there are some good levels being posted.
Has anyone solved Gnomadic Homages by MANAX? It's driving me nuts! I'm having trouble with the 'south' area. Going in one way I die, going in the other I get stuck. Any hints?!
Sorry Peter, that level's beyond me.
MANAX seems particularly good at posting hard levels! Hopefully he/she will read this and give some hints and/or a walkthrough.
Peter - I'm with you on the "Homage". I've done the other directions, but I'm stuck at the bottom of
the SOUTH area, with the four blocks in a checkerboard pattern. I know I need the LEFT-facing missile from the EAST area, but I can't figure out how to get it
.
"1 people" have finished the level. I've convinced it's MANAX himself/herself. My ego's wanting to be one of the first to finish it.
Here's where I'm at on the south area in Gnomadic Homages:
I have one bomb available that I picked up in the west area. I'm thinking that I need to use it to blow up a couple of the checkerboard blocks, but I don't have a missile. There's a conveyor belt that moves from the north area around to the south, but you can't go through without getting shot by the guns in the south area. I tried pushing a block through, but it gets stuck partway along the belt.
Help!
Re: Homages:
I think you need to place the movable land mine from the WEST area among the checkboard blocks, and then shoot it with the LEFT-facing missile from the EAST area. I've tried many permutations in the EAST area, but all the ways I've tried leave me either without a DOWN-facing missile or with the LEFT-facing missile stuck between the green "gates".
are you any farther along Peter?
George, Peter, would either of you tell me how you've got so far with Homages?
I've been going top left (clearing the red ball) then bringing a block down to go middle right (ending up with a key), then going middle left and get stuck with how to clear the purple ball.
I'd appreciate any help - I've got a bit addicted to this game!
Tee Hee! Talk about 'post & solve'!!
Have now managed to clear the purple and bring the block back from middle right and go up to top right.
Am now stuck at the 'how do you stop being killed at the end of the long conveyor belt ride to the bottom left'.
I (think) I have a down facing missile - unfortunately the game's jammed up on me.
Joolz:
I just tried to write a really long walkthrough, and it failed on me. Looks like you've gotten along pretty well, though. DO NOT TAKE THE LONG CONVEYOR BELT.
go to the WEST and up into the field that was blocked by the blue bubble. move the legos out of the way and get the key. Then head SOUTH. once you've unlocked and destroyed the 2 green bumpers, you're in the same boat as Peter and me.
if you get any farther, let me know.
Thanks George!
Slight hitch, have unlocked but how do I destroy the two green bumpers? I have a bomb and a down missile...........have I missed something??
Joolz:
you get a missle after going through the firing squad at the top of the North area. you also get one in the West area after finishing the crazy bottom field. I made the mistake of using that one to work the toggle gun in the East area, but once you've unlocked the West area, you can always go back to it and work THOSE toggle guns to avoid getting trapped again in the East.
that leaves you with the bomb/landmine. It has to be for destroying the blocks below and to the left of the bumpers, but
after that I'm stumped.
Who is this MANAX and why won't he/she help?
Thanks George, I've caught you up now - am left with a lone bomb and no means of blowing it up :)
I think someone is going to have to email Rob and beg him to give the mysterious MANAX a prod to put us out of our misery!
I think I'll have another go at this tomorrow, a clear head may make a difference.........
Hello to all of my adoring fans. It is I, MANAX. When I made the level Gnomadic Homages, I knew it would be incredibly hard level, but I thought that it would just pass by seeing as no one has beat it and no one would really care. But what a suprise it was when Jay Bibby had emailed me to alert me as to the stirrings I have caused in your feeble minds. I am commenting now to tell you that I am very glad that you enjoy and are interested in the level, as opposed to just getting frustrated and moving on, and I will post a walkthrough. Also, if you really do care about this level and want other people to know about it, please register on the site and bookmark it. Last time I checked (like 3 days ago) it only had one bookmark. I would post the walkthrough tonight, but I don't feel like it. Also, my birthday is tomorrow (April 25th) so I won't do it until the evening. But then, I will post a walkthrough for you. Until then I leave you with one vital hint. The directional cube you encounter on the first part of the top room is your companion cube. It will be vital in succeeding many parts of the level later on. Keep it up to the last second, because that is when you will need it most. I really appreciate your interest and recognition, and hope you will hold on a while longer before I make a walkthrough. Since I now realize that people actually do enjoy long, difficult levels, I will be more than happy to make more soon. THXLOLOL! -MANAX
A FORUM!
