Bug Bug in Sky Tower
Imagine the wandering ball of Within A Deep Forest encased in metal and set loose in your browser, and tell me you don't want to get into that Sky Tower. Bug Bug is the latest game to be released from Aqui Griffin's studio, a re-release of a game entered into our "ball physics" game competition in October with crucial improvements.
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This game is awesome. It is very reminiscent of Metroid, in both the interfaces, and the overall feel of the game. If Samus was in ball form indefinitely, this would undoubtedly be the result.
The only thing I can criticize so far is the music loop. It fits the game nicely, but it's a little short and gets a little repetitive to me :(. Other than that, great entry, great game!
Sorry for the double post, but scratch the sound problem! It changes between scenes. Next time I'll give some more time in my review! Great game so far, kudos!
I'm a little confused, but it's still fun! Very polished as well.
I agree about the music. Wasn't my best work as far as I'm concerned. I'm looking into getting a music person to help me revamp this one and help with future projects. Thanks for the input.
Maybe I'm missing a key that I can use, but I can't seem to get anywhere...nothing is opening up, at least that is what I think that the red buttons are doors...
If you can't get past any of the doors:
once you first teleport to the upper level with the moving platform, there is a hard to see door to your right. Just roll to the right
its fun, but itd be a heck of a lot easier if the ball didnt bounce off walls so much.
i'm stuck at the room with the 1 2 3 4 buttons. did i miss a clue as to the combo?
There's a big laser and a door blocked by some rocks, you need to get the laser aligned so it shoots the rocks. Might be
5
but I don't know I haven't gotten back to the laser just yet.
I don't mind the music too much, it changes in various areas and it fits the game.
The extreme rebound off the walls can get pretty frustrating but then I realized you can use that to your advantage to build up speed for certain jumps.
The room with the 1 2 3 4 Buttons:
You need a total of 5. So hit 2 and 3 or 1 and 4. Then leave, you activate the laser it controls elsewhere
@bob:
I've already tried
brute-forcing every possible four-digit combo with no discernible effect (other than making that wheel turn). So either I'm missing something as well, such as discovering the code before it will work, or else the code is less than 4 inputs.
The "Code" room
It's not a combination lock. The buttons move the red pointer which represents the direction a laser on another screen will fire to break some rocks
In the room to the right of the first teleporter, with the three moving platforms, I can't climb up because when I land on the second platform, my ball just vibrates and I can't jump, so I'm stuck.
@bob - The power of posting:
In the room where you get the red key, there's an exit to the bottom left that I missed before. Follow that route, and you'll find a familiar sight and the next step becomes obvious.
The 8 Colored Dot/Shifting Red Button
Took m e a few tries to get through, unfortunately I don't remember the entire sequence, but I know I started with the single green dot on the right (2nd up), then I'm pretty sure the yellow and green on the right one was next (at the top). Just play around with this one, you'll figure it out.
Secret Door:
In the room right before the code room, where you pass the moving lasers and jump a gap. When you have the heavy ball, look in the upper right hand corner, by the first button. See the crack walls? Break those. Profit!
Yeah, I have gone to the right...I am still getting no where...
I've gone all the way up to where you get the third piece of whatever you are supposed to be collecting, and then I can't go any further. The only place that I can think to go is the red doors, but they don't open. I'm getting kind of frustrated because I'm not seeing any other doors, and I can't jump high enough to get to the only non-red door place...
Besides my inept game playing, I do like this game. I agree with the loop music. Even when it does change, it still repetitive. Sometimes I feel that the ball is a bit heavy to be bounced off wall that fast. It is smooth, though. I find that the shift from room to room a bit disjointing compared with the rest of hte smoothness, but it is a style...
Pinky, you've found the door to the right of the teleporter sound like, keep an eye out for paths to the side that just like castle, they kind of blend in. Keep exploring, it's there.
Heavy Ball Downward Smash - Hold Space and Jump
Light Ball can:
bounce off the drifting clouds when the up key is held
When I get to the room with three moving platforms, I can use the bottom one just fine, but once I've jumped onto the middle one I am unable to jump any further, for no apparent reason. This appears to be a completely show-stopping bug...
The only piece I have left is the topmost "inside" one. I can see all those structures up there, I just can't seem to get to them... and I'm fairly certain I've taken all teleporters I've seen.
I'm sticking with it though since I like these "metroid-ish" type games, though yeah, the bouncing off walls seems way to much, which leads to frustration -- which the unforgiving puzzles don't help.
I won, but with only 78% of the robot parts. And I thought I was pretty thorough.
All in all, this game was a blast. My favorite so far in the Ball phyics competetion. Fun phyics, challenging puzzles (but not TOO difficult), hidden things (now I'll need to replay it to find them all). All in all, an excellent game. Props to Aqui Griffin
Those last pieces were tricky, one thing I can say: Use the map. It helps.
When I got to the screen with the least piece however the music got all loud and scratchy. Not sure if it was supposed to do that or not, whatever.
