I have cool news! We finally have a release date for ChainStaff. Steam, Switch, Playstation, Xbox, everything...the game is coming out April 8th. Check out the trailer for new monsters, weapons, and levels.
Pre-Order Open
Also big news--we have a price now: $14.99. And pre-order options are available! We worked really hard to get the game through all the annoying systems for Nintendo and Microsoft. (Sadly Sony doesn't let smaller games like mine get a pre-order. I did try though! )
Please wishlist it or pre-order it. It's a big help! This page has all the store links: https://chainstaffgame.com/
How's it work? Well it takes simple words. But you have to *know* the words. And I put all kinds of wacky, helpful, powerful cheats in there. Letter-case does not matter. Spaces do matter in between words.
Just go to Options->Cheats in the demo to add them. How do you find out the Cheats? You should join the Discord server. Also I will reveal a few sometimes in the newsletter.
I will be at MAGFest this weekend in Washington DC! It's June 8th to 11th. It's absolutely packed with awesome indie games, arcade games, and lots of amazing game music. Come out to the show and tell your friends about it!
ChainStaff was accepted to be shown in the "MIVS" division of the show. It's an indie-only section where cool indie games are previewed for the gaming public. You get a 10x10ft booth and you design it all yourself.
My first idea was... what if you could hold a real ChainStaff?!?
What would it be like? Check out this video as I detail the construction of it.
It ended up being over 7 feet long, but thankfully only weighs about 5 pounds so anyone can wield it.
I also printed a backdrop of the main game box art, and you'll get to pose in front of it with the ChainStaff!
This is inside my office; it barely fits! I'll do a new blog post when we get the real booth set up at MAGFest. The banner is 10x8ft. We had to take the picture sideways because the room is too small to fit. Thankfully the convention center is huge, so this will be awesome when we get it set up there.
The light fixture at the top obscures the game logo, but my idea was you'd get to "pry open the monster's mouth" on the box art with a real ChainStaff.
ChainStaff is due to come out to consoles and Steam this spring, so I'm working hard to get the word out for it. Thanks for following along on my journey!
Here's a video showing off some of the details from the new update.
Updated Demo
I've gone ahead and added some cutscenes from the main game to the free demo that's on Steam. There are now two new story cutscenes at the beginning of the demo, where you can see the origins of the Star Spore invasion.
The demo update also has the ability to pick between Easy and Normal difficulty modes. The difficulty is hand-tuned for each level. There will be new attacks and more enemies in Normal difficulty. Easy mode might have more platforms to land on, plus you start with more player shields.
Here's the list of demo changes
Cutscenes added
Difficulty modes added
Now has 3 Save Slots
Dual Stick controls fully supported
Better button remapping
Game balance changes: Players don't retract ChainStaff on Damage. You now need a full heart to take an extra hit (not just a subheart).
Many more balances and game polish.
Want to join the Beta Playtest?
Come help steer the direction of the game balancing! I'm slowly finishing up the rest of the game and will be doing playtests soon. Join my newsletter to get in on it!
And while I finished Bumpy Grumpy and a few contract jobs in between, it's been a lot of good iteration and learning along the way to make a better platformer.
One of the most important parts of a platformer for me is a good camera! And for me a good camera is one that you don't even notice. Check out my recent video here about how the camera works in ChainStaff.
If you'd rather read than watch, then please read on!
Vistas
There a several special things I'm trying to do with the camera in ChainStaff. One of them is to create exciting fights and beautiful moments.
Each level opens with a gorgeous vista of the new level.
Level 4: Moss Islands
You get to soak it all in, the alien world, blowing leaves, lighting, nasty clouds, and creepy tongues swaying in the wind. Then when the player starts moving the camera picks up and starts following you.
