Nikki and the Robots - Cute Physics Platformer

[qubodup]

No way to comment. Only author name and level name so far.

What do you have in mind? What would you write?

[mbue]

No way to comment. Only author name and level name so far.

What do you have in mind? What would you write?

Not sure exactly, but I was thinking mainly about level criticism and comments (from the players) about what works in the level, what could be improved, etc.

EDIT: Better phrasing of the sentence.

EDIT2: Uploaded the 2 levels to the server.

[qubodup]

2nd try is quite a fun challenge! It happened at least once that the crate-towers would start collapsing by themselves though. Probably due to robots colliding and swinging enough to make it fall (or perhaps it's intensional..)

[mbue]

Hm I had that happen in the original version of the level, but I thought I fixed it already (it didn't happen in my latest play-tests).
The towers should never collapse by themselves or by being touched by the robots.
I'll look into this.

[qubodup]

Actually, Flo of our team reported similar problems with one of the contest levels (towers would collapse on their own) so it might be a bug.

[mbue]

I'll have to test the level again when I get some time.

Actually, Flo of our team reported similar problems with one of the contest levels (towers would collapse on their own) so it might be a bug.

Physic simulations can be fickle beasts. Maybe it's a platform thing (I'm testing on a 64bit Ubuntu Linux machine).

[qubodup]

There was an update about the proprietary story mode in Nikki and the Robots, but it didn't fit on FGD. We also made a small red-and-white-and-evergreen-tree-themed level which is downloadable from our level server (and cc-by licensed):









Level "Decemberweenation"

Which reminds me, we haven't told you about fail-ly laser tiles yet, did we? Well, they are there. Don't touch!

PS: There's 32+ levels (cc-by) on the level server now. Here's a preview: http://i.imgur.com/vfuJc.jpg

[qubodup]

We will start selling the (for now) proprietary story mode using a pay-what-you-want model, which is strongly inspired by the Humble Indie Bundle (which on the other hand was inspired by a World of Goo sale). After one week we will then set a fixed minimum price.

When you buy the game, you pay for the game as it is, but will also get all further episodes and updates for free. With each further episode, however, the minimum price will increase for new buyers of the game. The sooner you buy, the less you pay, hooray! This is similar to the Alpha-Beta-1.0 price increments of Minecraft.



Right now we are working hard on the presale website and we hope to be able to release Nikki and the Robots' story mode until mid February.

It actually will be a while before anything from the story mode reaches FOSS-space I believe. What is relevant to FOSS-space now is that the website, which we will use for the selling will be released as open source and might turn out to be useful to other open source projects.

Original blog post

[qubodup]

We recently added data sources of our cc-by-sa-licensed assets. Many xcf files and the svg of our icon (see above) are now in the darcs repo, which also can be browsed online: code.joyridelabs.de/nikki/data_src/

See our blog for more announcements and we also have a feed:

[qubodup]

Here is the new Nikki and the Robots 0.5 Beta(!) release (download here).


video: Nikki and the Robots 0.5 Changes and Story Mode Peeks

We're working on a preorder web page, which is open source under AGPL and hosted here.

The changes explained in the video (and some that were left out) are as follows:

• Game:
  • Info terminals instead of text bubbles in tutorial
  • Falling tiles take a little longer to start falling
  • Batteries have a little less mass
  • Switches are easier to trigger
  • Added laser robots and laser endpieces
  • Cannon-robot sounds
  • Boost sound for jetpack robot
• GUI/OSD and Controls:
  • Added keyshints in game mode
  • Allow configurable game keys (jump and context) to control the menu
  • Main menu will notify you about the availability of the story mode
  • Mac OS X: default jump key is space
  • In-game OSD shows total number of batteries in level
  • "..."-bubbles when nikki can start npc/computer monolog
  • Added "retry level" menu item to failure menu
    
  • Added retry-option to pause menu (and major refactorings to AppState stuff during levels)
• Level editor:
  • Added gray level template
  • Better layer insert and delete control
• Other:
  • Game art sources added to source code repository
  • Bugfixes on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows that prevented many users from running the game

[Sauer2]

I like the new level upload feature the most. This must be the most useful invention since ... air.
The game has become a bit harder to play, right?

