A quick update

Terry Aug 24, 2011 13 Comments

Been a while since I’ve actually talked about what all I’m working on! Well, here’s a quick update on my main projects right now:

VVVVVV

So, my main focus right now, of course, is VVVVVV. Simon and I are planning two patches – the first, which will be out very soon, should fix almost all the issues that have cropped up with the new C++ version of the game (i.e. the fullscreen-auto bug, the time trial bug, etc). It might also add some basic features to the player levels that don’t break backwards compatibility with the bundle version – like mapping, for example.

Some time after that, then, we’re planning a second patch, which will add loads of stuff to the editor that I didn’t have time to add originally! This will include almost everything that the main VVVVVV levels can do – like teleporter networks, scrolling levels, and advanced scripting.

I’ve also been working on some new levels of my own…

Nexus City

Nexus City is a very big RPG that I’ve been making on-and-off with Jonas Kyratzes for quite some time now. A few months back we decided to make a short side story set in the Nexus City universe, as an introduction of sorts to this very big game we’re making.

Nexus City is a very important project to me – in some ways it feels like the game I got into making games to make.

At a Distance

A few months ago, I made a game for NYU Game Center‘s 2nd No Quarter exhibition, called At a Distance.

After the exhibition, I decided to take some time away from it to decide where exactly I wanted to go with it – and I’m still thinking about that – but I have arrived at one decision, at least. At a Distance isn’t finished yet.

Just to be clear, I’m not planning to expand it or make it something bigger – in fact, I think I’ll end up cutting a lot from what’s already a very short game. What I want to do is improve what’s currently there – there a lot of details in the game that I’m not happy with yet, things that I’m able to see more clearly now that I’ve had a little distance from it.

Untitled Isothingy

I haven’t forgotten about this one!

This Isothingy (which I should really come up with a proper title for) is a short side project I started just after finishing At a Distance, and in it’s current form, is basically complete. I wasn’t completely happy with it, though, so I decided to expand the concept a little and add a bit more to it – and now it’s become something I think is a much better game. I’ve teamed up with Christine Love, who’s writing a very fitting story for the game, and Flashygoodness, who’s making some amazing music for it.

Unfortunately, with everything else I’m working on, I’ve had to put this to one side for now. Hoping to revisit it in a couple of months, though. It’s the most complete incomplete game I’m working on right now, if that makes any sense.

Untitled Nyxgame

This little thing is just a side project I’m doing for fun this week. Either I’ll have it finished by Sunday, or I’ll scrap it completely.

13 Comments

Featured VVVVVV Level: “Victuals” by Noyb

Terry Aug 19, 2011 0 Comments

Here’s a short one that I really liked: Noyb’s “Victuals“! He’s not the first person to make a pure story level in VVVVVV, but this one’s my favourite so far.

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv

Featured VVVVVV Level: “Dimension 333333” by Sendy

Terry Aug 16, 2011 38 Comments

Sendy’s Dimension 333333 is a *huge* and extremely polished level; my playtime clocked in at just over an hour – and that’s without finding all twenty trinkets. Structurally, it’s somewhat similar to VVVVVV itself, with an introduction stage, an open outdoor area, four crewmate stages based around different ideas, and a harder final stage. It’s really incredible to see something like this just a few short weeks after the first version of the editor launched.

This level is great fun, and filled with interesting challenges from start to finish, but what really makes it special is its attention to detail, which shines through in every room. It’s been put together with a lot of care, with a lot of thought given to each room’s visual composition (especially in the outside area).

There are two varieties of this level – an easy version and a hard version – but I’d strongly recommend avoiding the hard version unless you’re an IWBTG veteran or something. In any case, the easy version is only easy in a comparative sense – it’s actually pretty bloody hard – I died 639 times in my playthrough!

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv

Featured VVVVVV Level: “Palace of Peril” by Blublu

Terry Aug 12, 2011 16 Comments

“Palace of Peril” is a level I like a lot, but I feel like I can’t talk about it without first pointing out that I have some serious reservations with it. This is without question the most difficult level I’ve featured – in fact, it’s so difficult that I wasn’t able to see the end myself without cheating and removing a wall in the editor. It’s a 10×9 level and it’s biggest problem, I think, is just that it’s a lot of good ideas diluted in a level that’s way too big to contain them.

