Territo: Cave Crawler. [DEMO JUST ADDED]

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Story

It was just a normal day for Samuel. He was exploring, as he usually did because he lived out in the mountains. His parents told him to go no further than the river. However, one day while he was exploring, he noticed that someone had placed a log over the river, so he decided to climb across the river, despite what his parents said.
He found a whole new world. He had never seen it before, and he had no clue of its existence. While exploring, he found a deep hole. He was curious where it went to. Suddenly two thugs found him, and threw him into the hole.
After lying for a while, he awoke in a dark cave. Alone. No sounds but the few shuttering drips in the distance.

Plot

Lost in a deep cavern. With little or no light. You must escape the cave. What happens when you escape? You'll have to play to find out.

Characters

Spoiler: Samuel

Name: Samuel
Age: 9
Gender: M
Playable?: Y
Description:
An average 9 year old who loves exploring the mountains. He's the main character of the story. As game play progresses, you will find out more about him.

Spoiler: Jacob

Name: Jacob
Age: 54
Gender: M
Playable?: N
Description:
He was 48 years old when he got stuck in the cave. He survives on the little insects and rodents that crawl through the caverns. He comes pretty early in the game.

Screenshots

Spoiler: Screenshots

(More coming soon)

Demo

Spoiler: Beta V0.1

CLICK HERE

Gameplay Time: ~20 Minutes.
Release: 5/2/09.
Version: Beta 0.1
Information: Just a small beta. Please play and critique.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

This reminds me much of an RMXP game, Under. Similar concept-you are stuck in a cave and the objective is to escape. These kind of games (where you are stuck in a place and must find a way out) usually appeal to me. I'll keep my eye on this!

(that logo needs some serious work though! the effects on the background and text are hideous. just use some sort of cave pic for the background and lose the effects. the text is borderline illegible, there isn't enough contrast with the background)

 

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Thanks for the feedback.

Yah I know. The banner is temporary, I will probally get it "Professionally" made.

Any Critique on the mapping?

 

[hellhound]

A Very simple story plot, nice! ^^ but unfortunately it's VX, I don't use nor play VX, if only I have the time to buy it. btw, Samuel Smiling while being surprised by 2 thugs? ^^;

 

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It's his only face set :\
I may get some custom ones.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yah I know. The banner is temporary, I will probally get it "Professionally" made.

Any Critique on the mapping?

There ain't a lot to comment on as far as mapping goes (two maps isn't all that much) but for VX they're very well done. You've managed to somewhat eliminate the horibble square-ish look of the tiles. That cave screen looks extremely red though. It gives it the impression that there's a lot of heat there. If that's not what you're trying to do then tone down the read and lower the saturation to give it a gloomier, less light look. (while still retaining a good amount of visibility!)

 

[Numb]

Thanks for the feedback.
I have changed it now.

Update:
New Screenshot added.
Check it out.

Update2:
New Character Biography.

Update3:
New Screenshots Added.
Demo coming soon.

Update4:
DEMO ADDED! Check first post.

 

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Anyone played the demo yet?

 

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D: Someone please play this game.

 

[jadecavy]

Alright, I just finished the demo, and the first thing I have to say is, pretty good job on the mapping. Although the maps grew pretty repetitive near the end, what more could you do?

I just have one major complaint:
The cave was FAR too redish. It was hard to see things at the best of times, and I even had to turn up the brightness on my monitor.

Another thing I did not like was the inconsistency of everything. For example, the vines were climbable on some maps, while not on others. Also you could dig on some maps, while not on others. You could mine on some maps, while not on others, ect. This isn't a big deal, but it does effect the gameplay.

Also, I didn't like how when transferred to a new map, you started right in the doorway. You had to step forwards and then back again to go back through the entrance.

The story was not very well done at all, no matter how fun the demo was. Two guys just randomly came along and pushed a kid down a pit? What kind of douches are they? Also, between the main character and the old guy, there really wasn't that much interaction before he joined the party. Perhaps you could have him send the kid on a quest to find something, or something similar before he joins? That way you could also show the player how to do certain things that are not as obvious.

Finally, the following things are not major problems, but small errors:
In this area you can walk on the top of a pillar:

Spoiler

Here you cannot walk back through the doorway, which annoyed me:

Spoiler

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And finally, here you can min from one direction, but not the other two:
Minable:

Not Minable:

That's all I have for now. It may not seem it, but I did enjoy the demo, and will be waiting for the full release, which comes out on the same day as Advent Children Complete.

 

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Thank you for your reply.
Yes. The story is incomplete.
I mostly wanted critique on the mapping, music, and menu screen.
^,,^ Gameplay and story should be improved.

 

[jadecavy]

Ok. I really can't say anything about the music, as my speakers are not working, however the mapping is definately above average for VX, however seeing the same stuff over and over gets a little boring. I understand that it is hard to do much more with the RTP, but perhaps you could add an underground lake, or perhaps some sort of ruins or something like that?

As for the title screen, I found it really cool. I'm assuming you made it yourself. Does that creature have anything to do with the story?