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Lawnmower by OCEO - Silly Venture 2019 entry for Atari Lynx Game Compo


Nop90

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14 hours ago, marss said:

Igor... can you remove the game from your page, please? thanks

Why? You're asking to change history. It can't be downloaded right now, only played online. It's a great quality game and should be out there to be enjoyed by many.

If you don't want the ROM available I'll not make it downloadable after the 24th but as far as I know @rj1307 will be making all ROMs available on that date anyway.

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All the entries were amazing at Silly Ventures. We all have different taste. I do not get carried away by Mortal Combat or Doom. Other don't like puzzle games. That is life.

 

Most gamers seem to like games with a little more action. Moving the lawn or dropping gems does not have a lot of excitement in it.

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I must be the odd one out because I like the "quick and easy" type games much better than the too involved ones. Wyvern Tales being an exception.

In the end it's great to have a variety of games out there because as you said Karri, people like different things.

 

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I would like to clarify a few points about the presentation of this game.
Silly Venture is a very specific party, where we try to launch the production on the original equipment as much as possible, releasing the film is the last resort. This is probably the only party where work is accepted until the last moment. Of course, we could set the deadline a few days before the compo, rip everything to the videos and release with one click from the laptop. But that wouldn't be SillyVenture.
In response to the allegations of a colleague Marss: at the compo, we ask the authors to present their works to the public, in their absence we do it using text files that we always ask for. So I have a question, why Marss, being present at Silly Venture, refused to play his own game? Not only in Lawnmower, he also didn't play Burger Time for Jaguar. I do not understand this. Marss, you could play and talk about her even 10 minutes, but you didn't want to do it!
Regarding the allegation that I did not press button A, this is not true. He asked for it right at the beginning of the game and I did it, I released the button only at obstacles. Please do not compare the game performance on the emulator and real equipment.
At comps Marss asked to restart the game claiming that the animation with the Silly Venture logo did not start, which was not true, but I reset the game anyway.

 

Of course, I am aware of the mistakes that I have made, I accept criticism of the way games are presented, and again I apologize for the shortcomings.

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Marss. The conditions for entering was that the entries become freeware.

 

"All the entries submitted to the competition will be published on the event's web page (sillyventure.eu) in the respective versions and formats submitted to the organisers no later than one day after competition results publication.

The authors are of course welcome to provide the "final" version of their entries later, should they decide to do so. All the entries are considered freeware. Additionally, by submitting the entries all the participants automatically agree for their entries to be published as parts of the "Silly Venture Packs" for respective hardware platforms."

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The content looks great and it's a complete game. What weakens the player experience/fun factor however is it's slow speed and a bit too much lag with the controls, at least in my book. The NES original is lightning fast and that's part of the fun I feel.  If that could be fixed you will have a winner. Nontheless, for a compo entry this is high quality.

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2 hours ago, rj1307 said:

I would like to clarify a few points about the presentation of this game.
Silly Venture is a very specific party, where we try to launch the production on the original equipment as much as possible, releasing the film is the last resort. This is probably the only party where work is accepted until the last moment. Of course, we could set the deadline a few days before the compo, rip everything to the videos and release with one click from the laptop. But that wouldn't be SillyVenture.
In response to the allegations of a colleague Marss: at the compo, we ask the authors to present their works to the public, in their absence we do it using text files that we always ask for. So I have a question, why Marss, being present at Silly Venture, refused to play his own game? Not only in Lawnmower, he also didn't play Burger Time for Jaguar. I do not understand this. Marss, you could play and talk about her even 10 minutes, but you didn't want to do it!
Regarding the allegation that I did not press button A, this is not true. He asked for it right at the beginning of the game and I did it, I released the button only at obstacles. Please do not compare the game performance on the emulator and real equipment.
At comps Marss asked to restart the game claiming that the animation with the Silly Venture logo did not start, which was not true, but I reset the game anyway.

 

Of course, I am aware of the mistakes that I have made, I accept criticism of the way games are presented, and again I apologize for the shortcomings.

Could not find anything unfair with the presentation of this entry myself. Thanks for clarification.

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Has someone tried the bonus tanks? there are I (invulnerability) S (Speed) and D (Drones). They appear randomly.

 

And what about the three game modes? Easy mode is for children. Normal mode starts to be challenging. Try the hard one and you'll not complain anymore the game is slow.

 

I await your feedbacks.

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1 hour ago, Nop90 said:

Has someone tried the bonus tanks? there are I (invulnerability) S (Speed) and D (Drones). They appear randomly...

I must have collected a couple of Speed tanks in a row because I sped up and then seemed to speed up again (maybe it was only once, but it seemed like twice).  I didn't know what it was that I picked up, but knew it must have been a powerup.  I didn't pay close attention to the fuel tanks to see if they had letters.  :dunce:  Anyway, I really like that there are powerups and need to spend more time with it.

 

1 hour ago, Nop90 said:

...And what about the three game modes? Easy mode is for children. Normal mode starts to be challenging. Try the hard one and you'll not complain anymore the game is slow.

  • I started out on "Training" and it just felt repetitive.  I was expecting some instructions in this mode, like a description of the obstacles and powerups.  I think this would be a great place to put something like that.  Right now it seems to be either a placeholder or a really really basic easy mode.
  • On "Normal" difficulty in "Arcade" mode, the game is plenty challenging.  However, for some things, I don't know what I should mow over and what I shouldn't.  Some things are obvious, but others aren't.  This is where a description in training mode would help, or just an info screen listing objects.
  • I haven't tried Easy or Hard difficulties yet.
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I guess everything has been said on presentation (or should be continued in contest topic). This topic is here to help Nop to present and get feedback on game. 