My one complaint, getting 100% gives you a pretty bland winning screen. No credits, making of, extra features, bonus stuff, etc. While it's not mandatory it can be nice. Plus unlocking bonus content inside the game ups it's replayability value. Still a fun game though.
I seem to be the only one who has found this a bit irritating.
On some screens you can move left/right to the next screen, yet on others it kills you. Ditto with moving down screens. Usually you can't, but sometimes you can, and it's not always obvious why/that you can without trial and error, which I'm afraid I'm finding a bit of an irritation.
I'm baffled by the
room with the lightning-bolt platforms, below the (very nice) autumn tree. It looks like I should be trying to land in the lightning-bolt "sconces" opposite the platforms, but when I do I just pass right through. The platforms do nothing.
The trouble with the wall bounces is that you depart the wall with more momentum than you hit it. It's like the walls have repulsor fields or something - even a tiny bump is enough to kick your sphere backward. Since there's no bounce at all when you land on the floor, it feels very unnatural.
Jay i am having a problem. my earthlink internet access whenever i click on the links says the page does not exist. I am using firefox and internet explorer is bugged out. Somebody help
Never mind about my bafflement - I needed to go somewhere else first.
The one part I am missing is supposed to be in the exact middle segment of the map, inside. But it doesn't seem to be there.
Little bug, doesn't affect gameplay: If you hold spacebar and the up arrow while the heavy ball, you will get stuck in midair until you let go.
Oh and any advice of what to do after you get the heavy ball?
After the lightning bolt platform, There is a long jump that can't be made by the regular ball to get into the thin chute on the left side. The heavy ball can't break through the top of the area. Can't get back through the lightning platform area. Basically stuck with nowhere to go.
Indigo Ferret:
The regular ball can make it there. :)
fantastic game. my favorite so far. i'm still searching for the dang left hip.
thank you jay very much
finally finished it at 67%
Great game, although the ball reacted to walls a little violently... I had a lot of trouble when it came to going from little velocity to high velocity from a bounce off a wall. Other than that, excellent work!
Indigo Ferret:
I got into the thin chute using the heavy ball. It has a power the normal ball doesn't.
Pachuco:
That's not a bug. That's how you do a down smash.
TurnBull,
as for the bland ending... sorry. I find I take on projects a little bigger than one person can handle. You should see the first version... in my opinion a much better concept, but Flash sucks at handling rotations. Anyways, if there are any programmers out there in the Seattle area, hit me up so we can collaborate.
100% woo!
now if only I had the patience to make a walkthrough....
how do you win this game?
I got so far the three balls (normal, light and heavy) and every piece but one: eigth floor in the middle, inside the tower; it's the heart or something.
The way to reach the upper part of the tower (the 2001-like flying strusture) seems to be bouncing up the clouds, but i never get the right clouds to make that possible... any hint?
it looks pretty cool, but I can't seem to get anything done, not sure what I am missing here. I'm stil stuck with the normal ball and I've tried getting at the red key but the lasers switch quickly
i really liked this game a lot. It also reminded me a lot of metroid.
the only fault in this game in my opinion is the "selective physics". It was like a strange hybrid between a physics game and a platformer (ie. Mario). What I mean by this is that the ball interacts with floors in the same way that Mario would, but upon taking flight, or contacting a wall, the ball physics kick in. It is strange being able to bounce off a wall and then stick to the floor.
I would have felt more comfortable as a player if the ball bounced off the floor, or if the recoil from hitting walls was lessened to some degree. I felt like I was at the mercy of the physics in this game as opposed to learning skills to cope with and/or take advantage of the physics.
However, I loved the puzzles. I loved the world. I hope you continue to develop this idea.
Bug:
After the room with the electricity, going back past the door (without going in) leads you to a pitch-black room. Coming back from there makes the door disappear.
w00t! Just finished with 100%
First, Nextorniquete:
You're right, you get there by jumping on the clouds. I did it with the first cloud that is right above you after you respawn in the room.
If you roll to the left a little and then jump into the cloud, you'll be able to do two more jumps (for three altogether) and get up there with some good timing.
Secondly, there were two pretty tricky hidden items. Props to Aqui for the clever design. But... if anyone else is stuck on these two, here's how you get em:
After you get the double-jump power, go through the teleporter at the root of the pretty tree, back upstairs. Then come through the teleporter again, so that you can go to the right side of the teleporter.
You have to hop off the right side of the screen, immediately hold left, and then time your double jump just right to get to the secret platform on the bottom.
And, spoiler #2
Someone said this above, but it was the hardest one in the game for me to find, so i'm reposting:
in the room immediately before the Four Numbered Buttons, there is a wall with a crack in it. Look closely.
Overall, a pretty good game. Metroid inspiration in a tiny package. Nice and polished.
I would have appreciated an ending or something
I appreciated that there were a few different music snippets, too.
There were, however, some glitches:
Sometimes, when you go from a "boss" room (like the one with the Four Electricity Platforms, or the one with all the colored buttons) and then back to a regular room too quickly, the music get stuck on the wrong track and then the Mute button stops working.
