Join us in celebrating Firestoke's very first Publisher Sale on Steam with some scorching (sorry, we couldn't resist) discounts of up to 67%! This event features our entire catalogue including newly released gems like Hauntii. Whether you're into beautiful adventures, strategic tower defense, or fast-paced platforming, we've got you covered. In addition to the games themselves, we're offering discounts on DLCs and Soundtracks, so you can enhance your gaming experience even further! Joy Spark - Initiated! Featured Games on Sale: Hauntii A beguiling adventure where you uncover the secrets of an expansive and mysterious world, haunting both the environment and its denizens to craft ingenious solutions to the many challenges that await. It's Only Money The mayor of Rockhaven threw you down a hole into the Undercity. Why? Net worth too low. In this 1-4 player low-life simulation, emerge to the surface to steal from the rich, fight tycoons and reclaim the city block by block. Buy houses, businesses and whatever your materialistic heart desires! Bish Bash Bots Immerse yourself in a unique mix of casual tower defense strategy and all-out brawling action. Team up in couch co-op / online play or go it alone and fight to save the world by building upgradable turrets, unlocking gadgets, and bashing bots with giant hammers. Falling Out Experience a light-hearted roguelite platformer where you take control of an oddball couple on a holiday from hell. Work together as you navigate randomly generated temples, dodging traps, slaying enemies, and crafting weapons in an attempt to escape before the temple floods. Planet Cube: Edge Get ready for high-speed adventuring set in a hand-crafted pixel art world, filled with precision platforming and thrills. Planet Cube is being invaded, and it's up to you to run, gun, jump, and dash your way through an underwater science complex, collecting firepower to turn the tables on a mysterious aggressor.

[ 2024-05-23 16:00:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

We released another patch yesterday with a few fixes.

Fixed

• Fix for Solo No-AI tutorial getting blocked in some langauges.
• Fix for Menu saving all the time when navigating the custom game menu options.
• Fix for being able to skip the first tutorial part by pressing the use key during the dialogue.

Modified

• Made the first boss easier for easy mode, where he spawns less enemies and increases the more he gets angry.

[ 2023-02-04 17:40:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are introducing a simpler Solo mode, where you don't have to protect or carry your partner. It's just you and danger! Don't forget you can customize a game to make it easier/harder to your liking too! Just go to Custom Game in any mode. [hr][/hr] Full release notes

Added

• Introducing a new Solo No AI mode where you don't have to protect your partner. Instead the partner is stolen by the ghost. All other modes remain in the game too.
• Added leaderboards for solo No AI (including daily pyramid no partner)
• Added select dialog for VS mode

Modified

• The first time you boot the game, you can now select with Solo No AI, Solo With AI, or Coop. Previously it would boot you immediately into Solo With AI.
• Tweaked tutorial for Solo No AI, so that partner is stolen by ghost in tutorial

Fixed

• Do not allow interaction in vault dialog while it's animating
• When player is some text, and player jumps, remove the text being said as it could be covering some enemy
• Fix for when grabbing a dead body while its still in mid-air, it would be positioned in a wrong layer making it carried behind the player (almost invisible on some items)
• Show checkmark when you get the key

[ 2022-12-20 18:39:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

There's been a few fixes and tweaks in this patch. See full patch notes below: [hr][/hr] Full patch notes:

Fixed

• Fix for spider when going down from ceiling cannot be stomped by player.
• Fix for Gargoyle not dying while underwater
• Minor tweak for auto aim for when in boss level, threshold for auto aiming in the y is less, so priority is given to the boss.
• Do not crash the game if discord integration fails
• Tweaked stealing from cage distance threshold, as it was taking it without player going into stealing state, causing the cage to drop immediately.
• Tweaked big scorpion corpse to not be indestructible when thrown at someone as it becomes a powerful weapon
• Fix for coins from chest were not spawning sparsed from chest as intended. - Tentative fix for crash log received when generating traps. - Fix for crash when completing the game and you're in the end-credits and move the thumbstick. - Tweaked colliders when friend is being carried by Giorgio, as she was easily hit - Fix for chomping gates being wrongly detected as orphaned when doing a far away explosion while the gate is down, causing them to be destroyed. - Tentative fix for crash log where enemy dead object checks with a player if he is carrying something and that object might already be destroyed.

[ 2022-11-24 14:45:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Another week, another patch. After last week's fixes for stomping on enemies and also adding of auto-aim, this we added a Custom Game menu in Solo too. Besides selecting items to have in your inventory when starting a Custom Game run, you can now also tweak the flood time (including turning it off), infinite credits and also turning on random level modifiers. Well, the latter is more to add some chaos if you're so inclined. :) Of course when doing a custom game, posting score to leaderboards and achievements will be disabled. [hr][/hr] Full patch notes:

Added

• Added Custom Game for Solo with added options for custom flood timer, infinite credits, and level modifiers.

Fixed

• Tentative fix for crash log where in infestation (world 1 - 4), the enemies shuffle bag would not be set. CNR.
• Fix for on completing the game, the score was being submitted on the next difficulty leaderboard
• Shortened Windows setting description to just be Falling Out. Otherwise it would be too long in task manager
• Fix for PCs who might be running at a lower frame rate (especially during some stream), the Boss's talisman is not spawned on death causing the game to get stuck, because the destroying of boss animation is timed by time, while spewing is timed by frames. Saw it while streaming with Suspense.
• Fix for weird drawing of surface when alt-tabbing. Mostly experienced when streamers alt-tab.
• Tentative fix for enemies with HP 2+ which would attack you immediately. If you hit them while they are airborn, and after landing a few frames after, they would attack you immediately (and jump at you).
• Fix for enemies not hitting you if they are startled by you and you get into them
• Tweaked stomping of enemies a bit more so that a) it's a bit more forgiving when hitting them airborn when hitting them near the peak for a jump, b) if you're below them, you shouldn't hit them as that was too forgiving and looked odd.
• Tentative fix for a crash log where one of the objects in shop vault didn't exist, and so when saving it crashed. CNR. PP-8K
• Fix for Take turns not working properly in Loot Battle No partner
• When slipping on Poo, player should do an angry sound
• Fix for displaying the webs for halloween on the main menu when halloween is disabled
• Fixes for stealing from cage stand. If you're running, it shouldn't take it causing the flood but should get into stealing state. If you're looking away from the object on the cage stand, it shouldn't take it causing a flood.

[ 2022-11-10 15:28:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

For those considering getting "Falling Out", we have once again made the demo available to play! We are celebrating being part of the IndieCade event and are excited to be featured alongside many great indie games. To kick things off, we will be doing a livestream so you can take a quick look! If you miss it, we are also doing rebroadcasts for the rest of the event.

[ 2022-11-07 18:58:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

We have been listening and we noticed that some of you were getting frustrating on two things 1) Stomping on enemies sometimes would get you hurt (especially if you took the enemy from the side) 2) Aiming a throw when an enemy is close by is difficult to master. So we fixed the stomping - should be much more forgiving now. And we added Auto-aiming in the Tourist (Easy mode), where when an enemy is close by, the thrown object/partner is aimed at the enemy. Don't worry, you can still turn it off from Settings->Controls if you prefer timing your throws. [hr][/hr] Full Release Notes

Added

- Added auto-aim when throwing against an enemy in easy mode. Can be turned off from Settings -> Controls

Modified

- Tweaked a bit how player can kill an enemy by jumping on him. Previous it was too harsh. Now it's more forgiving. - When partner is sliding on the floor, it should still kill the enemy even at lower velocity, to reduce frustration to players. - When thrown friend at an enemy with HP 2+, friend shouldn't get hurt. - Tweaked further more the balancing for killing enemies by jumping on them - Grappling Gun even Level 1 and 2 know hit enemies - Do not ask anymore for feedback on crash. No one is typing anything anyway. Also fixed issue of game not restarting after a crash, since I needed to update the execute shell plugin to be 64-bit. - Some buttons in dialogs (e.g. exiting from game level) should have the negative side effect to be red. - Removed Halloween Run

Fixed

- Tentative fix for rare crash when depositing in piggy bank. - Tentative fix for crash log where on generating level, level number was 0 which is never the case unless it's the tutorial. But we don't generate a level in the tutorial since it's a static level. - Tentative fix for crash in level gen. Suspected that a data file is being messed with as that is the only way I managed to repro. If file is tempered, it will show an error and exit. - Fix for annoyance of throwing partner against wall in solo, and on hitting a wall it changes sprite to sliding vertically, causing a collision with an enemy and gets hurt instead of killing the enemy. - Mines/C4s should be infront of objects. - Fixed spiders getting stuck near cage. Regression due to changing cage stand sprite collision. - Discord integration is now working again. - Tentative fix for crash found on sentry when getting hearts hud data in replay.

[ 2022-11-03 13:01:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

From the 25th of October to 1st of November, we will be activating our in-game event called Halloween Run. So with a new game mode, more weapons and additional ways to brag high scores, there has never been a better time to take this oddball couple for a spin. New Game Mode Play our new mode called Halloween Run, where for a limited time (during Steam Scream Fest), you will find a slightly more challenging run with a twist. You have to kill enemies to survive, and each kill replenishes your health which reduces over time. Weapons Galore Dont let progress get in the way of obtaining some of the most outlandish weapons in Falling Out. In this new game mode, players will discover more weapons in Pumpkin Crates (obviously), providing access to some of the finest arsenal these tombs offer. Scream Fest Leaderboard This exclusive leaderboard will be available throughout Screamfest, and well be providing shout-outs to some of the finest players via our socials throughout the festival.

[ 2022-10-24 19:44:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are proud to be part of the Dreamhack Beyond event and in celebration, are extending our launch discount of 20% until Wednesday at 23:59 Local! In addition, we are also live-streaming with the developer so do swing by and have a look!

[ 2022-10-14 13:30:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

We received some suggestions which we took on board. Also we fixed some stuff which were reported on our discord or from the automated crash logs that we received.

Highlights

Added

- Support for uploading screenshots to Steam. You can know press F12 (default key) and take a screenshot that you can share on Steam community.

Modified

- Tweaked time to drop something from inventory - Arrow packs and banana packs now need to picked up since it was annoying players to auto-pick up

Fixed

- Fixes related to crashes when doing an explosive on top of a cage. The developer didn't test that scenario... he is playing it wrongly it seems. - Do not allow to carry Egg in inventory. This was causing problems. Who carries a dragon egg anyway?! - Do not allow to put player in the vault when playing coop. LOL! Now this was funny! - Do not break stuff protected by cage when there's an explosion. Some players found a way how to pop out the object in the cage with an explosive. [hr][/hr]

Full Patch Notes

If you're interested in the nitty gritty details of all the fixes, here are the full patch notes:

Added

- Support for uploading screenshots to Steam.

