b0rk3d asked: AFAIK, even getting the "good" ending of Red Rogue does not stop the time loop, and Red is pulled back into the dungeon by the Time Rune when she eventually dies. The only way to truly end the game is to wear the Balrog's face. The choice between an eternity of ultimately hopeless struggle or a release through surrender to evil seems a rather bleak one. Were you making a deliberate philosophical statement with this dilemma?
duh
joaoalmeida15 asked: So following up were we left of. The insta killing RNG has actually happened to me twice, the first time I didn't even knew what killed me, the second time was obvious since I was playing in dogmatic. The strange thing is that It said I was killed by quickening (second time there were no enemies around) and soon after it became obvious. The thing is that random RNG gives you the same random effects that shrines give, still their quickening must count as an offensive missile, a very fast one.
There is no code in the chaos bolts to kill you with quickening. And it is an entirely different branch from the altar.
It is possible there may be an entirely unrelated bug causing this effect. I will add it to the queue of complaints, but with out guaranteed steps to reproduce a bug - it cannot be solved.
Furthermore, you should check out the F.A.Q. for Red Rogue. It has some harsh words about my feelings on spending the rest of my life maintaining it.
I’ve reached that point where all that’s left is polish. The endless cycle of small adjustments and shit suggestions (like adding text or a tutorial).
I’m tempted by the idea of doing a trailer or by setting up a website. I’m more tempted just to sneakily squeeze it out there and see who notices. Is my game stinky enough to turn heads on its own or does it need great comical trumping noises?
The fundamental concept in Ending is pretty simple. It’s not changed much from the initial build. I’ve tried to make non-random generative levels and to add hyperspace mechanics.
It’s just that when you work on something so simple you think, “wow - I could use this as a springboard to tackle some big problems in game design!” Which misses the point - if the basic mechanics are fun on their own, just leave them be.
Ending’s strength I believe is its lack of song and dance. I’d like to see that through until the C++ port. Then we’ll see if there’s enough of a fanbase to make a big deal about its re-release.
antinahottub asked: Can I join you in making whatever game you plan next? I'm a pixel artist and I really loved Red Rogue.
It’s good to work in teams, but it’s a nice change to not have to make concessions to someone else’s dreams when I work at home. Maybe when I’m in a job where I’m not always paired up with an artist already.
joaoalmeida15 asked: So about Red Rogue (also please excuse some spelling mistakes). I love the game I played it alot, love the chalenge, love the fact that it requires several playthroughs to find secrets that help you defeat the balrog, and love the dificultie. Its a hard game no doubt about that, but I always felt that it was fair, execpt on one thing that made me stop playing the game (yea really). When you are in Chaos sometimes you get insta killed by the random RNG gears with a lightning fast shot, PLEASE FIX
I see. That’s not happened to me. Steps to reproduce?
burninghotelsdown asked: i really like your game frame-up! i've played it for ages now!
I
did
not
make
any
such
game.
D- must do homework in future.
arasch asked: Hi, I am using your class at for pathfinding in Processing in a project for a mobile cleaning robot. So far the routines work great. I just want to use the program under Processing 2.x and there is this class "Vector" (e.g. Vector openlist, closedlist;) which I could so far not figure out how to replace to make the transfer to Processing 2.x (I must add also that I am not a very experienced programmer...). Do you have any recommendations which could help solve this? Thanks Arasch.
The last stuff I wrote on that old project used ArrayLists not Vectors: http://robotacid.com/PBeta/AILibrary/Pathfinder/index.html
A* needs a dynamic list of open nodes to work. So the standard Java arrays don’t work unless you already know what a dynamic list is.
Here’s a StackOverflow on the subject: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1647260/java-dynamic-array-sizes
I wasn’t planning on making another Flash game at home. I was going to get on with painting and finish what C++ I’d started to learn (because let’s face it, the only useful thing the Flash Player has added since version 9 is bug fixes - no one gives a shit about Stage3D when tools like Unity are more accommodating). But it occurred to me I was going to need a project to build in C++. Something small and quick. A game would be best because it would give me a UI and graphics framework I can use for other projects. I had just such an idea that had been rolling around my head since I made Turnament for Nitrome (pro-tip, don’t name your game after a popular mis-spelling, Google will bury it). Prototyping in Flash and then porting would be the best route. And so now I’m making Ending, a puzzle game about movement punctuated with Kurt Vonnegut quotes. I’m quite stunned at how addictive I find testing it.