The extreme bouncing of the ball seemed a bit unnecessary, except to add difficulty.
I'm stuck at the part with the T like platform I only have 1 power(normal) And its near the beginning,
thanks for the feedback guys/gals. One of the best things in the world is sitting back and seeing how people respond to your creations. Right about the physics though, the accelerated wall hit is something I overlooked while programming. Seems you get used to playing with it like that after too many hours of coding. It's funny how one number/var can change everything.
Very nicely conceived game. The graphics are decent and I like the main character. Structuring the whole game around a tower, with the inside/outside mechanic, really holds the whole thing together well. Plus I automatically love exploratory platform games, so you get major points from me already, just for daring to make one.
There's a lot of stuff interfering with my enjoyment here, though. The jumping is totally broken, since holding down the space bar causes the robot to jump repeatedly. But I have to hold the space bar to jump high, so I end up jumping without wanting to all the time. Once I get the double jump, it's almost impossible to control well, so a couple of jumps near the end are ridiculously difficult. One press of the space bar should equal one jump. No exceptions.
My field of vision is way too small for the way a lot of the rooms are set up. Most rooms are set up in a very vertical way, where I have to fall off of a platform onto one far below, and because the play area is oriented horizontally, I can never see whether there's a platform down there or just a death fall. I like the control panel a lot, but it should have been on the side, rather than the bottom, so the play screen could have matched the vertical room design.
I also feel like there's too many jumps that require exact timing. It's really frustrating to make a jump 99% correctly and then still fall to my death. There should be some leeway.
And as others have mentioned, the physics seem arbitrary and punishing sometimes, especially on the wall rebounds.
And I have a bunch of stuff to say about the way the puzzles are structured, but we're getting into very nit-picky territory there. If you want my nitpicks, let me know. There's a lot of good puzzles, but the difficulty curve is like a seismograph when Godzilla pays a visit.
Anyway, I don't want to sound too negative. This game wants to be really great, and it's only the little details that are holding it back. I love this kind of game so much, I want it to be perfect, and I hope you make the effort to grind out the rough patches.
Does anyone have a hint for...
the room in the basement with the lightning-bolt platform things? Someone mentioned going somewhere else first, but where? Seems like I've been everywhere I can physically go to this point. I must be missing something obvious....
Thanks
Very fun concept, with excellent graphics & physics. It is very reminiscent of Metroid :D
I have two major complaints, though:
- I feel like I'm spending all of my time waiting for poorly-timed, slow-moving platforms.
- It is sometimes hard to distinguish where exactly a wall is, with little contrast between the foreground and the background. This is especially annoying when I bounce off the wall and wind up falling back to where I had just painstakingly climbed up from (see: slow moving platforms)
I really want to keep exploring the world, but my patience is running when a simple room/puzzle takes so long to do.
lightning platforms:
There's a button (and others will appear) in a place where you may not be expecting them; look for the red. I accidentally jumped into the first one before I noticed it.
Fun game, but I'm afraid I just gave up after trying for a long time (like 20 minutes) just to get the jump in the clouds...I even feel like I might have been missing something about the mechanics of it:
Re: Andy's suggestion, this is what I was trying to do, but I just could never manage to get the third jump going at the correct angle. I tried various different timings but basically it seemed like whenever I do the second jump in the thin part of the cloud, I just can't do a third jump at all. Anyone have any more suggestions?
can anybody help me out here? I seem to have explored a few rooms but gotten nowhere and I hven't found any robot pieces or the special abilities.
Also, some background story would be cool.
I think what bigorangedot was asking about was
how to move the lightning platforms in the room with the lasers. Use the "Heavy Ball" to charge up (notice the electricity) and move at the right moment to get through the lasers.
re clouds
The way I did it was waiting for the 3rd? or 4th? cloud. I could never make the first one, so I waited for a better one. I double jumped up into it and then double jumped again off of it and it ended up being really easy.
So I guess I'm the only person for whom this game will not load. When I click play it goes to the loading screen and just sits there at 0 of however many kb. Nada. Trying to return to the interface doesn't even work.
Hmm, sounds like you might have a partial or corrupted file in your cache. Try emptying your cache and reload?
For lightning platforms
stand on them with heavy charge up and release space. The platform will move forward.
Another thing that was really good about this game was that if you died on a stage, you came back ~instantly~.
If there had been another second of delay in respawning, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed myself enough to keep playing. Keeping you waiting to come back to life is a sin that a lot of games are guilty of.
This was my favorite game so far. It seemed very polished, and it was enough fun to play that I stuck around and got all the way through even though I got stuck a couple of times. Definitely reminded me of Metroid, but there's nothing wrong with that.
The only bug I found was that the music would sometimes get really loud scratchy sounding and then it wouldn't respond to the sound on/off toggle. Overall, really nice job.
so i finally got through the lightning platforms... where to next?? i only have two types of balls, normal and heavy??
nevermind........
