TIGSource: Balding Is Back!

Balding Is Back!

Brandon "BMcC" McCartin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:11:00 +0000

After many restless nights, Balding’s Quest, the greatest community project since God invented community projects (okay, slight hyperbole), is back!

Balding’s Quest: The Quest of Guy Balding (also known as “BQ”) was started way back in The Dark Times, at the very beginning of the forums. I created a thread about Manic Miner which turned into a discussion of single screen platform games in general. Then Niklas “Arne/Prom” Jansson (of Cortex Command and Gravity Hook fame) posted a link to a gameplay concept of his for an original retro platform game. I opted to make this game, and BQ was born. It quickly became the largest and fasting moving thread on the young forums. People came out of nowhere to contribute and within five days the first Milestone was reached.

However, Milestone 2 didn’t come so easily. A little bit after Aquaria was finished, for many (mostly personal) reasons, I went on an extended hiatus. Most people assumed the project (and possibly I) had died. But it had not! I recently got back to work on Milestone 2 and, long story short, it’s done. The engine is now entirely open for community development, many, many additions have been made, tools and scripting are in place, and much more. With your help, we can bring BQ back to life!

Check it out and spread the word!

> Go here for the latest build and answers to all your questions.
> To get involved and see what’s in store for this project, go here.

This has been my White Whale for over a year now, so, please, show some love on the forums. (Especially if you were around when this project was first active!) Everything is in place to make a truly wonderful game here. But BQ needs YOU!

Additional screenshots here.

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:58:58 +0000

Sure! There are three Dev Editor modes: Tile Graphics Mode, Tile Type Mode, and Objects Mode. In Tile Type Mode you set the obstructions/functionality for the tiles.

Press a number to change what tile type you can draw and delete. It’ll tell you the name at the bottom of the screen, and it’s color coded. (“Ladder” type tiles are brownish.)

I hope that helps!

"Balding Is Back!" by none

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:22:54 +0000

Hey BMcC,

could you lend me a hand?

How do I go about creating ladders and chains that are climbable? I tried it with the gfx tile editor but no dice so I thought ‘Maybe it has something to do with it being in the background…’ but it still didn’t work. Is it possible? Or is it a feature to be implemented in the Milestone 3 build?

Thanks in advance! ;-)

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:50:27 +0000

Haha, I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not! :|

Anyway, that was Tim W who made those posts. I kind of miss those days, honestly. :\

"Balding Is Back!" by Mike Hawk

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:41:50 +0000

Awesome, the hype machine is back. I really missed hearing constant updates about this game almost everyday along with level pictures.

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:10:05 +0000

@none: No problem! (So, I guess it’s working now?) I can’t wait for you to make levels, either. :)

@Anthony: Yes, absolutely! There’s no stoppin’ now.

@JP: I remember YOU. :o

"Balding Is Back!" by JP

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:03:07 +0000

Yay, I remember this!

"Balding Is Back!" by Anthony Flack

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:37:44 +0000

Hey! Good to see Guy Balding is still alive! Could this be The Community Game That Actually Gets Finished?

"Balding Is Back!" by none

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:50:45 +0000

Thank you dear sir.

I know that you need to press F9 to save the map… It’s just that I get so excited creating the map that I just forget I haven’t even saved it yet.

By the way, congratulation on Balding’s Quest, it’s shaping up to be one hell of a game. I just love Guy Balding. The movement feels pretty smooth as well and all those little details are top-notch. I can’t wait to make some sort of ‘campaign’, or set of levels, for this game!

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:24:12 +0000

You gotta press F9 to save the map! It’s probably that.

And in the next update I’ll put Pausing while editing back in (it got broke when I changed the logic system).

"Balding Is Back!" by none

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:22:32 +0000

This has happened to me 3 or 4 times now (I’m not saying it’s the game’s fault, it’s probably the game telling me that something’s not right, ie. dying from a huge fall?)

"Balding Is Back!" by none

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:21:31 +0000

God damnit, I’ve lost progress in edting a map which was pretty much 99% done just because I died and when the game restarts the map goes back to default…

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:45:21 +0000

Cougarten: Because the game will be much better for it.

"Balding Is Back!" by Kenzya

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:20:15 +0000

Game plays fine. Falling into ledges is very hard to do.

"Balding Is Back!" by Jad

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:45:14 +0000

I don’t feel the SLOW really?

This ain’t fucking sonic dammit.

This is a balding guy.

This is guy balding!

"Balding Is Back!" by Dragonmaw

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:44:15 +0000

I love BQ.

"Balding Is Back!" by Cougarten

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:12:07 +0000

why does he move so fckng slow? appart from that I’ll check it out further later

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:51:42 +0000

Woo hoo – I’ve gotta organize a list of priorities for the next update. Hop on the forum and make requests, if you’d like.

@Hamoozi: Aw, well, I hope it doesn’t turn you off. It’ll make more sense as more abilities/objects/items are added. It’s a very conscious design choice. ;)

"Balding Is Back!" by pyabo

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:38:07 +0000

Excitement!

"Balding Is Back!" by Hamoozi

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:20:06 +0000

I like how slow he is. It’s like turnbased!

"Balding Is Back!" by xerus

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:32:53 +0000

Savage

"Balding Is Back!" by Gravious

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:42:59 +0000

oh, and @headcrab: Is that really the best compliment you can make? c’mon dude, share the love :)

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:38:26 +0000

Hehe, Bez, your climb animation is now The Climb Animation. Of all time. ;)

"Balding Is Back!" by gnome

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:24:33 +0000

Hip, hip !

"Balding Is Back!" by Bezzy

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:21:09 +0000

The love per pixel is high on this one.

I did a couple of clambering anims, and it was a joy to do :)

"Balding Is Back!" by BMcC

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:20:34 +0000

@Everyone: Thanks, guys! It really means a lot to me. :)

If you can help stir the pot on the forum, please do!

@MattC: Yeah, do that! :D

The old gang’s back in town. :’)