As usual, I think we have a very polished product this time, and we'll almost certainly be ready for the deadline.  My music kind of sucks, but the entire mad science theme pushed my boundaries a bit.

The art is looking fantastic, and the cut scenes are smooth and professional looking.  The level designers have come up with a bunch of great ideas and most are working.   Most basic features are coded and in place.  Unlike the music, the sound effects are all pretty appropriate feeling.

Also, while not python, and therefor not part of the competition, the level editor(built during the week), is worth a try when the game is out.  We're all still having fun too, which is always good.

Also, since we didn't share it before, our repository.
https://pyweek14.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/

 

We have some cleaning up to do, a final boss to make functional, and some loose ends to tie up.  Blake, our only coder, has the most to do.   Apparently there are a few more levels to add too.  We also need to trim the unnecessary dialog from the game.  Having one person do writing for a whole week tends to outpace level designers and coding in terms of content to support.

No one likes editing away good writing, but thems the breaks this time.  Hundreds of man(and woman) in and I think it looks really nice.  I'm also not hating my music as much as I did last post.  It feels right now that it's in the game.

We're pretty much done.  Someone else is bundling and uploading the file.  We had some impressive totals this time.

• 5334 lines of python code
• 1516 lines of C# code for the level editor
• 608 SVN revisions
• 36 levels
• 547 images
• 6 songs
• 24 sound effects
• 18 KB of dialog files.

So, I think we've got a pretty good game in those numbers too.  I think we have some great game-play, and it's great to look at, too. 

Our game features two unique playing modes: Story mode and Non story mode. Most of the gameplay explanation occurs during the story mode and realizing that the level picker may be a bit alluring for those wanting to jump through the game, I figured I'd post a mini instruction manual for the game here. I also wanted to highlight a few features that could be easily skipped over. 

Title screen:

From here you can start a new story game or pick a level to start. If you pick a room from the level picker it will not be a story mode game and all dialog will be suppressed. But it also means you don't get to see the ending. You can also plug in a gamepad/joystick and configure it from the Configure Input menu, or change the keys around (for you wasd or dvorak people).


Level picker screen. Again: the game will not be in story mode if you start a level from the level picker. 


Configure Input screen: This screen requires the mouse. If you plug in a gamepad or joystick, you need to do so before you start the game otherwise it won't be detected. Also, keys will still work even if you have a gamepad plugged in. 


Pause screen: press ENTER to get to the pause menu. From here you can restart the level if you get stuck, save your game, or return to the main menu. Unfortunately this wasn't made clear in the game mode. 


In-Game Features:

Radioactive Goo and Decontaminant Spray

Pick up bottles of decontaminant refills for your sprayer to get rid of green goo. Spray doesn't transfer between levels, so each level is solvable starting with 0 sprays. If you misuse it, you can always start the level over from the pause menu and try again.

Blocks and switches

Different colored blocks can press switches of the same color, usually resulting in an action of some sort. Sometimes multiple switches need to be pressed for an action to occur. For example, this switch will make the bridge appear:

Gray switches can be pressed by merely stepping on them or forcing an enemy to step on it. Blocks can also be shoved off ledges and stacked or used as bridges. 


Circtuis:

Circuits are either powered or unpowered by default. If a switch is powered a battery can be charged from any power output pads on the circuit. Like so:

Once a battery is charged, it can be used to power another circuit when placed on the power input pad:

and will probably trigger some action. Like unlocking the door. 

Teleporters:

Stepping on a green teleporter pad will send you to the blue receiver pad. This also works for blocks and batteries. However if the receiver pad is blocked, you cannot use the teleporter pad until the obstruction is freed. 

Moving Platforms:

You or blocks or a stack of blocks can be placed on a moving platform. If the platform moves through an obstruction, you or the block(s) will fall off, though. 

Rats:

Do not touch.

Tesla coils:

Do not touch. Unless they're off. 

Hologram projectors:

Stepping on the hologram scan pad will create a copy of you on all the hologram projector pads. These holograms can do everything you can do such as push blocks or pick up and spray decontaminant. The holograms will receive the same input from the player. If holograms die, that's okay, but you can only scan yourself one time per level.