Hey, everyone. I have been thinking about making a forum for Netshift for a while now, but was unsure as to wether people would find much use for it. The general idea was to provide a place for NetShift users to get together and discuss and share levels, but I had feared that most users would rather just play through random levels anonymously and not care as much as to focus on specific levels and wish to talk about them. However, this has obviously proved the contrary, and so I have decided to finish and release the forum.
Note: I JUST made it, so it may be a little glitchy and bare, but within a few days, I will be able to get back to it and make it a little more professional so that it operates more smoothly and looks better. Also, remember that this is not the officcial forum, as one does not exist, and Robin Allen is in no way associated with, or even currantly aware of the forum.
To access the forum, click my name, or the link below.
http://tehnetshiftforumthing.muux.org/index.php
Thanks, and please give it a try.
at last, word from MANAX. I get the hint, although I'm pretty sure in a previous attempt I tried sending it down a conveyor belt and getting stuck. I think the same thing happened to Peter. I don't know if it was a bug that has since been resolved, because I just tried it and it worked. So I see what has to happen, but I'm stumped on
trying to get the LEFT-facing missile from the EAST area. I'm convinced I need that missile to detonate the landmine (from the WEST area) that I've placed among the four directional blocks at the bottom of the SOUTH area. Once a few of those are out of my way, I can push the original directional block (cousin of "boy and his cube"?) down the final conveyor belt and avoid the detonators at the end.
Am I on the right track?
Thanks for the ultra-tough levels, MANAX. I've enjoyed all your levels and, yes, I have logged on to show that.
George: Great work on getting this far. (I have insomnia.) You do need a left facing missile from the right side, but perhaps not the one you have your eyes on. Look around and make sure you've checked everything. As for the conveyor belt not transporting the cube, this was apparantly because after I had done the final edit, in which I simply fixed that problem (before winning the one recorded time), it had reverted to before the save. I noticed that before I found out anybody cared and didn't get back to it, but it ended up fixing itself again without me having to do anything, as I noticed upon looking back at my level.
Hurrah! I have finally solved the beguiling Gnomadic Homages, so I have the distinction of being #2 after Manax himself. Yes, the problem was apparently a bug, or actually, two bugs. George, you're right in that you can now suddenly move a block all the way down the N-S conveyor belt, and that's key. And your questions show you're dead on the right track to solving the level. But
there's now another change as well. A new object has been added in the east area, one which you already know you need.
Yippeee! I've completed it as well - amazing what an extra missile and fixing a glitch can do for a game ;)
Thanks Manax, and Happy Birthday.
PS Thanks Jay for emailing Manax.
ok. that extra missile is HUGE. now the question is, did MANAX add that because we were too feeble to figure out how to get the other one, or was it really impossible before? I'll choose to think it was the latter.
Thanks for the help Joolz, Peter, Jay and MANAX!
TIME FOR THE WALKTHROUGH.
In this walkthrough, I will explain the basis of the steps that you have to take, but I will not tell you how to solve the mini puzzles in each wing. I have to leave SOMEthing for you to think over, after all.
NORTH:
Here your goal is to take out the red orb blocks, and to move the companion cube to east.
EAST:
This time, you must go through the upper part of the wing in order to get a key which will allow you access to west.
WEST:
Solve the small puzzle allowing you to take out the green and purple orb blocks, and retrieve the down facing rocket (which I reccomend you deposit at the south entrance for now.
RETURN TO EAST:
Now you must recover and deposit a left rocket, and move your cube friend to the main intersection.
RETURN TO NORTH:
Take your cube up to the north section and deposit it into the N-S coveyor belt. Continue through the few traps to get the blue orb blocks destroyed and take the rocket on your return to the south to deposit the rocket. (Tip, if you don't want the annoying sound and lag that comes from the mass cannon shots, just hit the orange toggle trigger on your way out.)
RETURN TO WEST:
Retrieve the bomb and the key from the upper half of the level. The sticky blocks are there mainly for your amusement.
