Big news, guys! I’m launching a MASSIVE update to VVVVVV today, as part of the new Humble Indie Bundle! This is a complete rewrite of the game to C++, making it run faster and better on Windows, Mac, and, finally, on Linux!
But even more than that: there’s now also a level editor in the game! I’m really excited about this – it’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since launch last year. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been working flat out, trying to make this as powerful and simple to use as possible, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what people do with it.
While working on the editor, I sent early versions to a few friends and asked them to have a go at making something with it. Everyone came through big time; I’m totally blown away at what they came up with! Those ten levels are included with the new version. Let me tell you a bit about them (and the people that made em):
Robson: Pyramid of Doom
Robson is the creator of YYYYYY, an awesome ASCII demake of VVVVVV which I loved to bits. His level is an extremely cool themed world called “Pyramid of Doom”, which incidently is one of the easier levels in the pack, so it might be a good place to start if your VVVVVV skills are rusty…
Jonathan Whiting: Vertiginous Viridian
Jonathan Whiting is the indie developer responsible for Stalwart, Love Letter, Crushd and Jed, among many other games. I’m a big fan of his level design! He frequently attends the jams we hold in Cambridge, and was one of the first people I thought of for this. His level, “Vertiginous Viridian”, does some really clever things and explores some very interesting level ideas!
Magnus PÁ¥lsson: Dual Challenge and A New Dimension
Magnus PÁ¥lsson, aka Souleye, is the musician for VVVVVV! I’m really impressed with his levels for this – he made two, “Dual Challenge” and “A New Dimension“, and it’s clear he really put his heart and soul into them. I love these levels because they feel like his music – in that they’re saturated with ideas and little details and care. His “New Dimension” level is also by far the biggest of the pack, occupying a very good chunk of a 20×20 map!
(Incidently, Magnus’ levels are the only ones of the pack to use scripting, which unfortunately wasn’t implemented in time for other people to use it.)
Craig Forrester: Variation Venture
Craig Forrester, aka Ishi, is a UK indie developer and also attends the jams here in Cambridge. He’s the creator of the awesome Xbox Indies title Upbot Goes Up, as well as Johnny Platform’s Biscuit Romp and the awesome two player platformer Treasure Treasure. His level is “Variation Venture”, and is a short adventure divided into four parts around a central hub!
Roger Svanlund: Line Wrap, Roadtrip to the Moon, and Golden Spiral
You might know Roger Svanlund, aka Rox as the creator of that super cool 3D mockup video VVVVVVX! Rox made not one, but three levels for the new version of the game! My favourite of his is “Line Wrap”, which is a great looking themed level that does some clever things with wraping rooms. He also made “Roadtrip to the Moon”, and “Golden Spiral”, which is without a doubt the trickiest level of the ten!
Whirligig: Variety Show
Whirligig is the creator of the other ASCII demake of VVVVVV, titled CCCCCCCCCC. It’s a really clever and well put together game, that, like Robson’s YYYYYY, brings lots of it’s own ideas to expand the basic concept of the game. His level, “Variety Show”, is a bit like his levels from CCCCCCCCCC, with big open rooms.
Notch: VVVV 4k
I’m sure Notch needs no introduction, but here’s one anyway – Notch is the creator of Minecraft, one of my favourite games. He’s also a frequent partipant in online coding contests like Ludum Dare and Java4k. To some of you, his level, “VVVV 4k” might be familar! This is a port of his awesome 4k demake of VVVVVV for last year’s Java 4k contest.
As for a new level of my own? Stay tuned 🙂
If you bought VVVVVV directly from me, you should very soon receive an email with a new download link! If you got it on Steam, it should be updated automatically there very shortly too. Unfortunately the Mac App Store will take a little longer as it needs to go through the approval process. But if you bought the game there (or anywhere else) and want to download the new version, get in touch and I’ll send you a link 🙂
If you wanna get started making levels, I’ve posted a short tutorial on my forums! Incidentally, my forums are the place to post and find new levels. 🙂
One last thing: I’d like to thank everyone involved for making this happen – everyone above who worked on levels packaged with this version, John Graham and Jeffrey Rosen for organising the bundle, and in particular, Simon Roth, who created the C++ port, and tirelessly worked long nights with me to get this version of the game ready for the launch.
Thanks everyone 🙂 Hope you enjoy the new version of VVVVVV!
Terry