Modified

- Added a sound for Mayan boss to telegraph better the throwing of the Sword. - Tweaked time to drop something from inventory from 0.75 of a sec to 0.5sec - Arrow packs and banana packs now need to picked up since it was annoying players to auto-pick up

Fixed

- Fixed saving and loading of inventory replay data - Fixes related to crashes when doing an explosive on top of a cage. - Tentative fix for rare crash log when checking for invisibility cloak. - Tentative fix for crash when firing arrow. Could not reproduce. - Tentative fix for crash in map reported via automated crash log. - Tentative fix for crash where shop vault was not found. - Tentative fix for crash in Entity Manager where a data structure doesn't exit. Suspecting it's being updated by the engine when object is already cleaned up. - Do not allow to carry Egg in inventory. - Avoids rare crash when exiting the game and a snowball or lavaball does a splatter causing a crash instead of exiting gracefully - Fix for crash when drawing weapon and weapon has been destroyed while in hands. - Tentative fix for crash when picking up object. Could not reproduce crash found in collected crash logs. - Do not allow to put player in the vault when playing coop. LOL! - Just in case to avoid a crash when a weapon has been destroyed while in player's hands. - Tentative fix for crash when using a close range weapon. - Fix for when restoring from a crash after going back to a shop, the shop stand would not open - Tentative fix for when a crate is shown on the shop stand (don't know how to repro), at least it would not crash. - Fix for crash if receiving bogus response for time from server. - Do not break stuff protected by cage when there's an explosion. - Do not destroy walls below the cage stand, as it looks odd when there's an explosion - When there's a dead enemy you cannot pickup (e.g. mummy) and another dead enemy you can pick up (e.g. scarab) then it should allow you to pickup the scarab and not just say some text of disgust. - Improved support for Alt-Enter (but title bar doesn't appear until you Alt-Tab back or resize the window) - Fix for crash when trying to add Beans in the Custom Game menu for a coop game. - Fix for Friend carrying something, leaves it behind when goes to rope. - Tentative fix for ghost blocks after reloading a level, where now if both decals and wall data are not both present then it doesnt use partial data. - Fix for Freed friend in Mayan Boss can get hit after killing boss. - When dropping stuff from inventory, add a bit of randomness in the drop so they don't land on the same spot. - Crash when Gargoyle is hit by a Troll (or other enemy) while charging lasers. - Fix for some room templates (in World 3 and 4) with a cage where player could potentially end up blocked after the cage is lifted

[ 2022-10-13 17:10:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are delighted to announce the release of our first title, Falling Out, which supports 11 languages and is available worldwide. [previewyoutube=M4IjJu95CE4;full][/previewyoutube] FALLING OUT is a frantic 2D platform roguelite title in which you take control of oddball couple Giorgio and Felicie on the holiday from hell. Navigate randomly generated ancient temples while finding treasures, dodging traps, slaying enemies, and crafting weapons. On your adventure youll run into the equally lost, but rather helpful, shopkeeper, Azar and extremely frightening end-of-world bosses! Not only is FALLING OUT our first game it is also the first release from talented indie developer PolyCrunch Games. Weve had a lot of fun working with Neville Attard, the one man machine behind PolyCrunch, and are delighted to have been able to support his dream of releasing FALLING OUT to a huge worldwide audience. This first release has involved the talent and hard work of a small but dedicated team across development, marketing, porting, localisation, quality assurance, compliance, certification and many other areas. Well share more about what it takes to create a game, support multiple languages and simultaneously launch it on four platforms in a future blog, but for now, please download and enjoy FALLING OUT whilst the launch discount is available! Key Features:

• Play with two characters at a time in single-player mode, or join with a friend in local co-op and versus modes.
• Easily switch between characters to use their unique abilities.
• Deep metagame - decode blueprints, buy objects and collect scraps to build weapons and items that will help you overcome the unknown perils ahead.
• Procedurally generated roguelike levels. Each play session is unique.
• Explore, navigate, and survive worlds full of ghastly ancient creatures.
• Challenge yourself to set the global best score in the daily pyramid
• Relive your most hilarious moments with slow-motion replay

Thank you to everyone in the community who has shown your support during development - we really appreciate it! Please let us know what you think :)

[ 2022-10-06 11:17:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thanks to everyone for playing the demo and providing some great feedback! We want to make sure players have the best possible experience so we've made some updates/fixes to the current build. As always, we'd appreciate any and all feedback - good or bad - we can take it :) # Added - New Egypt Level 3 and 4 audio tracks - Updated texts with new layout and also texts from writer - Added Confirmation for Exit from main menu - Added confirmation before exiting to main main from Pause menu - Switch keyprompts to keyboard, if using keyboard. - Restart option on gameover and don't have any other credits left. Also Game Over is displayed immediately now and not having to press continue. - The Pause menu now displays a Quick Restart option (when playing a generated level), and it will get you back to the map and lose one continue. - Added a flash on the heart container when consuming it, to attract a bit attention. - Added random dark level node into map. Also added updated icons for info. - Show vault opening when putting stuff in it - Hand animation for shop stand. - Added a bg for notifications # Modified - Do not create special rooms in first level of a world. JPP-32 - Update map background and moved merchant to the side. - Performance improvements - Quicker bg fade for simple dialogs - Made piggy bank UI consistent. - Added buttons to simple dialogs with keys help incorporated. - Take input on dialogs when they are still coming down. - Allow clicks in level selector while transition is not 100% complete as it was annoying to wait for it to complete. - Tweaks to map UI, include nodes, colors, speech bubble, and hearts alignments. - Tweaks to workbench dialog - Order shop craftables near each other according to level (and not price). Also grappling guns are all under Equipment now, even though 2 of them can be used as weapons. - Updated Blueprints icons - Minor tweaks for Stealing. Using green instead of orange ring. Tweaked the rings and added some leeway when stealing. Also Snatch It keyhelp is now using the same in-game key prompt style. - Tweaked merchant speech bubble in level selector - Grouping for items in Vault dialog # Fixes - Fix for crash when trying to access inventory from map - Tentative fix for crash in arrow dashes. #PP-4M - Tentative fix for crash when using something from inventory and since you use it, it returns nothing. #PP-5H - If we don't handle an item, we should output the sprite name to better understand what caused it. Related with #PP-57 - Tentative fix when trying to create an invalid dimension surface where zoom would be a non-sense value. #PP-55 - Fix for switching just after doing a whistle and new NPC keeps running. - Fix for merchant jokes last line being said double. - Should not be able to put piggy bank in inventory! - Minor tweak to remove from inventory pos since checking for extra glow stick wasn't being checked properly now that we have an inventory for the friend too. - Fix when merchant reminds about 10% cut of piggy bank, to use a speech bubble and wait for player to read. - Allow replay only in levels and boss rooms. Avoids crash in intro/tutorial scenes if trying to activate replay. - Fix for getting hurt and coins fly out when being pulled by grappling gun and colliding with a wall at a certain speed. - Fix for direction keys not handled for character/color select - Don't draw menu key prompts when there's a simple message dialog. - Round off coordinates when drawing keys as they would clip any subpixels on the gui layer. - Fix for sub-pixel camera view movement, causing weird glitches especially when rendering text in-game (not on gui) - Fix for grappling gun hurting own player - Fix for small text, to use only 4 way offset nudge stroke (instead of 9 way) - Do not allow pause menu during bootstrap.

[ 2022-06-17 19:57:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

It is a very busy Monday indeed!

Today is the start of the glorious Steam Next Fest which celebrates upcoming titles with demos (like ours!) for a whole seven days. We're so pleased to be part of this important event and extend the opportunity for people to get hands-on with our odd couple once more. Not only that...today is also Guerrilla Collective 3.5 and FALLING OUT has been selected for the showcase. In celebration we'll be dropping a brand new asset at the show so please do check it out from 1pm Pacific | 10pm CET today! (Monday 13th). Head over to the IGN homepage at that time to get check out all the cool games on show...but mainly ours, of course :) Other ways to watch We'll also be running regular streams throughout Steam Next Fest, so please do drop by our store page if you want to see Nevile, the creator, play through our Demo!

[ 2022-06-13 17:00:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

In celebration of being part of the amazing DreamHack Beyond event, the creator, Neville, has sat down with his kids (who - honestly - have all the best game ideas including this one!) to show you one of the hilarious features in FALLING OUT. VS Mode! Create total chaos with bananas, frying pans, landmines, boomerangs and anything that comes to hand in order to steal your opponent's loot. Just remember to protect your partner at all times! Our streams are scheduled for 1 hour at the following times: Friday 3rd @ 12pm CET Saturday 4th @ 1pm CET Sunday 5th @ 12pm CET

[ 2022-06-03 09:48:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's a special day over here at Firestoke and PolyCrunch Games - we've just officially announced our game, FALLING OUT! An action-packed roguelite where you take control of an oddball couple who are on a vacation from hell. We haven't just announced the game officially, we've also dropped an all-new STEAM demo for everyone to enjoy. To celebrate ALL of this, we prised the developer, Neville, away from his desk to take the DEMO for a spin to show you what it's all about. Actually...he just ended up staying at his desk. Why just watch, we'd love for you to play it and let us know what you think!

[ 2022-05-02 17:26:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

[previewyoutube=C2btpROrg9s;full][/previewyoutube] It's been a while since my last update, but I've been busy finishing stuff, killing bugs and going through several BORING publisher agreements, most of them with a lot of black holes or involving signing with your blood! But hope is not all lost! Anyways, I've added some cool craftables, so now besides the bow&arrow, slingshot and boomerang you can also craft jetpacks, grappling guns and banana guns. Jetpacks are a lot of fun, but be careful not to overheat them. Also don't throw them maybe? as they are highly unstable! Grappling guns can get you to high places fast. At later levels you can hit enemies or your multiplayer opponent with its hook too! Banana Guns are just crazy fun, especially in multiplayer. The Merchant will now also start giving you more sidequests to collect stuff for him for his weird plans? Collect random stuff for him and get cool rewards like gems, healing potions, speed potions, invisibility cloaks, a cursed head or a lucky charm. Just don't break the lucky charm or you'll get cursed and start finding only poop in the crates! If you're going to break it, at least break it on your multiplayer opponent! If you find the rubber glove, you can now also carry and throw dead enemy bodies. Comes especially handy for those merchant quests where he needs specimens of some creatures. I added a new Multiplayer mode - Capture the Friend. It's an extremely fast and merciless game mode. Both players start from the exit while their friend is at the entrance. Whoever exits the level with their friend first wins. It's sort of like capture the flag? but...with...friends? Don't know, sounded funny when naming it! There's now a sort of Cheat menu where you can select all the items you want to start with, but if you use it then the scores will not be submitted. And achievements are not checked. Added vibrations to the gamepad so now you get a massage while playing the game too And you can also redefine gamepad keys now. One last thing... you can be sneaky in multiplayer matches, and fart near a health potion. It becomes poisoned and health will start decreasing whoever drinks it. Full Release Notes:

Added

• New Craftable Weapons, each with 4 different levels to craft
  • Jetpacks - whizz through the air, but be careful not to overheat them. Also don't throw them as they are highly unstable!
  • Grappling Gun - the later levels can also be used to kill enemies (or hit opponents)
  • Banana Gun - add more chaos to your multiplayer session
• Added more Merchant sidequests besides the idol quest
  • You will need to retrieve some random object or corpse for the merchant's weird plans
  • Well at least he can reward you with gems,
  • Healing Potions (if you fart near one it becomes poisoned. Hilarious for multiplayer!)
  • Speed Potion
  • Invisibility Cloak
  • A Cursed Head skull that points you in some direction?
  • Lucky charm, which if you break it you get cursed (and get poop in all crates). Break it on your opponent in multiplayer, to get THEM cursed! LOL
• Btw, Cursed Idol now revives dead bodies if idol is being carried
• Rubber glove to pick up dead bodies
• New Multiplayer mode - Capture the Friend. Players start from the exit while friend is at the entrance. Whoever exits the level first wins. Very fast but fun mode.
• Vibration for gamepads. Can be tweaked or turned off from settings. This does not work on Mac, sorry.
• Achievements!
• Support for Starting With options in single player/Coop too, however the player is also warned that scores/achievements would not be submitted.
• Show notifications on gamepads connected/disconnected
• Added option to enable debug logging, off by default. Option can be found in Misc. settings menu
• Added support for Coop leaderboards
• Allow two players to have different gamepad types set, e.g. one PS4 gamepad, and another showing XBox type buttons.
• Allow player to redefine gamepad keys
• Support for Spanish-Spain as opposed to just Spanish-Latin.

