ChangeMan 4k

Contests 4K Game Competition - 2012
#1

After complaining about the amount of remakes it’s only fitting that my first entry is erm… a remake :persecutioncomplex:

Haven’t seen or played this game in 20+ years but this is how I remember it!

http://www.bullsquared.com/images/cmScreenshot.jpg

http://www.bullsquared.com/gameChangeMan4K.html 4K Version
http://www.bullsquared.com/gameChangeMan.html Full Version (With Sound Effects)

Cursor keys to move. Collect the red pills, move through the cyan circles and fill all 9 of 'em red to complete each level. Up to level 8 inceasing difficulty and same difficulty thereafter. Monsters kill you and blank circles just remove any pills changeman had eaten but not used, otherwise harmless.

A few little issues to fix still but should be playable.

#2

Very smooth and clean graphics. It seems like the interval between when the pills appear can be very long, which means a long time just sitting, waiting for it to appear. Perhaps a bit of logic to change the rate of pills appearing based on the number of active red pills?

“Deaded” - very nice.

#3

Can’t load the game, just blank black box. I just tried several 4k games before and no prob. Win7 FF7 Java7u1.

#4

[quote]It seems like the interval between when the pills appear can be very long, which means a long time just sitting, waiting for it to appear. Perhaps a bit of logic to change the rate of pills appearing based on the number of active red pills?
[/quote]
Yeah good point. I have increased the rate of objects appearing by ~30%. As a result you get monsters quicker but am now giving an extra life every 4 levels to compensate

[quote]Can’t load the game, just blank black box. I just tried several 4k games before and no prob. Win7 FF7 Java7u1.
[/quote]
Thanks for letting me know. This is very strange. I have yet to obfuscate/pack2000 so I would expect this game to work ahead of any other entry (and compiled using 1.6 same as other entries). I have added 5 System outs to the console (displayed during applet init, creating graphics, creating new game). If you/anyone with similar problems could be kind enough to post the console output would be appreciated. At least then I can know if its a Win7 or my issue.

#5

This works on my Windows 7/Chrome and Firefox 8

Great game btw, really hard though :S

#6

It worked great and it was fun :slight_smile: I should have read the rules first though before trying as it took a little while to figure it out :slight_smile:

Mike

#7

Great! Its reassuring to know it works on some Windows 7 machines at least. :stuck_out_tongue:

Link updated. My website version now contains a few sound effects created with sfxr. 4K version now here:-
http://www.bullsquared.com/gameChangeMan4K.html

#8

Okay it’s worked, nice puzzle game. I got confused at first how that 9 circles work though.

#9

[quote]Okay it’s worked
[/quote]
Thanks for re-trying, it was probably the usual Java2D Applet issue that intermittently gives a white screen, happens to me once in a while.

Uploaded to Java4K. Couple of fixes. Monsters are always rendered after circles (to avoid nasty suprises) and changeman only moves 1 square when going through the yellow lines.

Thanks to steps provided by StephR, SimonH and tools by pjt33 managed to get the sodding thing down to 3.2k. No time however for extra features n fancy stuff. Enjoy!

#10

Only 3.2 Ko for this game ! Too bad you hadn’t enough time to add more elements to it.

It worked perfectly on my Win7. Technically perfect, I also found it very well balanced, which is unfortunately not so common with our 4K games… The mix between arcade and puzzle elements is original and fun.

I really wonder what is the name of that old game where you found your inspiration for your ChangeMan 4K. Hey, wait a minute… No, I didn’t find any old game with the same name… So, which old game was it ?

#11

[quote]Only 3.2 Ko for this game ! Too bad you hadn’t enough time to add more elements to it.
[/quote]
Yeah… Unfortunately I didn´t know until late last night how much space I had left… With Rivens Compile n Shrink not working, I plowed though the Indiespot compression thread where your/Simons tips helped (and pjt33´s server). Have since lost interest on the game (I hate optimization/compression + was a distraction) and now back to my main Android game and everyday life…

The game was inspired (i.e. copied) from the Japanese handheld game of the same name (which I was given as child). I haven´t been able to find any instructions or flash versions, so all based on memory and a few images I found on google. e.g.

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Bandai/ChangeMan.htm