Another special camera I use is to have a vista combined with a big fight. The opening of level 2, the Dragon's Bridge has you launch straight into an epic battle with the Jet Dragon on a thin rock bridge. As you get closer to the dragon, the camera zooms into the action. If you run away, the camera backs up to capture you and the dragon in view. I like this a lot, but it's a bit unusual for 2D action games to pull back quite this far. I carefully designed several fights in the game to take advantage of these huge views, while still remaining fun and fair.
The Dragon's Bridge: Look how tiny you are!
Less Is More
For most of the action of the game, the direction I give the camera is "only move if necessary".
Basically I follow the Miyamoto method developed as far back as Super Mario World.
There's some great videos on how he designed the camera there. I use similar direction in ChainStaff. If you are jumping up, the camera only moves up with you, if you actually jump up to a new platform. If you are simply hopping up and down, I don't follow the player up and down. If you make the game like that, the camera is really spazzy and it's hard to see what platforms or enemies you're going to land on! It's much better to keep it still unless you land on new ground.
Swing Town
One tricky area for ChainStaff is making something that works with the wildly swinging grappling hook.
You are attached to a grappling hook, and swinging left and right fast. If I simply follow the player, it's very hard to play.
The direction I use instead for the camera is to follow the attached point of the grappling hook. This works because its in between of where the player wants to be. The player can swing left/right fast, and its easy to focus on the action. As soon as they let go, the camera smoothly transitions to then following the player again.
These are the three main areas and methods I use to make for a smooth camera experience for the platforming and shooting action in ChainStaff. Check out the video for more details, but also check and see how Miyamoto did it for Super Mario World. As usual, he's a master!
Thanks for reading and please wishlist ChainStaff, thank you!.
Bumpy Grumpy
is in residence in TWO prestigious arcade cabinets in New York City, so
my wife and I decided to make New York City our destination for our
family trip. (Header pic: So much amazing cream cheese)
Was the Empire State Building visit awesome? Yes!
Am I scared of heights? Well, you can see it in my eyes :D
New York City Arcade Scene Is Big!
Wonderville Arcade is in Brooklyn and it's got an amazing collection of "indie game arcade cabinets".
These are often one-of-a-kind arcade
experiences. If you are in the area, you've gotta check this place out!
I had organized a high score tournament for Bumpy Grumpy with Mark from Wonderville.
So on the Saturday evening of our trip we took a subway ride from Manhattan over to Brooklyn for the tourney.
Remember: the game is out on Steam so people can practice at home--but its very different to play on an arcade cabinet in front of a LIVE audience!
It went like this. We took sign-ups for all to
play. Then each contestant got two runs. We went through all players
once, then a second time. Mark wrote their scores on the whiteboard.
And I got to commentate!
The end result was lots of Bumpy Grumpy games,
lots of cheering, shouting, and screaming, and lots of fun! Congrats to
the top 3: Nick, Blaze, and Mark!
Bumpy Grumpy and the NYU Game Center
We also got a tour of the NYU Game Center in Brooklyn.
Gentle reader--let me tell you--their "library" was enviable. It works
just like a regular library, but you get to check out GAMES instead of
BOOKS!
And the faculty there often give students assignments like "Your new
game is similar to this one from 2002. Your weekend homework is to check
out the game in the library and play it to see its design."
How cool is that?
ChainStaff Demo at PAX West!
The honestly-fantastic publisher for ChainStaff, Null Games, is flying me out to Seattle to show off a demo of ChainStaff at PAX West.
If you've not already wishlisted ChainStaff on Steam, please do!
It's a huge boost for me.
Every wishlist helps me as it moves the game up through Valve's
automated lists, which gets us in front of more people. And that means
more sales and more weird games for you!
My next big game is an action-platformer with a transforming grappling hook.
Here is the Null Booth info for PAX West. Null Games has a great collection of games coming out in addition to ChainStaff and Null always has AMAZING SWAG for giveaways, so please stop by.
Player Animation Progress
And finally I'll leave you with a recent video I made on the player animations in ChainStaff!
Happy swinging.
