The Daily Click

::. ::. ::.

Level 2 demo

Author:

Neuro

Submitted:

12th April, 2011

Favourites:

Genre:

Demo

Downloads:

488

Rated:

4th Place

(4.89 / 5)

Edited By Neuro on 4/12/2011

'Level 2' is the video game to go along with Last Chance to Reason's newly released album of the same name. Each level of the game is a song from the album, and provided here is the first level, 'Upload Complete'. The rest of the game is still under construction.

The game is a hybrid of platformer and arcade shoot-em-up, with events synchronized with the music. Blast your way through a digital world and shoot for a high score!

Control the game with either FPS-style Keyboard+Mouse setup, or use a Wired USB Xbox 360 controller dual-stick style. See below for details.

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Windows XP service pack 3 or above, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
1.6ghz processor
512mb system RAM (1gb for vista and 7)
128 MB Direct3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver

You need up-to-date DirectX to run (9 or above), get that here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3

CONTROL DETAILS:

Keyboard + Mouse:

- [WASD] or [Arrow Keys] - Movement in Down, Up, Right and Left directions.
- [W] or [Up] - functions as Jump (and Double-Jump) in platforming sections.
- [Ctrl] or [Space] - Dedicated Jump (and Double-Jump) keys for platforming sections.
- [Mouse Movement] - Aim with the cursor.
- [Left Click] - Shoot weapon.

Xbox 360 controller:

- [Left Analog Stick] - Movement.
- [Right Analog Stick] - Shooting. Gun will fire automatically towards direction pressed.
- [Any other button] - Jump and Double-Jump in platforming sections. Right Shoulder Bumper button is recommended. Shoulder Triggers will not work.
- [Start button] - This will reset the game back to the opening titles.

(Similar dual-analog PC controllers may also function, though no other models have been tested.)

A Readme is included with further details (common issues etc.), find it in the game folder or the start menu folder after installation. Alternatively, go to http://lastchancetoreason.wordpress.com/ and read the full press release! This includes the full Readme.

Review This Download

http://www.box.net/shared/ce938s1hqe (8.94 mkb )

Posted by W3R3W00F

12th April, 2011

Rated :

Holy crap.

...Faved. o_O

Posted by nim

13th April, 2011

Rated :

Amazing! Really enjoyed it!
 

 
My main concern with this game was that I wouldn't like it so much because of the music - it's just not my taste. But I found myself playing through this a few times (3 so far, probably many more later), because of how well the visuals were synched to the soundtrack. I think I actually said "holy crap" out loud when the singing faces appeared. It would've been nice to hear some sound effects, perhaps as a bonus feature after playing through it once. Great work

Comment edited by nim on 10/8/2013

Posted by Neuro

13th April, 2011

Thank you guys! I'm glad the music wasn't off-putting. Also glad that it worked fine for both of you, some people get some pretty bad framerate issues that de-sync the whole game.

We were definitely considering sounds, but we never got round to making or testing any - very likely we'll have some eventually. I noticed that more feedback is needed for explosions and such, this was realized when we added xbox controller support with the rumble - felt much better.

Edit: Thank you for accepting this download page!

Comment edited by Neuro on 4/13/2011

Posted by Knudde (Shab)

13th April, 2011

Rated :

Cannot load object joystick2.mfx
http://postimage.org/image/es9q2tno/

Posted by Neuro

13th April, 2011

This is due to requiring at least DirectX 9.0, there is a link in the description

Posted by Knudde (Shab)

13th April, 2011

Rated :

I have DX 11....

Posted by Knudde (Shab)

13th April, 2011

Rated :

Reinstall of DX11 solved my issues. Fantastic. The player tends to get lost in all of the chaos going on, but that's a minor issue.

Posted by Duncan

13th April, 2011

THIS RULES!

You just need to make it possible to die, or add a seperate game mode with finite lives, so you have to bust your balls to get through each track.

I love how uncompromising this is compared to your average procedural music game. Don't like shooters? Don't like prog metal? Don't like pixels as big as your fist? YOU WILL!

Posted by Chris Burrows

14th April, 2011

WOW! That looks amazing. How did you animate the singing heads? and everything else for that matter.
 

 
Also! The bug guy boss it's bad ass! How did you do that? Is he made from a bunch of separate objects?
 

 
If you had the time to make a bug guy boss example that would mean the world!
Comment edited by The Chris Street on 4/14/2011

Posted by Neuro

14th April, 2011

Duncan: In the full game there are plans for different game modes, specifically for Lives and Game Over's!

Chris: Lip-sync is thanks to the DirectShow object's ability to read what time position the song is at - at specific times, it sets all 'singing' guys to the proper frame. This is also how most events in the game are controlled. I might be able to get a multi-part boss example done - it's basically setting position to other objects (action point, extremely useful!) and controlling angles relative to their root object, and each attack or action has its own sequence it runs through.

