StanJr

Hitting the branches increases my score. I cannot imagine that is on purpose. Is there intention to flesh this out with other features or is this it?

It's all there in the forums if you dig about a bit. Basically the brick and mortar guys wanted to kill it, but someone else agreed to maintain it as an archive with a only lightly active forum. Then the bills didn't get paid and it all went down for a minute, but it got put back up basically as archive only at this point. It's a ghost town now. I think it just outlived it's usefulness, like MySpace.

59000 Made it to level 7!

I like that you've opened the world up a bit so it's not as on-rails as previous versions. It's going to take me a minute to get used to some of the graphic changes. Have you increased enemy speed? Seems like that dog is charging me at a faster rate. I LOVE the red dragon fight and what comes after! That's fantastic! I also love the runes and how they work. That really helps the exploration/discovery aspect of the game a ton! Well done. The world and its sense of exploration/reward are great. I can still beat the demon boss by standing in his doorway and shooting him, without taking any damage. Is there a way to place the cathedral more central on the map so it is more useful? Tucked away where it is, I don't ever have to go there, and being able to spam mushrooms in the caves means that healing isn't as big of a deal. I've figured out that the best way to defeat the birds is to just avoid them entirely. Is there room to add a game variation to increase the difficulty or something to increase replay value?

If I dig under a tree and no prize pops out, the hole fills immediately with no delay. Everything except the Lef-A Docile seems to spawn from the center of the screen when uncovered instead of the hole location. I originally thought this was only happening when traveling to the left, but it's occurring in both directions. Not a major issue, but if you want them to appear to pop from the hole, then it might want to be looked at.

Made it to level 5 today, but by the time I got the map the moon was already at crescent. I did not make it to the X in time, I passed 6 trees, if that is any help in indicating how far away the X was.

52,200. I'm playing past my peak now, so this might be it. The key really is to maximize scoring potential before board 6. I almost cleared board 6, but the fry and sausage are just too fast and unrelenting. But I broke a personal record I had set back in 2003, so that's a win for me!

That poor dog... I think I figured out my digging problem. I am not moving far enough away from the original dig spot to allow for a new hole. This must be a function of the anti-spamming problem you solved earlier. I can now dig any where I like as long as I am not next to the spot where I just dug a hole. I ran into a game killing scenario tonight. I was on level 4 (still can't beat it) and I dug up a Bunipy, but when I trapped him back in a hole, MM would not pick him up and carry him off for anything. Needless to say, with a Bunipy stuck in a hole the game would not progress. Everything else is playing along swimmingly so far.

42,800 Captain, the Hot Dog breaks the rule on level 2, the French Fry on level 6 (whichever level laps level 1), and they both speed up on level 6, making anyone who can clear that level a genius. My best strategy is to try to maximize my scoring potential in levels 1,2,5 where the ladder scheme is most advantageous, then pray I can outlast on the other levels. Level 3 is a cast-iron monster with too many places to get trapped on the left and right. Still don't have a viable pattern for that board. It would help if the collision detection were reliable and you didn't get hung up on ladders all the time...

41050! Nearing my all time personal best. You guys are good.

That's more like it. 38650.

I'm not married to the star appearing at any point before the map appears. It's cool if it does, but nothing is lost if it doesn't. I only mentioned the gold dog thing, because I think it should have registered the catch when I contacted it, but may not have because it was in the middle of turning around. Not sure if that's an issue. I like the dog being extra tricky too. I'll try to reduce variables and lock down exactly what is going on with the tree/hole/no dig issue. How many levels are there total? Is there a final boss fight like in Strange Red Tree?

An improvement in only the most literal sense 18750

If I have to play the entire week on the emu, this won't be worth doing. If you think it's clunky on console, emu is nearly impossible.

For horizontal scrolling check out The Gizzle Wap and the Blizzard of Firn in the Bb forum. MountainKing has a really nice, smooth horizontal scroll going on in that game. Maybe he can help. Love the subject matter of the game, very unique.