Fixed

• Fix for switching toggling back full screen mode in Windows during Pause Menu not actually scaling up the surfaces
• Don't show twitch questions when game over or level complete
• Fix for not showing "loading" when switching to a localization which have a bigger font file
• Fix for arrows hitting player if respawning near doorway and there's an arrow from previous attempt.
• Fix issue with spider keeping sleeping sprite after it wakes up (especially on start of a level)
• Fix issue with double gates on top of each other (finally)
• Support for looking up and down by 2nd player in Coop
• Fix for when exiting a locked level while door is flooded, it was switching to walk-in animation rather remaining in a swimming animation.
• Fix for being able to drop stuff from inventory while swimming
• Fix for explosions not breaking nearby breakables
• Fix for mine not being triggered by loot or dropped arrows.
• Fixed bug when switcherooing in VS-No Partner. Since players playing actually switch, we were not switching the amount collected, and thus one could end up with a negative amount of money if he was hit by opponent.
• When playing coop or VS-no partner, you can break from opening of a chest by pressing any key
• Polar Bear should only shake screen when visible. Also limit debris particles from camera shaking as they could bring down framerate.
• Fixed issue with music not resuming after skipping the intro in tutorial.
• Fix for C4 passing through player in VS when throwing it while still not exploding. Also differentiated damage between when thrown and when exploding.
• Remove enemies close to player especially due to CTF or due to templates having an enemy (like Alaska polar bear)
• Fixed bug of friend being able to pick up full health pickup when already dead
• Fix for idol not being regenerated if you die and respawn in same level
• Typo causing crash when crafting (crash happens later when trying to save data). Thanks GameMaker for not doing any type-checking! uggghhh
• Do not allow to place friend in a cage to swap with item... lol
• Fix for friend remaining dizzy after hit with fryingpan, because GameMaker doesn't know how to store numbers properly...pfff
• Fix for scraps not being properly deleted when blueprint level > 1
• Added proper max limits when selecting items from Start With menu
• Fixed issue with extra pocket not being added properly when added in Start With items options.
• Fix for friend not getting angry after dizzying after being hit by a fryingpan

Modified

• Increased probability of a workbench being generated by adding more tries for generation
• Tweaked spear collision box
• Dead bodies now get broken by boulders and rotors
• Tweaked threshold for stealing from stand
• Trigger flood if you hit an object in the cage with something
• Added stealing frames for felicie
• Improved interactions between boulders, rotors and explosives
• Don't allow destroying tiles beneath a level end
• Tweak for announcement font
• Open locked door with key, even without having partner near you
• Boomerang and Friend now collect loot for you.
• Explosions now do a "+" style of tile removal. I tried 3x3 explosions but they were too much.
• Select level when crafting, so if you have level 3, you can also craft level 2 and level 1
• Renamed VS to Loot Battle
• Allow player to select gamepad from settings for each player. This is especially useful in Windows because it can give multiple ids to the same gamepad. And so, in a 2-player game, you could end up both gamepads controlling the same avatar. What a messed up OS!
• Support for selecting keyboard for player 2 (to disregard a duplicated gamepad in Windows)
• Improved visibility of blueprint icons on murals

[ 2021-08-31 10:36:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Crafting is here. It gives that extra layer to the game which was missing. So how does it work? - First you need to decode blueprints which you find on murals. Your partner can help with that. - When choosing between levels, choose your path on the map carefully to get to the blueprints you want to get. - Besides having the blueprints you also need to collect scraps that you find in the crates. - Once you have all the required materials you can craft the weapons on a workbench that you can sometimes find in a level. - There 3 weapons to craft for now, each with 4 levels for you to discover. More weapons will be coming soon including a jet pack, claw shot and more. In this build there's the boomerang and two ranged weapons (slingshot and bow & arrow) [previewyoutube=m7d6gTtoKIU;full][/previewyoutube]

Added

• Crafting system!
• New Weapons:
• - Sling Shot. Collect stones and throw them with a bit more precision. As you upgrade through the 4 levels of the sling shot you can see more bounces and have more power too
• - Bow & Arrow. Collect arrows from crates or from the world and shoot them. This also has 4 levels to upgrade through. I will leave it up to you to discover :)

Modified

• [Twitch] Give some blinking time when enemies are spawn near player in twitch integration
• [Twitch] Default for seasick twitch question is to be disabled.
• [Twitch] Added link for further help with Twitch Integration. Also shows a clearer message that login was successful.
• [Twitch] Auto login to twitch on boot up if we were previously using twitch.
• [Twitch] Cheers should now give some breathing space to the streamer and not flood all at the same time. Also audience can write slightly longer cheers.
• [Twitch] Limit the number of notifications to never overrun the screen. Also removed the notification who voted during Twitch Integration.
• Make HUD fade out if the player is near the top of the screen, as otherwise you cannot see properly
• Do not pause game when losing focus, it annoys streamers too.
• Added/Improved slight glows for enemies to spot them better, especially in a dark level
• Retouched sprites for some of the enemies of Egypt because since they mostly had the same color, they were not so recognizable especially when near each other
• More probable to give arrows in crates if he has a bow but no arrows in his inventory.
• Added skip to tutorial (streamers don't want to waste time reading)
• Friend should say something when slapping player
• Moved all the settings of audio, graphics etc into a submenu when in the pause menu
• Reverted big scorpion to not need high vertical speed to kill
• Deleted "pil" for invincibility powerup.
• Increased probability of an extra pocket
• Reverting (When enemy is aggressive and comes after you, they should trigger booby traps). It was annoying that enemies actually trigger it when they see you.
• You can find leveled up craftable weapons in the shop but are more expensive then if you craft them yourself.
• For VS, cage should contain craftable weapons (since crafting cannot be done in VS)
• Upgrades for boomerang. Now there are 4 types of boomerangs which you can get by finding blueprints.
• Added support for left shoulder button drawing keys, and so polished the give up key combination when in 2 player VS
• Tweaked friction for things under water

Fixed

• [Twitch] Fix for when login fails on first attempt, and after a subsequent successful login, the flag of using twitch integration would not be on
• [Twitch] Fix for twitch ping timeouts where it would not detect future ping timeouts
• [Twitch] Move enemies out of walls when spawned to surround the streamer, if their origin is set that it would be in a wall (e.g. bees, bats)
• [Twitch] Show proper commands help for twitch player (was showing gamepad help instead of commands)
• [Twitch] Fix for crash if restoring from a crash and with twitch enabled, and a twitch user takes control of friend
• [Twitch] Make sure to not go in a never ending loop if a msg from network is somewhat bogus
• [Twitch] Removed twitch GM alarms and done manual alarms, since you cannot pause GM alarms during a pause and was causing all kind of problems. Now on pausing, twitch remains active too.
• [Twitch] never have multiple sockets open
• [Twitch] Always retry to log in
• [Twitch] Tentative fix for a CNR I saw during a stream, where a crash happened during a pause screen, the twitch step code executed. The crash happens because it cannot find deactivated objects.
• [Twitch] Localized msg for when a twitch users tries to vote again
• [Twitch] Fix for twitch detecting a false disconnection due to not receiving a ping timeout. Now there must be 3 timeouts before trying to reconnect. Also if we receive anything (like a msg), we reset the number of ping timeouts. Most importantly when we try to reconnect, we destroy the previous connection with a logout, as otherwise we will have multiple events for each msg causing havoc and lockups.
• [Twitch] Fix for crashes when changing rooms, e.g. going to level selector or to menu, while there are still queued cheers
• [Steam] Fix for getting wrong steam leaderboards when viewing pyramid of the day. Also refactored to have more readable leaderboard IDs.
• [Steam] Fix for steam scores not trimmed if too long
• [Steam] Daily pyramid Steam leaderboard should be descending not ascending
• Fix for not showing beta complete when finishing the 4th level of ice world
• Fix for mayan boss sword strangely hovering back when hit by a stone
• Typo in russian main menu to help with translations.
• Fix for when there's a lot of errors it's just takes the first one to report
• Fix offset for key letter in continue button when someone said something (e.g. in shop or tutorial)
• Fix for not retrying to reconnect when not being able to connect. Also destroy any created socket even on timeout of a login.
• Fix for regression due to commit a99b6d24 on 2021/06/26 (Fixed still showing scrap icons even if quantity was zero after crafting). Fixes PP-S
• Fix for throwing rope when looking left, on the right edge of a single column, and when trying to drop a rope it would erroneously move to a far away block to the right (next platform)
• Fix for bug where when dying, the re-picked loot will not be counted to get the level complete bonus when you get all the coins.
• Fix for alignment of Felicie when using an item or just crafted something
• Fix for transition bars not appearing on level selector. Made separate layers.
• Fixed issue with UI keys help overlay each other (e.g. view steam leaderboard toggle button and next button for drop down).
• Generate previous loot to use gravity, and also to move out of walls if it landed in a previously exploded tile.
• Fix for non thrown objects potentially getting stuck (slowed down) in mid air
• Fix for feedback message which uses multiline wasn't being rendered properly due to regression when introducing drop downs for selections which when selected are drawn first, and then the unselected.
• Fix for underline of drawn on top of leaderboard heading
• Fix for crash if restoring after a crash
• Tentative fix for crawlers walking through walls when falling
• Fix for idol keeps on being generated one level after the other
• Fix for teleporting dead bodies (especially for crawlers)
• Hack for crawlers to see you while cornering around while you're trying to stomp on them
• When exiting boss level, put back in inventory carried weapon
• Minor tweak for looking up and looking down. Was wrongly drawn when carrying friend.
• Fix for bigger light in inventory would cause another crash if restoring from a crash. Also the side effect of bigger light was not seen on the next level after buying it!
• Fix for framenumber being reset first time player prefs is used
• Tentative fix for enemies being able to see through corners of walls.
• Fix issue where if a player uses the thumbstick and uses it slightly, the avatar doesn't update the sprite and slides instead
• Fix for throwing rope by friend after being boosted since it would sometimes be in mid-air.
• Fix for boosting up looked weird when selected a color. This is because it was one sprite for both. Also added missing boost sprites for when playing coop with same avatars.
• Fix issue where Windows YYC build was not triggering the tutorial switches, because of different iteration discrepancies between a VM build and a YYC build... pffff
• Hack for pressing pause key during level selector, was not disabling the level selector, thus making the pause menu not show up.
• When entering the pause or crafting menu, the player who invoked it will be controlling the menu.
• Fix keyboard keys bg spacing
• When player is using item, don't move
• Fix for egypt boss description missing
• Do not increase score if showing gameover screen
• Fix for enemy not following you when you do a noise.
• Fix crawler in corners don't get hit when trying to jump on them
• Fix for issue where when you go back to another level in the map, the level number is still incremented, rather than according to the the depth of the pyramid. Also fixed infestation should only be on level 4, so if you go back you don't get an infestation.
• Fix for superfluous comment from player when it says cannot leave friend and he's actually carrying friend
• Fix for destroying generated murals, when some verification of level fails.
• Fix for murals not being destroyed and level generation is restarted
• Fix for incorrect floating offset for carried friend
• Burp wasn't being played anymore, since playing a random voice over cleares any delayed sounds
• Fix for when enemies with hp 2+, and gramaphone is being used, they remain asleep after the first hit. They should wake up. Also fixes side effect of not being able to give them the 2nd hit to kill them.
• Fix for blowdarts when hitting a breakable, it floats backwards rather than passing through the breakable object.
• Fix for when friend is slapping opponent, and you pick up friend during slap, opponent remains in waiting to be slapped state.
• Tentative fix for glitches in replay where in VS player 2 would appear zapping around the screen. The number of allocations for recorded objects was not matching with what we were recording since we were skipping some.
• Do not get hurt when touching a dizzy enemy
• Delete level saved data, just in case it re-crashes on trying to restore (as otherwise game is locked until file is manually deleted).
• Fix for item length of a selection was not being taking into consideration for calculating menu options offset
• Fix for crash when throwing breakable things against each other (e.g. vase and crate)
• Should not get hit when walking in opposite direction of spikes
• Fix for crash when having draw keys help enabled, and jumping to the left-est edge of a level with your friend near-by, it would check out of bounds. First off, it should not check while jumping. Also added a check to not go out of bounds.
• Fix for notifications alignment when under water
• Fix for floating animation doesn't have offsets for carried objects
• Rotor hit sounds should be played according to distance to player
• An item should not be break if it's being carried
• Fix for replay causing flood when there's a cage in the level.