Posted by Chrisbo

14th April, 2011

Rated :

This is absolutely incredible. Love it. The syncing to the music really makes it work. I really, REALLY hope to see a full game made out of this. The variety in gameplay, the transitions in the game based on the part of the song playing, and yes the singing heads were amazing, great work!!

edit - Didn't realize that this is your band as the soundtrack. Very impressive sound! I grew out of metal in college but still love listening to some of my old CD's, and I very much loved the music in this. Very cool concept you've got going!
Comment edited by Chrisbo on 4/14/2011

Posted by Neuro

14th April, 2011

Oh, it's not my band! This is Last Chance to Reason, a prog metal band from Maine. I'm here in California. They hit me up to do this project with them quite some time ago. Met them for real for the first time last month while they were touring through! This project has come a long way.

Posted by johnpow66

14th April, 2011

Rated :

i was head banging till the very end of the demo!

this is awesome!!!! the music fitted with the game really well...i did get lost at some point like i was flying then i wasnt able 2 fly anymore and i keeped dying lol but who cares this is awesomeee! the boss was amazing!!! when will the full version be out?

Posted by Tropik

14th April, 2011

Rated :

oh my goodness! It was fuc***g AMAZING experience! : D Give me more!

Posted by Lobot

14th April, 2011

Rated :

Fantastic! Reminds me of Gynoug on the megadrive- sick!

Posted by Shawn_S

14th April, 2011

Rated :

I really like this you did a good job. The pixel art is fantastic. Only thing to consider perhaps is to make your character stand out a bit more. Purple player on purple backgrounds can get him kind of lost in the action. That's a very minor quibble though and doesn't affect the game overall. I agree, a mode that you have limits on lives. But the game would be brutally hard if you didn't have an unlimited life mode lol.

Posted by Lelle

15th April, 2011

Rated :

This was totally insane. x)
The art concepts were great and very fitting to the music.
But as some people have allready commented, you can get kind of lost at some points.
But overall one of the sweetest gaming experiences I've had for quite some time.

Posted by Sketchy

15th April, 2011

Rated :

Holy Mackerel - that was amazing!
I agree that there should be limited lives, but it should be made easier.
Having said that, I'm on a netbook with neither a mouse nor an xbox controller (keyboard controls, please!), and wouldn't have lasted 10 seconds without unlimited lives, and would have missed out on all the cool effects.

As far as music goes, I think it's all about context. I would never listen to this kind of music normally, but it's perfect for a game like this, or an action movie, or whatever.

Posted by AugustoAD

15th April, 2011

Rated :

kooooooooooooooooool! like it a lot. IS the full game going to be freeware? :S

Sorry, no time to read stuff, gotta got 2 school.

Posted by Willy C

15th April, 2011

Rated :

Holy crap this game is bad ass!

Posted by Neuro

15th April, 2011

Good point about the context, Sketchy. Sorry you had to play without a controller or mouse, though!

I don't think the full game will be freeware. We have a few plans for how to do it, one idea is releasing each song/level as we finish them and selling them for a very small price - kinda episodic.

We'll definitely see what we can do about the issues commented on so far. It's easy to overlook things like that when you're so used to the game.

Thanks for all the great feedback! Has anyone had any issues with framerate or any kind of bugs? I'm actually really surprised anything like that hasn't come up!

Posted by SupaStix

15th April, 2011

Rated :

Wow... No words can describe how amazing this demo is! I can't wait to see how the final product turns out!

Posted by Pixelthief

15th April, 2011

Rated :

O_O

Posted by Wackyjackie

16th April, 2011

Rated :

More!

Framerate issues? Sometimes the game is pretty laggy in the menu. In the game everything is OK. Oh, and you should add ps2 type controller compatibility.

/Band is awesome, BTW/
/I've finished the demo with only 2 deaths

Posted by Ski

17th April, 2011

Rated :

Horrible music >.< Can't listen to that as I play, but then I know thats the whole point of the game...

I can't argue that the game isnt well programmed, or the art isn't good, they're both to a proffesional standard, but just blasting objects with a laser beam doesn't really do it for me...

Posted by Jon C-B

17th April, 2011

Rated :

Wow Adams 3/5 stars put this in 3rd, wierd. I dont personally like the music, screaming songs dont appeal to me. But i did have quite a lot of fun playing it anyway.

Posted by ELC_Games

18th April, 2011

Rated :

Normally, I'm not a big fan of screamo. But, coupled with this game, the style of music fit perfectly. Everything was beautiful, man. Excellent job!

Posted by Eternal Man [EE]

6th May, 2011

Rated :

Man that was really good! Some really top-notch pixel art, very good synching and a solid engine. The music... not so much my cup of tea.(Would have been

with classic prog rock though! Perhaps a bit out of context...)

Anyway nice work!

//EE

EDIT: I can swear it just said "Thanks for commenting and ranting on this download"

Comment edited by Eternal Man [EE] on 5/6/2011