Messages

1

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: A Valley Without Wind, Vol. 1 soundtrack on sale!

« on: December 22, 2012, 05:17:10 AM »

Would I be misguided to expect a Volume 2, given AVWW2 and the new music in there as well as new music added since the last volume? This is all really good stuff and I'd love to have high quality versions, and to show my support.

AbandonedTown1/2 are both amazing, still. That piano!

2

Game Development / Re: How does Arcen code its games? (Architecture wise)

« on: July 29, 2012, 04:57:33 PM »

All this time I figured C# was tied to Microsoft, as well. I'm glad to see Mono is so effective.

Egads! Javascript. That was the first language I learned to write code in, and it was like shooting myself in the foot. I had to unlearn so many strange concepts I had about programming when I stepped into C++. And from there I went into Python, and then Java, so I didn't do anything in the right order at all. Python remains my favorite to use.

On that note, here's a fun thing poking fun at languages, primarily Javascript. https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat/

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: A Valley Without Wind, Vol. 1 soundtrack on sale!

« on: July 08, 2012, 01:35:55 AM »

Any chance Dark World Waltz will be on Vol 2? I'm incredibly fond of that one!

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: The main problem: NO HUNCHBACKS

« on: March 01, 2012, 12:24:18 PM »

I think you bring up a decent point! A couple of hunched over, aggressive characters wouldn't hurt. Actually, I think for the others just a couple frames of 'breathing' animation would liven things up wonderfully. For reference, look at Samus standing still in Super Metroid. It's incredibly simple but makes a scene seem very lifelike.

Really what makes this hard is that all of the characters are essentially wizards. They don't have a gun to point, claws to brandish, or a sword to hold dramatically. I can't think of another posture that they would take while idle!

One thing I would like to bring up while we're on the subject, however, is the casting animations. Some of them just feel a little... silly. One gentleman kind of raises one knee up with both arms, as though he is catching a baby falling from a distant window. I think I'd prefer a few characters with a basic one-hand-raised animation, where they seem confident and calm. Also, one ice-age person seems to do a distinctly Fonz-like pose when he casts; I like that, though.

5

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Some Lava Escape Feedback

« on: March 01, 2012, 12:15:45 PM »

I loved the lava parts, the few of them I got to try out. If you had split difficulty I'd probably keep combat average and put platforming on very hard; I love bits that require reflexes, but I hate it when enemies get a ton of health, as it seems to make battles in games long and tiring. Actually, does the difficulty affect health in AVWW? I'm not actually positive.

I think my only complaint was that my friend lept right into a lava mission before me and another friend were ready. We followed him about thirty seconds after he entered and walked into a room of pure magma, screamed like little girls, and left the room again. Actually in retrospect that was hilarious and I wouldn't change a thing!

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: A Valley Without Donkey Kong

« on: March 01, 2012, 12:12:00 PM »

I really noticed the Castlevania influence - a particular favorite of mine. Made me grin immensely to hear the one battle background song that, at least to me, sounded reminiscent of Bloody Tears! I adore InteriorQuiet though, it doesn't get used enough. Was sad to see it wasn't on the soundtrack, because it's my favorite song from the game. Maybe a Volume II will be released sometime? 

I always found Cave Story to have the perfect progression of difficulty. The game's presentation makes up for the easiness at the beginning if you happen to be really good, and if you're not you'll typically get better as the pacing is perfect. At least, before that jump into the secret bit at the end...

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW Beta 0.579 "Secret Daring Rescues" Released!

« on: February 21, 2012, 02:32:08 PM »

I think falling in a pit and having to abandon your character is a perfectly legitimate way to lose. I believe a grave in the tutorial even warns "... if only he had brought wooden platforms!" - This is the game saying "Hey, if you fall somewhere and don't have platforms, you're probably in a bad way!"

I'm all for fairness and usability but once you start sterilizing too many of the dangers a game feels really plastic and boring. Not letting a player fall off a cliff or having them always catch on and pulling themselves up, for instance, makes exciting and risky areas really, really boring. Remember that one level with the mountains and red mushrooms in Super Mario 64? That level still gives me nightmares, because sliding off the edges of the shrooms happened to be so easy. But man, it offered a sense of accomplishment when you finally got that star...