[ 2021-06-28 13:19:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weapon Crafting is soon coming to Pyramid Plunge. Here's a quick preview. [previewyoutube=m7d6gTtoKIU;full][/previewyoutube] It's been on my task list for a while and finally work started on it. Will be in this week's build after doing a proper round of QA. So how does it work? As you can see in the video, you have to 1) Find scraps in crates. These are just collectibles and to keep it simple cannot be thrown or dropped. 2) When completing a level, decide where to go in the pyramid, according to what weapon you think will help you most. The map will show you where you will find the blueprints for weapons. When completing a level you can also go back and choose another if you wish to collect all blueprints. 3) Get your partner to decode murals found in the pyramids to get the blueprints for the weapons. Each weapon will have 4 levels. On each new weapon level, the weapon will have some better stats or ability. E.g. The boomerang Level 1 will return only once, Level 2 will return twice and will take more hits against a wall to get broken, Level 3 will cause 2 damage points to the enemies, and so on. 4) Once you have all the required scraps to build a weapon out of a blueprint that you have, you then find a workbench to actually craft the weapon. In the first update there will be 3 weapons including two ranged weapons

• The boomerang
• Slingshot -aim and fire stones precisely at enemies
• Bow - aim and fire arrows. You can pick up arrows from traps too.

In a future update I'm planning to allow players to craft Jetpacks, Grappling Gun and a hilarious Banana Gun! This crafting is a lot of fun in Single Player and Coop. The branching map was originally designed with crafting in mind and finally that part of the puzzle is in place. What about 2-player VS mode? This weapon crafting adds another fun dimension. However I have disabled this feature in the 2-player VS mode because VS mode is all about chaos, chasing and running. The players in VS mode will still be able to find the upgraded weapons in cages. The cage first needs to be lifted by keeping pressed two pressure plates nearby, and stealing it by replacing it with another item - otherwise if you just steal it the flood will be triggered!

[ 2021-06-21 09:04:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

In this update, the odd couple Giorgio and Felicie find themselves teleported to the frozen scapes of Alaska. They will encounter crazy penguins, savage polar bears and the adorable Freezies. Here's an awesome chase by a polar bear: [previewyoutube=OSmHLG1OBuY;full]https://youtu.be/OSmHLG1OBuY[/previewyoutube]

Crazy Penguins

As soon as you invade their territory, they will start sliding as fast as they can charging at you. Be careful as they can also jump while sliding!

Polar Bears

These are beautiful beasts... only from afar though. Don't get too close to them or you will feel their wrath!

Freezies

These love to cuddle up with a warm body, but be careful as they will freeze you to death after a while! [previewyoutube=v5RC5Z6YNTs;full][/previewyoutube]

Mother Freezies

Like the Freeziers, BUT BIGGER AND DEADLIER!
This is the 3rd world of Pyramid Plunge. Every platformer needs to have an ice world, where the physics change and make the gameplay harder. I also introduced icicles that fall as soon as you walk beneath them. Note that the boss and a couple more enemies are missing for this 3rd world (mayan guards will soon be replaced by eskimos). Soon coming up:
In this update I also overhauled the level templates for the Mayan world too. I was previously using the same templates as that the egypt world. Although I was using different tiles, it still felt somewhat the same of course. Now, after the overhaul, they feel much more diverse. Here are the full release notes:

Release Notes v0.9.7

Added

• Alaska theme can now be played. There are still some enemies left to be done (eskimos will replace guards, and there is another enemy coming soon). Enjoy the savage polar bear, the slippery penguin and the adorable freezies!
• Mayan room templates are now changed completely. Previously I was using the same templates as Egypt. Now they are a new set, and sometimes you might also get elongated special templates chosen too.
• New faster idle animations for the avatar you are controlling. Also Felicie flicks her after some time and Giorgio gets tired :)
• Felicie know does a somersault for a double jump.
• New VS mode No partner. You are just 1 vs 1. No partners to take care of

Fixed

• Added cooldown for switch when it is pressed and then depressed. This is done especially when picking up loot where the loot is picked up before avatar touches the switch, making the switch come up because loot is taken and depressed a few frames later by the avatar.
• Fix for level generation to erroneously clearing non-wall items. Added all tile codes that player can pass through to check if level is solvable.
• Fix for pressing Esc during level selector, and selecting exit, would cause the game to continue rather than exit
• Fix for crash when boosting in Mayan boss level
• Fix for dying in a room with an idol, would trigger the flood on next try.
• Fix for enemies moving too slowly when underwater
• Enemy sounds that happen offscreen should not be played as it gets weird when you start the level and some traps trigger enemy deaths.
• Fix for crash when switcheroo touches idol
• Fix for drawing selection item not fitting in blue background rectangle
• Fixed issue where best score didn't provide entering name even though it was higher in the display. This happened when friend died exactly after player causing the newHighScore flag to be reset.
• Fix issue where Twitch integration could not be enabled mid-game.
• Fix for crash if a banana is dropped in the shop and you slip on it
• Fix for when underwater with frying pan and putting back, drops a dynamite (if selected)
• Fixed issue where when falling with great speed on 2 enemies, you still get hit by the 2nd enemy.
• Fix for avatar face is off when looking up or down while looking to the left
• Fix for crash if you try to steal from cage where the object on the stand has already been destroyed (e.g. a playing gramophone).
• Fix for objects acting weird when they land slowly on enemies heads. They should just drop.
• Fix for carried object not updated when player is feeling cold by a freezy
• Felicie should not do finger snapping sound while dancing
• Fix for enemy not being hit by player if enemy is startled (should have been if stunned by hit)
• Don't hit enemies when falling dizzy
• Fix for enemies jumping differently when near a wall
• Fix for splatters not properly obeying player's preferences for blood
• Fix for when in Twitch mode with viewer controlling partner, controlled partner should follow streamer like in coop
• Fix for crash if you try using the light stick or the flippers. Regression from refactoring the inventory.
• Fix for rare case when whistling is done exactly after changing state from idle
• Bees should die underwater
• Fix for breakables not breaking when throwing something at them. Also collisions shouldn't be detected when throwing from near an idle object.

Modified

• Pulled updates from Localizor.com
• If there's a crash, you will now at least restart the level with all your equipments and lives.
• Tutorial should also introduce booby traps (without any explanations though)
• Tweak for partner so that it doesn't follow you when it's not even seeing you. Also, it will follow blindly to the direct where you did the whistle, and not according to your current direction. So you can whistle somewhere to guide your partner and then run to somewhere else.
• Scores submissions are persisted just in case it continues failing, and will retry on boot up.
• Tweaked hit speed for big scorpion and polar bear. They are beasts so you should step on them with a bit more momentum!
• Give feedback of switcheroo in coop by using lightning.
• Sand dunes and stone adapt to theme
• When throwables that collide with friends or enemies with less than damage speed, should just bounce against entities. Enemies will also start a search.
• When level starts, enemies don't attack immediately
• Make wall ride feel more slippery in Alaska
• Improvements for guards to follow you
• Do not pause when hit any more (was done only on single player)... I don't like it's feel anymore

[ 2021-06-03 08:55:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Game Carnival is a virtual event for game developers to meet business partners but also for the general public. It is free to attend. On Wednesday (5/12), the general public can attend Game Carnival. I will be there from 11:30AM EST onwards. You can find my booth near the big turtle!

[ 2021-05-10 17:48:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

So this update is mostly about fixing some crashes that some users and streamers reported manually. But besides fixing stuff I wanted to make it easier to get crash reports. So now the game will show you something like this:
Players can type steps how to reproduce. And it will automatically send the last 30 second of replay data, all anonymously of course. I also added Steam Cloud for the settings/progression file, so you can continue seamlessly between devices. Full Release Notes for v0.9.4

Added

• Crash Reporting where I get notified with further details and also last 30 sec replay (on windows only).
• Steam Cloud support for synching settings/progress between devices.
• Keep backups of settings (even for non-steam builds)

Fixes

• Fix for scarab not moving after gramophone is destroyed.
• Don't save gramophone when dying. Fixes issue where the enemies are sleeping (because of gramaphone) when respawning in same level.
• Logging for windows is now saved on room exit, or on crash. Also it now continues to append unless it goes beyond 5 megs
• Have cool down when hitting something, so it doesn't get stuck. This was obviously seen if throwing a banana at the boss.
• Fixed issue with drawing of animated text which was sometimes horizontally off (distance between each character was not properly aligned).
• Fix for game getting stuck if coop with both felicies and killing the boss
• Fix for bosses getting screwed up with explosions
• Fix for getting stuck in boss level, if he's carrying Felicie and kills boss with an explosion.
• Fix for slapping crash, if the object (e.g. enemy) who threw something is now destroyed. Should only get angry with a player.
• Fix for issue of checking for boosting friend going out of bounds as reported by Octaver and Hector.
• Fix for incorrect naming of friend when a Twitch viewer controls partner. Reported by Lillith.
• Fixed issue where streamers using Twitch Integration would eventually crash, and also other kind of chaos (like duplicate fireworks etc). This was because everytime the player goes to main menu, a new Twitch connection was being made.
• Fixes related to crash reported by Hector where a big scorpion could not find the instance that threw whatever hit him.

