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Zep's Dreamland Complete!
Ultio
Member #1,336
April 2001

Hey everyone. This is the day (most of) you have been waiting for for quite some time. Zep's Dreamland is now complete. :o:o:o
That's right, I said; it's done. It's finished! A completed version is now available at the site. Go check it out. Let me know what you think. Have fun. Make some levels. Send them to me. :)

For anyone that doesn't know; Zep's Dreamland is a block-puzzler game I've been working on for over a year now. It's finally come to completion. Here's a description.

Quote:

*picture of zep*
Meet Zep! You control Zep throughout the game. The game consists of navigating Zep throughout a level to reach a certain location which allows him to advance to the next level. This is not such an easy task, however. Many obstacles will be in your path, and it is up to you to determine the best (and sometimes only way) to get around them. Zep has the ability to create special "blocks" by using the life energy from the ground he is standing on. By building the blocks in specific patterns, Zep can alter the landscape to his ability thus allowing him to reach his goal! Again, not everything is as it seems. Zep cannot build blocks while standing on top of just anything. There are many types of ground that restrict Zep's building ability. In addition to being able to create these special blocks, Zep can also destroy them.

On one very quiet and wonderful night Zep falls asleep and has quite a strange dream. He is trapped in a dreamland where almost anything goes! As much as he wants to wake up, he cannot; unless he travels completely through it, visiting each different section he dreams up. In his dreams, Zep has very special abilities which allow him to create blocks which will help him along through his dreampt-up world. What kind of special places does Zep hold dear? Traveling deeper and deeper into Zep's Dreamland reveals more and more obstacles as his imagination runs wild!

Alright everyone, so go to the site and download the game, and have fun! So far there's only one "bug" in the game, which is described in a file along with the archive. If any of you run into any problems, please email me and let me know. I've done the most I can to ensure that this is a smooth process with little or no bugs at release time.

Thanks everyone for your support, and enjoy!
Zep's Dreamland Project Page
LoomSoft.net

---
"It's nice knowing that someday, the software I write will just be pirated by millions of people." :-/
http://loomsoft.net | Zep's Dreamland | Allegro Newbie Tutorials

Steve Terry
Member #1,989
March 2002
avatar

OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay Zep's is finally here \o/
Unfortunately I'll have to wait until after work to play it :( but I can hardly wait.

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Ultio
Member #1,336
April 2001

Well, I'm glad to see you're excited. I'm excited too, but that sad thing is that it's a different kind of excited. Just excited it's done, and happy about my accomplishment. Sometimes it feels a little sad knowing I'm not going to be able to play it and experience it in the same way as you guys will. I wish I could erase my memory for a few hours and play it, just to see what I would think of it if I didn't have any recollection that I actually made the game. ;D

---
"It's nice knowing that someday, the software I write will just be pirated by millions of people." :-/
http://loomsoft.net | Zep's Dreamland | Allegro Newbie Tutorials

Radagar
Member #2,768
September 2002
avatar

You mean you can actually 'finish' a program???

boggle

I thought they just kept going until you got lost in the code and gave up... Hmm, I've apparently been doing something wrong.

Congrats though =)

------------
Radagar - So your vote is for A.D.H.D.?
Chris Katko - Well, that was uninten--ooh kitty!

MiquelFire
Member #3,110
January 2003
avatar

Tutorials seem broke. Otherwise, I have to wait until I'm home and can spend more time with it.;D

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Ceniza
Member #2,027
March 2002
avatar

YAY! YAY!! YAY!!! YAY!!!!!!!!1~ \o/

Finally!!!

I know you know I am in level 12 atm.

Level 10 almost beats me (just like the first time I tried Zep's Dreamland), level 11 was easy, but 12... I'll surely get a headache with it :)

Zep's Dreamland final release would come someday, and today is the day. Pretty nice work Ultio.

Remember to release a compilable source for all the "I'm so 1337 'cause I use Linux" community.

Well, /me is back to apt-get upgrade :P

Ultio
Member #1,336
April 2001

MiquelFire, I noticed the tutorials were broken. The Tutorials have now been fixed. Just a little bug that was easily removed. Redownload if you really must see the tutorials. :)

Good job Cen, but the first 10 levels are the same exact thing from the Test Demos. No credit for you!;)

---
"It's nice knowing that someday, the software I write will just be pirated by millions of people." :-/
http://loomsoft.net | Zep's Dreamland | Allegro Newbie Tutorials

paranoima
Member #1,380
June 2001
avatar

YAY \O/ YAY
I had to play it before I could post about it. I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this game. My brain turned to jelly at level 34 : "Planning required".

Hats off to Loomsoft for creating a great game. On a side note, now I won't be able to release a playable demo of my ultra sekrit projact before the end of the year, as I will be to involved in playing this game ;D

nonnus29
Member #2,606
August 2002
avatar

Very nice, very polished game. Would make a good gba game if you choose to port it...

Ultio
Member #1,336
April 2001

:) I've been tinkering with GBA programming. It's a possibility. Probably won't be the first gba thing I do... but it would be awesome!

---
"It's nice knowing that someday, the software I write will just be pirated by millions of people." :-/
http://loomsoft.net | Zep's Dreamland | Allegro Newbie Tutorials

Derezo
Member #1,666
April 2001
avatar

Awesome. Glad to see it's complete, and very polished.... but I planned on going to sleep tonight... aww.. :'(

Well, I'd play more but I gotta go christmas shopping. The joy. On level 8. :)

"He who controls the stuffing controls the Universe"

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
avatar

Come to think of it, it would make a very good GBA game. I can think of a few areas that do need polished though.

