Seeing as I'm still getting people clicking through these links every once in a while, I figured I may as well offer some evergreen links in the opening post, right?

Click here for all blog posts I put up about the game. While I make regular blog posts on the game (typically a few per week), bumping this thread every time I do so would appear like spamming.

Click here for a playlist of videos about the game's development. I keep it updated, but each one is generally tied to one of the blog posts from the link above, so it'd be smarter to check the blog, since it gets updated more regularly.

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Figured the time was right to make a thread for this. Of course, it will die a lot, I expect.

As I've mentioned off-hand several times, I am currently working on an Indie Game, titled Turtles all the Way: A Shell Game, that will eventually be released on Windows, Mac and Linux. A post just went up on my blog that collects most information I've stated at various places explaining the game and its concept, but the visuals are not ready for screenshots nor a demo. It's a wall of text, but it explains just about everything I'd want to reveal at this juncture.

EDIT: tl;dr version

edited 4th Sep '12 11:14:41 PM by burnpsy

This sounds like a great game, but you are right: without images it's kinda hard to read all the way through.

Yeah, I wish I could have put images in, but that second link pretty much sums up why I can't.

edited 3rd Jul '12 9:56:51 PM by burnpsy

I've posted a tl;dr version of the description.

And now I have a post up about the main character's design (which has concept art and such in it, including the likely final design right at the bottom).

Since I still seem to be getting non-bots clicking on those links in the OP, as recently as twenty minutes ago, I figured someone would be interested.

How I'll be handling Game Overs. The bad ending track is included in that post, but I'll embed it here for convenience:

EDIT: Taken down.

edited 12th Aug '12 3:22:52 AM by burnpsy

Who here when they saw the title thought it was a TMNT game at first?

Me. Multiple endings? How plot-centric is the game?

The title is a multi-layered pun like that.

The bad ending, in this particular case, is just a glorified game over. There were originally going to be branching paths and the like, but those have been cut down, to say the least. As it stands, there's a rather unusual plot going on that gets a bit of attention, but the gameplay's the focus.

edited 21st Jul '12 8:31:49 PM by burnpsy

A pre-pre-alpha is now available. Uhh... if that confuses you, read the blog post I just linked for details.

playing the pre-alpha, and I'm honestly not sure what I'm supposed to be testing. I have gotten to the point where I can just fly around forever by switching over and over again, though?

I'm asking, specifically, for opinions as to what the numbers for the Sync Perfect Point and Sync Grace Period should be set to (which can be played with on the pause screen). I need to determine what sort of numbers for either are both non-annoying yet still worth paying attention to.

...Basically, I need to know what numbers people are comfortable with that don't make the whole thing too easy or hard.

Yeah, you kinda get the ability to fly for a long time if you're decent enough with the switch timing (if you suck with the timing, however, you'll notice that your stamina will run out quickly, leaving you falling to the ground where a large amount of enemies swarm you and you die), but the final build will have at least a few different flying enemies so as to not make that always be the ideal option. Plus, the final build will be a bit more... busy, so it won't be all that easy to pay attention to the clock.

edited 29th Jul '12 7:36:40 PM by burnpsy

well I mean in general I'm not sure how the mechanic actually works. I know I need to switch characters at some kind of rhythmic pace, but I'm not sure what's keeping me from switching non-stop, and more importantly, I'm not sure what the switching is supposed to accomplish.

I get that this is a pre-alpha so there wouldn't be clear cut goals at this stage, but do you have some kind of suggestion of what I should attempt to do? An important thing with gathering usage stats/data is to reduce variables—ie make the users all do the same exact thing, but just tweak the sync numbers between each run.

There is actually a punishment for switching at random.

Your stats at present are calculated with a formula that's (if I were to simplify it):

If the Sync Grace Period was narrow enough so that the time at which you switched fell outside of it, you get a penalty, so being too fast or too slow will hurt your stats. This is especially noticeable if you hit the penalty point and reach -400 Sync, making your stats near-nil, having your stamina restore itself at a ridiculously slow pace while you move at a snail's pace. If you feel the penalty for being outside the Grace Period should be larger, just say so.

An idea for something to attempt in order to provide consistency is to try to reach every floating platform and the top of the walls at least once. At least, this is what I tend to do while testing anything other than attacking. This tends to take a few minutes, practically mandating a few switches. Practically nobody has actually downloaded the thing, and most views are coming from this or the game developer thread, so I suppose suggesting that here should be fine. Will add it to the FAQ, though.

Something else I've tried is killing all the enemies, but due to the limitations of the attacking system at present, that doesn't work out all that well.

edited 29th Jul '12 8:24:51 PM by burnpsy

Overall, people seem to have been confused about everything, but I've heard enough to no longer need people to look at it.

Thanks for your help, ch00beh.

EDIT: The results.

edited 31st Jul '12 3:37:45 AM by burnpsy

Seeing as the other thread on an indie game in development by a troper here has already discussed its story at length, I figured I may as well do so as well.

A sudden spike of people being linked to my blog from here just reminded me that I need to add some links that won't become outdated.

So the OP now has two of them.