Description:
A classic-inspired jump'n gun with:
- nonlinear level layout
- a good number of enemy types
- a few bosses
- a couple of (not-so) secrets
- a cheesy story
Controls:
- Left/Right: move
- Z shoot
- X jump
- Up: something something
Details:
The game is rather short, meant to be experienced in Normal or Hard difficulties, but I've included an Easy mode with unlimited hitpoints to allow anybody to finish it by brute force (you'll even get the good ending when finishing the game this way, but you'll feel cheap inside :)
Progress is saved as long as the cartridge is not reset/reloaded so if you collect an item or kill a boss, you won't need to do it again, despite restarting the game at the beginning.
This is my first Pico8 cartridge, and probably last. It started as the Ghosts'n Goblins homage I've always wanted to make, but turned into something else as I started to deal with map/sprite size limits. I had a lot of fun making it, especially the art, but the strict limits on tokens and code size made the lazy programmer in me cry :-}
Tips:
- Enemies are deterministic and follow simple patterns, try to learn them.
- Bosses are only vulnerable in the head.
- After killing the first boss at the Cathedral entrance, you have to go back to the Cemetery and cross the open door below where you started.
- You can break some ground blocks (the brown ones with yellow dots) by shooting them.
- You need to get the 4 orbs to summon the second boss.
Changelog:
v0.999rc
- Fixed bridge area (player could get stuck in Easy)
- Fixed non-looping music
v0.99rc
- Added music during gameplay
v0.99
- Various collision detection fixes
v0.93 (Hall'o'ween)
- Halloween sprites
- Rebalanced small details to account for player feedback
v0.92:
- Repositioned enemies
- Made first backtrack/shortcut more obvious
v0.91:
- Fixed item lost after respawn
- Added visual hint to second/third screens
Known bugs:
- You can get stuck in walls at screen transitions when jumping (move backwards to get unstuck)
- Quite rare missed collisions with ground
This is my first Pico8 cartridge, and probably last.
Well, that's a shame. There were some clever things put into this, plus it's quite the game!
It started as the Ghosts'n Goblins homage I've always wanted to make, but turned into something else as I started to deal with map/sprite size limits.
Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed that at all aside from the first two bosses swooping like one of the enemies in G 'n G. Plus this game's also hard like that one!
Hah, found the "up" secret. Funny stuff :)
I like several of the small touches in this one, like the ghoulish first screen and a place (might be several) where there's bones right underneath a falling trap.
Loving this for its simplicity and overall play but noticed one bug.. When you get the broom you can glitch yourself into one of the boss rooms, Or more specifically the upper-left outside corner of the room and get stuck there..
This is what happens if you keep flying up and right a couple screens to the right of the starting area.
Thanks for playing, for the nice comments and for the bug reports. I'll try to fix them in a future version.
Very nice. I fought my way through normal mode by clumsy bloody-mindedness. It wasn't clear what the orbs were doing until I read your note. Also, is it intended after finishing the game that it removes all your power-ups, but doesn't reset the map?
I did glitch into/through the ground a few times, but I guess that's one of your known bugs.
Thanks! beating it in normal is quite a feat :)
The orbs purpose, as with any other collectable, is "obscure by design", I tried to encourage exploration/taking risks and make the game a bit non-linear (if you reach the second boss room without all 4 orbs, you'll see empty slots, which should give you the clue that you need all 4 of them)
After finishing the game it may become a bit broken, you're right, it's not really prepared to be played after that due to the way persistence is kept. Only a full reset/reload can fix it after that.
Passing through certain blocks is the worse bug so far, sorry about that.
Do you intend for pickups and tunneled-out areas to persist from one game to the next?
About pickups, shortcuts and dead bosses being persistent, yes, that's by design. It's sort of a simple progression system that I implemented mostly because I was playing Bloodborne by then :)
I personally love the atmosphere in this game. Pretty dark and grimy with a good use of the color limited pallet.
I kept getting game overs, but wanted to see everything it had to offer, so thanks for the easy mode option. I'll tackle normal mode some day.
Nice platformer. Good physics. Would've liked some wall-climbing like Batman.
Thanks for the nice comments,
I've just found this amazing speedrun in 3:10, it's great that somebody took the time to master the game and find the exploits, thanks to whoever did it :)
Tried this some more. It's possible to get stuck in a no-exit area when playing EASY level. Can only press CTRL-R to exit.
Suggest you add MENU, "Re-enter Room" to exit from this stuck state.
Good point, you mean in getting stuck under de bridge in the moon screen right? I'll see what I can do, the easy level was a late addition... thanks
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