Red Rogue - Ad Mortem
I’ve still some bugs to fix. I’ll get round to it, just not right now. RPGs are massively high maintenance. Squash one bug and two rise in its wake. If your favourite RPG dev seems a bit lax, trust me, they’re fucking exhausted.
The reception to Red Rogue, whilst never award winning, was good all the same. I never stumbled upon a review after release that simply said, “eh, it’s a bit shit”, or words to that effect. Certainly I got comments saying that but I’ve worked in entertainment long enough now to dismiss the idea of universal appeal. I never set out with Red Rogue to make everyone happy - certainly some of my favourite bands that I listen to don’t subscribe to that ideal. Imagine fellow heavy metal listeners if our bands started saying, “we feel we’re not popular enough, so we’re going to sound more like Nickleback from now on.” Not everyone will accept you for who you are, but it is better than being a fraud.
*I should add that the highlight of release was finding a TV-oh-god-there-went-five-hours-of-my-life-following-links-Tropes page for Red Rogue. You’ve not entertained someone unless you’re on TVTropes. And then, later on, in Russian, this review. Nice of them to translate the FAQ. God forbid I should receive bug reports in my own language.
Thanks yet again for all the kind words and reviews.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
I walked into the Crown in Islington a month ago and mentioned to Ed Key that I was feeling the fatigue of Emperor’s New Clothes syndrome. I simply don’t like a lot of popular indie games. It’s not that I need to play them more (I tried that with Swords and Sworcery on everyone’s insistence and now I fucking despise it). Ed took it personally because I’m possibly the only person to fall into an impotent rage whilst playing the Proteus beta. It locked me out of my computer - I couldn’t figure out how to tab out and it seemed to have this “forced immersion” thing going on. I was fucking livid - it was like some trumped up hippy malware.
But now I’m seeing everyone else using The Emperor’s New Clothes to refer to Proteus and I feel like I should clarify exactly what I meant by this story:
In Eric Berne’s What Do You Say After You Say Hello he proposes the idea that we structure our lives after popular stories. That these story archetypes help us to explain to others our adventures and also help us envision ourselves as the heroes of our own tale. And this is what I meant by The Emperor’s New Clothes. The need to point out something wrong, not because it is wrong, but because doing so makes you the hero of the tale.
I could certainly tell everyone that I don’t like the controls in Super Hexagon, that I got 30 levels into Offspring Fling and found no challenge whatsoever, that FTL is a bit too much like Diner Dash for my liking. And what would I be? The hero? Would everyone come to their senses and congratulate me for speaking my mind? Or should I just let everyone carry on having fun?
Proteus I found quite charming in the end. It’s currently the best this new Look-Em-Up genre has to offer. And it won’t be the last.
inspiredarkbeauty asked: Hi, I was drawn to your site while playing Red Rogue. I really loved the style and uniqueness of the game. I am a fledgling flash game programmer and I have been using Adobe Photoshop and Inkscape for the art work and Stencyl for the development environment. I was very curious as to what you used to develop Red Rogue. And I was wondering if you have ever tried using Stencyl. If yes, do you have an opinion on it? Thanks for taking the time to read my question!
I used Actionscript 3 and FlashDevelop as my programming IDE:
I haven’t used Stencyl, mostly because with any library of code or tool that “does it all for you” you’re forced to do it their way or not at all.
That’s not to say you can’t be creative or make something good - but if you decide you want to make something really experimental, something you haven’t seen any other Stencyl game do, then you might become stuck.
At the end of the day the best tool to use is the one you’re most comfortable with. But you should endeavour to be able to use all tools - it makes returning to your comfort zone that much nicer.
My quest to prove I can spend ages programming something and eventually finish it is over. I’ve completed work on my roguelike-like. It looks a bit like this:
And can be downloaded and whatnot here:
Thank you to everyone for your support and critique over the years.
