Tanglewood Tech Demo 0.0.14

[BigEvilCorporation]

Hello there, retro gaming enthusiasts!

We've got a HUGE update to show off. This latest build boasts a significant graphics overhaul, improved levels and puzzles, new features, a whole new third act, improved performance, and bug fixes.

Update 13/10/2016: Uploaded a new ROM that fixes sprites disappearing after prolonged play

Disclaimer

This is a prototype of a game in its very early stages of development. Some assets are placeholder, and all tech is a work in progress. The look, feel, quality and feature set may not be representative of the final product.

Changes since 0.0.12

- Level 1 Act 3 first draft (Djakk chase) (see it in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEXtVvwVO-8&)
- Checkpoints!
- New tree branch tileset, with glowing green moss to help visibility at night
- Improved background colour palette (less contrast with foreground)
- New raised platforms with cliff edges (replaces blocking poles)
- New layout of intro scene
- New firefly pickup sprites
- Hidden firefly areas (most require glide ability)
- WIP Nymn fall animation
- Increased player acceleration and top velocity
- Increased player run anim speed
- Covered flues with solid terrain (to avoid Djakk monsters falling down them), and introduced concept of terrain "holes" (to let Fuzzls fall through, and player through only when jumping down)
- Removed some signposts from Gamescom demo (tile count too high, will reimplement)
- Pause screen with firefly count
- Improved Djakk A.I., tweaked player lost time, changes to behaviour tree for L1A3
- Fixed Djakk bite killing player even if escaped
- Fixed Djakk walk speed in search state
- Fixed palette copy error when spamming Time Slow ability
- Fixed Time Slow ability getting stuck on if using a yellow Fuzzl
- Fixed player falling through water in L1A2
- Fixed disappearing green Fuzzl in L1A2
- Fixed screen faders, increased fade speed of ident logos/disclaimers
- Fixed sprites disappearing after prolonged play (HINT clock ticks over to upper word of DMA address)
- Big performance pass (no more slowdown around many fireflies on real hardware)

Known issues

It's an early tech demo/prototype, so expect to see these problems and more:

- Missing boulder push animation
- It's possible to get Fuzzls stuck against walls if they're rolling fast enough to jump over flues
- It's possible to get Nymn to sleep in mid-air by jumping at the end of a level
- It's possible to push the boulder in Level 2 whilst using time-slow ability (boulder won't animate)
- Footstep sound effects take priority over others, which may result in some SFX cutting out whilst running (ambience, Fuzzl SFX)
- Many known sprite/background draw priority glitches, and tile flipping errors
- Dead Djakks use the older placeholder palette (yellow feet/teeth)
- Occasionally the wrong instruments are chosen for an SFX (emulator only)

How to Play

For the very best experience we recommend playing on genuine SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis hardware, using a flash cart (Everdrive, Krikzz). The ROM is multi-region, and has been tested with European (PAL) and Japanese (NTSC-J) consoles.

For emulator users, the ROM is compatible with most major releases. For Windows users we recommend Regen (http://segaretro.org/Regen) and a compatible gamepad.

Download ROM

Tanglewood Tech Demo 0.0.14: https://www.mediafire.com/?b0hcb1ka4tzv3jc

Please tell us your thoughts!

We'd love to know about your experience, and we're all ears for constructive feedback!

Thank you for playing,
Matt

[BigEvilCorporation]

I've updated the ROM to include a fix for sprites disappearing after prolonged play (the "Gamescom bug").

[lennart]

Hey,

found the time to play the new demo. It really looks like things are coming together
I found a little bug/oddity with the Djakk hitting Nymn while he is above it.
Take a look at the video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c3daxa9nis7le ... e.avi?dl=0

Keep up the great work!

Best wishes,
Lennart

[lennart]

Hey,

found the time to play the new demo. It really looks like things are coming together
I found a little bug/oddity with the Djakk hitting Nymn while he is above it.
Take a look at the video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c3daxa9nis7le ... e.avi?dl=0

Keep up the great work!

Best wishes,
Lennart

[BigEvilCorporation]

Hey,

found the time to play the new demo. It really looks like things are coming together
I found a little bug/oddity with the Djakk hitting Nymn while he is above it.
Take a look at the video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c3daxa9nis7le ... e.avi?dl=0

Keep up the great work!

Best wishes,
Lennart

Hey there!

Yeah that's a known issue, it uses a basic box vs. box collision test, just lazy coding. I'll be improving how this test is done in future revisions.