Invisible Munky 2 - Jayenkai/AGameAWeek

History (Feel free to skip all this!!)
A decade ago (March 2005) I was experimenting with Platformer physics, and tried to create a nice engine. "In weeks to come", I postured, "I'll spruce it up with proper graphics".
As I continued to play with the mysteriously barren engine, I found that, far from being empty and barren, the game actually seemed to play really well, and as far as Platform games went, things flowed well.

http://socoder.net/uploads/1/IM_001_thumb.png

The game went on to be a bit of a mini-star in the old BlitzCoder days, and although I had many ideas for a sequel (including a 3D sequel), the newer editions never really seemed to be worth tackling.
There was nothing new to add to the mix, and so the game sat on the shelves, unused.

A few weeks ago, Unity 5 was released, and is free to use for developers like me, who'll never ever make any bloomin' money from their development!
Spurred on by cries of "This is Awesome!" I opted to give it a whirl, and as much as I managed to learn, I also realised that Unity wasn't for me. It's more "Professional" than I'm used to, and I didn't really get along with it.
So, back I hopped to Monkey-X. The language that I've used for ALL my OUYA releases, so far. I figured I might as well stick with what I know, and build upon what I've already created.
I started to bulk up my framework with new features, one of which was a "Lines Collide" function.. At the time I added it, I wasn't thinking of any particular purpose, but upon testing the function, and drawing lots of lines on the screen, my mind was taken back to those old BlitzCoder days, and memories of Invisible Munky were stirred up.

10 Years On
It's literally a whole decade since the original, and if anyone was watching, they'd probably have thought I was doing this on purpose, as a 10th Anniversary Tribute thing. I'm not! It wasn't planned like that! It's entirely co-incidental.
And yet, here we are.

http://socoder.net/uploads/1/IM2_004_thumb.png

Invisible Munky is back, and this time he's got a LOT of bananas to collect.
I've tried to stick to the rules of the original, but have added a few extra bits along the way.
There are "Proper" enemy types, this time around, and Munky's movement style has been made a little less erratic than it once was.
Munky's also learned a new skill, in that he can throw rocks around, too!

Nearly...
The game's engine is pretty much settled upon, with enemies and other things moving roughly how they should.
I'm now working on making a whole bunch of levels, and then with any luck, the game should be ready to go.
Expect to be Munky'ing around, some time in the next week or two.

Youtube Link

\o/yeay\o/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ALwKeSEYs

The invisibility in combination with the monkey noises makes for a very funny combination. :)

I've made 8 levels, so far. The levels are all getting a bit samey, though, so I think I'm going to have to find something extra to spruce it up, as the levels go on.
.. But the game's working nice, and the engine's not completely borked itself, yet, which is nice!!

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Added a few BG styles, but nothing magical!
Still hunting for "something extra"... Might have to add a boss fight.. Hmmm....

Boss fight?! Excellent idea!

A short and simple 3 level demo edition is available here, and will be available for the next week or so.
Over the next few days, I'll be throwing all sorts of oddities into the engine, seeing what does/doesn't work, and trying to figure out the best sort of elements for the game.
It's all going well, so far!!

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The game now has 16 levels, and I've STILL not added the flying enemy, yet! Neat!
Anyway, I'm now trying to decide what to do about health/lives. At the minute the game has none.. One touch = Death.
Up until this point, the levels have been playable enough that you haven't needed anything like a HP or Life system, but thinking ahead to more trickier levels, it might be a good idea to start putting some in!

Bah.. More to come!

Perhaps as a reward for beating the first boss you get a "shield" on the levels afterward?

I've already implemented a collectable heart thing, instead.
The "After beating the first boss" bit might be too tricky!.. Depending on what the boss is like.. I still haven't done that, yet!!

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http://socoder.net/uploads/1/IM2_007_thumb.png

I've tried a number of different styles for the life system, but have inevitably ended up with the good old classic life system. It's odd that I've chosen this, given how settled I previously was on the "One touch = dead" system.
Basic stuff. Start with 2 lives per level. 2.5 second of shield when hit. Dead after all lives are gone.
I'll still be sticking extra-lives in curious places throughout the game.

March 25th

Another day, another batch of 8 levels.
There are now 24 levels in the game, and I'm starting to get a nice feel for the platforming, too. Level 23, in particular, has a really nice layout.
I might start going back to older levels, rejigging them to be more .. um.. 23'ish!
I also had to shuffle a few of the levels around a bit, since Level 15's change caused the next few levels to feel a little out of place.

Anyway, all is well, and I can still easily get a 100% completion on all the levels so far. (I might yet have to rejig the lives structure, to make it harder again...)

If I can get the next 20-odd levels done at this pace, the game oughta be ready to go by next week! .. Maybe .. We'll see!

seems very well made, and... the idea af a "truly invisible hero" seems genial.

Level 25 (and since it's practically the same, but harder, Level 50, too) is now in the game.
At first I was GROSSLY overthinking the concept, but after a bit of simplification, it actually turned out really rather well.

I've had to stress test both levels to ensure they're completable, and am happy that they are at least do-able by myself. .. Meaning it probably won't be too hard for other folk!

Anyway, they're done.
Now I just have to make levels 26->49, and we're ready to go!!!

Another 8 levels are in. Trying not to make things too samey.. Struggling!!!
More to go!!

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All 50 levels are now in the game! Yowsers!
I'm currently replaying through all the levels, double checking for bugs and the like, and ensuring the game is indeed beatable.
I've reached 25, and am now resting, and faffing about on the net.. as you do!

I'll carry on my playthrough, make sure there's no major issues, and then probably upload the game to OUYAReview either tomorrow or Monday, so it oughta be available fairly shortly :D

Yay!

Kind of weird not seeing it be a weekly game. So how has the transition been going since you're taking more time to make the games this time around?

If I'd have attempted this as a weekly game, the first thing I'd've done would be to create a level generator, and have it randomly build it's own levels.
Since I'm taking more time, I'm getting a chance to build (and test) my own set of levels.

To be honest, they're really not that much different! I think I've learned a lot of odd habits after all those random levels, but the extra time and effort spent building them should hopefully make for an interesting game. ... Maybe!

If I'm completely honest, I could probably have achieved a lot of this game within the space of a week.. I'm just being lazy, is all ;)

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Last minute additions are in, and an "Easy Mode" for those who just can't quite hack it.
I'll be doing the uploading stuff in the morning, and hopefully the game should be with you tomorrow night, although that's entirely dependent on how fast it gets through review.

Official thread here.