I found one glitch which happened once..after traveling out of a room with the light ball I ended up in a completely black room, it was weird. I died a few times falling then managed to get back through the invisible door and everything was fine after that.
I very much enjoyed this game, even though it is punishingly difficult and I had to stop out of frustration at many points. Finally beat it, but I'm missing one piece:
According to the map, it's in the room with the tree. I can see something in the branches, but I can't seem to jump up there because of the invisible walls in the branches. I've tried jumping with air ball all over. I've tried ramming the tree with the heavy ball.
Any help?
gladysJ:
You are going about it the wrong way. There is another path to the piece, originating from another room.
Ha. I can't believe that after all the ridiculously difficult portions of the game, THAT was the one I got stuck on. :P Thanks Psychotronic.
Jay: Thanks, that seemed to work.
Unfortunately, I just don't have the patience that this game apparently requires. I usually like platformers, but the controls feel a little weird, I have no idea what I'm doing, and for some reason you die when you fall off a screen (even if you just came from the screen below and there were landable platforms).
It looks nice, and would probably reward a more patient player, but that's not me today.
(Plus the music is driving me insane. I wish there was an option to turn just the music off and not all of the sound.)
Kniggit: that did the trick. I think what I was missing was
that you can jump a lot further if you are rolling when you start; I had only tried to make the cloud you suggested from a standstill. It was actually relatively easy when moving.
I also had the bug with the audio; it was like the volume level kept increasing linearly, causing the amount of digital clipping to increase as well. For a while it was like the game had gone kind of metal but eventually it was just digital noise and I had to take off my headphones. I tried quitting and continuing but the bug came back immediately (though the volume level started normal). I think it was first triggered somewhere in the last area, but I can't remember exactly where.
Very fun game! Would be cool to have something extra happen if you win with 100%.
I really love a good platformer but I have to be honest I'm finding this really rather frustrating and I feel that I've missed something about either the controls or keys in that I've picked up a few things but can't seem to 'activate' them. I know that as soon as I post this I'm going to find out how and be suitably embarrassed.
I agree with the bouncing off walls comment.
It's a terrifically well put together game besides that and I guess it's testament to how much is in the game that I'm pig-headedly trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong rather than giving up.
Well done Aqui!
(and great design and sound too)
Any help finding the torso/stomach of the robot. It's the only piece I'm missing. There's a few "doors" that I see that I can't figure out how to access, so I figure it's in one of those locations. Thanks!
can anybody help? I can't seem to get to the red key since the laser barrier turns back on quickly and I haven't opened any doors yet.
I seem to be the only one posting that is stuck without solving any of the puzzles.
I also have not discovered any of the special balls. I did discover
the laser that someone mentioned was suppoused to unblock a passageway.
, the room with that red key (at least I think it's a red key), gotten to the room where those small platforms crumble on you (I suspect that I need the light ball for these), but I can't get anywhere else.
I did notice what looked like a blocked off hole on the room with the crumbling platforms,but can't get past it yet
Am I missing something? I can't seem to find the light ball! I have found a bunch of other objects including heavy ball, but I have no idea where to look for the light ball.
Ok, so I'm nearly there and it's been a really enjoyable experience despite the slightly awkward controls.
I just can't get to the shoulder pad, column 'A' third from the bottom on the blue/green map... aaargh!!!
desperately trying to crack the ceiling bit (which was the same 'dark room' that I also encountered posted by Sal above)
jimlefevre
You can't crack bricks from below. The path you are looking for starts at the roots of the tree.
I can't seem to find any of the other balls, the only robot part I've gotten or seen is the 'waist' which is avalable right at the start.
I have no clue what to do from here.
for the ball physics competition this entry should fail. i hate how the physics change randomly. some times the ball will hit a wall and bounce like a super ball. some times it won't bounce at all. i have yet to discover any rhyme or reason to when it is super ball vs when it bounces like a pillow.
Woohoo finally completed it with 100%!
Yes, that super bounce off the wall leads to really frustrating gameplay, but apart from that, I'd say the game is well-made :) One of my favourite entries, definitely.
yea, apparently some people like this kind of puzzle game and have succeeded, but for some reason I am going nowhere and am simply stuck with no idea what to do.
Oooo, this game's a keeper. :)
can anybody help me out here with this? I relly want to try the rest of this game but just can't progress.
I was kinda harsh in my earlier comment. this game is SOOOOOOOO close to being the best game I have played in years. unfortunately the clunky gameplay ruins it. i think the most frustrating thing about the game is that it is so good that it becomes even more annoying that you can miss something by 1 pixel and have to start the screen over. the fact that there is zero margin for error in some areas makes it too frustrating. there is no reason why some screens should be so hard that it takes 45+ minutes to finish. if it was a logic puzzle that takes that long to finish, fine. but taking that long to train yourself to jump at exactly the right pixel because if you are off by 1 you die just is not right.
OK OK... I've already started fixing bugs for a much improved version of this game. The feedback is much appreciated.
Sidd Finch:
where exactly is the hitTest failing? I designed the game with a hidden layer of simple geometry due to the detailed graphics, so it should be easy to fix.
To Everyone:
There is a lot I wanted in this game, but didn't have time to add, so hopefully if you're not tired of it already you'll be able to enjoy again... bug free and suped up.
Thanks for everything!
aqui...
For the most part, I enjoyed the game, until...
I had to go through the map that has 3 beams and several lighting bolt platforms, where you have to jump around a lot at exactly the right time or else you will fall or get zapped. I never could solve this section of the map and trying to solve it almost took as long as playing the rest of the game, which is extremely, extremely frustrating.
Also, I just wanted to note that your update added a new bug. The first sky level no longer works. I actually found your first version to be pretty bug free (where can I find that version? :) ). The only major issue I had was a major sound problem towards the latter part of the game where it became very loud and scratchy.
psychotronic - you star!!! I'm sure that given another couple of weeks I would have finally found it!!
100 per cent! How satisfying. Well done again Aqui!
some help in figuring out what the heck I need to do here could help. Unless I should wait for the updated version which might make things easier.
Aqui, I gave up on the extreme lower right level. I hit the red button, the thing flies over to my hut. i just cannot get over to the other button no matter what i try. i finally had to just give up figuring that i just do not have the coordination to solve that level. of course sometimes being knocked around like a Mark McGuire homerun ball when i bounce against a platform makes it even more difficult.
again, i LOVE the concept. i like the graphics. it is a VERY fun game to play except for the levels like this one (and the lightning platform one is too tough...)
Yippee! Loved the game, even if it took me 6 hours to finish it. (I'm a little slow...)
Just the kind of play I love to see, difficult yet easy. The bouncing was fun, the map was hard but not too hard thanks to other's comments. This gets my vote!
Bug Bug in The Sky Tower is the best game in CGDC4 by far, light-years far. How could it be less than that, when it owes so much to Super Metroid? The levels are so overwhelmingly well planned, designed and drawn that I would be fooled if someone told me it was actually a new Super Metroid, back to the good and old 2D days. The power-ups that allows the player to go into new places, the puzzles, and even the time-constrained action, it all made Metroid great, and it does the same to Bug Bug. The game was so good I didn't even care that there was no ending.
And yes, this is a hard game. Probably everyone who finished this went through some parts of the game about thirty times, like that really narrow passage, so perhaps this is not the best casual game, but it is still the best game in CDGC4. On the opposite side, the gameplay is probably familiar to many players, so it is not that hard to learn how to play, what might make it a good casual game. Anyway, you didn't complain at Metroid because it was too hard, did you?
Also, I didn't think that the controls were that hard. And the bouncing make the ball physics a little bit less not-realistic.
Great game, it deserves the big prize.
Update: Still can't beat the
lighting bolt level
. I have probably tryed around 100-400 times by now. What makes this level so frustrating is that all the other levels (and there were many) up to this point were relatively fast paced and enjoyable (taking anywhere from 1 to 5 to 10 tries). However, to all of the sudden hit a level that takes longer than the whole game....
BTW, in my above post about trying several hundred times, I was referring to
the level with multiple lighting bolt platforms and 3 beams. So, it's not just dying right away and trying again, but actually doing some work and thinking and continuing to fail. There's so many places that can go wrong.... 4 spots where you have to have perfect, and I mean perfect timing, 4 times where you have to move the ball to the exact, and I mean exact location.
@ . :
The lightning platform
is not the hardest part in the game. Yes, it gets harder than that! Try to learn how the physics behave in it, and how do the power-ups work.
My advices:
1) Sometimes you can stop the lighting platform by jumping, and that can be very helpful.
2) Count as fast as you can (for higher precision than counting seconds), and time it with the laser barriers timing. Get used to it, you'll need to use precise timing again later.
For the lightning platforms:
The longer you hold space, the more charged your heavy ball will become and the further the platform will travel. You can move the platforms in several small lunges or a couple of big ones. It also helps to move your ball to the front of the platform before you go past the lasers. Try experimenting - this makes the platform level alot easier.
Can someone please tell me where the light ball is located? Please?!!!
best of the comp in my opinion
a well thought out and fun to play game
I got every item, but there's no end screen or anything... Am I supposed to go to a certain room or do something to activate the robot in the map screen or something?
Haha, whooooops! Never mind! Found it.
So, now that I've played this game, I judge! This game was, by far, the best of the bunch. Most of the games were very unoriginal and boring (frankly I think it comes from the theme. "Ball physics" is less of a theme like replay or whatever the first competition had, and more of a here's-what-your-game-will-be). This one, though, is head and shoulders above the rest for not being a generic ball physics game.
"Congratulations you've won"? no little animation? this game took me forever to complete (as I am not a very good gamer) but I still liked it very much. I think that it could be a little more rewarding...
