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 Little Ghost Joe alpha
Author: Johnny Look Submitted: 30th May, 2007 Favourites:0
Genre: Demo Downloads: 312
Rated:


Edited By Johnny Look on 6/1/2007

Little Ghost Joe is a platformer somewhat similar to some classics like Mario I've been working for 6 months with lots of diferent enemies and obstacles (although this version is kinda short of them) and a online highscores table among other tasty features.

The soundtrack was composed by Johan Hargne.

----New version: Alpha 2

--New from alpha 1
-Better graphical optimization
-Adjusted movement: More responsive controls
-New enemies
-Low/High graphic details option
-Fixed some minor bugs
------

This is an alpha version, so this means this game is incomplete, so some features aren't available yet,
and it's likely to have some bugs.

If you find any, I'd like you to let me know.

You can find the online high scores table at
www.neogen2.com/lgjscores.php

!!!!Important Note!!!

Before playing the game, you must install the font "incognita", by copying and pasting
the font file in the windows/fonts/ directory or the text will look messed up.

--Story
1908.

Little Joe was a very happy archeologist until the day he got killed at home by a outlaw called
Brute Roger.
Once he went to the Heaven's Gate, St.Peter said to Little Joe: You can only enter in Heaven,
if you help me. I want my Holy Golden Cup back, someone stole it from me and I just can't explain how.
Return it to me, and you ll be happy for the rest of your eternity. Joe agreed."


--Controls

The default controls are:

Shift- Jump
Keys - Move
Enter - Skip (text/screen)
Y - Confirm
N - Cancel



Review This Download



 


http://freewar-zone.sitesled.com/files/alpha.zip (3.20mb )



Posted by The Chris Street 31st May, 2007

Its not bad... engines pretty solid, but its not really like Mario. There's a lot of slowdown for me too.
 
Posted by waffleton 31st May, 2007

Crashes. every. time. i. die. D<
 
Posted by Johnny Look 31st May, 2007

that's really weird because it didn't crashed once to me, and it runs fairly well.

And I know it's not really like Mario.
 
Posted by waffleton 31st May, 2007

Yeah.
Everytime I press Y to continue, it crashes.
 
Posted by Johnny Look 31st May, 2007

I'm going to see what I can do.
 
Posted by waffleton 31st May, 2007

Oh well, except for the crashes, the game is nice x3
The levels a little bit too hard maybe for being so early in the game? (only got to level 5 or somethin')
 
Posted by Johnny Look 31st May, 2007

thanks I know about that, I'll probably adjust the game difficulty later.

About the crash, try remapping the button 3 key to something else and try pressing that key when you lose, instead of using Y.
 
Posted by Zethell 31st May, 2007

Well, the game didnt crash for me, ran very smooth, execpt when i scrolled fast, then it slowed down alittle.

i DIDNT like the movement engine, it suxxored my ballzors, but it wasnt the worst i'v seen, it was pretty solid. well.. Solid, not pretty. but alittle smoother would be nice.

thumbs up.
 
Posted by Sketchy 31st May, 2007

didn't crash for me either, though it was a slow. i think the engine's pretty decent. the problem i had was with changing direction in mid air - it's not responsive enough, making it hard to judge your landing precisely.
 
Posted by viva/volt 1st June, 2007

Even though I wasn't that good at it, it was a good game .

I liked the black and white thing but the engine was a little tricky to get used to, I also agree on difficulty 'tis a wee bit hard at the start. I kept missing enemies because of the jumping too .
 
Posted by alexandre szybiak 1st June, 2007

You say your game has a lot of different enemies and obstacles, i believe you, but... where are they ? You have to show them fast, not puting a new one every 3 levels. You have to make a first level that rocks.
And about giving a tutorial for EVERY new enemies and obstacles, is that necessary ?
And the bone collecting thing doesn't make the game better.
I liked the fact that it was black and white, the music fits well the slow pace, though a bit depressing ( which is really weird and doesn't fit the game design at all ).
I'll conclude by saying i'm disappointed, especially because you said there was gonna be a lot of enemies and stuff, but it was empty, like most game ( even comercial game, sometimes )
I hope this was constructive enough. bye
 
Posted by Kazuma 1st June, 2007

I didn't like the movement engine. It made small, easy jumps too hard. It was too hard to judge the distance.

Then I cheated and jumped to level five. That was fun.
 
Posted by Johnny Look 1st June, 2007

Thanks for the suggestions and criticism !
That's REALLY helpful.
I'm going to change the engine drastically, to turn the game easier and with more responsive controls.

I'm also going to add the new enemies and obstacles in the first levels instead of showing new ones ever level.

alexandre szybiak* remember I said " lots of diferent enemies and obstacles >>(although this version is kinda short of them)<<"
That's why this version is kinda empty, there's only one of the enemies out of the 5 others (I might add more).
btw thanks a lot for the criticism.
 