Modified

• Pause Menu now has the twitch settings too.
• When saving loot on death skip banana projectiles. When respawning only create 2 bananas (rest are just peels) because it gets ridiculous when dying with lots of bananas. Also don't slip while still blinking.
• Default twitch voting time for Surprise Questions is now 15 seconds instead of 10.

[ 2021-04-29 15:58:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Localizor.com is an awesome tool where volunteers can help with localizing indie games. They got points for helping out, which they can then exchange for Steam games. If you want to volunteer (and get a Steam key!) in translating the Pyramid Plunge in your language, just head over to Localizor.com. To get the Steam key just join the game's Discord and talk to Nev (me) :) There's around 600 keys to be translated, most are just a couple of words. If you would like the game to be translated in your language and is not currently listed, just let me know and I'll see if I can add it. I will also be putting Pyramid Plunge as a reward on Localizor.com when I'm closer to launch.

[ 2021-04-23 17:58:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

I wanted the tutorial to feel more like a complete level. So I made a short level by first exporting a generated level. I kept tweaking it to keep it simple, keeping in mind what things I want the player to learn first. I also improved murals that match more the style, showing what the player has to do next. I think it's MUCH better now.
[hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-04-16 08:24:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Finally found some time to improve the introduction. I still wanted to keep it very light. So the story begins by Giorgio and Felicie entering a wrong chamber in a pyramid. As Giorgio jumps down a platform, a rock falls on an ancient sarcophagus and cracks it open. A eery ghost of an ancient evil Pharaoh comes out and wants to rule the world with his evil friends from other kingdoms. Will Giorgio and Felicie manage to exit the cursed Pyramid alive? [previewyoutube=nJa7x_GCewU;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-04-14 18:04:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

You can now boost up your friend for high to reach places. She will then drop the rope for you to climb up. If you're playing as Felicie, Giorgio throws you up. This comes in very handy in those rare occasions where you cannot reach up higher places with a wall ride. [previewyoutube=zmQ5dDNzNzY;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-04-09 13:32:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

I always admired the Disney animators of old. And especially loved how Aladdin's merchant's shop opened up in the opening seen of Aladdin.
After studying it a bit, I made my version of the opening merchant stand. I think it came pretty good, given that I'm no professional animator. [previewyoutube=Z2ycv-otE1U;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-04-01 11:25:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

This yellow fruit is very versatile! You place them for enemies to slip on them. Just be careful you don't slip on them yourself! You can also stomp on them to fire a banana projectile too. Or you can just throw them. But where they really shine is in VS multiplayer mode, where you can drop them when your opponent is chasing you. You can roflol to your heart's content when you see them slip behind you. My kids love to place them near the exit for me! [previewyoutube=VuCuBeLvwMs;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-30 14:00:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

I wanted to add some side quests which should add some interesting scenarios when playing Pyramid Plunge. We're started with the first quest where the merchant will randomly let you know about an idol to get it for him. He doesn't tell you it's cursed though! One of the special rooms will contain a cage with an idol inside it. First you have to unlock it by placing objects on the switches. Then you have to swap it with something else (like Indian Jones handles these kinda jobs).
If you just steal it without replacing it with something else, it triggers the flood and the cursed idol will start spewing blood like crazy! [previewyoutube=qBkddrQHr90;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=jPXD_SZoTwU;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-29 11:56:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

It always felt kinda weird that she wouldn't react if you throw her against a wall or throw something at her, by mistake. So now it makes perfect sense that she'll slap you hard! You'll be dizzy for a few moments, but you'll get over it. [previewyoutube=7JcOSydvLlI;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-28 06:51:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

The level generation algorithm, up to build v0.9, was the same I had in the very early prototypes. They've still been fun, but when playing it every day with my kids, we were easily recognizing some of the templates. They weren't random enough. I wanted to make them more diverse in terms of layouts. So I added the following to make the levels feel more diverse: - Randomly flip templates horizontally - Added support for random blocks of 5x3 inside room templates - Redesigned the room templates - Special rooms. these are occasionally placed which have some deviously laid out traps. You can also create your own in the room templates text files. There is one for each world (however for the time being they are all the same... will be changing them soon for each world). They definitely feel more diverse now. [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-27 10:52:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

These are the mothers of the annoying Freezies in the Alaska world. They hurt you when getting stuck to you. They also shoot snowballs at you. And when you hit them they also split into 3 smaller Freezies. I would just run away when I see one up close! [previewyoutube=1qYE-lN9OrE;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-26 07:07:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

I always thought it would be funny to have a frying pan as a weapon. To make Felicie more powerful, you can only use as a weapon, like Rapunzel, when you're playing as Felicie. If you're playing VS, you can use it to rebound any objects thrown at you! If you're playing with Giorgio, he will throw the frying pan, which still does some pretty good damage. [previewyoutube=2VBH4H4qS9A;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-25 13:04:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Mayan Boss has been added to the Mayan World. This boss is much more difficult than the Egypt Boss. First off, you have to get your partner to safety. Then you need to avoid getting stung by the bees he spews out from his mouth. He is quite agile, unlike the Egypt Boss. He can also throw his sword at you. Well ... actually, he throws his hand, with the sword and all! [previewyoutube=KHpKzyDRWvA;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-24 09:35:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

I added a cute (but annoying) little bat in the Mayan world. This replaces the temporary spider I was using from the Egypt world. If you disrupt his sleep he comes attacking you. If you get out of sight, he goes back to sleep... upside down of course. [previewyoutube=gWYMij4oInw;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-23 14:47:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

There was something about the logo I had done for Pyramid Plunge which didn't look professional enough, but I could not nail it down. It was time to engage with a professional logo designer to get that professional look for the logo. The old logo was done by me, inspired from Duck Tales/Indiana Jones:
I upgraded it a bit when I commissioned the poster, but still it wasn't there:
The new one feels more modern and is very readable! I love it. (Someday it will be on Switch too :) )
Thanks to Alvaro Carreras for the logo design and to Samuel Suarez for the poster. [hr][/hr]

We're preparing for a closed beta for Pyramid Plunge in April 2021. Sign up now!

[ 2021-03-22 21:09:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

In this update I introduce to you the little buggers - the Freezies. They are cute little ice balls that want to hug you. Don't keep them long on you though, as they will start freezing you slowly. Your lives will start turning blue, and if they all become blue you become frozen. The more Freezies you are carrying, the slower you move too. And the only way to get them off, is to shake them off by jumping from a great height. I also started working on the new ice world to host the Freezies and other enemies. It's already looking great with the ice platforms reacting to the light, snow particles, more slippery platforms, distorted reflection in the background... but it's still a work in progress and far from finished. New enemies and more tiles variety will be added soon. Here are some concepts from Samuel Suarez that I will be turning into the enemies for the ice world in the coming update(s).
This update is only available in the Early Access version and not in the demo. On Steam this will be available in March. So make sure to add to your wishlist ;)

Release Notes

Added

• Added new world for ice theme - Alaska. Experimenting with new tiles for ice. Less friction when on ice tiles (can have mixture in a level).
• Crystal Distortion for Alaska background
• Added snow particles for Alaska.
• New enemy for Alaska - Freezies attaching to player which slow him down and freeze him to death. Shake them off by falling a great height. When you have even just one Freezy, you start freezing slowly (the more Freezies you have, the faster you freeze). The hearts will start turning blue. If all become blue, you die frozen. When you get rid of the freezies attached to you, the hearts start recovering slowly.
• Temp music for Mayan world

Fixed

• Fix for bee not behaving properly and wrongly changing state on animation ending. Also fixed transition from going back to idle, and idling on same spot (smoothed out noise movement).
• Fix for spider which was coming down for player by seeing through walls.
• Fix for delayed sounds not always playing
• Fix for mayan guard continue climbing down ladder, when it actually finished.
• Fix for when Felicie is carrying Giorgio and meets a wall, position jerks.
• Freezies (and other enemies) should not "see" exited players.
• Fix for crash if you drop a full health pack (bought from shop) when dying.
• Fix for light set up twice in coop, due to your friend actually being a player.
• Fix for num enemies killed are not matching in level summary when playing coop.
• Fixed Rewind sound keeps playing if you exit quickly after dying.

Modified

• Refactored crawlers (spiders, scarabs, freezies). Some related bugs were fixes along the way.
• Each world has it's own difficulty settings for the enemies to be spawned, to make it progressively harder (besides enemies being harder).
• Giving enemies a wider seeing range in the Y. Also Freezies can look behind them.
• Throwing of spears will only be done when player is running away from enemy.
• Tweaked spear throw power of guards.
• Sliding throwables (inc. friend) on ice, should take into consideration the friction coefficient of tile it's sliding on.

[ 2021-02-02 07:40:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

In this update, I focused on making the humanoid enemies (like the Mummies and Mayan Guards) appear more intelligent. So now humanoid enemies will hear nearby sounds and start searching for you. The Mayan Guards which appear in the 2nd world will definitely be more challenging. If they spot you, they will also chase you and jump across platforms. But obviously they don't have your dexterity. Even if they see another guard chasing you, they will accompany him. The Mayan Guards now can throw their spear at you if they see you running away from them. They can also pick it up if they find it in their path. Of course you can also pick up the spear and use it against them. Besides chasing enemies I also had some fun making the explosions look better. Explosions are fun to do and now there are 8 layers which you can see if you slow down the video. - white flash of 1 frame - star flash which rotates and scales down slightly - objects shooting off from the center spewing out dust clouds - objects shooting off from the center spewing out pixel particles that bounce around the level - bright hot gas particles at the center of explosion - sparks with trails - sparks with intermittent trail - cloud particles going up after the explosion On their own they don't look particularly fancy, but when you combine them, the explosion effect looks pretty cool now. [previewyoutube=kIF6r-pt4Mk;full][/previewyoutube]

Release Notes

Added

• Mayan guards now throw the spear at you when you try running away. They can pick it up again if they encounter a spear.
• You can pick up and throw the spear. You can get a spear by killing a Mayan guard or let him throw it at you.
• Mayan guard can now punch you if he has already thrown the spear.
• Also added Egypt mummy sprites for startled, searching, and search futile.
• Added more sounds for mayan guard (huh when hears a sound, attack sound, hurt sound, die sound)
• Notify nearby enemies of a sound, so if they are aggressive they go into a search state. Felicie will do less noise when landing, since she's not as heavy as Giorgio.

