Castle Paradox

[Pepsi Ranger]

It’s been six months since I previewed The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition in HamsterSpeak. And six months, I think, is long enough to go without new information.

So, for your viewing pleasure, it’s time to give you a sampling of new features.

For the original preview (to see what’s changed since November), see the link below:

http://superwalrusland.com/ohr/issue9/index.html

Gameplay:

Perhaps the biggest change to come to The Adventures of Powerstick Man since the November preview and, quite obviously, since the December 2000 original release is the implementation of the “Field Stat Counter,” which increases heroes’ stats according to what they do in the field.

For example, if the hero changes direction at any point during the game, the Field Stat Counter will record it. If the counter reaches 1000 points, it will award the hero an increase of 2 agility points (or 3 if the hero is an agile type) and start over again.

By pressing “5” on the number pad, the player can call up a menu with a list of available heroes and select the hero of whose counter he wants to view.





Right now, three stats can be manipulated in the field: strength, agility, and defense. Strength increases when the caterpillar party swims in pools (or the ocean) or climbs ladders. Agility increases when the caterpillar changes walking direction. Defense increases any time the player enters a battle and comes out alive.

I may add a precision (aim) stat later if there should be a place for targeting objects in the field. Also, if/when James includes the global variables for enemies, the defense counter will change from surviving battles to taking points whenever an enemy hits a hero. Hopefully that’ll be implemented before I’m ready to release it.

Also, in some cases, certain NPCs can affect whether you have an easy game or a hard one. For example, in the original game, Powerstick Man could walk across fixed chemical pools in the first part of the factory to restore lost health. The pools were always in the same place every game, and the player could always count on the ease of level-busting in that area. However, in the Extended Edition, the player has two things working against him. The first, the pools are randomly generated, so there’s no guarantee the player will have enough pools in the same area (or even enough in the game) to keep up with the restoration. The second, there’s a janitor walking around the area cleaning up the mess. Once he steps on a chemical pool, he’ll mop it up and it’s gone forever. Give him time to cover the board and you’re out of healing pools.





Another new feature, or rather the extended version of an old feature, is the ability to access new objects including computers, bookshelves, and magazines.



There are other gameplay elements I’ll cover in a future HamsterSpeak preview, but that highlights the major ones.

The Graphics:

And now for the moment you’ve been waiting for (or rather the moment you didn’t know you were waiting for, but know now). In previews past, I gave you snippets of in-game screenshots. They all contained map graphics only. As of this week, however, I have something new to show: updated battle graphics.

For anyone who’s played the original, you’ll know the battle graphics were atrocious. The following screenshots show what they used to look like:





But like all things over time, they’ve improved. Enemies look nicer. And now, as of this week, the backdrops look nicer.

So, without further adieu, it’s time for the world premier of The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition’s improved battle graphics preview:





The first one with the vat animates.

That’s actually all I’m sharing for now. Look for a new HamsterSpeak preview in a month or two.

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition has an expected release date between December 2008 and June 2009.
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Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Tightfloss Maiden

Currently Updating: Chapter 2

[Bob the Hamster]

Yay!

[Pepsi Ranger]

[TMC]

Wow, I need to get back to playtesting. The new graphics are a really nice improvement (I think those two backdrops were burned into my brain as the worst in the game). Even MORE interactivity? Why thank you. When you suggested that I start my playtest over, you didn't mention all this. On top of everything else, it'll obviously be a requirement. It sounds like you're still making major changes to the (especially balance at the) beginning of the game though.

Why not add the Field Stat Counters menu to the main menu instead of tying it to a special key everyone has to read the manual to find (saving the trouble of an on-keypress script on every map as well)? Added to wish list: global onkeypress, etc, triggers.

Also, I'll investigate those bugs really soon using old saves. I wouldn't want James releasing just because all official release blocking bugs are fixed.
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[Pepsi Ranger]

Okay, four months have passed since I posted this thread and I still have yet to write that new HamsterSpeak feature. But the good news is that four months left me plenty of time to make the game even nicer looking—and there’s nothing wrong with things being nicer looking, right?

As of last week I finished updating every battle backdrop leading to the big city, leaving me with only five backdrops left to update from the original game. That means production can speed up again (I think).

It also means the battles no longer look like garbage.

I could go into a new list of features about the game that you’ve never seen in the original, but I think I’ll save that for the next official preview. Instead, I’ll show you a brief sample of the new battle screens to whet your appetite.

And for those who actually played the Legendary Edition I posted a couple weeks ago, this will make you even happier (as I couldn’t imagine the original game’s screens making you happy).

First, I’ll show you what they used to look like. For this preview, I’ll be showing you screenshots of the beach and the cliff side fields.

The Original:



Look at that fine ugly blurring effect. And the gray lines through the fish are stellar.



Don’t you love those old splotchy bushes? How about that big-footed skunk?

The Extended Edition:



What? It’s actually tropical? And the ocean rolls onto the shore? And you can actually hear the waves swelling through stereo sound effects as Powerstick Man clubs a fish with a morning star? Holy crap.



The bushes are almost...normal. Freaky. And the skunks look like skunks. Wow. And how about those ambient birds twittering in the breeze as their hawk-like brethren prepare to eat some heroes? Oh, right. You can’t hear them yet. Sorry.

Yes, there are now sound effects populating the game. Yes, everything is and will be accounted for. Even those blasted computers will buzz when you try to read other people’s e-mails.

And Elwood Walker’s monitor finally sizzles in stereo surround sound when he breaks it after having to listen to the Chrono Trigger soundtrack for the umpteenth time.

And that’s all for now. Stay tuned for the next official preview in HamsterSpeak sometime soon.
_________________
Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Tightfloss Maiden

Currently Updating: Chapter 2

[Newbie_Power]

Definitely a huge improvement of readability on the backdrops, and doesn't look half bad, to boot!
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TheGiz> Am I the only one who likes to imagine that Elijah Wood's character in Back to the Future 2, the kid at the Wild Gunman machine in the Cafe 80's, is some future descendant of the AVGN?