Removing the ability for players to powerslide into tiny crevices is probably alright though. It'd be a little irritating to have your guy die because he can't figure out how to crawl! :p

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Cool Random Facts About AVWW -- Help Us Explain This Game!

« on: February 17, 2012, 12:19:43 PM »

Ah yeah, that's better. And it implies you can switch characters anyway!

9

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Unlocking other Time Period NPCs

« on: February 17, 2012, 11:28:45 AM »

More mission types! That sounds amazing; I'm really looking forward to that. Just to verify, I encountered a neutral Ilari in SP, and this unlocked NPCs - so it was purely an MP issue after all!

10

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Unlocking other Time Period NPCs

« on: February 17, 2012, 11:21:43 AM »

Honestly, I've been having the same thought. I've played an entire continent now, without unlocking a single NPC. The missions only seem to have unlocked ones so that can't be how, nor have I found any in the caves I've been in, so that can't be the way to do it... The only reason I haven't put it on Mantis yet is because... well, no one else has, and I haven't played much, so I figured I must've missed something.

Same. I figured I was just doing something wrong. I can add it to mantis if you like, x4000. I'm going to try meeting the neutral Illari stone survivors in a SP game first, so I have more information for you.

Ed: Ah, it's sort of here already, but not quite: http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=5292 This one is a bit too outdated to be relevant.

11

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Cool Random Facts About AVWW -- Help Us Explain This Game!

« on: February 17, 2012, 11:19:17 AM »

Hmm...

* Fast-paced 2D action with intertwined with a procedurally generated and endless world.

* Explore surreal landscapes and twisted interiors in an apocalyptic setting, finding supplies to augment your spellcasting or settlement along the way.

* Enhance your abilities and transfer your glyph from one person to the next, cultivating a community of warriors and explorers, or place all of your eggs into one basket and maximize the potential of a single character. Each time period offers survivors with different strengths.

* Three kinds of bats! 

AVWW is not an easy game to define, I've noticed. In general games that are so non-linear are difficult to write synopsises for.

Something else noting how the game has evolved due to the interaction between developers and players. Always my favorite thing about your games, yet it's the hardest thing to convey to someone who isn't familiar with you guys. Too bad you can't just put "Seriously, we patched the game nearly every day. That's how awesome we are."

12

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Unlocking other Time Period NPCs

« on: February 17, 2012, 10:59:56 AM »

I've been playing since the first release, on and off. Things have changed quite a bit! Normally, I would find other time period NPCs by visiting wind shelter build locations, finding them wandering around. Then I'd use the strategic view to have an NPC rescue them, but that's not quite valid anymore.

The unlock screen simply says to find a chunk with them in it. I didn't find any new NPCs in missions, so I decided to check the neutral Ilari stones underground. I DID find other time-period NPCs down there! However, it didn't actually unlock the unlockable. They never moved, though they occasionally spoke, and I could glyph-transfer over to them, but it never counted as having met them.

I'm assuming I'm doing it the wrong way now. How does one go about unlocking NPCs from other time periods?

Edit note: This was during a multiplayer game.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: A Valley Without Wind, Vol. 1 soundtrack on sale!

« on: February 15, 2012, 05:06:01 PM »

This is amazing! I bought it so fast my billing information challenged special relativity.

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AVWW Mods & Maps / Re: Interested in helping shape A Valley Without Wind?

« on: October 13, 2011, 11:55:35 AM »

I might get into this! Is there a way to quickly test the room (as opposed to wandering the world until it shows up?)

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Pylon idea

« on: October 07, 2011, 10:13:26 AM »

Pretty sure this has no place in the game's lore or mechanics, but when I heard pylons and having to shut them down I imagined running inside of a huge building, flipping switches, and having to escape the building without warp before the entire thing exploded. :P AVWW: With a vengeance!