SpiceWare's Blog

While some sprites seem out of place(was that a Star Wars snow speeder?), all are well done.

 

Well, it does take place in the snow.

 

I put the large speeder in there, because in the background at roughly the same time, the AT-AT and a small snowspeeder are moving across the horizon. We just threw them in there for fun. There's also another "guest" sprite in the fourth level, if you play long enough.

 

Thanks for the compliments! It was a lot of fun to work with Bob on that one.

Yes, thanks for the compliments. It was a lot of fun to work on this.

 

There are three additional levels, in a variety of locals, each with 2 more reindeer. Each level is progressively harder than the prior. I can easily beat levels 1 and 2, and have squeaked by level 3 a few times, but have yet to beat the game. As such, I wish there was a level select so you could practice levels 3 and 4(but still require playing the full game for the "bonus ending").

 

Designing the levels was amazingly difficult. I'm very very glad that (a) Nathan was willing to help me test them and (b) Nathan is so good at the game. I remember being up at midnight tweaking the last level and just about ready to smash my computer in frustration because it would take me 20 tries (and ten minutes) just to reach the part of the level I was working on!

 

Incidentally, it should be possible to get all sleigh pieces and all deer in the game without dying - though I can't figure out how on the 2nd level, though I'm pretty sure we designed it that way. :)

I remember being up at midnight tweaking the last level and just about ready to smash my computer in frustration because it would take me 20 tries (and ten minutes) just to reach the part of the level I was working on!

Really? You didn't you some cheats?

I remember being up at midnight tweaking the last level and just about ready to smash my computer in frustration because it would take me 20 tries (and ten minutes) just to reach the part of the level I was working on!

Really? You didn't you some cheats?

Some, but a big part of testing was how hard it was to get through a certain section with enough time. So you had to play through to see if you could make it to the next powerup. But I didn't want to permit infinite scoring (since the levels wrap) so I had to make sure that every time you wrapped a level you had less time left than you began with. Which means I, or Nathan, had to play the levels well enough to wrap each level, getting every powerup, without losing too much time to messups.

 

The 3rd and 4th levels were the hardest to play but were fairly straightforward since there was little or no branching in those levels.

 

Level 2 was an absolute nightmare, though, since there are multiple branches and each possible branch had to be tested. My goal for designing the levels was that it was theoretically possible to beat the game on your first time without dying if your reflexes were quick enough. I didn't want to make trial and error *necessary*. So at every branch, each path had to be winnable. But I wanted to reward repeat plays by making certain paths easier, lead to more points, or lead to the extra Santa. I *think* that there is one path on the 2nd level - which requires wrapping - that will allow you to get both reindeer and the sleigh piece without dying. I'm pretty sure that such a path exists - but I can't find it anymore! :)

Incidentally, it should be possible to get all sleigh pieces and all deer in the game without dying - though I can't figure out how on the 2nd level, though I'm pretty sure we designed it that way. :)

I think it's possible, but I've never done it. Seems to me you have to pick up the speed-up powerup three times to do it, at which point you're moving so fast, it's possible (assuming you can control Santa) to get to the second sleigh piece. I think 100,000 points is also possible for a complete game, but I've never done that either.

 

Next time the game comes up in the HSC though...