[qubodup]

Actually, buttons are a bit easier to press now.. did you notice anything specific that got harder?

I just got a notification: [NEW LEVEL] lasersnail - nice one!

[Sauer2]

Yes, it's a level with those new laser things.

I mean, the gameplay feels more fluid, not so "jammed" like before, if i can say it that way. It took me nearly 10 tries to finish lootninja.
I like it that new way, thought. It feels more directly.

[qubodup]

We released 1.0 of Nikki and the Robots. Many performance fixes, more (freely licensed) sounds and music too.

Download from http://joyridelabs.de/game/download/ (right side bar).

This also involves the pay-what-you-want sale of the proprietary story mode. While the latter is not interesting here, the open source payment website might be. It's written in Haskell and called papst.

Blog post: http://joyridelabs.de/blog/?p=1435

[MCMic]

We released 1.0 of Nikki and the Robots. Many performance fixes, more (freely licensed) sounds and music too.

Download from http://joyridelabs.de/game/download/ (right side bar).

This also involves the pay-what-you-want sale of the proprietary story mode. While the latter is not interesting here, the open source payment website might be. It's written in Haskell and called papst.

Blog post: http://joyridelabs.de/blog/?p=1435

I'm really happy that you did this.
This is close to be the best economic model I've seen for a FLOSS game (it would have been perfect if it did not imply non-free stuff).
I've of course bought it and I've already finished it, I've also redone some levels to get more batteries. The level design is really good, art is pretty and musics sound good. I also love all the references to famous old games that are in the first level.
The episode is a bit short so I really hope we'll get more.
The only problem about this operation is your availability : finding the IRC channel empty was a big deception.
Also, is it on purpose that the paypal page requires a paypal account? (You're supposed to be able to activate non-account payments)
I've made some communication about the operation in French here : http://linuxfr.org/news/nikki-and-the-r ... t-you-want

Last thing, I don't know if it's new to this version, but all (or most) of downloaded levels have a really annoying and repetitive music (the loop is something like a few seconds).
Oh, and I did not find a link to the source code of the payment website on the payment website itself, while with AGPL it should be there somewhere.

[qubodup]

The only problem about this operation is your availability : finding the IRC channel empty was a big deception.

I hope to be more available there from now on.

Also, is it on purpose that the paypal page requires a paypal account? (You're supposed to be able to activate non-account payments)

We definitely want to accept payment without users having to get a PP account. Doesn't it say "Payez par carte bancaire sans ouvrir de compte PayPal" and look like http://i.imgur.com/ythmu.png ? I hoped this would mean it can be done.

I've made some communication about the operation in French here : http://linuxfr.org/news/nikki-and-the-r ... t-you-want

Thanks!

Last thing, I don't know if it's new to this version, but all (or most) of downloaded levels have a really annoying and repetitive music (the loop is something like a few seconds).

Thanks for the feedback, I found it annoying too at some point (but apparently got used to it...?) If you know of any fitting CC0/CCBY/CCBYSA music, recommendations would be welcome by the way!

Oh, and I did not find a link to the source code of the payment website on the payment website itself, while with AGPL it should be there somewhere.

Since we own the system's copyright it's legally ok, although probably not setting the best example.

[MCMic]

Also, is it on purpose that the paypal page requires a paypal account? (You're supposed to be able to activate non-account payments)

We definitely want to accept payment without users having to get a PP account. Doesn't it say "Payez par carte bancaire sans ouvrir de compte PayPal" and look like http://i.imgur.com/ythmu.png ? I hoped this would mean it can be done.

You're right, it does, but the paypal page is in German. I think that's why the french guys from linuxfr thought it can not be done, because when the non-account part is folded we only see a German sentence we do not understand.

Last thing, I don't know if it's new to this version, but all (or most) of downloaded levels have a really annoying and repetitive music (the loop is something like a few seconds).

Thanks for the feedback, I found it annoying too at some point (but apparently got used to it...?) If you know of any fitting CC0/CCBY/CCBYSA music, recommendations would be welcome by the way!

Hum, can't you use something from the story mode? I remember of good musics in it.
If the license of the songs is the problem, you could use story mode songs in the whole game if the story mode is installed.
About Free music, I used Ozzed musics for two games, you can look into that. (Some panic songs might fit too)
Otherwise, just use the 8bit tag on Jamendo with a filter allowing free music only.
I checked, the song I dislike is "8bit Tidbit 2".

