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Northern Spy - BenHem - Competition Entry

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This is not a game in the traditional sense. Every ending is the same, and that's part of the point...

Northern Spy is a short contemplative piece about gathering while ye may, and also about compost. I finished just under the wire, and while there is a good deal left on my to-do list (like a final scene, and music), the game is playable and I think it conveys its message.

TIP: Watch the shadows if collisions are confusing.

It is written in Processing (Java). Sounds recorded/tweaked in Audacity, titles hand-lettered, sprites made in Photoshop, trees grown procedurally/algorithmically.

I'll release Mac/Windows/Linux binaries soon, possibly as a post-compo version with the aforementioned features.

Thanks for giving it time! :)

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Comments (archive)

crackerblocks says ...

lovely game

doohan says ...

I really like the season changes, and the sound effects are pretty amusing.
Controls are a bit tricky at first though.
Cool game!

C418 says ...

Yeah, the season changes are really cool.
The collision detection is a bit confusing. But I guess he's just too fat.

AtkinsSJ says ...

Very poetic.

SonnyBone says ...

He starved to death trying to chop down 50 trees just to eat a few apples. Maybe if the guy wasn't so fat, he'd be able to walk AROUND THEM. lol

This is a neat little game with some cool features. The changing seasons, falling trees, and growing plants are rad.

localcoder says ...

This has a strong idea and the season changing effect is very compelling and fits in with the theme.

The controls are awkward; I found turning and moving difficult and I couldn't tell what I could and couldn't pass through. This distracted me from the setting and the message of the game. I think that improving the controls would make it easier for people to the other parts of the game (which are really good).

(on playing again, I see that there are shadows around the trees that show the collision circles. The first time I played, the trees were close together and I didn't notice these.)

jplur says ...

Love the details, especially the apple seeds sprouting. This makes me want to take a second look at Processing.

Risko says ...

Beautiful graphics, i like both -- the trees and the pixelized norwegian, various seasons are a great bonus -- the colours in all seasons are just suiting well.
And the gameplay reminded me of 'the good old times' by playing warcraft 1 and 2, where we created maps half-full of trees, so we had to chop through it, to get to the enemy (or at least that is, how i remember it ;) )
The biggest problem i had with the game is, that it is lagging a lot, so all the sounds played to late and so on. But i had to play it even under such circumstances to see the other season variatons ;)

Entar says ...

Cool effects and sounds and all, but I found the game itself a little weird. I walked around, chopped down some trees, ate some apples, and eventually died. Is there a goal?

TenjouUtena says ...

Controls akward and spongy. I didn't have any trees I could get too before he died.

dock says ...

The controls are a little strange, but the graphics are great :)

Hempuli says ...

Really interesting idea! I'd love to see more!

dertom says ...

Nice,...especially the first game in processing...nice

matrin says ...

Wonderful and hard game.

sinoth says ...

Visually stunning. Great audio as well. The gameplay is a bit lacking in that there is little reward for playing well (other than seasons changing, which looks excellent). Maybe you didn't have time for the ending? The engine is a bit laggy.. I hope Processing doesn't end up restricting your ideas due to slowness. The end fade seems a bit too long. Despite all of this the entry feels very solid... good job!