Stuff Under the Header

10/30/2015

Fixes For Everyone (v1.06)

This one came a bit quicker than I said it would since I had time last night to address the issues brought up recently that I wanted fixed up.
- The function for jumping out of morph ball is no longer on-hold, that was an assident, meant to have that for on-press.
- The boss gallery should no longer lag when you get to later parts of the game.
- Jerry should no longer get blown away after jumping off a grapple point, even after wind effects have stopped.
- An input bug that has been present since DT1 is now fixed. Most people may have not known it was even there. (This is the one I wanted to put in the previous update, but didn't get the time to test it before I had to be out of town.)
- You may have seen that I added 3 pointless Recognitions (achievements) in the last update. There are now 3 even more pointless ones on that page to fill it up. None of these new ones are able to be missed, though maybe like 0.00000001% of you will figure out the "Overcoming Yourself" one, for those that are achievement hunters, even in a game like this.
- Most importantly, there are more birds in the game. In every new update in the game, there will be more birds.

I have a question for you guys. After the game tags your file as 'beaten'. You know what it does (on the title screen) when you do. Would you guys like clues given for the achievements that haven't been obtained, if you cursor over them.

Now it's time to start prototyping other things.

10/28/2015

A little patch & away for a few days (v1.05)

Zephyr skipped a version! What's that about?

The new version fixes some bugs found by many people here and there. Some big, some small. It also adds a few more pointless achievements because yes. I'd have held this update back a little bit, but I'm going to be away for the rest of the week (out of town) and this version has some fixes I'd like out before I'm gone. There's only one other thing I may do to the game at this point, but it isn't content.

While I'm away, I can still look at emails and such, but I probably won't respond unless it's like 1 or 2 sentences that I respond with. (I hate typing on the phone.) So... responses will be limited during these next few days. I may also be busy next week as well, but I'll at least be able to respond to things.

Also, as of this version, it may not be a good idea to pop someone's balloon. (Shh, no spoilers.)

I also have a very good idea of what I'm doing next as far as game development goes. I may prototype something next week.

10/20/2015

Suddenly Another Post

I tweeted that I'm gonna start my stream playthrough thingie of DT1 tomorrow. (tonight for me and some people at this point) That'll be at 11:30pm (central US time (-6 gmt)) on the 20th. Why so late? It probably won't be a super long start, just gonna get things going, but we'll see. However, on Wednesday, we'll pick up where we left off at 7pm, which was changed so more people have a chance to show up.

Oh right, what is Zephyr's twitch? Oh man, that entire sentence is the link to it!

I'll tweet any time I start streaming.

A friend's comic
A friend of mine, who we will call, Dylan, has been writing a comic book called Old Man Dog. What's it about?
Synopsis is:
"An old man dies. Miles away a dog wakes up in a ditch, but something has changed. The old man and the dog have become one."

For more info on that, go check out the kickstarter page. Why is there a kickstarter though? Dylan has the first issue written and the first few pages inked and colored. However, to continue to finish the rest of issue 1, he's gotta pay those great artists, Fabio GuimarĂ£es and Jessica Jimerson, for their time and work. That's where you guys come in. Go check out his kickstarter page as well as the facebook doobalydo linked above if you'd like and help him out. If not, spread the news to your comic loving friends. Every little bit helps him out. Dylan explains more and certainly much better than I do on his kickstarter.

Here's one page of the comic shown on the kickstarter.



I don't make that sound enticing do I... or maybe I do? This is why I will never go into marketing. Dylan is a writer and filmmaker here in Austin, TX. He's a fun guy who has no idea that a certain ghost in DT3 was named after him... at least until he gets to that part.

10/19/2015

Another Patch (1.03)

This one is definitely a good one to get. It fixes up a game breaking bug later in the game, a crash bug (not easy to do, but it's there), and if you were unfortunate (and/or silly/brave) enough to do a certain thing in the Barrens, you could get stuck and it is fairly difficult to get yourself out of said mess. Someone did this and I've responded by making fun of him with a sign in said map. He knows who he is, he'll be reading this soon. It takes some patience to get yourself into that, perhaps it's more an acknowledgement of that.