Fixed

• Fix for explosive fuse sound continuing when it gets under water
• Fix for scarab not flapping wings when attacks while was paused
• Fixed inconsistency in some Mayan guard sprites where he did not have hand bands.
• Fix for trying to put back boomerang in inventory when under water, it would actually be dropped
• Fix for "auto use health pickup" option not persisting between sessions (typo in playerprefs)
• Fix for pressing action key when near a chest while not playing coop, player would get stuck in walking animation (Player can only open chest in Coop mode).
• Fix for when friend dies underwater just before entering the exit, should not allow entering

Modified

• Boomerang and Spears now break after several hits against the wall
• Improved enemy AIs, especially Mayan guards which will try to follow you by jumping across platforms (but they cannot jump as further as you, or do wall climbs).
• Visual improvement for explosions.
• Do not do collisions between throwables when one of them is idle, or when horizontal speed is so low, to avoid getting stuck on each other in mid air.
• If an intelligent enemy (mummy or guard) sees another enemy attacking a player (which might not be directly visible by this enemy), he will also be alarmed and start running towards the same player being chased
• Enemies should hear you whistle and will look around to see if they spot you
• Mayan guards now suffocate under water

[ 2021-01-18 08:16:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Added

• Coop! Now you can play the single player mode, but instead of the friend being controlled by the computer, you can play it in two.
  • Hone your communication skills and explore together the procedurally generated levels.
  • Coordinate your attacks and take down the bosses together.
  • Carry your friend around but ask their permission or you'll come across as bossy!
  • Go shopping to the bazaar together, but remember you have one purse to share!
  • Open the chest while the other player protects you from peril.
  • Try it out with some family member! Download the demo now.
  [previewyoutube=_ja3inCTeAU;full][/previewyoutube]
• Landmine. You can now place a landmine to unsuspecting creatures or your closest friends in multiplayer, and watch them fly off screen! You can find this useful knickknack in crates and the shop. [previewyoutube=0kP_6r28LEY;full][/previewyoutube]
• Added in-game Keys Help. Whenever you are near something, or have a selected item in the inventory, you will see the keys and their respective action. They are also visible in the shop so you can immediately know the item that you can buy rather than having to read the merchant's description :). Btw, you can toggle this off from settings. You can also adjust transparency and location (top or bottom).
  
• Directional throwing. You can now press up or down while throwing to give it a higher/lower angle. [previewyoutube=pP0i6PK969Y;full][/previewyoutube]
• Improvement for VS Options to select more items at one go. So know you can select all the items when playing multiplayer. You love explosions? Why don't you start with 10 explosives and landmines?
  

Fixed

• Fixed issue with entering the name for the first time in Send Feedback. The first letter was overwritten by the second one.
• Fix for when there was a space at the end of a multiline (Send Feedback), and would have the cursor not following the text properly (fastforwarded by a word)
• Fix for enemies not playing a hit sound when hit by a boomerang
• Should not be able to drop rope while vertical speed is not 0
• Menu ui elements (like toggles and bars) horizontal offset is now calculated dynamically, so this should solve for other languages which might be overriding the option description.
• Offsets for Felicie carrying objects while swimming
• Fixed invincibility trail while swimming
• Fix for starting with increase hearts in Multiplayer Options (it was creating it as a pickup, causing a crash if you died)
• Fix for crash in boss level, when you die and go again to boss level it tries to destroy the stones causing a crash. As reported on gamejolt by @Recycled Soul
• Giorgio should always be drawn behind Felicie
• Fixes for picking up and dropping glitches
• Fix for "I can't leave Felicie behind", when actually waiting for George. Same for when needing to open chest.
• Fix for issue for giorgio carrying giorgio on ladder (was on his hat)
• Fix for when throwing felicie so it feels the same like when throwing giorgio, even when felicie->felicie. Also fix when throwing felicie with back to a wall, it wasn't being adjusted
• If friend dies, while you are with key, level is not generated with a key to pickup
• Fix for level number not set properly when playing tutorial, causing issue when completing the infestation level
• Fix for showing level 2 (instead of level 1) when going to mayan after killing boss
• Fix for crash when pressing replay while fading out
• Fixed reducing of credits after losing a life and winning on the next
• Fix for picking up boomerang underwater
• Fixed collisions between stones and boomerangs
• Fix for felicie swimming carrying offsets
• Fix for when underwater, you can go in without the need of carrying friend (especially useful in multiplayer coop)
• Fix for jittering giorgio walk when following and reaches a wall
• Fix for throwing crate in a corner teleports
• Fix for getting hurt with boomerang when throwing it against wall close by
• Fixed issue with urls not opened on windows/chrome
• Fix for mayan pyramid in level selector shown with question mark when beating boss for the first time
• Strip out any carriage returns from email, just in case as it causes problems on server side

Modified

• Added a light to boomerang. Makes it easier to follow.
• When falling fast friend should show she's frightened
• When friend dies, throwing of items should not be so powerful
• Go to next line when pressing enter or tab (especially useful in feedback form)

Abandoned Ideas

• Make friend run when you whistle. It wasn't feeling right. Plus when Felicie would run to a whistle, then it would not land near you.
• Added friend confirming whistle sound (okay), with a bit more delay before following.
• Also to make a whistle know you need to press Action+Jump key together. It was getting annoying to do a whistle instead of picking up or throwing/pickup, especially in multiplayer.
• Dynamic splitting of screen of Coop. I had implemented a shared screen for coop, which merges into one when they are close by. It was working very smoothly when players move only horizontally. But it was disorienting when they moved apart vertically and a split of the screen is done. I was thinking of doing a horizontal split of the screen (rather than vertical), but then you would have very little vertical space to play in. So I opted for the shared screen, where the camera centers on average position of the two players. If one player decides to go far away from the other player, then no one would be visible on camera. This enforces the idea of communication and having to work together.

[ 2020-12-30 12:10:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

In this update you have a new weapon that you can find in crates or buy from the merchant. The Boomerang: [previewyoutube=nCG18wm-lbA;full][/previewyoutube] Be careful when it's coming back. If you don't catch it in time, it can hit you.
Also now you can send feedback from within the game. While in a level, just press F8 and you can enter your feedback. The last 30seconds of replay data will be sent (typically less than 200k). Your feedback and replay will be sent to Pyramid Plunge's server, which will then notify me via email. I can then check out your replay to better understand your feedback. If you provide a correct email address I will be able to reply to you.

Release Notes

Added

• Boomerang
• Press F8 to send Feedback with replay

Fixed

• Exclamation marks to show that an enemy has seen you where not visible in the replays
• Fog should not be drawn in replay, if it was disabled
• Bomb was remaining flashing when it was underwater (but never exploded)
• Fix when doing bomb in MP, opponent was also playing "happy" voice over.

Modified

• Throwables will break breakables when thrown at each other(e.g. stones vs crates)
• When dying we are not only saving the loot, but also the throwables (like crates and vases)
• Notifications at the bottom of the screen now animate and go away smoothly
• Moved around a bit the controls description on keyboard/gamepad when paused (was colliding with the menu on some languages)

Make sure to join the community on Discord

[ 2020-12-13 17:55:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update changes a bit how you process your death :). You now get to choose which path to take down the pyramid. And like in the old arcade games you have 3 credits (chances) to use when you die. You can choose another path. Or go back to the same level to take your sweet revenge, and also collect your dropped loot and items! [previewyoutube=RzYZzu9WkWw;full][/previewyoutube]

Release Notes:

Added

• Map/Level Backtracker.

Fixed

• Crawlers were not hitting player
• Fix for crash in boss level when rewinding
• Fix for Fast-forward sound playing when going to the next level in multiplayer
• Fix for blue color selection in MP not replaying correctly
• Fix exploding bomb in tutorial in hands gets player stuck in an unsolveable level
• Fix for throwing stone at boss. If it hits another enemy along the way it was teleporting
• Fix for when invincible, and friend still gets hit while being carried
• Fix for jump higher warning triggering in boss when it really shouldn't
• Boulders should break things on their path
• Felicie sprites should always be in front (even when playing as Felicie), since she's thinner
• Fix for crash when exiting a room while a gramaphone was playing was trying to stop/add sounds to deallocated structures in replay module
• Fix for farting underwater and hitting crawlers was getting them into an invalid non-existent state
• Fix mummies acting weird and getting stuck when near a gate
• Fix for gramaphone resuming level music when exiting level, ending with shop and level music at the same time

Modified

• Removed some sounds from George ouch sounds when hitting walls as they didn't fit
• When friend dies, player starts crying
• Moved replay timer to the top (as it would conflict with controls preview in MP)
• Tweak for coins collected to be taken instantly but also give some feedback of what they picked up
• Fade outs of music
• Tweaked mummy attack sprite collision box, as while it was hitting friend, I couldn't hit it properly

Bonus video of my kids giving me a beating in my own game! [previewyoutube=2tYjCFUv7MI;full][/previewyoutube] Make sure to join the community on Discord

[ 2020-12-07 17:59:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

I'm super excited to release this build. Also as from this build I will be adding some videos showing the major features in the release.

Release Notes v0.6.7

Added

• Instant Replay: [previewyoutube=HF_va9SSjKc;full][/previewyoutube] Now you can rewind at any time during the game the last 30 seconds, to see what you've done wrong. This is super awesome in multiplayer to replay some hilarious chase or near misses. Also when you die, you get an instant replay of your glorious death.
• Foreground Parallax Effect to add a sense of depth: [previewyoutube=cVS4lKhUCcY;full][/previewyoutube] You will see some hanging out-of-focus webs in front of the camera to give the fake illusion of depth
• Randomized Cracks:
  Now overlayed on the background to break repetitiveness.
• Alternative tiles:
  Added a second type of tiles, like scaffolding to break the repetitiveness of the main tiles
• Added tile bridges to avoid having what appeared to be gaps. After seeing some players trying to jump through the gaps it was time to fix them :)
• Editable room templates:
  You can now edit the room templates to your heart content. This is just the first step to have an editor. For now it's just a text file. If you go to the installation directory of the game you will find a roomTemplates.txt. There is some documentation in beginning of the file. Just open with something as simple as notepad. If you're going to the edit it, just make a copy first so you can revert. The parser is very strict, so keep the same formatting between the templates. If you're interested to edit them and need some help, check out this forum thread. Also feel free to message me on Discord
• Blood Splatters: [previewyoutube=vjcmqtj1ZZc;full][/previewyoutube] blood splatters for that gory feel. This really helps with the notion of persistence - leaving history behind you. Ok by default it is off because I think this game is more focused for younger generation. In fact my own kids are disgusted by the blood splatters. The enemies spew out green while if you get hit you will see red splatters. [previewyoutube=u3Iue519xJ0;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] You can enable splatters just for enemies, or even for everything. You will find this setting in the Graphics settings.
• Explosion scorch marks: [previewyoutube=ZyZA5-jJ1vc;full][/previewyoutube] This adds a bit of more realism and also adds to the notion of persistence again
• Random dark level:
  A lot of players were asking me for this. I was reluctant to add it, but it was easy to add. So that extra glow stick will come in handy ;)
• Progress bar when generating levels. Sometimes the level needs to restart from scratch because it's not solveable. Instead of seeing a black screen, at least you get to see a progress bar even though it might do a Microsoft thing where the progress bar seems to go backwards!
• Drawing of player names in the Won Round screen in Multiplayer
• Precise Jump control toggle: [previewyoutube=a_yomDdrKYU;full][/previewyoutube] Added option to Controls settings to use precise jump controls (default). To jump higher you just keep pressing the jump key, but I understand that some might want the control of the jump to be easier. So with precise jump control disabled, if you press the jump key, it will just jump to the highest point. It's off by default, because I don't recommend it.
• Auto-use health pickups toggle (on by default). In the previous build, the notion of collecting pickups and triggering their use manually (perhaps even giving them to your partner) was introduced. However I was noticing that new players were not using the health packs. So I've decided to revert the behaviour and if you pickup health packs they are used immediately.