If I remember correctly, the mainmenu fades in too quickly from the logo. The text could use some antialiasing. And it needs some tweaking in general. Oh! And the save/load colors make it hard to tell what bar is highlighted when there is only two bars. Stuff like that.

But a very good game nonetheless! I'm currently at level 10 or so.

[edit] Ah, 2 posts hit while I wrote.

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spellcaster
Member #1,493
September 2001
avatar

Great game.
It's look nice, the game idea is fun and the polish is superb.
Just one thing: the music is not on par with the gfx. I had to mute my headphones even bore I made it through the first level. ;)

I thought the tutorial was kinda long, but depending on your target audience it might be just right.

I liked th puzzles, but they got repetitive quickly. You could try to add a sokoban element by introducing moveable blocks (blocks which can be pushed) - on the other hand, the game is fun the way it is already, so there's no need to add more to it.

Final words: change the music, and I'll give you 5 stars ;)

--
There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots.

Ultio
Member #1,336
April 2001

Well, you can change the music yourself! :) That's part of the whole reason why there's the option to put in your own songs, so you don't have to listen to the music it comes with. IMO that's one of the most annoying parts of ANY puzzle game. Even if the music is good it will get annoying and repetitive. That's why this feature is there. :)

I'm hoping you already knew about it! And, are you any good at writing music? :-D It's hard to find good freeware music unless you just write it yourself, like I did. I thought I did a half-decent job.

As for the tutorials, they are meant to explain everything. I've had a lot of people play the game and still not fully understand why they could not do some of the things they couldn't do, or simply didn't understand how to play at all. I wanted to make sure it covers everything. They are not a required element of the game, anyways. Users can opt to just skip them.

Thank you for your critique.

---
"It's nice knowing that someday, the software I write will just be pirated by millions of people." :-/
http://loomsoft.net | Zep's Dreamland | Allegro Newbie Tutorials

nonnus29
Member #2,606
August 2002
avatar

This was the first time I played the game (didn't play the demo) and I went to level 13 before laying off. Man, this game was exercising some neurons I don't think I've ever used! I mean I could literally feel it, almost like a headache; did anyone else experience this? Very odd...

Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
avatar

Beat some levels. Hit ESC to go back to the menu. Click continue. Whoops, wrong option. Hit back. Resume has disappeared! Not good. :'(

Ultio
Member #1,336
April 2001

Looks like I have something to fix. There will be a 1.01 after all. :)

Sorry about that. Maybe everyone should play it safe and save on every level? :-D

---
"It's nice knowing that someday, the software I write will just be pirated by millions of people." :-/
http://loomsoft.net | Zep's Dreamland | Allegro Newbie Tutorials

Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
avatar

Another thing!!! (heh) Play a tutorial. Hit ESC, because you don't feel like really doing it. Then, resume your game. The tutorial kicks back in. I press right... "NO Don't go there!" I thought maybe it'd be a great secret, and he'd start telling me what to do. But no. I was stuck just getting yelled at all over the place. :(

Edit: Picture Proof. :-X

raist0069
Member #2,736
September 2002
avatar

I love puzzle games. Very good job here.

Ultio
Member #1,336
April 2001

Hmm, Matthew, that shouldn't happen. I'm pretty sure I put in code so that you cannot resume a tutorial, and have to start it over once you've watched one. I think what happened is I added in the "resume" code and never made an exception for calling that after watching a tutorial. :)

Very easily fixed. Now that's two things on my list. I guess Zep can be a jerk sometimes and not let you complete the levels. ;D

---
"It's nice knowing that someday, the software I write will just be pirated by millions of people." :-/
http://loomsoft.net | Zep's Dreamland | Allegro Newbie Tutorials

Peter Hull
Member #1,136
March 2001

I agree with Spelly - the tutorial is too long and slow. Surely no-one is so dumb that they need 'move right' and 'move left' to be explained as two separate things? And statements like "Tunnels are pretty simple, really, they are just literally tunnels" - no need.

I also noticed that after doing all 4 sections of the tut and completing level 1, the time/steps/blocks formed screen seemed to include all the tutorial, too (12 minutes to finish level 1?)

Having said that, it's a great game that looks and plays really well. Congratulations! I look forward to wasting lots of time on it.

Pete

Trezker
Member #1,739
December 2001
avatar

\o/ ZEP ZEP ZEP ZEP ZEP \o/
This is TEH ROCKS!!!!
\o/ ZEP ZEP ZEP ZEP ZEP \o/

Morten Bendix
Member #1,386
June 2001
avatar

Congratulation on completing it, and a polished game indeed. I agree, the tutorial is a bit slow, but I'll live :) . The editor is a nice touch.

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
avatar

I forgot to mention this. I must compliment the music! Sure, it'll get old after awhile, but I liked it from a musicians perspective. You just need more. :)

"Rain" sounds like something straight out of cronotrigger (like that sky palace or something). "Unda" is just cool. :) "Falling Dreams" is so cute sounding it's sweet. :)

What program do you use to compose it? I'm currently using NoteWorthy for MIDIs and Modplug Tracker for modules.

-----sig:
“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

23yrold3yrold
Member #1,134
March 2001
avatar

Quote:

"Rain" sounds like something straight out of cronotrigger (like that sky palace or something).

I haven't had a chance to try the game due to packing (I'll give it a whirl in Ontario) but the original demo used Chrono Trigger music, so maybe it sounds like it's from CT because it is ;)

--
Software Development == Church Development
Step 1. Build it.
Step 2. Pray.



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