It also adds quite a few more of those little messages after a set number of deaths on certain maps.

A few typos missed as well were corrected.

This will be the last update for awhile most likely. Also I will be away for a good part of this week, so responses during this time will probably be nonexistent.

Also people have finished the game. Good job you guys, I know it's not easy. Glad you guys enjoyed the game enough to play all of it too.

DT3 Hosting
Ah yes, one other thing! Alice from the Talkhaus has been awesome and is hosting the downloads for DT3. Actually she's been doing it from the start, but I just wasn't linking to it... because... I have no idea why. But that will be the home download for the full game now. I've left a second download option in my dropbox for the exe only as a secondary for that though. A big thanks to Alice for giving it a home.

Playing my own game (DT1)
This is a thing that people have been wanting to see for awhile. I've been thinking of how to do it. I suppose I'll definitely upload it to youtube in an LP format. But I was thinking that while playing, I'd stream it on twitch so everyone could make fun of me as I'm playing my own game badly. For that would inquire, I'd play it on hard mode. Not playing on Distorted, I know the game enough to know I'm not going there again. :P Not sure when I'd do this.

10/12/2015

A Patch to the Game (1.02)

A new version is out on the side there.
This one I do recommend getting. Not because it fixes broken things, but because it fixes up a few minor grievances that people have had, some of which are in some later chapters. (Though most are early things.)

A feature specifically for Lets Players out there. (Though anyone may use it.) Two actually. One is the ability to turn off the static that occurs when you game over. This should help cut down on those file sizes and your bitrate going all over the place. It replaces that with a nice fade to black instead.

The other is the option to have those map headers appear at the bottom of the screen when you go into a new map. (Off by default.) This is useful for those that play in fullscreen and still want to see the map headers.

The forest level in Gate 2 had no level alterations, but the clues for the last puzzle have better clarity. Nobody really got stuck here, at least no reports of it, but some better info to the player wouldn't hurt for that part.

A new feature (that was supposed to be in version 1.0) where in certain maps, if you die a certain number of times... you might be made fun of more. Or something else may happen. No, it's not assistance in any way, just a little extra fun bit. You'll know what I mean if you happen to trigger one of them. More of those may come in future patches, should they happen.

Also wow, I didn't expect to update the game this much by now. I'd have had this update out sooner, but I was (during 2 days off of work) playing Undertale... for 18 hours. (That's what Steam says anyway.) Also I'm gonna play more of it.

10/10/2015

Oh man, LetsPlays and Game Patches

There are already quite a few LetsPlays of DT3. I'd like to feature the ones I've found so far. On the side, there is a link labeled 'DT Playthroughs' that has links to all 3 game's LPs. (That I've found.)

So far for DT3, there's: (Oh yeah, they're all voice commentary as they play)

DieHammerbrueder
This is slit08's playthrough (and his friend, Steve) of the game. This was started a few weeks before the game had its full release, so you can see some things that were changed. They speak mostly in German for the LP. They have silly antics throughout. Slit also has a very good understanding of the game. I saw Slit as somewhat of an average player at first (years ago), but he's proven that wrong many times. Not just with DT, but overall. It also feels like his gaming skills have improved over the last 3 years. Slit's biggest thing that he monitored were the visuals and was usually on me about that. He's part of the reason why some areas look better than what I would have left some of them at.

Hadriex
He got a beta version of the game back in early July so he could make the teasers and trailer. This LP is his edited footage of all that. It shows the game in an even earlier state that slit's playthrough, well at the start anyway. Hadriex had a constant barrage (as he'll mention in the first video) of updates. He has a certain personality he likes to display for his LPs. Something nifty that I noticed while watching his videos is it's clear that he's played a ton of games. (I, and the testers, had access to mostly unedited videos of his playthrough for feedback) There are times when I'd see him get stuck on something and I'd think, 'Hadriex, come on now buddy, why are you getting hung up on this?' and then there would be lots of times where I'd think, 'Oh yeah, this part will stump him for a bit.' and he'd just get it... instantly. This happened quite often. He tended to understand the more abstract video gamey things, which DT3 has a lot of.

