itch.io

Absolutely when it's done

Heck yeah! Working on it every day for entirely too many hours x_x haha

The new demo comes out tomorrow, and some things have changed since the old demo assuming you're referencing, but- if you're still having trouble, I suggest leveling up and taking your time. Unlike the games that inspire it, there is no punishment for death outside of the mansions (which only take you back to the entrance) and you keep your EXP, so usually if you're struggling a bit, it just takes a little more playing to get through what you're struggling with.

Thank you for the kind words!

I ended up pulling the demo from here because it was confusing people a bit since I've rebuilt the game completely and the old demo just doesn't reflect how it is now! A new one is coming SOON though~

As for the lighting system- it's not too complicated! I'm effectively drawing a pure white canvas, and every lit object draws itself on that canvas in pure black, and then for gradient lighting it'll draw black at different opacities. Then when I draw that canvas ontop of the game canvas, I do it with subtractive blending- since the game clamps all of the colors to the NES palette, it makes a really nice effect~

I will always be Moon Child's friend

It'll be out when it's done and I'm happy with it- just have to be patient. I'm just one person.

Oh; no clue why they did that lol it's not available on steam yet.

There is nothing on the steam page saying there's a demo, just a community post saying that it was playable at MAGfest- but hopefully sometime soon we'll have a demo up!

There is no demo available on Steam yet. Where are you seeing that it's playable on Steam now?

This is an old old demo. Like from 2021, and the game's been completely rewritten since then. There's not a current demo, so I can't really address any of these, sorry 😅 A lot of these issues have been addressed/adjusted/etc in that. The new version can be played at tradeshows/events like MAGfest, TMG, etc etc.

It’s not supposed to, no- and this is the first I’m hearing of that prob, but this is an extremely old demo so I’m sure it’s been fixed at some point over the years and will be reflected in the next demo whenever it’s released 😅

This runs like turbo ASS if your refresh rate is higher than 60, btw!

...Also since this was made the game was renamed to The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest!

This demo is very old and has some picky input. You need to use xinput devices (Xbox controllers) if you’re using a gamepad, or use some sort of input emulation layer (steam for example can emulate xinput with any gamepad). Otherwise keyboard controls are directional pad, A S D and F. 

Status is mostly for flavor text when you're drunk, or dreaming, or *spoiler stuff*

Thanks!
Also mayhap re:striking weapon- I've already stacked the inventory pretty heavily, but maybe! haha

Yes, I saw your other message, and your posts to me on Twitter as well, but I'll answer again- The 2023 build isn't a "demo" or available for wide release- it's a full slice of the game. A new demo will come in the future. The 2021 demo may have a few bugs here and there, but it's certainly not lacking in content for a demo. It has a full region of the game, 2 bosses, and a bunch of extras. 

I probably would expect the same amount of content in a new demo as the previous one.

It’s true- you’ll have to escape both full screen AND the chains

I hope you managed to escape  🙏

I believe you have the power to escape~~

it’s on itchio already: https://retroware.itch.io/prison-city

Gamejolt is a maybe! I think if I did that I’d want to utilize their API though.

That's the plan~~

This is big fun!

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

I've gotten a little burst of web3 scam bots following and it dawned on me that there's no way to block from profile (as far as I can tell. I might be dumb). It might be a good idea to have something like that so these people aren't creeping? I blocked one and sure enough another showed up- accounts in question:

https://judy-web3.itch.io/
https://erik-web3.itch.io/

It'd be super helpful to have a little block button so when undesirables start cropping up it'll block them from replying to/seeing your game page(s)

no worries- here you are: https://itch.io/jam/329761/add-game/2164424/248506?token=pP4fe4NBEDKtJ7qdCz6cTGFcMU

What’s the game page link? I can generate a submission link with that and give it to you

Maybe this is something I'm not seeing in jam settings, but it's consistently a problem- Every jam I've hosted, people submit games that were uploaded to itchio well in advance of the jam's start date. Sometimes years in advance. Game pages with uploads from years before- submitted for a jam that started not even 24 hours ago. 

Honestly that seems like a big oversight and it goes against what a jam even is by allowing it to happen without some sort of automated check. I get that games can be disqualified manually, or that people can just make a new game page and upload, but the fact that they can submit whatever they have regardless of when it was uploaded really shouldn't be possible to begin with. Personally I'd rather see the burden of effort to fall on the people attempting to grift off of a jam instead of just allowing it.

Anyway back to the suggestion part of this post- maybe an option to choose to allow this or not? I'm not sure there's even a reason this should be possible, but if there is it'd be great to choose to turn that off.

That's actually a good point- yes, the intention is that it also includes the commercial license. I'll make a note on the bundle!

It depends on what era you're going for, but ultimately it's just about making something look authentic vs actually being authentic- if you have to break some rules for whatever era/generation you're going for and can still pass as a game from that era then it's perfect and there's no harm in bending the restrictions to suit the game

No- as stated on the jam page, just try to limit the number of buttons used to suit the era of game you’re going for. 

It’s all specified on the jam page, but it’s really just about picking an older era and sticking to that as well as you can. If you want to go with 8-bit, go for an aesthetic that fits an 8-bit console, if you want 16-bit, same thing. If you’re going with arcade, just try to be as genuine to the era you’re aiming for. 

Overall the idea is to just make a game that seems like it could have come out 20-30 years ago and challenging yourself to make it feel authentic. 

The option to add payment for this just serves as a tip jar atm since no release price has been determined, but once the game is complete there will be more info (and likely a page on whatever publisher’s account)

Thanks! I use LanaPixel and Silver- both really good TrueType fonts with CJK support