Jeff Minter's Space Giraffe

Vascilia Sky · Post by **Vascilia Sky** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:06 pm

If you listen to what he has to say at the end of the video, you'll know that he's planning on turning down the amount of crap flying around on the screen.

Obviously it's supposed to be psychedelic, but it's definately all WIP as he states, and providing the neon is tuned to be mind-warping yet not completely in the way, I think it's going to be absolutely sublime stuff.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 5:18 pm

UPDATE:

New direct download feed, of high-quality (h264 codec quicktime) gameplay footage of the latest build of Space Giraffe HERE (90 MB).

Necronom · Post by **Necronom** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:32 pm

Nice one! Very heavy on the eye candy

Jeff Minter should join forces with Kenta Cho someday...
More tunes by Empire of the Claw can be found here:
http://www.empire-of-the-claw.com/files/mp3s.htm
They have some nice 8-bit goodies there...

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:07 pm

Just a heads up: Space Giraffe is set to release this Wednesday for 400 points.

All the videos I've seen paint it to look like Tempest 2000 on crack, so if you dug that game, this should be up your alley.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 6:22 pm

Thunder Force wrote:UPDATE:

New direct download feed, of high-quality (h264 codec quicktime) gameplay footage of the latest build of Space Giraffe HERE (90 MB).

I could not get this to work, but you can use the origonal weblink -

http://llamasoft.co.uk/yak/SG_to_lvl_9.wmv Save A$

NAVVARR · Post by **NAVVARR** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:13 pm

Just downloaded the new game footage- i got a bit bored of it TBH- it lasts about 18 mins- i watched about 2 mins then just 'fast forwarded' through the rest.
Its all looks initially very psychidelic- but as far as i can see its just a fancier version of Tempest and i never really saw the point in the first few versions.- i own the Jaguar Tempest 2000- so i do know what i'm going on about.

I've always really enjoyed Jeff's games- right from the early days of Gridrunner on the Vic20, Lazerzone and Hellgate too- were favourites.
To me though, Jeff Minter hasn't really moved on - his games are very colourful- the sounds are very 'defenderish' and chunky- but hey- i've seen it all before.
If its only 5 pounds for it- i'll check out Space Giraffe- but otherwise- i'm sorry its just not anything new.

I'd love to see Jeff Minter take a break and come back with a proper shooter- one that doesn't involve bloody sheep, goats, llama's etc etc- come on Jeff- if you read this post then get your creative juices flowing and think of something NEW.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:25 am

I think Jeff needs to make his mark on the current market though and he probably wouldn't be able to do that with something origonal. I'm sure Jeff re-uses code and ideas to accellerate things along as he is a one man band.

Unity was something newish and that never really turned into a game. I think with total creative freedom your mind just wanders and wanders and you never really reach your goal.

The problem I have with the footage (Albeit a small grudge) is that the sweep move takes the panic out of Tempest and leaves you with a more strategic game. I got a somewhat relaxed feedback from the footage and thats not Minter ware. Its only up to lvl 9 so thats understandable.

Necronom · Post by **Necronom** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:34 pm

Jeff mentioned on his site that there will be also a PC version...I'll go for that. As for the "clarity issues" - I think it's part of the game to learn how to look through the fx overkill first and then figure out how to score most effectively. Guess a little bit like learning not to panic and concentrate instead in danmakus...only, different;-)

No_not_like_Quake · Post by **No_not_like_Quake** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 1:47 am

Ah, here is the thread for this...

I've not been disappointed by a LS game before. Looking forward to this game.

LSU · Post by **LSU** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:49 am

Well I don't have a 360 yet, or even a PC (just a Mac) - so I guess I'll have to wait a while to play this.

Personally though I adore almost all his games, and I'm really glad to see that he hasn't changed the style of them significantly. If all he is really doing is using the power of new hardware to amp up the psychedelics and eye candy, and keep the good old fashioned Llamasoft style of gameplay intact, that's fine by me.

Post by **system11** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:00 pm

Got it today.

Too much shiny.

Shame.

SuperGrafx · Post by **SuperGrafx** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 4:56 pm

bloodflowers wrote:Got it today.

Too much shiny.

Shame.

Exactly.
Same thing happened with Tempest 3000 on the ill-fated Nuon platform. He took what was already a great game (tempest 2k - Jaguar) and added so much unnecessary psychedilia and eye candy that the game became literally unplayable. Frame rate suffered and everything just got lost in a sea of rainbow colors. SG isn't as bad, but it still goes a bit too all-out for my tastes.

roker · Post by **roker** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:33 pm

I like it

after a while, you get used to it and isn't that much of a problem

at least not for me

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:34 pm

I dig it. No problem with the shine, and the differences between this and Tempest keep it from being a "been there" clone.

Definitely sweet.

roker · Post by **roker** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:42 pm

ubersaurus wrote:I dig it. No problem with the shine, and the differences between this and Tempest keep it from being a "been there" clone.

Definitely sweet.

