new alpha version download

here is a new alpha-version for you to try.
=link discontinued=
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/44618/cracklepop_alpha_0.115.rar

fyi: please use spacebar to jump
as there is a known issue where the mouse button doesn't work all the time.

known issue 2: you get stuck occasionally. hit escape, then restart.. hopefully I'll fix this soon.

patch-notes:
I noticed some problems with play-control and have since change the way you move in the following ways:

1.No more charging to jump. Now you will intantaniously be jumped according to the lengh of the vector (how far your mouse is from the ball). I noticed a problem with the charging, and releaseing. Since you always wanted to be able to react quickly to a bounce you would charge up a jump. Often this would cause you to have too much force when you only needed a small jump. Now you can jump with any force and direction you want at a moments notice making the game more enjoyabe due to better play-control.

2. Graphics. I added some pretty particle effects. Some just to be purty.. and others to be functional. For instance you will notice that when a jump is available you will see the ball lights up. This gives you a visual clue that makes it easier to know when you can jump.

3. Limited jump-spamming. There was a bug where a player could keep hitting the space bar over and over again to fly around the level.. that's since been smashed.

pre-alpha demo download!

demo download:

=link discontinued= https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/44618/cracklepop_alpha_0.112.rar

Don't expect too much, but I have a demo level compiled. Lots of work to do still. Let me know if you have any good ideas on inprovements.
cheers!
-nic

ps. Here's the time to beat: 16.3 seconds! Remember, getting stars rapidly gives you combos which increases your time.. each star only gives you 1/10th of a second normally.

demo level

New video. Demo level. I'll see if I can post the level. Please give me some feedback and tell me what you think, and any suggestions to improve gameplay. If your feeling competitive you can try to beat my score in the video.. 10.1 second. Getting stars shaves off 1/10th of a second. Getting combos greatly increases subsequent time increases from stars. For instance your 21st star gives you half a second added to your time.

note: theres still a sticky but.. reset the level if you get stuck!

collision problem continued, and a new feel

I want to discuss 2 things.

First, what the heck is going on with this collision problem! It seems to be the most problematic when it's hitting a slight slope. Anyone have a solution to this buggy behaviour??

Secondly, what do you think about the new size of my guy. He certainly looks more intersteller-orby.. which is kind of the way I'm trying to work in now. I also increased his size to make it easier to see what he looks like in normal play, and changes some of his behaviour. Let me know if you think it's a good or bad move and why. Heres the vid:

Collision problem, help I'm stuck in the sand!

I've been having recurring collision problems from the very beginning of development. It seems that somehow the collision system gets confused and places my toon slightly inside the object it has collided with.. then it stops accepting any response from it. It's very possible that I am screwing this up by the way I am setting up my physics/collision model. I'm going to bring it up in a thread with some folks over at GG and see what they say. Here's a video showing my problem. It also shows off how I now use extensive overlapping collision boxes to work around the "only concave" collision box limitation.
-nic


details of my physics and collision rollout:

parallaxing demo

I made a little 2 minute video of my unfinished island level to show some of the new parallaxing functionality. Expect to see some terribly jumps, some crappy textures, and the end of the map a couple of times.. also look for the unintentional falic island at the end. Anyways enjoy. Please leave comments if you have them.

hand drawn levels

I decided to stop pixel-monkeying around and grab my wacom tablet and doodle up some levels. That way things look like they gel a little better even if I'm a terrible artist. Here are some preliminary pics: