[New Game Uploaded] Megablasters: Escape from Castle in the Clouds

[TFM]

Well, one can learn it by doing I guess.    Not yet made it out of level one, but got that far that only one silver ball remains and me. But I can't kill it because I can only lay one bomb down at a time. So I have to stay alive longer when being able to drop 2 bombs. I see it's doable, but pretty hard. It's a bit frustrating, but a good gamer (not me actually) can do it.

Nevertheless: Great work!!!


Oh, btw. an explanation which icons do what would be helpful 

[villain]

Maybe a video of Level 1 would be helpful.

[rexbeng]

Well, the 'ball' doesn't 'randomly appear' next to the player (although I confess we were tempted to making it do so at some point ). The player needs to be observant and maybe do some trial and error.


Anyway, you guys should know that later enemies become even more tricky, so perhaps those who cannot get off level one should stick to playing casual games. 


rb

[ervin]

Wow, stunning game!
Well done to the devs; it's absolutely brilliant.

Funnily enough I found the first screen easy (cleared it first try), but the second screen... holy cow, that's another story. Gonna need some time to figure out some useful strategies.

That cloaking-ball is a pain in the a$$. I managed to destroy it on the first screen, but there are lots of them on the second screen, and destroying them seems to require some tight timing (it looks like your bombs need to "surprise" them as they come around a corner).

Still, it's wonderful to play a modern game (albeit on an *old* system) that offers a serious challenge to the player.
(I'd love to see a side-scrolling Dark Souls style game on the CPC!)

[Puresox]

From what I have played , I prefer it too the original MB, which is also a great game imo. Thanks for this offering, all who were involved , definitely welcome release!

[TFM]

Huh? Already more than twenty years passed since we were sitting at Marabu´s castle and Odiesoft philosophized about his code? And already twenty years since Gert Genial crossed the bridge over the Rhine in Konstanz, trying to spit into the river against the wind direction? And also twenty years ago that we were sitting in a piano bar in Konstanz drinking Weizenbier that was much too expensive? Seems to be true... Thanks guys for reminding me. 

Sweeet ole memories. Never forget Odiesofts Megablasters Release meeting! Was it Necron who got thrown into the Snow outside because he took somebodies sleeping bag? Had such a nice talk to Hiroyuki back the day.

[villain]

It was Vassago/Necron (formerly known as BBS) I think. :-) Oh, and I remember later talks between Hiroyuki and you that weren't as succesful.   

[Axelay]

Thanks everyone, for the feedback!  Sorry I should have said that before, but I got a bit caught up in answering questions.

Thanks for your answer. I noticed that the DSK file was around 104K compressed so I reckoned it was a fairly big game with lots of worlds, even after taking into account the long intro and the overscan menu.

The game is 'big' in a certain respect, but it is mainly in the graphics & presentation side.  Before compression, the intro slides alone are around 80kB.  The game itself is only about 1/4 of the disk space, the intro, menu and outro take most of the rest.

Oh, btw. an explanation which icons do what would be helpful 

The pickups are virtually identical in design and function as the equivalent items from the original game, which you can read about on Odiesoft's page about them, they're the first 10 on that page.  The only differences I think are that the original game had a single shoe and pair of shoes icons, EFCITC uses a red shoe as a single shoe, cyan shoe for a pair.  EFCITC also limits you to up to 8 bombs rather than 9, and 15 lives rather than 99.  Otherwise, those first 10 pickups on the Odiesoft page are just the same.

(I'd love to see a side-scrolling Dark Souls style game on the CPC!)

I like your thinking! 

[cpc4eva]

can you please provide some specifics i would like to write a news article for it and upgrade my writing skills -

need to know following -

why now ?

what made you code it ?

how many levels?

what specific coding you used to get the game done?

plans to release full version or is it a one off demo type of thing ?

how big is it ?

where can it be downloaded from ?

many thanks

[TFM]

There is an icon which looks like a CPC, what does it do? Or is it the shoe... let me play again... 

[CraigsBar]

There is an icon which looks like a CPC, what does it do? Or is it the shoe... let me play again... 

I was wondering about that one too.

[rexbeng]

can you please provide some specifics i would like to write a news article for it ...

A lot of your questions are answered when you finish the game. The developers shall remain silent! 


rb

[TFM]

It was Vassago/Necron (formerly known as BBS) I think. :-) Oh, and I remember later talks between Hiroyuki and you that weren't as succesful. 

I don't know what you're talking about. But our talks were very successful, we become friends for a long time. But maybe that's the wrong thread here. Don't be jealous.     

[McKlain]

A lot of your questions are answered when you finish the game. The developers shall remain silent! 


rb

I'm just waiting for @Metr  to finish it and watch the video on youtube 

[Grim]

Flying above the uncharted sea ... COWARDS!

[TFM]

Made it into Level 5, but hey ... probably not much further. Loosing a life is kinda the end of the game... guess I will get my "Poke-Finder" out soon. 


EDIT: Level 8 now... and I need a break

[rexbeng]

Flying above the uncharted sea ... COWARDS!

Grimmy you dog! Already? 


rb

[Grim]

Raised on Dynablaster. Years of training on Dynamite (on Amiga). That pitiful worm wizard was no match for me! Har! Har! But I must admit those long-range-megaphazers-head-beasts pissed me off, several times, but not as much as starting the level again with ... a damp squib! AARGH!

Gonna replay the game right now tho

Spoiler: ShowHide

I recognized you ... wizardbeng!!!
[attachimg=1]

[rexbeng]

I recognized you ... wizardbeng!!!

Hahaha that's brilliant! 


Have a go at the 2p mode.


rb

[Grim]

Have a go at the 2p mode.

Haaaa! Yummy! New maps! All bombed! Fantastic "little" game! Big kudos to all the crew!

[TFM]

Started a couple of days delayed playing this game, but not I found "Sanctuary in the Mythical lands". 

[Xyphoe]

AWESOME!!!!

And damn I better get back on with the next part of the original Megablasters longplay I started!


I'm not sure why people are claiming it's too hard, it's only 8 levels (not including the boss) so it's quite short. Once you get the hang of the monsters and collected powerups - if you're careful it's not too hard. I wonder how many have played the original Megablasters - that was pretty tough already!! If I had been asked to play test I would have said this is just right. But that's just my opinion that's all


Well done rexbeng, Axelay, McKlain and all involved

[Xyphoe]

BOOM!


[AMSTRAD CPC] Megablasters : Escape From Castle In The Clouds - Longplay & Review (NEW GAME!)

[rexbeng]

Thanks for making a longplay video. It gives lazy people the chance to see the outro.
One question though. Why the horizontal stretch? Is it because of the capturing software, or is it a YT issue?

rb

[Xyphoe]

Thanks for making a longplay video. It gives lazy people the chance to see the outro.
One question though. Why the horizontal stretch? Is it because of the capturing software, or is it a YT issue?

My pleasure, and yes - of course - spoilers within! So only watch after you've played it yourself!!

Horizontal stretch ... mmm yes I deliberated about this. Obviously screen width of an Amstrad monitor doesn't match modern resolution scales. There was a small black border left, and because I talked about this game completely filling the screen if I didn't do this then dumb people on YouTube would start commenting 'BUT THERE IS A BORDER!". It's not stretched by much though, and I thought it looked fine and didn't stretch sprites too much.

Weird though how WinApe's AVI recording ability struggled with the scroller.