Oh, and I did not find a link to the source code of the payment website on the payment website itself, while with AGPL it should be there somewhere.

Since we own the system's copyright it's legally ok, although probably not setting the best example.

Yeah, exactly, it's about the example, and that's also a way of proving that you're all about FLOSS. (That kind of details might convince FLOSS enthusiasts.)

Oh, also, I got some complains from ArchLinux users because the AUR package puts the game in the /opt folder (instead of a correct /usr installation). Is that your fault or the packager's fault? Could you consider contacting him and explaining how to proper install the game?

[KIAaze]

The website says "During the first week after release, you pay what you want to instantly receive the awesome first Story Episode of Nikki and the Robots.", but it's hard to find out exactly when the release was, and therefore when it ends. You should add a countdown timer just like on the HIB website.

I tried the demo for the first time yesterday (despite knowing about the game since it was first mentioned on freegamer). I'm definitely going to buy it soon.
Any plans on making the game available on distribution channels like Desura or Gameolith afterwards? (you should at least post a news article there)

Oh, also, I got some complains from ArchLinux users because the AUR package puts the game in the /opt folder (instead of a correct /usr installation). Is that your fault or the packager's fault? Could you consider contacting him and explaining how to proper install the game?

Not that I know much about Arch packaging systems, but I actually prefer installing software which is not from official distribution repositories in /opt, especially for proprietary software or large games. It makes it easier to distinguish between third-party and non third-party binaries:
/opt -> third-party proprieary software
/usr/local -> third-party software compiled from source
/usr/bin, /bin -> system binaries
(of course third-party software rarely is installed system-wide anyway, unless it comes packaged)

[MCMic]

The website says "During the first week after release, you pay what you want to instantly receive the awesome first Story Episode of Nikki and the Robots.", but it's hard to find out exactly when the release was, and therefore when it ends. You should add a countdown timer just like on the HIB website.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing!
At least add the date of start and end, even if you don't have time to add a timer.

Not that I know much about Arch packaging systems, but I actually prefer installing software which is not from official distribution repositories in /opt, especially for proprietary software or large games. It makes it easier to distinguish between third-party and non third-party binaries:
/opt -> third-party proprieary software
/usr/local -> third-party software compiled from source
/usr/bin, /bin -> system binaries
(of course third-party software rarely is installed system-wide anyway, unless it comes packaged)

No, the point of packaging something is to have it properly installed, it should totally be into /usr/bin and /usr/share.
/opt is mainly for big bloated non-free games/softwares that does not allow a proper installation.

[qubodup]

The website says "During the first week after release, you pay what you want to instantly receive the awesome first Story Episode of Nikki and the Robots.", but it's hard to find out exactly when the release was, and therefore when it ends. You should add a countdown timer just like on the HIB website.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing!
At least add the date of start and end, even if you don't have time to add a timer.

True that!

[KIAaze]

I created a news article on Desura. Still awaiting authorization for it to go through.

[andrewj]

While the latter is not interesting here, the open source payment website might be. It's written in Haskell and called papst.

iirc Papst means (the) Pope - why call it that?

[qubodup]

I created a news article on Desura. Still awaiting authorization for it to go through.

Thanks, isn't it connected with moddb/indiedb somehow though? Plus desura might not fancy nikki, as it's not available there (or is it?)
I announced the 1.0/story release there: http://www.indiedb.com/games/nikki-and- ... y-episodes

iirc Papst means (the) Pope - why call it that?

That's right. I don't remember what it was though... "Pay-what-you-wAnt Processing SysTem"?

[MCMic]

At least add the date of start and end, even if you don't have time to add a timer.

True that!

It seems the dates are still not there, when is this operation ending?

Also, would you be able to estimate how much time was spent on the game by each of you, and how much this operation would need to gather in order for each of you to be paid correctly?
(Also, are the total displayed the totals before or after paypal take its share?)

[KIAaze]

I tried it on another PC and have a bug there: There is a black box around Nikki, and the computers in the game are all black, i.e. I cannot see them.
Here's a screemshot of it:

I'm attaching some system info as well.