COMPLETE: Spies in the Night 2

[neotokeo2001]

Spies 2 looks like a July release. Depends on getting the cartridges made in time.

[keebz]

This is one of those games I just keep going back to... both Spies in the Night games are unique and clever. Really nothing like them. I do have a question, in SINT2 there is a level where you have to make your way through a room without hitting walls, the walls are only flashed every so often. When that level loads, is it procedurally generated or a set pattern? 

I ask because I swear I got a room that couldn't be solved while playing the rom. Something like a minute and a half left on the timer and I just looked for the whole time and couldn't find an exit pattern. It genuinely seems unsolvable. can that happen? 

[graywest]

8 hours ago, keebz said:

This is one of those games I just keep going back to... both Spies in the Night games are unique and clever. Really nothing like them. I do have a question, in SINT2 there is a level where you have to make your way through a room without hitting walls, the walls are only flashed every so often. When that level loads, is it procedurally generated or a set pattern? 

I ask because I swear I got a room that couldn't be solved while playing the rom. Something like a minute and a half left on the timer and I just looked for the whole time and couldn't find an exit pattern. It genuinely seems unsolvable. can that happen? 

Thanks! I appreciate that.

 

I haven't heard of or played a room myself with the "electrified floors" that was unsolvable. It is procedurally generated. The way the algorithm works is that it lays out electrified blocks in a more-or-less random pattern (the number of blocks being based on the difficulty level). Once that is complete, a path is generated from the starting position to the ending position and all of those electrified blocks on the path are deleted. I intended for there to be possibly several, but at least one, complete path from the start to the finish.

 

That said, it certainly doesn't mean that I got everything right. So this is interesting. Did you happen to take a screenshot of the unsolvable room? 

 

Also, keep in mind that it is only your character's FEET that are vulnerable to the electrified blocks. So your torso and head could overlap a block and you can still pass as long as your feet don't touch it.

[keebz]

1 hour ago, graywest said:

Thanks! I appreciate that.

 

I haven't heard of or played a room myself with the "electrified floors" that was unsolvable. It is procedurally generated. The way the algorithm works is that it lays out electrified blocks in a more-or-less random pattern (the number of blocks being based on the difficulty level). Once that is complete, a path is generated from the starting position to the ending position and all of those electrified blocks on the path are deleted. I intended for there to be possibly several, but at least one, complete path from the start to the finish.

 

That said, it certainly doesn't mean that I got everything right. So this is interesting. Did you happen to take a screenshot of the unsolvable room? 

 

Also, keep in mind that it is only your character's FEET that are vulnerable to the electrified blocks. So your torso and head could overlap a block and you can still pass as long as your feet don't touch it.

I didn't screen capture it. I was playing on hardware and I didn't record it. Kicking myself for that, sorry. 

[graywest]

14 minutes ago, keebz said:

I didn't screen capture it. I was playing on hardware and I didn't record it. Kicking myself for that, sorry. 

No worries. If you (or anyone else) happen to see something like this again, let me know. It's definitely possible that there is some sort of infrequent bug that I haven't seen yet.

[Brian O]

Nice job, @graywest. Hard, but fun!

Edited May 29, 2020 by Brian O

[keebz]

@graywest
Ok I think I know what happened. So here's a map I was presented with today. In a flash scenario you are looking for a path the character can fit through without hitting the walls. Now the character is skinny but tall, and in this maze, there isn't any logical solution. This is what I got yesterday.  

 

 

But there IS a path, by means of having to hit half of your body in the wall, which you can do. But this logic works against the players motive. Effectively saying... You have to hit the walls but not too much. That just doesn't work as the player IMO. It was very confusing. The only reason I figured that out was because I threw myself into a wall out of frustration knowing it would kill the character, then realizing that my character went way higher up than it should have before dying. 

 

 

I went back and I realize this is in the manual, but there needs to be a visual representation of this goal.

So I've thought about it and I really don't know what the solution is, unless you put a belt/line/socks? I dunno, something on the character so the player knows their target space/limit? In my opinion this is a cool level that just needs a better mechanism but a simple belt and mention of the line/marker in the manual might do the trick.

Edited May 30, 2020 by keebz
formatting and tagging

[Thomas Jentzsch]

On 5/30/2020 at 5:27 AM, keebz said:

But there IS a path, by means of having to hit half of your body in the wall, which you can do. But this logic works against the players motive. Effectively saying... You have to hit the walls but not too much. That just doesn't work as the player IMO. It was very confusing. Tntion of the line/marker in the manual might do the trick.

Our character is moving through a room, you see him from the side and the floor from the top. Some kind of 2.5D view. IMO this is very logical that you do not touch the floor with your head.

 

Else you have E.T. "logic", where you fall into a pit because your head touches it. That's what people hate with passion.  

Edited September 1, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

[keebz]

30 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Our character is moving through a room, you see him from the side and the floor from the top. Some kind of 2.5D view. IMO this is very logical that you do not touch the floor with your head.