I really enjoyed this entry, played through it all, only cheated to get one piece. It's a great size, and clearly represents a lot of hard work!
I just wanted to go on record and say that I like the wall bounce feature as a way to build momentum before a jump quickly. Comparing that to other games that require tricky jumps and long speed-building runs, I find the timing much easier to get right with this method.
And on the subject of timing jumps, I've always liked platform games that give you a small sound when you land after a fall, since it gives some valuable feedback for future jumps. There are so many other features of this game that encourage precision, (like how the character rotates in-air indicating your horizontal speed) I feel that would add a lot.
My biggest frustration with this game is how easy it was to change screens horizontally. I lost my progress several times on the 8 button puzzle. I think you could cut the width of the region in half and it'll still work just as well.
Thanks for the game!
I felt that this game was good fun and that all of the puzzles were quite logical. I especially liked the inclusion of different ball properties (Heavy Ball, Light Ball, Normal Ball). It was much less painful to explore various platforming areas with the Light Ball.
The only piece I had difficulty finding was...
The one hidden in the secret passageway where you have to use the Heavy Ball.
That piece was the only one I used a guide for. All of the others could be easily found with trial and error and some exploration.
arrg, I don't know why, but I can't find any of the extra balls. I did manage to get up to the area where the right arm of that robot is. I don't know what else to do :P
I don't know whether it is my unfamiliarity with this type of game, or it's because I don't have great fine motor skills. I cant seem to make any progress since I either don't know how to get somewhere or I need one of the special balls.
after playing all of the ball physics games, i think this is the best of the lot. even with the frustration of getting past some rooms, this game kept me coming back for more. I hope this is the eventual winner.
Finally finished with 100%! Woo hoo! This was my favorite game in the CDGC4 competition - well done, Aqui. (When you make a sequel, will you please put in cutscenes or animations? We need more eye-candy!)
Regarding the complaints about the ball physics - I thought they worked well. The ball seems to act not like a regular ball but like a ball with a free or off-center weight inside (if that makes sense). This explains the fact that it bounces off walls but not off the ground. Anyway, I thought it created an interesting effect and made gameplay more challenging (in a good way).
Now that I found the light ball on my own, here's a tip on where to find it:
After the room with lightning platforms, you have to make a long jump into the narrow chute. It must be done with the regular ball (since you don't have the light ball yet). It's just a matter of timing - I started on the previous screen and kept rolling, then jumped at the very last second. As with all video games, it helps if you lean your body while playing! :) In order to keep from bouncing out of the chute, transform to the heavy ball right when you hit - you should then drop down. Good luck!
Error report:
Problem: sound becomes very loud and scratchy (nearly unbearable)
Step to reproduce:
After you get the heavy ball, exit that room to the right (break the block). Then go up and over to the top, left into the room to get the part. Come back out of that room and re-enter the room where you got the heavy ball.
Result: the sound will go out of control.
Bug report:
Problem: sound messes up on sky level.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Go to the middle sky level (with all the force fields.
2. Exit to the bottom, right to the level with all the collapsable blocks.
3. Go to the top.
4. Go through the top, left exit.
5. Go back and forth between that exit.
Result:
Audio messes up and eventually becomes unbearable.
Update regarding level that was taking 100's of tries:
I did not know the platforms moved.... So, I was assuming you had to jump through using the normal ball at just the right times. After several hundred tries, I even made it past all 3 beams by jumping over or on them when they were off. However, after the third beam, I never got it to land on the side lighting platform so I could get a boost up; I'm not even sure it even allows this.
Perhaps make the level more obvious that you should not jump normally to get through (so you won't think there is and never try to figure out the easy solution)?
@.:
There is a hint which I found pretty apparent.
You see the lightning symbol only at one other point in the game: it's the symbol on the heavy ball powerup.
That combined with the fact that it's nearly completely impossible to do the room any other way makes it pretty obvious to me ;) But I of course applaud your bravery at attempting to do it with brute force.
hmm, what was the update about? just wondering if it was mainly bugfixes or it was also gameplay tweaking.
After you double-jump from next to the teleporter at the root of the pretty tree to get to the secret platform below. How do you get back after getting the part?
Aiee! I love this game and it's nearly perfect, and I almost got all the way through it, but the buttons for switching between balls stopped working somehow!
It was at the part in the very highest tower section (with the white walls), specifically during the puzzle where the walls open and close. What happened?
can someone explain how to get to that red ball? I think that is the key to continue in this game and I am making no progress atm.
HELP!!! I am so bad at this game, all I have done is to the beginning of the third room inside the tower. I desperately need help getting past those giant red domes.
Gah, I give up on this. Unless someone can tell me where to get the heavy ball. I'm just wandering about with the normal ball at the moment.
OK, disregard that. After ages of searching and not finding any place to go that I hadn't already been, I find a new area almost immediately after posting. Jay Is Games is clearly magic.
allright! :) hopefully this new version is alot better than the previous one since I got frustrated trying to solve things that I had no clue on.
oh yea, I decided to download it so that I wouldn't have to deal with the ads and other stuff on arcadetown. Not that ArcadeTown is a bad place, just that some games are better played in full screen, or at least a larger screen.