KoishiTheRock
Another of the testers that wanted to do an LP of the game. He started with the same version all of you got, and he's new to making LPs. There's also a reveal on his first video... I uh, I wouldn't do the thing that you see on the title screen in his video. Koishi didn't focus on anything in particular during the years of playtesting DT3, but he did often have insightful things to say. I think he found the most crash bugs. Maybe he just likes breaking things. No really, he found the weirdest crash bugs at times. (All of which were fixed.)

RobinLSL
This guy is always so calm sounding. Click this link and listen to this guy's soothing voice. No matter what, he's always so happy and calm about things. Why do you not have more than 1 video up yet? (At the time of typing this.) We demand more of your voice, Robin! His catch phrase is, "Sadness."

Suitcoat Guy
I don't know who this is, but I found him while searching for LPs of the game. He does bite-sized videos typically ranging around 12-16 minutes. There's this vibe of determination when he speaks. When he gets through a particularly challenging bit or on a part that he lost to a few times, he gets that 'moment' of victory. You'll know when it happens because you'll feel it alongside him.

WhattayaBrian
Oh this guy.

Patches to the Game
You'll see patches to the game linked on the side from time to time. I may list off the notable changes when they do happen. They're not super duper important to get unless I have some message of "OMGZ, GET THIS!" (Though I do recommend having the most up to date version because... reasons?)
The most notable thing of the v1.01 update was the extra option for Chao and the heart drop in the second boss.
There will be a v1.02 soonish. The big thing (that most of you are already past) is better clarification of the final puzzle in the forest level of Gate 2 and some little typos fixed here and there. The biggest thing coming for v1.02 that NZZ reminded me to have is the ability to turn off what he calls the:

Static Bitrate Explosion

It's the static that appears every time you die. For LPers, you probably want to keep all that more controlled, so there will be an option to turn off the static on death if you want. (It will essentially use the quick game over method that you see when you use the 'Force Game Over' option in the menu.)

Also there hasn't been a pony on here in awhile, I'll fix this.


If you don't think she's the best, then you're a liar.
Also, holy dicks you guys, play Undertale, seriously. Like right now. Put DT3 to the side for a bit (or after DT3 if that's your thing) and play this game, it's amazing.

10/06/2015

Slow down issues

Edit 1: Well that happened fast, I've got a patch for the game, don't get used to this though. On the sidebar are a set of new links. If you're downloading the game for the first time, you'll want to grab the full game download. If you're just patching, then you can grab the exe-only link. What's new for version 1.01? Chao has a new option you can set that's under the gameplay portion of the options menu. The first boss in Gate 3 has its jittery animation fixed. I decided to be nice and have the Gate 1 final boss drop a heart on the third time she's hit. I'm not down for changing boss fights at this point, but since she's a super early boss, I find this okay.

For some of you, the game is running incredibly slow. After doing some research based on what you guys are running on your end, here's what is going on, and this isn't going to be very good... for some anyway.

It seems games compiled in GameMaker 8.1 have issues with Windows 8, and specifically Windows 8.1, and even more specifically, if you're running Windows 8 - 64 bit. If you happen to be using that OS, there's a chance that the game will run slow for you. (It's not a for sure thing, some people running Windows 8 with 64 bit are unaffected.)

I did some more digging to see if there was a way to fix it. There are a few things that are possible that MIGHT work for you. One user posted here that he turned off V-Sync in DT3's option menu.
-Pause the game to open the pause menu.
-Go to Options.
-Graphics.
-Set V-Sync off.

This worked for someone, but only made things slightly better for another user.