I was kind of surprised by the gameplay system

I was confused as hell about bullying, but a few play throughs and it's nothing now

I also got a "YOU ARE AWESOME" finish

"YOU ARE SEMI-RESPECTABLE" cracks me up

Post by **system11** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:45 pm

Honestly by level 13 I couldn't tell what the fuck was going on. It went from "I can't really tell but I sort of know what's happening" to "I died four times, wonder why?". Abysmal visibility, and I'm afraid I'm not a clairvoyant.

roker · Post by **roker** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:53 pm

bloodflowers wrote:Honestly by level 13 I couldn't tell what the fuck was going on. It went from "I can't really tell but I sort of know what's happening" to "I died four times, wonder why?". Abysmal visibility, and I'm afraid I'm not a clairvoyant.

I don't blame you

but I guess I can play through it

usually I listen for audio cues with the flowers because I can't tell if they're shooting through or not
but it is only 400 points

it's not like you're going to break the bank with the game and I like the fact that your own soundtrack affects the VLM

K-J N. · Post by **K-J N.** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:40 pm

Here is Jeff's own advise for level 13:

yak wrote:It's not too bad, the only real difficulty is that the flowers grow up above the Rim. Choose a few lanes to defend and move back and forth over those shooting down any baddies and bullets. Watch the colour of the streaks that denote arriving enemies at the bottom of the level - most of them are red but green ones betoken arriving flowers. When you see green streaks, use the right analog stick left and right to rinse around the level with your hoof shots. Normally in the process of doing this you'll destroy any newly arrived flowers. Listen for the donkey to confirm flower kills.

If a flower does grow above the rim, just don't run into it. Stay calm and eventually it'll ping off harmlessly.

Eventually you'll be comfortable enough not just to keep your immediate zone clear of flowers but also to clear enough area to also gather some baddies into for the purposes of bulling, and be able not only to survive the level but to do so with decent BM too .

Oh, and another thing, if you're stuck on a level it can make sense to play the previous level (assuming you're OK with it) and try deliberately to end it with a Yes Yes Yes. Rinsing of incoming flowers is 10x easier with super-speed semi-aimed hoof shots .

Post by **system11** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:52 pm

Nice that he offers some advice, but my problem with levels around 13 is nothing at all to do with gameplay or strategy, and 100% to do with not being able to see a damn thing. You can't formulate a plan around something you can't see. Try playing DDP with a blindfold. Ok, now we understand eachother

It's a shame, I put more time into it last night. I /really enjoy it/ until the levels where I can't see anything anymore. Then I immediately start losing 3-4 lives per round, after a clean run all the way up to them.

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:54 pm

I guess you were not in the 'zone', then

I'm waiting this to come for the PC. I've lots of sympathy for old Jeff so I'm really hoping I will like this.

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:33 pm

Has anyone else tried it with the custom soundtracks? They seem to affect the background visuals...and Tempest 2000's soundtrack never disappoints for a shooter.

Maybe if you're having trouble seeing stuff, you should give that a try?

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:03 pm

I must say for your credit that you are not as conservative as game developers. Initial reaction at the chaos engine forum was: "WTF is this trippy shit! Replace the graphics with metallic looking rockets and maybe then I would bother to play it!" "I can't figure what's going on!" etc, etc..

depressing

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:11 pm

There is a forum dedicated to the Chaos Engine game??!?!?!

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:13 pm

No, the chaos engine is a closed forum for game developers

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:25 pm

Nice Tempest clone. Weird play mechanics....sometime weird is good.

roker · Post by **roker** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:49 pm

this game has a horrible tutorial by the way

it took me more than a few tries to get it down

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:59 pm

Does the final product have the intentional spelling mistakes in it?

SuperGrafx · Post by **SuperGrafx** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:26 pm

neorichieb1971 wrote:Does the final product have the intentional spelling mistakes in it?

Just a bit of pseudo-Engrish from what I can tell.

No_not_like_Quake · Post by **No_not_like_Quake** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:06 am

bloodflowers wrote:Nice that he offers some advice, but my problem with levels around 13 is nothing at all to do with gameplay or strategy, and 100% to do with not being able to see a damn thing. You can't formulate a plan around something you can't see. Try playing DDP with a blindfold. Ok, now we understand eachother

It's a shame, I put more time into it last night. I /really enjoy it/ until the levels where I can't see anything anymore. Then I immediately start losing 3-4 lives per round, after a clean run all the way up to them.

I recommend you stick with it. Use the right anolog stick very gently and shoot in the direction you are moving in. This, if done properly, eliminates the threats of bullets in the earlier levels. Follow the audio queues and remember to defend small spaces and destroy or avoid the flowers.

I'm currently in the top 300 on the leaderboard. Need to improve that score.

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:25 pm

I think dismissing this game because you don't immediately 'get-it' is as stupid as dismissing a Cave game because 'there are too many bullets' or 'you die too often'. There are some seriously deep game play mechanics in SG. Difficulty so far seems to be definitely on a par with Caves most challenging.