I thoroughly enjoyed this when it came out in the competition, but it was a little difficult and kind of slow in some parts...
This was a really awesome game until I hit the part with the electrical platforms and the draining robot. It is awesomely frustrating that I can't seem to just jump past a platform without it starting to crack. I guess I just don't have the patience to train myself to jump around every platform...
You know, it bugs me that I can see jpeg artifacts around some platforms.
I didnt see anything different about this. I stilled played it all the way through again, its good but i didnt see any difference at all!
well the maneuvering is a little better, as in it's a bit easier to control on platforms. Still, I REALLY hate that dang red key puzzle, I keep JUST missing it before the laser resets. Honestly the timer on that needs to be increased.
It could also be that it requires some fine motor control, which I have difficulty with.
However, I don't see any significant differences besides the addition of a button for the instructions and one for the walkthrough. and I haven't seen any tree in this game.
Bug? I'm using Firefox on a mac.
I can't jump from the 3rd moving platform at E3, the very beginning, the ball is somehow blocked for jumping, and I have to roll with the platform to stays on it.
I am either incredibly dim, or experiencing a bug: I've found what seem like robot parts, but I can't figure out how to pick them up. Rolling over them does nothing. Is there some key-combo I need to push?
Also, the only keys that have any effect are the arrow keys. Space, M and F don't seem to do anything.
I'm using Firefox on Ubuntu.
There's a serious bug which still isn't fixed in the new version. In the area with 3 moving platforms, just to the right of the teleporter room, I can jump on the first platform fine, but when I jump to the second moving platform, I can't jump at all. Also, if I sit still on the 2nd platform, my ball sort of vibrates and slides sideways, like it's not firmly in contact with the floor. This is making it impossible, please fix!
I'm having real difficulty doing the heavy ball puzzle, I can't work out what order to press the 8 buttons, and it's driving me crazy. I checked out the walkway but I couldnt make head nor tail of the strange code it's written in... anybody able to explain at least the principle behind the puzzle, if not the order to press the buttons in?
Thanks
Yay--the three elements I hate *most* in platform games...timed puzzles, crumbling platforms, and worst of all, pixel-precision jumping. On the other hand, the basic concept is nicely done. Too bad it's still more annoying than fun, once you hit some of the more aggravating puzzles.
I managed to finish the heavy ball puzzle on the first try, by hitting buttons at random. I had to move very fast, though.
Hello,
Great, great game. All the stuff people are complaining about - precision jumping, physics etc, loved it all. Wicked challenge.
I've done it all except for one thing and I'm not sure what's wrong:
The left thigh, hidden in the secret passage to the right of the screen in the exact middle of the map, inside the tower. I'm in the passage, I;m jumping around, charging the heavy ball, double jumping etc. Nothing. Surely this is where the item is?
What am I doing wrong?
R
I liked this game visually, and would have been pleasantly intrigued with all the backtracking and secrets if it wasn't for those times where you have to dash like mad, wait around for the laser bars or floating platforms, then still fall or get zapped.
I looked at the 87% finish screen with dread, since it would involve that cloud jump to get to the uppermost place. Deciding to keep count this time, it took me 41 tries to get up there! I'd say it was partially due to having to wait a minute or two for the right cloud to move to the right place, and also because the light ball would double-jump automatically if the button was held down for long enough.
To summarize: the rolling ball was prone to too many "Start All Over" puzzles. More mazes or setups like the laser one would be fun.
Also, making it so that you have to push up for each jump would give the double-jump the finesse we need to use it correctly. Maybe ask someone who hasn't seen you make the game play it, to prevent some of the cloud-oriented whining that happened.
AAAARGH!
Come on all you people who have done it! Why can't I...
get the left thigh piece in the middle of the map in the secret passage? what is the trick?
Don't make me wait another day!
I'm not sure Rhys, I'm stuck on the same piece.
Also can't figure out:
1)
The left shoulder (looks like a boomerang). It seems like I somehow need to break upwards with the heavy ball, or find some way a round
2)
The... heart?... piece. It looks like I need to do a really tricky double jump using the clouds, but I just can't make it. Is there something I'm missing here?
I can't figure the bloody heavy ball riddle thing.
Furthermore, I can't do anything with the time allotted me, before I can even begin to strathegize the time's up.
ARGH <--- sound of frustration.
Help?
I have the same problem Betty is having... can't pick anything up, activate anything, or do much of anything except move around and jump. Is this a Firefox problem?
It's more likely a Flash Player versioning issue than a browser-specific one. Try (re)-installing the latest version of Flash and see if that clears it up.
I've played the game without a problem in Firefox (Mac).
Could someone please post a walkthrough? I've tried reading the official walkthrough and it didn't help much -
I'm insanely confused with all these F1o, E1i - what in
the world does all that mean?! Whoever made this (great) game should create a map of the castle-thingy - a kind of
graph-paper chart with the rooms labeled or something.