Fixed

Fixed pause menu so that water effects are also shown in the snapshot take before pausing

Stopped using "she" and "you", especially because you can change between Giorgio and Felicie

Handle rare issue where entrance or exit could not be placed. It should regenerate the rooms from scratch

Fix for objects causing damage to enemies when hit slowly by throwables (inc stones)

Fix for landing on Mayan with Giorgio (friend) being carried was getting Giorgio hit instead of Mayan

Fix for avatar color selection. Due to typo it was not working as intended. When single player and you select blue, it will now use the default colors, but when in multiplayer will use blue to not be confusing with cyan

Loot should be affected by water when it drops in it

Modified

C4 now flashes. It also flashes faster as it gets near it's detonation. Just a small touch but really helps to know when it's going to detonate, because the fuse burning up was not so visible.

Explosions are now a bit brighter as I'm drawing them after the lighting pass

Changed the Egyptian mural (although I still need to redo the tutorial ones. But I will soon be revamping the tutorial once again, so I didn't waste time on it just yet)

This is not really visible just yet, but now the game supports bigger levels. So this will be actually be visible in the next update.

Tweaked multiplayer dying phrases

Tweaked Felicie's volumes and lift sounds as they were annoying

Level End transition improvement. Nothing major, just some minor annoying stuff which made it look awkward, like glow particles and water rendering when everything fades to black.

Some sounds volume balancing: Giorgio, jewel pickup, splashes, break vase/crate

Player gets hit only if snake/mummy/guard are attacking (others still hurt you if you touch them, like spider or scarab)

[ 2020-11-28 16:57:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

I really miss that retro CRT feel, where the sub pixels of the CRT blend together in a way that can never reproduced by the new flat screens. I've always wanted to experiment with a pixel shader to make the feel of the game look more retro. And I found a couple of cool shaders on shadertoy that emulate the CRT retro feel. I think the game looks better, although by default it is turned off. For one thing it could be your video card might not support the shader, and secondly not all players like the CRT feel. There are two versions that you can select from, v1 and v2. I prefer v2 as it simulates even an animated subtle Moir effect. The bloom effect gives it another touch. You can tweak the shaders to your liking as each shader has it's own settings. Check out the video of the shader in action. Make sure to switch to full screen to see the effect, but even better, you should just play the demo if you haven't already :) [previewyoutube=sXpHLQkXN64;full][/previewyoutube] Since I revamped the menu system, now it's super easy for me to add another menu. And it's been a while since I wanted to allow players to customize the multiplayer. Two things that often propped up during multiplayer playtests were the following:

• One of the players would spoil the fun by stealing the opponent partner and place her on death traps. Of course this is also the fault of a player leaving the partner unattended. But I thought to add an option where you can disable stealing opponent friend.
• The other one was that players thought they can throw their partner at each other to steal their coins. But honestly I thought that was kinda weird to have in the game. But since players seem to expect that, I have added an option to allow hurting your opponent by throwing your partner at them.

v0.6.6 Release Notes

Added

• New Menu system with transitions & icons
• Graphics settings included CRT shaders for that retro feel
  • two different CRT shaders with own settings
• Multiplayer settings to turn on (or off) the heat a notch
  • Can steal opponent partner (default on)
  • Throwing the partner at an opponent will hurt the opponent (default off)
  • Enter the players' names
  • Start with an inventory item (wip)
• New Felicie Sounds (over 100 wavs).

Fixed

• Support for thumbstick in menu
• Fix for enemies who have hp 2+ where them could hit you back. Also added more feedback when you hit them by bouncing them a bit with the hit
• Do not allow using inventory when jelly fish
• French merchant texts were not fitting
• Fix for burp not playing due to play random voice over cancelling delayed sounds
• Fix for teleport when felicie throws giorgio near a ceiling
• Fixed crash when visiting potd without internet
• Do not allow secrets triggered by dropped objects
• Fixes for teleport of character when dropped

Modified

• Make re-picking up something you dropped faster
• Do not give bigger jump for felicie in shop
• Repeat key

Make sure you join us on Discord!

[ 2020-11-15 16:20:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

We have finally released the update for the beta and demo where you can play as Felicie too. Giorgio is too fat to be carried! So she pulls him from his ear haha. She's more nimble than Giorgio and so you might find her a bit more challenging to control. But once you get used to her movement, you will be zapping faster through the levels (of course if you're not dragging Giorgio by his ear). Ah yes, she doesn't fart too, because you know... she's refined :)

Download/Update now

Release Notes

Added

• You can now play as Felicie and pull Giorgio by the ear and throw him around
  • Felicie runs a bit faster when not carrying Giorgio
  • Voices for Felicie are not complete yet
  • There are some minor known issues when playing as Felicie, e.g. color of text is not swapped, or if Giorgio dies in Multiplayer it says Felicie died. Will be fixed in the next build.
• Re-enabled switcheroo
• Warning to press jump button to jump higher. This is to re-inforce the tutorial that you have to keep the jump button pressed to go higher.
• Global timer for speed runners

Fixed

• Fix for erraneously swapping player's x-scale when throwing rope on a single tile
• Fix for crash if player gets hit by an arrow while pulling up friend
• Fix for disappearing enemy when being hit at the edge (during the delay before it switches direction, causing an image_xscale of 0)
• Fix for animated pickups on P1 in multiplayer being off
• Fix for crates getting teleporting when throwing them in a corridor along the ceiling (managed to reproduce only with Felicie)

Modified

• Jellyfish in multiplayer changes color
• Dropped loot can trigger traps too
• Health pickups go in inventory now, so you can drop them to give them your friend
• Accept key enter in menu (suggested by Linux gaming group)
• Disable double kills during boss fights because otherwise scores are too high(recommended by Jonathon)

[ 2020-11-07 09:53:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Felicie coming soon! IndieX2020 showcase is coming early November and I'm trying to finish the sprites for controlling Felicie in time for the demo. I think controlling Felicie will be even more hilarious, pulling Giorgio's ear and throwing him around. Here's a sneak peak: [previewyoutube=R72oxhN0csQ;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2020-10-25 07:33:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Join us for a session where I get play with the toughest opponents of Pyramid Plunge - my kids!

[ 2020-10-09 14:56:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Pyramid Plunge is a lighthearted action platformer with procedurally generated levels that offer a challenging experience every time you play. Take control of an odd cartoony couple and protect your partner from peril. Have complete freedom while you explore the fully-destructible pyramids of ancient civilizations filled with deadly creatures, booby traps and immense treasure. Be fast or slow, greedy or cautious, safe or reckless... it's all about fine balance between risk and reward!

Early Prototype

It all started when I was bed ridden while still recovering from some unknown virus a couple of years ago. I had just read a book my friend gave me about Spelunky. The book mentioned GameMaker and I had been using Unity for over 10 years now. I decided to give it a go and I loved the new 2d game engine. After doing the usual small games like asteroids, etc to get acquainted with the game engine, I wanted to create a fun little game where you have to save your partner. The main action would be carrying her and throwing her to safety. The levels would also be procedurally generated.

My Kids Loved it

After a bit more recovering, I could be back on a desk for a few minutes rather than in bed. Bit by bit it became a playable prototype. And to my surprise my daughters who were 7-years old at the time loved it! They thought I had bought it. And they were awestruck when I told I was making it. (The graphics were abysmal at the time)

Multiplayer PvP Mayhem

As I was getting better, the game was getting better. At one point the kids suggested "what if it was two player?". And after some tinkering around to create split screen version, and hooking 2 PS4 controllers to the macbook, we realized it was great fun. It was incredibly fun to chase the opponent to steal his money or his partner to then put her on a death trap. It is still a daily thing we do together to play multiplayer, and it's always a blast!

New Characters

At one point I hired a freelancer, Samuel Suarez, to create a poster for the game. And his work was incredible. He also made the main characters and some enemies new concepts. And I loved them so much, that we agreed on adapting them for the game!

Demo Features

• Save Felicie using unorthodox ways
• Explore an infinite amount of pyramids, as every pyramid is unique - procedurally generated
• Strategize on what items/powerups to pickup and when to use them
• Experience ancient pyramids and their guardians - This demo has 1 world+boss, out of 4 different worlds and bosses
• Who knew you could swim inside a pyramid ?!
• Compete in Pyramid of the Day - Play the same procedurally generated levels for 24hours. And then the leaderboard resets.
• Enjoy beating your friends in Multiplayer PVP - steal their loot or even their partner and hatch devious plans (Local or Steam Remote Play Together)

[ 2020-10-07 17:00:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

I will be going through the basics of how to play the game, in single player and also multiplayer.

[ 2020-10-07 15:26:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

I've been very busy to get the demo out ready for Steam's October Festival. I was quite astonished when preparing the release notes how much items were in the list. Thanks for all the bugs reported by the community on the Discord server. And I also did this animation :)
Here's the full Release Notes for v0.6.2 (which includes the demo build)

Added

• Trigger pause menu when window loses focus (does not work on Mac)
• Fall sprites for Felicie when walks off a ledge
• Die sound for enemies
• Warning sound for enemies (for now just mummy)
• Create hit stars (not for all objects yet, especially enemies attacks, boulder and gate)
• F10 to swap gamepads for player 1 and player 2 (useful when playing MP of course)

Fixed

• Removed using down key to drop items as it could be triggered near a ladder when trying to go down just before. This annoys the player. Spotted by retrome in the following bugs:
• - "Felicie jumps trough the wall when you step down from the ladder to the platform, interesting case. Expectation: Felicie keeps to stand near you. https://youtu.be/7V0rUSqrg9E?t=1034".
• - "You can drop Felicie when moving down on ladder, this happens pretty often. Excpectation: you keep Felicie. https://youtu.be/pRjaHFLFYyY?t=237"
• - "When you step down from the ladder to the platform then Felicie may fall down of the platform. Expectation: Felicie keeps to stand on the platform. https://youtu.be/pRjaHFLFYyY?t=810"
• Fixed some ordering of objects and traps
• Fixed bug reported by retrome: "Felicie starts to jump after she hit by explosion when you carry her, funny one. Expectation: you keep to carry her or she takes a damage and you drop her down. https://youtu.be/pRjaHFLFYyY?t=1785"
• Fixed bug reported by retrome: "Arrow hits Felicie when you carry her but she takes no damage. Expectation: Felicie takes damage and you drop her down. https://youtu.be/7V0rUSqrg9E?t=1973"
• Fixed bug reported by retrome: "Felicie is floating after you use a teleport item. Expectation: she stand on the floor. https://youtu.be/pRjaHFLFYyY?t=669"
• Fixed bug reported by retrome: "Felicie flies through the item. Expectation: Felicie breaks the item. https://youtu.be/pRjaHFLFYyY?t=185"
• Fixed bug reported by retrome: "Felicie jumps through the wall. This may cause a game over. Expectation: you drop Felicie down near yourself. https://youtu.be/pRjaHFLFYyY?t=424"
• Fixed text misalignments for all languages
• Fix for boulder weird scaling when stops on a particular direction
• Fixed inconsistencies with explosions. You can now destroy chests with bombs. Also sand dunes and spider webs will be removed by explosives. Even gates, switches and launchers will now be removed. Also tweaked coin effects of explosions.
• Fixes for window height when entering name
• Fixed for blinking eyes in tutorial (reported by Jonathon)
• Fix consecutive kills rewards
• Mummy walk had a missing frame for a leg
• Fixed issue with enemy keeps running
• Fix for weird size of screen when pressing F1 (not easily reproducable)Also if surface of pause screen is lost, then we resume to avoid crash. Spotted by Retrome. Thanks for the testing!
• Fixed issue with scrolling friend when near explosion and being carried. Also solved potential problem when a thrown object of the explosion kills someone.
• Boulders and other stuff should not be destroyed when they hit you while invincible
• Fix for p1 gamepad disconnect, but p2 gamepad doesn't get moved to first slot
• Fix for throwing friend, but when sliding was not hitting enemies
• Crate without a flipped question mark
• Fix for teleport when friend is blinking and thrown in a corner