 

Else you have E.T. "logic", where you fall into a pit because your head touches it. That's wat people hate with passion.  

I can't tell, but I think you missed my point. There isn't a firm understanding of what is and is not acceptable cross over. We can argue about what the image is supposed to represent, but that doesn't change what it actually is... a top down 2D maze with a long sprite. So visually, it would be more player friendly to have some kind of way to tell what the "feet" are as you try to make out the layout of the timed maze. In the end, it's just a suggestion... the dev can do whatever they like. It's still one of my favorites

[Skwrl63]

On 5/25/2020 at 10:17 AM, neotokeo2001 said:

Spies 2 looks like a July release. Depends on getting the cartridges made in time.

So hopefully a 2020 release? Thanks Scott. I have been hoping it wasn't forgotten about. I know you have a lot on your plate right now.

[graywest]

On 5/29/2020 at 11:27 PM, keebz said:

@graywest
Ok I think I know what happened. So here's a map I was presented with today. In a flash scenario you are looking for a path the character can fit through without hitting the walls. Now the character is skinny but tall, and in this maze, there isn't any logical solution. This is what I got yesterday.  

 

 

But there IS a path, by means of having to hit half of your body in the wall, which you can do. But this logic works against the players motive. Effectively saying... You have to hit the walls but not too much. That just doesn't work as the player IMO. It was very confusing. The only reason I figured that out was because I threw myself into a wall out of frustration knowing it would kill the character, then realizing that my character went way higher up than it should have before dying. 

 

 

I went back and I realize this is in the manual, but there needs to be a visual representation of this goal.

So I've thought about it and I really don't know what the solution is, unless you put a belt/line/socks? I dunno, something on the character so the player knows their target space/limit? In my opinion this is a cool level that just needs a better mechanism but a simple belt and mention of the line/marker in the manual might do the trick.

Sorry, I'm just now seeing this - thanks for the feedback! I'll see what I can do. I think the suggestion of having a line makes a lot of sense. It might be more of a line at the top of the shoe/boot rather than a belt - if I remember right, it's only the very bottom pixel of the player that is vulnerable to stepping on the tiles.

[keebz]

19 hours ago, graywest said:

if I remember right, it's only the very bottom pixel of the player that is vulnerable to stepping on the tiles.

Interesting, I'll play with that and see if that's the case. I felt like it was higher... but maybe not. 

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

ZeroPage Homebrew is playing Spies in the Night 2 on tomorrow's (Fri Jul 23, 2021) stream LIVE on Twitch at 12PM PT | 3PM ET | 7PM GMT!

 

ZPH Twitch Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/

 

We will be playing it as part of ZPH's most anticipated unreleased/unfinished games playthrough and catching up to the current status of the game to see where it's at! Hope everyone can watch!

 

Games:

• Chaotic Grill (2019 WIP) by Philip Blackman @splendidnut
• Spies in the Night 2 (2019) by Jared Gray West @graywest
• RoboMechanik (2019 WIP) by Krzysztof Kluczek @KK/Altair
• Paranoid (2020 WIP) by eshu @eshu

(SET TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY!)

 

 

[Skwrl63]

I can't wait to own this game..... Super exciting

[Minos]

Great game. Was the cart ever released?

[lazzeri]

News on a physical release?

This game definitely deserves one. 🙂

[graywest]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:01 PM, Minos said:

Great game. Was the cart ever released?

On 10/30/2022 at 10:50 AM, lazzeri said:

News on a physical release?

This game definitely deserves one. 🙂

Thanks all! No cart release yet - I know that @neotokeo2001 had some other releases on his schedule to put out before this one. I think Spies 2 is coming up in the queue.

[lucifershalo]

your game is amazing,

it should really be released physically in AA store

[Minos]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:01 PM, Minos said:

Great game. Was the cart ever released?

Exactly one year later, I'm quoting myself to reiterate my point. 😁 Looking forward to an eventual physical release.

[neotokeo2001]

13 hours ago, Minos said:

Exactly one year later, I'm quoting myself to reiterate my point. 😁 Looking forward to an eventual physical release.

LIMITED EDITION release in November at Free Play Florida

Edited August 8, 2023 by neotokeo2001

[+bfstats]

…and for those of us who can’t attend the Florida show???

[+sramirez2008]

5 hours ago, neotokeo2001 said:

LIMITED EDITION release in November at Free Play Florida

Will there be another “Noir” version?

[Minos]

You know what? I might actually be able to go! Will you be there on Friday? I might only be able to get a day pass.

[neotokeo2001]

21 hours ago, Minos said:

You know what? I might actually be able to go! Will you be there on Friday? I might only be able to get a day pass.

All three days

 

[insertclevernamehere]

I have a boxed copy of the first Spies from AtariAge.  Fingers crossed this gets an unlimited release from AtariAge as part of its 2024 offerings.