I dunno about you guys, but I reckon it would really help
me...
Test comment, TypeKey signed in. Everything looks fine in the preview.
Thanks for your help making comments work for me, Jay!
I've mapped the game out by sticking together screenshots. They're mostly lined up correctly, but if you notice spots where the walls have a little jog in them, then I probably missed a spot.
This is totally a spoiler, revealing not only layout and locations, but in some cases which ball to use. Only look at the map if you're stuck or don't care : )
How the heck do i beat the 4 signs at the tower? The ones that say 1, 2, 3, 4.
how do I beat the tower in which there are 4 buttons. Saying 1, 2, 3, 4?
I know I must be a REAL moron, but I can't do ANYTHING!
How in the multiverse do you get any of the other ball-things? I've the red key and the map and I've been just jumping around, trying to figure out
WHAT THE HECK TO DO :/!
IE: HELP!
Sorry but I'm REALLY angry...>#
awwww when i saw that robot i was omg im going to get in it and its going to move!!! thats going to be so cool!! im like that GO BIG MECHA ROBOTS and i got in and nothing just came up with a screen saying well done?? ;_; i want a big moveing fixed robot
In the room with the lightning platforms there is a big trick with the charge (heavy ball) that it seems noone has noticed. this works on all lightning platforms and just normally in the game.
When you charge the ball, hold left or right when you release and you will charge much further than normal. This will get the platform all the way through the beam area and land at the other side.
This can also be applied to the part where you have to leap across the large gap to the little chute leading down thusly:
There is a little platform above the doorway you enter this room from.
Leap to the doorway above and hold charge and hold left. Release the charge but keep holding left. You will charge all the way across to the little chute. You may bounce off but it's fairly easy to let go of left just as you land and then you'll fall down the chute.
this trick makes the game MUCH easier.
this is an okay game. It is pretty addicting.
woot!100%!
just needed to cheat with the "ceiling crack detour"part to get my last piece.
(i had completly forgotten the platform under the tree)
i like the way you don't die! it gives you a chance to play the game and not have (game over) come up (if) you die.good game mate!
the game will not work on my com it is a win xp please can somone help me?
Where's the right hip?
i still cant play the game can somone come up with a solution for me please
I really don't know how to help you nickmaclean because you haven't provided much information regarding what the trouble is.
The game works just fine for me on win xp.
this game is impossible for me: after getting to a certain height in the first screen, the ball refuses to jump. anybody else finding this?
I have noticed a bug - at the place outside with the three platforms (right where you fall down at the beginning of the game), the top platform is not high enough to jump onto the wooden ledge above it. I must admit I gave up on it a LONG time ago, but if someone could please tell us what's causing it, I think a lot of others besides me would be happy to know...
P.S. Even though I doubt anyone cares, I laughed when I read: "Comments containing IM-speak gibberish will be deleted. (if u rite like dis, dun waist ur time)". Amen!
I'm having problems with the ball changing. I can't seem to change the ball type at all. I'm using IE on Windows Vista.
Oops didn't see (acquired).
I can see one major flaw:
It has a dissapointing ending.
How do you open any of the red doors?! I have not opened a single one and I'm STUCK.
I'm stuck. I have the red key, but nothing else. Where can I find these special balls.
I've tried to lightning room, I can't get that without the heavy ball apparently, and I've fired the big laser with no effect.
Nice game. The platforming was *hard*, but I didn't have any one room I got really, really stuck on. I spent 10-20 lives on the room with the moving lightning platforms, before I had the heavy ball; it took another 10 or so tries even with the heavy ball. Likewise jumping up the clouds was painful:
I'm not sure if there's a way to do it with the three that are on the screen at first, but if you wait for the middle one to drift off then one comes on in just the right place
.
I encountered one minor glitch three or four times: I managed to move onto a screen I wasn't meant to be on, and it was all white. However, once this led to a MAJOR glitch: I moved back off the screen, and it put me on a screen that did exist, but too close to the bottom - I just kept falling off, reincarnating, falling off, etc., without being able to do anything but quit.
Finished it on 89%; went back to find the hidden thigh in the secret passage; solved it. A pleasingly difficult platformer.
I do not like the lazer room.
I am also having an issue with the ball not jumping past the first half of the screen. no bug fixes have been spoken of
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Game of the week
Walkthrough Guide
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Thanks for your help making comments work for me, Jay!
I've mapped the game out by sticking together screenshots. They're mostly lined up correctly, but if you notice spots where the walls have a little jog in them, then I probably missed a spot.
This is totally a spoiler, revealing not only layout and locations, but in some cases which ball to use. Only look at the map if you're stuck or don't care : )
(PNG, 1MB) Outside of the tower.
(PNG, 530KB) Inside rooms.
(XCF, 11MB) GIMP project file (zipped) with each screen on its own layer.
Posted by: gws
|
February 2, 2008 2:41 PM