Modified

• New Tutorial Explanation Backgrounds
• Updated translations (inc for demo)
• Update Gesture animation to be Carlton's dance (awesome for taunting in MP)
• Vases rotate slightly when thrown and break on contact
• Throwables now do not collide if sliding speed is too slow
• Animated exclamation. Also Fixed issue with exclamation doing "shadows" in the top-left of the level (due to rendering issue)
• Made enemy pause at the edges
• Made mummy to comes walk faster at you when he spots you
• Show version in menu instead of game. Show details in game only with F2 toggle
• When climbing, carried objects should be near hand
• Showing "perfect" faded out in level summary and made sure it fits in all languages (although for now I kept it untranslated)
• Tweaked deceleration when throwing on land (Also Experimented with controls while throwing in mid-air but reverted and didn't commit that, as it felt fake)
• Updated app icon
• Updated splash screen

[ 2020-10-04 14:09:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Just come and watch me getting p0wned by my own kids. We'll have some fun going through some pyramids playing multiplayer PvP locally. Feel free to ask me anything in the chat!

Rules of Multiplayer PvP mode

• Who enters the exit with the most money wins!
• Trigger the flood by entering the exit first and
• Become the annoying jellyfish to hinder your opponent's progress.
• Steal your opponent's money by hitting him with any object you find.
• Steal your opponent's Felicie and place her on traps!

There's also Singe Player mode of course, but if you want to have some fun with your friends and family, Multiplayer mode is a real blast. To play multiplayer locally you need at least 1 gamepad, so the other can play with the keyboard. To play multiplayer online, you need to use Steam Remote Play Together. Just Press Shift-Tab, select friend and invite him. Your friend will be controlling Player 2. He doesn't even need to have the game installed!

[ 2020-10-02 10:27:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

I finally added the new graphics for enemies in the Egypt world. I also updated some other Egypt world graphics like the mural and doorway. It's coming together nicely. The Mayan enemies will be next :). Here are the full release notes for this update v0.6.1:

Added

• Polish language support
• Added sound for throwables bounces and slide
• Dead body landing sound
• Show Play As although disabled for now
• Friend Falling in mid-air animation
• God rays from open chest

Fixed

• Dead bodies are now in their own layer (they were appearing behind ladder/door)
• Throwables should hit even if they are sliding (including friend)
• Fix for remaining alive (running away) after being killed. Should also fix issue with occasional running away after dropping
• Fix for incorrect direction of dead bodies when killed enemies
• Multiplayer - Light fade out when exiting. Also when jellyfish, light of friend is disabled
• Fix for German death reason sentence
• Fixed collider for spiders/scarabs when cornering so they don't touch you if you're on the other side of the corner
• Fixed issue reported by retrome regarding ladder climbing up/down fast when ladder is near a wall and you press direction keys
• Typo for !myid in Russian
• Tentative fix for collision detection with enemies, where enemies with hp 2 would not report the second collision if falling on their head twice, if using a normal GM collision event.
• Fix for friend not getting hurt when still dropping in mid-air and being hit by an arrow
• Fixed typo in text said by merchant when he says Welcome Back

Modified

• New Enemies Graphics (For Egypt). The Demo for Steam Festival will only have Egypt available
• New Boss Graphics, boss end animation
• Revert "Fixed issue where you couldn't pick up just spawned loot" - it wasn't behaving as expected
• In the boss level only, Dead enemies will fade away and spiral dust come up
• Some sparks coming out of torches
• Improved Lightning from teleport and zappers
• Friend now gets hit if thrown against enemy which isn't killed (hp > 1)
• Breakables now break even if dropped vertically. Also tweaked frictions
• Increased slightly loot colliders
• Update Egypt Mural
• Added glows to angels
• Updated create and vase breaking sprites
• Do not break stuff with friend if not too fast (i.e. not really thrown at her)
• Updated Merchant graphics
• Loot sound muffled the further away it is
• Avoid generating murals behind entrances
• New Egypt Door Graphics
• Chest is now the same for multiplayer and singplayer (loot only)
• Tweaked prices for shop
• Avoid friend blur when falling vertically and not being thrown
• Tweak to volume of coins and loot drop and also changed dead body land

[ 2020-09-25 14:44:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

I will be playing Pyramid Plunge with my kids local multiplayer. It has become pretty hard to actually win a match with them. Come join us to watch the hilarious battles the ensue with throwing of stones, vases and crates. You can ask me anything during the session too.

[ 2020-09-19 11:46:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

I've been working on the sprites for the last 3 weeks or so, using the concepts from Samuel Suarez. Apparently I had to redo over 400 sprites! WOW. But it was worth it. The new characters are more lovable. Hope you like them too. Pyramid of the Day was tweaked as well. The time bonus was giving too much points. Also I added a 1000 bonus points if you get any of the following perfect:

• enemies killed
• loot collected
• secrets found

Here are the full release notes for v0.6.0.

Added

• New Graphics for George and Felicie
• Motion blur when falling to fast
• Dust cloud when jumping
• Different animations when jumping vertically/horizontally and landing
• Offsets while carrying objects
• Felicie Slide sound effect
• Option to disable fog from pause menu (useful for slow GPUs)
• Show hole after finding a secret
• Semitransparent Flags for multiplayer
• Show time in multiplayer

Fixed

• Fixed rare teleporting issues (hopefully)
• Delayed sounds sometimes wheren't playing (like burping when eating beans)
• Fix for Felicie flipping flopping when whistling and she's directly above you
• Do not allow entering keys for name if he's using the keyboard for controls
• Fix for friend triggering switch when carried
• Fixed C4 pickup animating the whick when not lit up
• Fix for when you pick up opponent friend and she is still sliding from a throw, she will be hovering on your head
• Pulling rope animation and fixed issue where the player would be misaligned by a tile
• Fix remaining stuck in mid-air when using teleport or zapper
• Fixed bug with menu selection screen re-appearing if you keep it on English
• Do not show friend marker if jellyfish
• Fix for whistling in mid-air (if you press action key a lot while falling)
• Fixed issue when breathing underwater, where text remained green
• Don't pick up friend if dead (especially for multiplayer)
• When playing pyramid of the day always reset to first world
• Fixed issue where pyramid of the day of mayan was the same as egypt
• Scorpion attack wasn't hitting friend
• Fixed issue where you couldn't pick up just spawned loot

Modified

• Disabled switcheroo for now (as I still need to create graphics for them)
• You can move horizontally on the ladder
• You can know pick up and reattach a bomb
• Can use inventory while running and swimming
• Show next key to press to continue instead of green triangle in tutorial
• Switch remains slightly visible when pressed
• Allow to jump again after jumping on an enemy
• Tweaked score for time bonus Added +1000 if you get enemies, loot, secrets perfect

[ 2020-09-10 14:39:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thanks to Jimmy for reporting the Customize Keys bug. There was another worrying bug reported by FH. Game was running slow after tutorial. Here's a tentative fix after bouncing some builds with him.

v0.5.9 Release Notes

Fixed * Customize Keys not visible * Slowdown after tutorial (not experienced by all apparently)

[ 2020-08-25 07:42:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

A beta tester rightly spotted that some text was off. Well now it's fixed :) Thanks to Dave who reported it.

v0.5.8 Release Notes

Fixed * Fixed issue with carriage returns on Windows Modified * Using a different url for reading/submitting scores

[ 2020-08-24 08:02:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

So now we have all translations in place for French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. All still require further QA which I will be doing in the coming weeks. If you spot any errors in the translations, let me know. Here are the release notes for v0.5.7: Added * Spanish translations (needs testing from community) Fixed * bug in Merchant greetings and thank-yous text Modified * Tweaked tutorial to show that you have to throw the crate. The above fixes and modifications were reported by the community on Discord. Also a couple of guys from the community have volunteered to translate the game to Polish. Once that's done, I will integrate it too. Thanks for the feedback... keep'em coming!

[ 2020-08-23 12:50:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Here's what you need to do: * Add to Wishlist, * Sign up at pyramidplunge.com, * and Join our community on Discord. You will then receive a free Steam beta key. But HURRY UP! The keys are limited!

[ 2020-08-23 06:48:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

So this week Pyramid Plunge has been listed on alphabetagamer and that has caused quite a big surge on Discord. There's over 60 users now on the channel which is awesome! As soon as I saw those players coming in, I decided to pause on everything, and add something to Discord to make hopefully make it more interesting to the players. The game already had leaderboards for each difficulty of the single player (Tourists = Beginner, Returning Visitor = Medium, Badass = Hard). There's also the leaderboard for Pyramid of the Day (which resets every 24 hours). And I thought ... "wouldn't it be cool if the player got some kind of recognition in Discord when they top the leaderboards?". So that is what I focused on this week.
I created a bot (which I called Giorgio :) ), and through it you can query the current leaderboard status directly from Discord. Moreover, the bot will check if those in the top 10 should be given a title. So they would be shown under Tourists, Returning Visitor or Badass according to the difficulty they played in. In the case of Pyramid of the Day, only the first one will be recognized and highlighted in Discord as Pharaoh of the Day, and a crown will also be placed near his username. Of course this only lasts for one day :) There are instructions in this new build how to link your discord in order for your scores to be recognized by the discord bot. To get your free beta, sign up on https://pyramidplunge.com

[ 2020-07-26 11:01:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi potential Pyramid Plungers! :) We'll be releasing a build every 2 weeks. To better organize the tasks I'll be using Trello so you have visibility of what I'm working on. You can follow the development progress on the public trello board. There you can vote on the cards that you want to be implemented sooner. The ToDo list will have the tasks I'm planning to do next. You can vote on those so I prioritize their implementation. Join our Discord server to join the community. You can also ask the developer any questions there.

[ 2020-07-15 10:18:21 CET ] [ Original post ]