There are five “areas” in the level – an outside area at the start, then yellow, green and cyan areas, and finally a laboratory area.

Of these, the yellow area and the green area are absolutely fantastic. The yellow area introduces a new mechanic, using VVVVVV’s primitive scripting in an unexpected way to do something I haven’t seen before. The green area expands on this, then, but takes in a different direction to make challenges that weren’t possible in VVVVVV.

This is a flawed level, but its flaws are more than made up for by the very inventive areas which do work, which I absolutely loved. I’m really looking forward to whatever its creator works on next!

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv

Featured VVVVVV level: “Soul Searching” by Martze

Terry Aug 9, 2011 11 Comments

Martze’s “Soul Searching” plays with a lot of cool ideas I haven’t seen explored in a VVVVVV level before. This one’s a little trickier than the other levels I’ve featured, but worth persevering with! It’s fun, polished, and extremely inventive.

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv

ConVVVVVVerter

Terry Aug 7, 2011 5 Comments

Unfortunately, we’ve got a little held up with making the “official” save game converter for VVVVVV (for converting 1.2 save games to the new 2.0 format), so I thought it would be a good idea to highlight ConVVVVVVerter, an unofficial save converter made by Steam forum member SupSuper! It’s very easy to use and works perfectly on both Windows and Mac, so I totally recommend using it if you’re sick on waiting for us to sort it out. Download it from here!

Featured VVVVVV level: “vvvvvVideogames” by Rob Fearon

Terry Aug 4, 2011 4 Comments

Rob Fearon’s “vvvvvVideogames” is the Ulysses of VVVVVV levels.

I mean, I haven’t read Ulysses or anything, but I presume it was a bit like this.

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv

Featured VVVVVV level: “The Tower of Power” by randomnine

Terry Aug 3, 2011 17 Comments

“The Tower of Power” is a VVVVVV level that doesn’t have any checkpoints. Yikes!

That sounds crazy, of course, but the reason it works here is that the level is so carefully designed around that core idea – it’s structured as a central hub with a linearly unlocked set of challenges as you get further and further into it, using trinkets as keys.

The really brilliant thing about it is how it makes even simple challenges feel exciting and dangerous in a way that VVVVVV levels normally don’t – there’s nothing particularly hard in this level, but the cost of failure is so much higher than usual that you’ll end up approaching it very differently.

It’s also notable for having the most extensive use of scripting I’ve seen in a VVVVVV level so far. Highly recommended!

(Randomnine, the creator of this level, wrote a great blog post here about the level’s design, which I recommend checking out after you’ve played it!)

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv

Featured VVVVVV level: “Vertex Vortex” by Matt Thorson

Terry Aug 2, 2011 11 Comments

“Vertex Vortex” is a level by Matt Thorson, the creator of some of my favourite platformers ever (like An Untitled Story, MoneySeize, and Jumper Three, among MANY others). If I’m honest, I’m a bit of a fanboy when it comes to his games, so it was a real thrill to see that he’d made a VVVVVV level.

Most of his games are so difficult that they make VVVVVV look like Kirby’s Dream Land in comparison, but his VVVVVV level is actually pretty easy compared to most other player levels!

This one’s short, polished, and a lot of fun.

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv

Featured VVVVVV level: “Seasons” by Michael Brough

Terry Jul 30, 2011 9 Comments

Michael Brough’s “Seasons” is an atmospheric VVVVVV level. I’m hoping that future versions of the level editor will allow people to use their own graphics and music, and we’ll see a lot more of this sorta thing.

I really like how this level repurposes the simple tilesets from VVVVVV to represent different parts of a world – background skyscrapers in the city, checkpoints as traffic lights, a single blue line as an ocean.

To play a VVVVVV player level, extract the .vvvvvv file into your VVVVVV levels folder. On windows, that should be in My Documents/VVVVVV, on Mac it’s Documents/VVVVVV, on Linux it’s ~/.vvvvvv