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Thanks everyone! I'm kind of more nervous about making these kind of nes style graphics than those hires monster illustrations in my previous game. Even though 8bittish retro platformer is a super common genre I feel like I rarely see new games that capture that style that games like Ducktales had. Of course there's a heavy dose of nostalgia with these things but I think there is this beautiful balance of abstraction and detail here that I'm still interested in seeing and making. Well I've been tinkering with gameplay stuff and not made much new art anyway.

"Nintendo says their inflatable seat can be used to simulate riding other animals. The patent lists “bulls, camels, elephants, burros, dolphins, whales” and imaginary creatures such as “dragons, griffons, unicorns, giant eagles” as possible mounts. Nintendo also suggests the seat can be used for vehicles too like “hang gliders or other aircraft, a magic carpet, a motorcycle, a jet-ski, a land or sea exploration vehicles." http://www.siliconera.com/2009/08/10/nintendos-patented-horseback-riding-controller/ No gamer chairs directly mentioned but I think they can count as land exploration vehicles. Hmmm, the horsebag is a pretty simple shape, so maybe it could be a bonus/secret vehicle in the game! Oh, this year is also Horsebag's ten year anniversary! (that article is from August 10, 2009) Hip hip hooray, long live the unfulfilled dream of our beloved Horsebag.

One potential way to find various Nick takes is going through the IIT archives and looking at his wonderful endorsements. From IIT27 (talking about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches): Chris: What is the bread you use? Nick: Oh you just wanna use like a shitty white bread, just a shitty piece of bread. C: Are you fucking serious? N: What? C: Fuck off! N: What? Just a shitty piece of bread! Just a bad piece of white bread. . . . C: You're just saying eat like the fucking garbage that you wanna eat. N: No no no, it's not garbage. It's a healthy sandwich.

I'm thinking of using this episode in the upcoming wizard jam so I was inspired to recreate the ai conversation with a state of the art text to speech software. tomeconvo.mp3

The candy theme mixed with a factory setting sounds fun. (Not really an actual suggestion but) I'm amused by the idea of a SimCity natural disaster style event where a wild Dot Gobbler breaks into the factory and starts eating everything (while looking worried and sweating profusely of course).

I hope we see many veteran wizjammers and also new people joining the action again!

Thanks! Yeah, I realized it's probably way too hard and obscure even for NES lovers... So, here's the list of games included (not in the right order of course) so you can try to match them with the clips and bonus points if you know where the track plays in the game/ track title. And yep, you got #9 right.

Hi, hello... Four years later I decided to make a new one. I isolated the triangle wave channels from some NES tracks and your formidable challenge is to identify the games and maybe even the specific tracks. This is not my favorite nes basslines from the best tunes - I just semi randomly chose relatively well known tracks where the tri wave was interesting but still not the most identifiable element (e.g. the melody) * Here's also some cool trivia https://chiptuneswin.com/blog/the-more-you-know-the-famicomnes2a03-triangle-channel/ Edit: Games included:

Now available: https://atteo.itch.io/tcttf - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - They Came Through the Floor - Arcade 2D platformer action in a strange and intriguing setting This is an idea that I have had for some time; I really like fast paced, single screen platformer games like Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe, Super Crate Box and Woah Dave (pictured below). Those games are all about the gameplay and the aesthetic side is clearly not the thing that the player is supposed to pay much attention to - This is of course perfectly fine (and usually even preferred) but for some reason I want to try to make a game that has both dense action and interesting art. There is a lot of stuff I have to figure out (about gameplay and artstyle) and the end result might be just a selection of somewhat pretty screens where you can aimlessly jump around. My friend who made music for my WJ5 and 6 games will return so that's one cool thing to expect. Here's a couple of ideas for rooms/levels. I think I'd want at least three in total, but I don't know how much work one will actually be yet (how much animation there will be and so on).

Nice, one reason for the lack of instructions actually was that I thought maybe some players would enjoy the challenge of figuring out how this simple yet pretty unconventional action game worked (because when you know what to do exactly it's currently really straightforward.) About the ending: I'm rethinking and adjusting a lot now so the next update will take a few weeks probably but I'm still excited to keep on developing this.

Thanks, that's really nice to hear. While there is still much to add and tune I do also already feel like there is a satisfying core of a game hiding there.

This has ton of atmosphere already, and yeah some moody soundscape would really heighten the spookiness. Having completely lost the sense of direction, stumbling into a new location/point of interest felt really satisfying. I had a nice conclusion to my first try:

*Extreme sweat drop smiling emoji* Now I have valuable video evidence of how truly obscure the game currently is for new players. (again, if you're still curious check the gameplay video that's here and on itch game page)

The island is nicely varied but not too confusing. The mood is very pleasant and calm, I particularly like the light and low saturation green of the grass. Hand drawn sketches depicting locations from the low-poly environment creates a fun and interesting contrast: Two very different kinds of abstractions meeting each other. I felt that the target locations were actually pretty generous in size. After it looked like I had found one I usually got it after a one or two tries. If you would be interested in working more on this, I'd love to have some more traversal options like jumping off cliffs and climbing (that would be quite a lot of extra work though). + Yeah, the treasure in the end was a fantastic surprise.