Right-click the exe and set it to compatibility mode with Windows 7, or even Windows 8 if you're running 8.1. So far only one person (so far) has reported that the game does indeed have a slow down issue with Windows 10, but he said none of the compatibility options were working.

I'll be looking around for more possible ways to address this issue, as well as keeping up with what people are reporting. Note, if you have slow down and are commenting here or emailing me, let me know what version of windows you're using and your cpu.

Other weird slowdown issues that people have had with GM8.1 games in general. Unplugging or plugging in a usb controller may cause the game to lag intensely until you either restart the game (or in some cases, your pc.)

I have read that unfortunately some people (in similar issues with other games made with GM8.1) that there's nothing that could be done. There is one fix that is pretty much a fix it all solution. That would be porting the game over to GM Studio. About a year ago, I imported it into that and it was a huge mess. I won't be doing that, at least not right now. If I do decide to go that route and don't cross your fingers for this, it isn't a quick fix. That's quite a bit of work to port, as DT3 does use some of the depreciated functions. I'd also have to recode the sound system, or rather find a new way of doing sound since the thing I was using is not compatible with GM Studio and no one has remade that for it.

Game Release: Distorted Travesty 3

Downloads
Some new download locations available now after the dropbox issue. Alice from the Talkhaus was awesome enough to host it where it'll have no bandwidth issues. Someone also uploaded it to mediafire, so you can also use that. The megafileupload site only keeps things for a week, so these are both welcome.

Alice's Link
Mediafire Link
Megafileupload Link

Oh man, it's that time finally! Time to delay the game just a bit longer...

Yep, there's a few things I gotta do to the game before I'm happy with it so I'm delaying about... 2 weeks or so.

But actually, the above is a lie, it's ALL a lie. The game is out and you can download it here or from the link on the side! You could even go to the DT3 page and download it there! Three whole ways to get it, all going in the same direction. Choices!

Its been a fun time making it. I could keep going, but after having the project this long, definitely much longer than I wanted, it's time to let it go and move to something else. As said before, this is my departure from sprite rip stuff and on to other things that aren't so intentionally derivative. I have a bazillion ideas and things I want to do now. I'll be playing around with some prototyping, and who knows, maybe I'll work with some other people this time. For at least a week though, I don't know if I'm going to touch any game tools. I'm gonna play some games, like more Planetside again, and this Undertale game that people have been raving out.

Some other random bits of things, but not so random. I definitely started to tire of the project after some time. I really wanted it finished last year, at the latest, April this year, but other priorities saw to that not being a thing. The game also became a bigger beast than I initially imagined. The last 3 months have been nothing but finishing touches, tweaks, a few other missing features, etc. I won't lie, sometimes it felt like it dragged on too much, and really, there are still things I could tweak on the game, but I'm just done. After 3 years of the game on and off, actually more than that, I just want to put it down and move onto something else. I love the project though and wanted to get it to a state that I was happy with, and it has reached that. I could tweak and tweak and fix up minor things for who knows how long, but it's just time to put it down. It's why I abruptly announced a release date for the game. I knew that if I gave it one in the state that it was in, I'd make sure to focus on the things that really needed to be tweaked and then be done with it.

So how did it turn out though? To me, the project came out great. Definitely my favorite of the three games. You'll certainly run into a mishap here and there, the game is HUGE, so you're bound to run into something less than perfect. That said, it's very stable and in a really good place, which came about largely due to the testers being on top of things. They did a good job, especially these last 3 months trying to find as much wrong with it as possible. This last week though, I just said to stop cause I was done. I love the project, but it needs to be done and out to people who are waiting on it. I'm very lucky that they care about the project so much. A big thanks to them again, and for putting up with me, especially this last week with me telling one in particular that I just didn't want to work on the project any longer.

Don't think that this means I won't patch bugs and such, but if you remember the first game's release, those patches will be until I am presented with crash bugs or super bad things. Anyway, enough rambling, you guys have waited for me to finish this long enough. Have fun and thanks for waiting. It was a fun time making it and lots of stuff was learned for future endeavors.