SOUTH:
Use all of your work (taking out the red, green, purple, and blue orbs, getting the key, the two down rockets, the bomb, and the left rocket) to solve this small puzzle, then use your cube (which should have been taken there by the N-S coveyor belt) and a little quick wit to survive the tour and win the level.
And there you have it. You have now beat Gnomadic Homages (unless you suck or something) and are a better person all-around for being able to do so. If I somehow left anything out, only slightly hesitate to correct me, and also...
Watch out for Gnomadic Homages 2!
These are my levels. Most of them are challenging. to play them go here:
http://foon.co.uk/farcade/netshift/players/Yow
ahhh - I just cleared the blue circles and my computer froze. Got to start over.
OK - I Got to the very end(?) and I'm stumped. I blew up the two fixed green bumpers with my down missiles and blew up the checkerboard with my left missile and bomb. I pushed the box down the conveyor, but the "quick wit" at the end eludes me.
Also, I have the angled bouncy bumpers (from the west area) that I worked hard to get, but I don't think I ever used them.
Hints on finishing? - someone please.
Bobandyo - Sounds like you're right there at the end. You don't need to use those angled bumpers at all. If you follow the conveyor leaving the south area, you'll notice that's where the finish of the level is. You'll also die, because you need to find a way to keep from sliding into the red griller thing. How can you do that?
Check the spoiler if you can't figure it out.
That's where the box comes in handy. Push the box along the conveyor, and follow it yourself. You'll come to a little "rest area" right before the checkerboard exit. Push the box and immediately follow it, as close as you can. As it's burning up in the red griller, use your "quick wit" to veer off into the exit area.
Hats off also to Wurlyearly for some really creative and challenging levels.
Hey all. I decided to make a level. tried to emulate MANAX, rob, and Wurlyearly in terms of difficulty/strategy. I welcome comments.
thanks
http://foon.co.uk/farcade/netshift/play/1568
@MANAX
portal reference.... awesome!!!
Why is it that I can beat all of the puzzles, yet always end up with one down rocket too few in Gnomadic Homages?
AAAGHHH! What's happened to Netshift? It says "Foon may return, in some form, semi-soon." I really don't like the sound of that "may".
I hope that it comes back soon. I came on here to see if anyone knew what happened to the site. I was in the middle of making a really hard level as well. Was working on it the last three days :(. And now the site is down. If anyone knows what's happened to it please leave a comment here?
Thanks, Wurly
Netshift (and everything else Foon) will return. Please be patient.
Thanks for that Jay. I was also missing my daily dose of netshift!
Thanks Jay :)
It's back!!
Lunch's levels are hard & fun, any hints on "HOLY LUNCH!!!"?
Update from the site: Rob will be removing the beta version of NetShift, and after a short break, will be posting the finished NetShift games. Besides the user levels, there will also be a standard set of levels, with more Blackshift stuff involved.
I've downloaded Blackshift, definitly worth it! But I'm stuck in level 90, any help? Thanks!
Oh, hey. I am still alive, but I do not play Netshift any more at all because I had completed Gnomadic Homages 2 after several hours of work and it a splode. It seems that Rob has fixed these sort of glitches by now, but I probably will not go back to it anyway. However, upon checking it out recently for old time's sake and all, I noticed that the recordings of people beating the levels were fixed, so I decided to put a Gnomadic Homages one on my terrible youtube account. Not that anyone cares any more, of course, but here it is just in case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyymhmtGAY8
Hi i need on LUNCH's "Lunches Anonymous". In the lower section, i always end up 1 brown block short. Any tips?
hey George (or Potatoface) love the level keep up the good work!
My dear friends,
Once again Netshift disappeared, hopely to be fixed, and maybe maybe we can donload it like blackshift.
I was developing a new level, and I do miss the fun. Does anybody knows anything???
Be well Domna
Hell0!
Unfortunally netshift dissapeard - can someone tell me why and if it might does come back?
[Edit: As we are an english speaking page, I had to translate your posting. Thanks for understanding ~ Kayleigh]
I aggree with Domna, I am still missing the game. One of my best levels with the longest creating time, most work and most improvements was almost finished.
I keep hoping the game for come back.
Wunk
It doesn't seem the game is coming back :(
Update