Posted by Johnny Look 1st June, 2007

New alpha is up, with major changes like more responsive controls, new enemies, and high/low details option so that now almost everyone should be able to play it smoothly.

Same download link.
 
Posted by Ski 2nd June, 2007

"I want my Holy Golden Cup back"

lol
 
Posted by Sketchy 2nd June, 2007

First of all, huge improvement over the last version - especially the movement (very slick). Levels do seem a bit sparse and easy now (especially since you can jump further) but i guess that's ok. Level 5 is a lot better than the others - i love the spinny things (feel kind of like indiana jones running from that giant boulder). I'd recommend that you introduce new enemies nearer the start of levels - it's a bit annoying to get near the end of a level only to have to start over because you die if you jump on a new enemies head, when up til then that would kill them (talking about the falling blocks - should have known better from playing mario but anyways). I think there's one point where you have to jump off a cliff and theres a baddie underneath and no down sign to tell you where to go anyway, which is bad (unless i imagined it). Still doesn't run that smoothly, even with HUD off - maybe allow the option for the birds, clouds etc to be turned off or replaced with background rather than active objects, or reduce the colour mode - might help, don't know. I think use a font that's standard in xp and newer instead of asking players to install a new one - how about chiller, bradley hand, blackadder, or viner hand? also, still waiting for lots of secrets and powerups. I think you need to make the levels more compact, and packed with enemies and obstacles, and maybe even some basic puzzle elements. Also, be more inventive with your baddies - make them functional rather than just a threat (like how you can use the shells of the baddies in mario as weapons or to break blocks). You already get a bit of extra spring when you jump on the baddies head, so why not have the player use this to get up to higher platforms etc or jump further. maybe use the falling blocks as lifts - i don't know, but you get the idea - make it not just about running and jumping and nothing else. I think the information popups are not needed - maybe have actual signs that you can press up when you're next to them to read what they say (certainly don't have one key that does nothing but close the info screen - shift would do). You also don't need to ask if I want to try again every time I die - assume I do, and let me press esc or something and have the option of quitting or cancelling. I started getting that bug where it crashes if you die too now (only on level 5).

Anyways, good job with the modifications - it was actually a lot of fun to play this time round
 
Posted by axel 2nd June, 2007

The level design is boring. Try using more of that empty airspace, and add more obstacles and different kind of enemies to vary gameplay. Put the player to work; Make him jump, climb, dodge, run, etc. That's what platform games are all about.

Also: Drop the storyline, it doesn't need one
 
Posted by Johnny Look 2nd June, 2007

thanks a lot sketchy, all your suggestions are really useful !

There's already an enemy with springs in the head (not available in this version though) which is useful to jump over higher platforms.

About the fonts, the full version will be packaged in a installer so that's not a big problem.
 
Posted by Johnny Look 2nd June, 2007

btw thanks axel I know there's a lot of empty space in the first levels, I'll fill it with enemies and obstacles soon.

 
Posted by The Chris Street 2nd June, 2007

Are you sure you modified the engine? Or did you set the frame rate to something rather high? It's a lot smoother now but its also so fast as to be virtually unplayable.
 
Posted by Johnny Look 2nd June, 2007

Now that's weird !
The only I did was delete some objects outside the frame and lower the colors.
 
Posted by Peblo 2nd June, 2007

I can't take any of your post seriously with an avatar like that.

Decent engine, though like other said above, there's not enough level content.
 
Posted by Johnny Look 2nd June, 2007

Do you take me seriously now ?

I know about the levels being empty, that's what I'm working on now.

I might even release a new alpha today.
 
Posted by alexandre szybiak 2nd June, 2007

I say : take your time for level design, study the great platform classics, level design is fundamental in simple games with simple mechanics. Try to avoid flatness, emptiness ( though empty areas can set a certain mood ), too much regularity. Look at marios levels, they are like partitions, every single block is put on purpose, there's no place for randomness in platform game. Even if you have a very little numbers of gameplay elements, it's ok, even if you only have solid block ! i mean look at nifflas games ( knytt especially ) there's almost NOTHING but blocks ( ok it has awesome music ), but he worked hard on its level design, to create a world we believe in. Good luck !
 
Posted by Johnny Look 3rd June, 2007

thanks alexandre, I understand what you say, you can be sure I'll work hard on the level design, I already have enough past experiences with games featuring crappy levels.
 
Posted by bhlaab 4th June, 2007

flip the way the camera tracks horizontal movement. right now it shows where you've been better than it shows where you're going. if you're moving to the right, have the character lag behind to the left. not only is this functionally better, but with the composition of the window it will make the game "feel" less clumsy.

also use this with vertical movement so it doesn't spazz out every time you jump. if you go back and look at mario, you'll notice that 90% of the time the camera only adjusts vertically AFTER you've made that tricky jump, not during.
 

 
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Johnny Look
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