Thanks for trying it out. The horizontal and vertical speeds transfer directly to the ball form, which is not affected by gravity. So for example going to ball immediately after jumping is a good way to travel fast. If you haven't already, and are curious, check the video (that I posted here also) where I play through the levels (level 1 goes super smoothly! level 2 not so much) The challenge is now probably way too high for new players getting used to the game, I will make the learning process smoother in future. And yeah, I tested and designed with a controller on mind so at least for me it's way easier with a gamepad.

This makes me very, very happy! This was pretty much the core of the whole initial idea. I was really drawn to this idea where the main resource and the main hazard are the same. You played with arrows instead of WASD? I kind of forgot that that was an option. I can definitely add the Z and X keys too. I pretty much always tested with a gamepad so I didn't pay close enough attention to those things. There's already solutions to these in the game but it's totally my fault for not making them really stand out in any way (both were pretty late additions that I implemented quickly). - You can get new points from the opened shining orb. I should add something to the end phase, it can get quite barren, but I also love the effect when suddenly the previously busy room starts to get quieter when the ghost worm arrives. - When you have 0 points, shooting button now punches, and with that punch you can break blocks. I'm considering making the punch be always available (with a separate button) and I'll think of also other uses for it. Yeah, now the rooms are still pretty much the same. I'm planning to make different types of orbs with varying number of locks (2 - 4), maybe even a rotating one. This is very cool, I liked the ball back shot but never really tried using it in unlocking. My method for those hard to hit bottom locks was always to collect the full 3 points which makes you shoot directly up (+ left and right).

Thanks, my musician friend had limited time during the jam but there's more action music coming sometime soon. This kind of surreal style in a flat(ish) 2D environment is pretty fun for me to draw, as I don't have to stress about things like realism and perspective. I get mentally stuck really easily but art like this flows usually quite naturally - I should definitely draw more with this style and attitude (while still trying to learn more challenging stuff on the side sometimes too). This time the jam was largely a chance to start prototyping this idea I've had for some time now. I have a strong idea of the direction, but very vague idea of the end goal for this project. That's why the 2 week jamming result is, especially gameplay wise, quite half-baked and obscure to new players. Right now I still have plenty of inspiration and interest to continue developing this.

Thanks for playing! I recorded a playthrough of the new version showing how it's played currently: My process of designing gameplay in this project was/is very tentative and winding - slowly inching towards a nebulous goal (that sometimes feels crystal clear, sometimes nonexistent). There is some things in place already, that I really like. Now the most fun for me is to try to speedrun a level, but going forward I want to tone down the hecticness (while still keeping a fast pace) and introduce more strategic elements and secondary goals. I love the feeling in Spelunky when you try to observe an area and piece together a plan as fast as you can. That's kind of a high aspiration, but I guess that is what I'm really aiming for here.

Post jam update now on itch https://atteo.itch.io/tcttf It's a real certified video game now as you can actually finish the levels! More action music is coming sometime soon, and I have still gameplay and graphics stuff I want to add at some point too.

While the core ideas and mood is there the actual levels are very, uhmm, undesigned - still I wanted to show/document some current gameplay: Edit: Here's my current notes for continuing:

This was really versatile and easy to learn and use! Here's a monstrosity I made while I was just figuring out what it could do, will definitely try again.

https://atteo.itch.io/tcttf First version now available - It's a work in progress in many ways but please check it out and enjoy and experiment with what's there now. I might record a playthrough video tomorrow, the mechanics might be a bit obscure for fresh eyes...

I kind of enjoy making visual effects in GM even though I'm sure they usually end up being very "heavy" - as I just use new objects for everything because I'm afraid of particle effects and shaders. I don't know what I'll have ready for the deadline, I hope I get a version with some kind of progression out tomorrow so I can get some feedback/comments - I will certainly continue developing this post jam too because there's a lot to add and experiment with, and I already like what is there. Here's a low framerate blasting gif: I've experienced this before but I've noticed now again how tricky and devious game design can be - how even if a new idea sounds very clever or interesting, it doesn't mean it will work when put in the context of the rest of the game. It's a very strange emotional arc when you first feel like a genius and then have to slowly admit to yourself this road actually leads nowhere

The more detailed ordinary everyday elements (people, bed, door...) resting on those abstract, monolithic structures and backgrounds is great - the scene is relaxing and unnerving at the same time.

I was going to say, just submit a version to the jam on itch before the deadline - then you can update that entry whenever you like. But yeah even if you miss that, zero can add entries later. Edit: Then again, we've talked about this, we don't want people submitting placeholder pages, if the game is not playable in any form yet... Then it's better to just message zero when the game is ready.