Ted Venture

Ok, time to reveal my upcoming minigame. This is the second time I'm trying to make a game from scratch, but this time I will be putting more work into it. I'm making all game art, mechanics, sound fx, and music myself, so it really started out as a learning project.

Now to the game...

In this game you're controlling the main character Ted Venture. He is on one of his many adventures when he looses control over his minecart. It's your job to control him down the rough tracks. The game is hugely inspired by the early 8-bit gaming era, in speak of sound and art.

So far I'm close to finishing game arts. As you can see the character has already been designed. I'm moving onto designing background, sounds, and fixing up some game mechanics. Will soon be posting some screenshots.

Game can be played here: https://www.scirra.com/arcade/underground-jam/ted-venture-2153

Update 150909

Added diamonds(

) and gold bars (

) to score more points.

Update 150907

Uploaded version 1.1

Fixed some bugs with rails and jumping.

Update 150905

Uploaded version 1.0

I know there are something wrong with the paths. Any other bug reports or suggestions are appreciated.

janlindso, the image seems broken.

janlindso, the image seems broken.

Thanks for noticing. Fixed!

Cool graphics so far.

I'm too trying to create everything by myself but find it so hard.

Need me some time management advices. Hahaha

Keep us updated and good luck.

Cool graphics so far.

I'm too trying to create everything by myself but find it so hard.

Need me some time management advices. Hahaha

Keep us updated and good luck.

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you liked it!

I'm not really the best to be asked for time management. I'm mostly doing it opposite of what is suggested; multi task. I do everything at the same time. If I feel creative and want to do art, I do art. If I get some tune in my head, I make music. This way I get to create the pieces when I'm most creative. Of course this is pretty much impossible in the normal daily life, but this is at least how I do it in holidays and days off. Apart from this I think it's smart to try to do a little as often as you have spare time, if it's just a few pixels on an object.

Will keep you posted for sure!

janlindso, that's always great advice and that's how I manage things too.

Keep up the good work.

I too created all my own art, game play, and will add sounds. I first started with the concept, then fine tuned the gameplay and controls using rough sketches for the character and obstacles, then cleaned up the artwork when I was close to finished the first few levels.

I've been using Trello to manage my game tasks and it's been working pretty well. I also use it in tandem with OneNote for drawings and more extensive notes. But Trello has been easy enough to use for task management and noting ideas when inspiration strikes, so you can keeping working on the task at hand. Also, re-sorting tasks is super easy. Try it out.

First version now running. Added link to my starting post.

Just played it. Nice game. Flows well. The graphics look good and the music fits the genre.

The only comment I have is that there is definitely en element of luck to it, jumping to the next platform without always being able to see it, which can make it frustrating... but still playable.

PS- what did you use to make the music?

Just played it. Nice game. Flows well. The graphics look good and the music fits the genre.

The only comment I have is that there is definitely en element of luck to it, jumping to the next platform without always being able to see it, which can make it frustrating... but still playable.

PS- what did you use to make the music?

Thanks a lot for the feedback. Yes, I will work on optimizing the platform jumping as, like you say, there is a bit of luck to it as well.

The music was made by using a range of VST-plugins in Cubase, but any DAW will work for creating the music. The VST-plugins are usually free. A nice list of them can be found here: https://woolyss.com/chipmusic-plugins.php

The game should be more or less bug free now. Please let me know if you find any, or if you have any suggestions for improvement.

One advice is to run the game in full screen.

Game is great. Feels like you increased the light of the torch to see the next ledge more? And I noticed more things to collect, which makes it fun. And again, the music is well done.

PS-Thanks for the tips on the music software, but I think I may use Famitracker to make my tunes, once i figure out how to use it.

Whee I'm in 12th place. Ehhh....

Hi! I've actually been lurking this thread for a bit, I couldn't resist after I saw Mega Man face on the player character.

Nice runner - you added just enough things to keep it from being too run-of-the-mill or too complicated. I enjoyed climbing my way up the scoreboard.

And it's fantastic that you're making your own music! Just a suggestion though, for a highscore-type minigame you might want to come up with an even catchier opening to the track - you know, the kind that never gets tiring even after loads of replays. I'm not sure how to be specific about this, but just throwing it out.

Either way, keep it up! Glad to have played this.

haha really cool man! good luck in the undeground thing!

Whee I'm in 12th place. Ehhh....

Hi! I've actually been lurking this thread for a bit, I couldn't resist after I saw Mega Man face on the player character.

Nice runner - you added just enough things to keep it from being too run-of-the-mill or too complicated. I enjoyed climbing my way up the scoreboard.

And it's fantastic that you're making your own music! Just a suggestion though, for a highscore-type minigame you might want to come up with an even catchier opening to the track - you know, the kind that never gets tiring even after loads of replays. I'm not sure how to be specific about this, but just throwing it out.

Either way, keep it up! Glad to have played this.

A good advice to improve the score is to run the game in full screen. I think that it gives you a better overview.

I see your point in the menu theme. That tune might've worked better in a slower game. Like a sci-fi RTS game or so. I will see if I change it, but it wouldn't wait for it.

Anyways, thanks a lot for your feedback. It's appreciated!