The "You're Gonna Wish I Never Heard of This Game" Notes: My first game out I had a situation in level 1 where I rescued the required creatures, the Paladin showed up, but dropped no map. I rescued 2 more Paladins before a map appeared. I noticed that at times the star was no longer in the sky. I have had this happen in 3 different play throughs. Something is causing the star to disappear and any creature found while the star is gone does not drop a map. In one game, I got the star to appear, it disappeared, I rescued a Bunipy, the star reappeared and I then rescued a Paladin who gave me the map. (see pictures of Paladin walking off with star in sky and then screen with no map but star still in sky) Jumping over a power-up collects it, even if you do not make contact with it. The GW can still dig holes beneath him even in mid-jump. Not sure if that's a big deal, but it's there. BF is still ignoring holes dug in its honor. Sometimes 2 or 3 passes. The hole does not close and he just buzzes by. I know you said it would still register, but I don't think it is, or if it is, it is hard to know. I cannot dig in the spot directly above a snow hill if there is a tree on the screen. (see picture) I'm not seeing any frozen ponds or shrubs anymore, only the snow hills. I liked the ponds and shrubs. MM no longer breaks the atmosphere when jumping with hole dug, but I do get a double bird image when jumping while there is a hole on the screen. There is a delay after the BF crashes in the hole before I can dig a new hole. When the BF contacts the hole and it fills, I cannot dig a new hole for about 2 beats. This becomes problematic once the vortices appear in the boss fight and I need to have a hole in play at all times. The sound that is made when GW digs a hole only sounds maybe one out of four digs, and for some reason usually more often under a tree (anecdotal speculation) In one game the star was in the sky (before getting the map), but my next dig was a golden dog, not the paladin. It might have been a time when the star was missing, I cannot confirm. I tried to catch the dog, but when I jumped over him he changed direction, then ran off. I feel like I contacted him on the way down, but he was in mid-turn so maybe it did not register? If I start the game immediately after the new cutscene (after the title screen, which I love by the way), I get everything in threes (see pictures). Three sushi, three ghosts, three bunipy, etc. I have successfully reproduced this multiple times. The Star in the sky appears on the left after I get the map. Maybe it has always done this, but I seem to be paying much more attention to where the star is this time around. Is this intentional? Is there anyway to make the hole close faster after a creature pops out? This would make it much easier to catch the ghost rather than waiting. Absolutely non-essential, just me wanting to play faster. MM detects buried creatures from the apex of this flight without Eagle Eye power after map is obtained and X is being sought. Is there a way to keep the current score on the screen after the game reverts to the title screen? Or maybe have the score appear on the title screen as well? I keep trying to catch my score, but I'm too busy jotting down notes! GW is still getting stuck just above the ground after being hit during the boss fight (see picture). I can get to level 4 consistently, but it still takes forever to get to the X once the map is found. I tend to freeze to death during the BF boss fight at the end of level 4. Maybe make the time twig more effective to help prolong the day? See, I told you you'd be sorry...

I was so enamored with Strange Red Tree that when I saw this announced I had great interest in seeing what was coming next from the Gizzle Wap! Thanks for checking out the blog and for the kind words. I'm the best kept secret on the internet. Anxiously awaiting 61...

Ok, had a couple of hours to spend on it today and here's what I've got: On the level 3 boss fight I have had the BF ignore the hole when the vortex is on screen several times. I'm trying to replicate this reliably to get more data. Upon restarting a new game (from the end of an old one, wherein I did not return to the title screen first), I had a game killing situation. Instead of starting at the ocean, I started with a dead tree to the right. I could not go left and once I dug a hole, it would not fill and I could not progress to the right (see picture). Any time I dig a hole, if the vortex is on the screen, it reverses direction and heads for the ground. While this isn't really a bug, it can be used as a poor man's shield when you don't have the actual shield power. Doesn't mean it has to go away, just wanted you to be aware. While I like the randomization, I think my reach may have exceeded my grasp. The game is significantly harder now and I'm having a lot of trouble getting past level 3. The main issue seems to be with how far you have to go to find the star impact point. Is there a way to limit that to something like: Star Impact point is never farther than X from the spot where the map is found, wherein X is a good, but not unreasonable distance from where the map is found? That said, I think the randomization can go. I had originally envisioned it being something like: creatures to be rescued must be greater than 3, but not more than 8. The range of 1-10 is too broad and with the passage of time already scaling up with the level, it means that there is an unwinnable level somewhere out there wherein you have to save 10 in just a couple of minutes. The idea for randomizing had more to do with keeping the levels varied and the score dynamic, however with the time limit already scaling and the creature generation completely random (throw in evil creatures to up the "find" rate per level), the game already had enough factors to keep it dynamic and keep scores from being too static. This was a bad suggestion from me. The snow drifts seem to undulate as you move across the screen. Is that what you meant by them being having random appearance? The shield does not work if there is no vortex on the screen. Not a big deal since it keeps me from wasting it when not needed. Just noted it as occurring. MM does not sing if there is a hole dug. Not overly problematic, but it does prevent me from "sounding" out the proper location if I have dug improperly while I wait for my hole to fill. I don't think it was like this before the "hole must fill" rule was introduced. I'm having a lot more difficulty getting the White Crunch-Not into the hole to capture him (see picture of him coasting over the hole), but less trouble with the Blue Bunipy. Go figure. Previously it seemed like when I jumped he moved down, so if I jumped at the right time he would fall in the hole. That doesn't seem to work as reliably as before. Jumping repeatedly like a spaz pushes the MM up into the highest part of the sky beyond where he can normally fly. Not sure that's an issue, but I don't want him to run out of oxygen.. Back into the blizzard I go...