It seems so so hard to timeplan game development that big companies generally don’t tell a release date until after they have an “alpha” build of the game, and that is a completely play-throughible game (with a few placeholders and lots of bugs though – Then they may be crazy enough to make a stunt (after that) and change like a third of the playthrough content (i think that’s when they rushed to the alpha date)

Just trying to tell – take care you “date” dude = )

The orangy tent is mostly from the lighting inside the application. The texture color is actually exactly the same hue and as the art. That older picture may actually be before I updated the lighting model or added the advance coloring.

Through all this remodeling I do think I honestly found the secret to a stable design. I remember seeing a drawing tutorial explain the concept of heads to get a good idea of proportion, which is to say something is 5 or 6 heads tall in proportion to the rest of the body which is really just 5 or 6 circles. I didn’t pay the idea much mind when I first heard of it but I’ve actually been trying it out and I’m shocked how well it works. Usually female characters end up throwing my proportions out of whack because of the more slender build (which is why I’m guessing a lot of short stubby characters had tall girlfriends). But I was actually able to keep the designs in synch without any trouble.

My characters seem to be about 3 heads tall. In Tale of the Night Felix about 4 heads tall which may be why that design feels so off despite the many changes in design I’ve made of the years.

When I look very closely, the right one does look better; the eyes are more alive and the orange fur with its bright (glossiness?) match the white fur better.

You did however miss a very useful “exploit” : )
Whenever you use your special attack. You can fall from any height without taking damage. It’s especially useful for that set of leaves taking you downward on the first stage.

I’m definitely going to take note of that combat information! I didn’t think about how putting the player in that tight space caused the player to focus on attacks that knock the enemies off. Ha I was just more or less carelessly sprinkling enemies.

The game is quite literally a rush job. I think the game could’ve been better with more time but I wanted to finish it before deciding whether to go to college or not. Considering the turnout I have no clue what made me not go (glad I didn’t though!). Regardless of how well I could’ve done, I don’t believe it would’ve ever been a success in the PC market. Luckily XBLIG is around!!!

I actually wasn’t aware of any exploit on that last leaf passage. I guess a running jump to the platform below might work.

Ah well not important, it’s not like I’m going to use a passage of leaves again, or am I… ; D

I could only get past the devil’s leaf passage by exploit, I think (or is the exploit on purpose, who knows)

And holy hey! It’s unbelievable how the very nice animations were implemented within 2 months with everything else in the game. And this was like 2 years before Odin Sphere had these kind of animations. AWESOME!

Spoilers incoming… = )

Tip #1:
Play this game with a gamepad! The combat system works more reliably when you don’t need to time/sync different keyboard fingers. And a precise gamepad stick is needed when jumping between leaves.

Tip #2:
To quit the game, stand still (!), press Enter to the menu, then Esc, then Exit. – If moving, the menu would not show up.

Tips on Forest Illusion:
#1 Learn to time your jumps between the spongy platforms by rote inside-out – Screen is to small to see/time on the fly. And use an analog stick to adjust your jump lengths easier.
#2 Pass the 3rd leaf gap by exploit; around where extra large leaves spawn, jump as high as you can to the right then hope fall damage doesn’t kill you when landing on the far platform.
…Use exploits! Or prepare for 30 attempts like me before you realize you need exploits ; )

Tip on Karina: (she’s very hard to hit enough otherwise)
When she walks towards Felix and is 2-1 meters close, press Grab and it will always succeed. Then tap Punch to deal 3 damage repeatedly. Back+Throw also works while grabbing.
- When she breaks loose Felix takes 0 damage since the grab is a blocking move. Jump over her and away a bit, then repeat the grab.

Tips on Dream Master:
#1 Learn which platforms become grey, and jump off them as soon as they do (they vanish).
#2 An enemy often falls down on you and throw you off your platform down to death – So throw them off it before them!
#3 If many enemies fall down on you, use spinkick to throw them all off the platform.
#4 If you haven’t enough Spirit for spinkicks, replay the chapter and defeat many enemies to get more exp. and spirit meter when you respawn.

Tip on Brutus:
- See Tip on Karina, works on Brutus too.

Tip on Xilef: (impossbile to hit enough without exploit)
See Tip on Karina, but the grab is a big step harder to time right on Xilef, because Xilef counter-punches on the grab – so press Grab as far away as possible from Xilef, so his counter-punch cannot reach Felix, yet the grab reaches Xilef (this works if the grab animation is near its end when Xilef comes in range).
- This grab will not succeed by 100%, but the grab generally blocks the counter-punch so it says “0″, then just jump away from Xilef and retry the grab. Repeat.

The point that you’re at now is when the bosses get really really cheap and it’s nearly impossible to win by playing normally. Not too far after that is a “leaf passage” that seems like it was crafted by the devil himself. Not to discourage you or anything. ; D
At least there’s a save feature.

Learned a lot about stage design and difficulty that year…