 

I don't remember if I played original NES game before (I knew it for sure, so I probably started it at least once), so I can't compare. And this is a good thing, as I think it is better that the game gets its own taste and feature.

Only played 1 level in normal mode (and a bit the tutorial) and the game in n°3 in my todo list of SV entries (SillySis already done, I have to complete LoveJoy prologue before).

I like what I have see until now, the package is top class (menus, animations...) and the game plays rather well from my tiny experience.

As Kevin says, we have to learn by experience what is good and not good, but I guess a manual will be done, so it is not a real problem.

 

21 hours ago, Nop90 said:

Coding of the game will contine after some rest (I really need some rest) and we will try to reelase a phisical cart with a nice multiplayer mode in 2020.

Comlynxed mode ? It should be fun. Do you intend it to be a 2 or 4 players game ?

If you want to see a multiplayer mode with mowind and (???) zombies, you can check GroovyBee's Zombow.

(not sure Zombies are needed in a gardening game in 2020 :D)

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22 minutes ago, KevinMos3 said:
  • I started out on "Training" and it just felt repetitive.  I was expecting some instructions in this mode, like a description of the obstacles and powerups.  I think this would be a great place to put something like that.  Right now it seems to be either a placeholder or a really really basic easy mode.
  • On "Normal" difficulty in "Arcade" mode, the game is plenty challenging.  However, for some things, I don't know what I should mow over and what I shouldn't.  Some things are obvious, but others aren't.  This is where a description in training mode would help, or just an info screen listing objects.
  • I haven't tried Easy or Hard difficulties yet.

In the first post there is a txt file with basic instructions (they are on the Atarigamer page of the game too) and in it there is all you need:

 

 - cut only the grass because flowers and other obstacles will make you only lose fuel

 - Don't hurt the moles if you don't want to be disqualified, but if you close their holes they will stop disturbing  you

 - If you are short of fuel find a tank before it is over.

 - some special tanks have less fuel but contain additives that give you bonus powers for a limited time

 

that's all. Instruction can be shown pressing OPT1 in the main menu. But probably the frog in the top title is the only thing worth watching.

 

The training level are the level of the original game from Shiru. They are very basic, but the nes game is faster so it has more action with such simple levels. Other than grass there are flowers that make you lose a small amount of fuel and flat stones that drains a lot of fuel.

 

The new levels can be very hard. They have the same elements of the training mode with some variants (like mushroms that are like flowers and tile stones that are like flat stones), and two new elements: obstacles that you cant pass but are not dangerous, and moles (that you can't touch).

 

In the simple mode there is an arrow that points the fuel tank, so the game is really really easy. My 11 yo daughter plays it.

 

In normal mode you have to find the thank before your fuel is over. This requires some strategy. This strategy component is taken from the original NES game, but here the situation is worse for the smaller screen. Tiles are the same size (16x16) of the NES game, so you can see a smaller part of the field (and game field are bigger here).

 

In hard mode the fuel tanks contains less fuel (in other modes a fuel tank fills the mower) so most ofthe time you have to search fuel around.

 

Strange thing I noticed playing the game. It seems to have a sort of AI: when you don't need fuel it appears near you, when you almost completed the level and have to reach a distant point to mow the last grass, fuel appears in strange places.

 

The fuel appears at random position, I'm not so cruel. it's only the Murphy law. or maybe the game is... alive!!!!

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4 minutes ago, Fadest said:

Comlynxed mode ? It should be fun. Do you intend it to be a 2 or 4 players game ?

My plans are for 4 players. I already can do comlynx games for 2 players, and I like challenges.

 

I don't want to spoil too much, and I didn't define what I will do into details, but I'm considering one of this two modes (or maybe both):

 - Callenge mode: who mow more in some pedefined time wins

 - Death  mode: surprise ?

 

It's pssible that the comlynx mode will be only on phisical cart. But this is not decided yet.

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This is not a direct "improvement suggestion" by any means because it's so subjective, more like food for thought.

 

One thing I started thinking about the game was that I miss the "human factor", I'd be able to identify with the mower if there was some sort of character driving the lawnmower, or if it had a face. I get the micro-machines idea, so it's just a thought I wanted to put out there. But still, in micro machines you imagine the drivers inside the cars, which makes them more "alive".

 

I just realised this whole thing myself, and that's probably why Lemmings is my favorite puzzle game (those cute 'n' funny lemming characters, teehee), it's sometimes harder to get into a game with only blocks. I do like Tetris and other abstract puzzle games too, just talking about getting into them. But as said, this is probably highly subjective.

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7 hours ago, Turbo Laser Lynx said:

This is not a direct "improvement suggestion" by any means because it's so subjective, more like food for thought.

 

One thing I started thinking about the game was that I miss the "human factor", I'd be able to identify with the mower if there was some sort of character driving the lawnmower, or if it had a face. I get the micro-machines idea, so it's just a thought I wanted to put out there. But still, in micro machines you imagine the drivers inside the cars, which makes them more "alive".

 

I just realised this whole thing myself, and that's probably why Lemmings is my favorite puzzle game (those cute 'n' funny lemming characters, teehee), it's sometimes harder to get into a game with only blocks. I do like Tetris and other abstract puzzle games too, just talking about getting into them. But as said, this is probably highly subjective.

Or add some zombies walking around: "Mower vs Zombies" :-D

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12 minutes ago, agradeneu said:

Or add some zombies walking around: "Mower vs Zombies" :-D

Or drop power ups from the sky in multi-player mode. A small parachute with a canister slowly coming down so that the gamers have to race to see who will get it!

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