Gambol cover
Gambol screenshot
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Genre: Indie

Gambol

1.8.OWL
I made this update about a year ago, but because of my ISP I have been unable to upload the build without timing out. But it's a new era in bandwidth deliciousness. Seriously, this is life changing for me, but for you, it's just an update.

Changes

Eh... it's been a while, let me try to remember...

- Fixed numerous hitboxes, so players shouldn't fall through the world as often. No more free flights through the bottom of the world (well, maybe a few).

- Fixed the auto save system. Still might be broke, let me know if it is.

- Fixed numerous large and small bugs reported by CanadianOwl. Thanks, Owl!

- Fixed the spelling error in the pause menu. Thanks, Darin!

- Moved the game over to a newer runtime, built on the latest architecture for my chosen game engine. Sounds technical, yeah I clicked like, three buttons for it to happen, but that doesn't make me sound as smart.

- Oh, there was something else I fixed, but I forgot what it was. If you notice something working that was totally broke before, that might be it.

I love you,
Mike

Gambol going FREE on 10/1/20 Whoooa what!?
Howdy, folks!

Gambol is going to become FREE starting on October 1st, 2020. This isn't a trial, this isn't a push to make more money in some other weird way, this is just a free game. There is no time limit, the game will remain free from now on.

So, why free? Well, Gambol hasn't sold a ton of copies, and I totally get it. It's yet another platformer in a world flooded with the darn things. The game was a labor of love, and I knew it would never set the world on fire, but I would still like the game to have a chance of getting some more people playing it, and I figure making it free may help with that. Maybe not, who knows. But if even one new player has a good time, and makes their day a bit brighter, then it was totally worth it.

If you find any bugs in the game, please hit me up either by email (hyperfunk.games@gmail.com) or on Twitter (@ACEJester). I'm the only dev, and most bug testing has been done by myself, and the poor super lucky souls who first got the game.

I'm currently working on my next game, Fart Patrol, and I have no idea when it's coming out. Like Gambol, it's a labor of love, and I have a full time job outside of game development, a wife, and a one year old son that takes most of my free time (and I wouldn't have it any other way). But, when the wife and kid are in bed, and I'm wide awake, I'm either playing Risk of Rain 2, or working on Fart Patrol, so stay tuned.

Before I go, I would like to thank my composer Andrew Lippens for his incredible work on Gambol's soundtrack, additional design input, marketing the game IN PERSON at a con, and just being all around excellent to work with. His friendship is one of the best things to come out of this game. Check out his BandCamp at https://andrewlippens.bandcamp.com/

Take care, everyone. I love you. <3

-Mike

Update 1.8.1 Oh my!

Howdy, folks!



If you want to skip the rambling, scroll down a bit for the bullet point changes!

I know it’s been a long time, but life has been busy in this cowpokes world. In between work changes, the wife and I having a baby, and some untimely family losses, I’ve been working on an update, adding all new levels in addition to some graphical and system changes, as well as some much needed bug fixes. Unfortunately, those shiny new levels aren’t quite ready yet, but I feel as though this update is substantial enough to go ahead and roll out.

Oh, and the game is on sale!!!

Update 1.8 Changelog


Game

  • Many levels have had their start and goal swapped.
  • Difficulty on various levels have been adjusted
  • All new level 5 (hopefully this helps people learn about the turbo button!)
  • Many Hard Mode levels have been tuned to be a bit fairer, some were made tougher. Will keep an eye on these and perhaps tweak ‘em more later.
  • New tilesets and environmental graphics.
  • New “running” animation at near top speed.
  • Some new sound effects have been added!


Bug Fixes

  • Fullscreen should now work properly on all resolutions – not just 1080p
  • Fixed a glitch where occasionally the rocket wouldn’t take the player to the next world. Not sure where it was flying to, but if it lands on earth, send me the coordinates. Those ships ain’t cheap!
  • Fixed various graphical and system glitches.


I love you <3

Patch 1.0.4 Super neat!
After all of the insane fanfare post-release, I didn't take a moment to actually look at the game. Well, when I did, I noticed that our Gambol Gumball was facing the wrong way! Shameful! You see, it has eyes and an adorable little smile, but since release you've been staring at its bottom (tee-hee). Well in this latest patch, I have implemented an incredibly technical algorithm that – I kid you not – has turned the Gambol Gumball around. It's now facing us all. Hooray!

Oh, also I added a few more things. Full notes below!


  • Gambol Gumball has a face! (woot!)
  • Added timer for each level, which can be seen in the level select screens after beating a given level.
  • Added an end-game timer that is seen on the final “World”. It totals all time spent playing levels, but does not count menu time! (Very fair!)
  • Tweaked movement physics for the player in the following ways:

    1. Acceleration time has been increased slightly, this allows for more subtle movements and adjustments without flying all over the place.
    2. The Turbo is now faster and power powerful (you're welcome, speedrunners!)

  • Added a blur trail to the player when near and at maximum turbo speed
  • Added default controls listed to the pause menu (it does not update when you change controls. It's an image... I'm not a dang wizard)
  • Tweaked the difficulty on a few levels that were a bit too rough (though hardmode is harder.)
  • Fixed a few bugs (I'm not perfect! But no one is. I love you just like you are.)

As always, if you find any bugs, hit me up on the twitterplace @ACEJester, and I'll gladly look into it!

Right now I am busy at work on a new project, but if this game ever picks up in popularity I will consider adding more content in the future. New levels? A Green ball perhaps? Who knows, there are literally dozens of possibilities!

Until next time, be excellent to one another.

Much love,

-Mike

New minor update / patch now live. Oooooh weeee!
Version 1.0.3 Notes:
- When levels are completed with 100% of triangles collected, the level icon will now appear gold on the world map. Please note that if you already have a save file with levels completed with 100% of triangles collected, the icon will not retroactively change. You may either beat the level again, or erase your data and create a new save file. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

- Fixed the Triangle counter. Previously Triangles collected on the final level of each world was counted twice, resulting in a possible 2523 total Triangles collected instead of 2400. This has been fixed, but if you have already completed more than one world on your existing save file, you may still complete the game with more than 100% Triangles. So, bonus?

-

Launched!
The game was just approved by Steam and is now launched on the Store!!!

If you have any issues or encounter any bugs, please let me know as soon as possible either by posting in the general discussion page or hitting me up on Twitter. @ACEJester

Also, if you're interested in picking up the OST for the game, check out Andrew Lippens' page over at: https://andrewlippens.bandcamp.com/album/gambol-original-soundtrack

Hard Mode Complete! Awaiting app approval.
Hey everyone, just wanted to let you all know that Hard Mode is complete, and I am just awaiting app approval from Steam then the game will be live! Hopefully the approval happens later today, but it could be as late as Thursday, when it's done the game will go live, no more waiting.

I hope to see you all hoping around in Gambol soon enough <3

Oh noes! Awaiting app approval.
Hey everyone, we're waiting for App Approval from Valve, and won't be launching on time. Newbie mistake! The game has launched on Itch, but the Steam version won't go live until next Tuesday. However, by then Hard Mode should be ready, and you'll get an even larger, more polished product. Yay!

Sorry to let anyone down who was waiting for the Steam release, but if you buy the game on Itch, and provide me with your receipt information, I will provide you with a Steam key when they become available.

Oh, and be sure to check out the new launch trailer here on the front page, with music from our wonderful composer, Andrew Lippens.

Stay awesome! <3

Gambol launching next week!
Hey everyone, I just wanted to write a quick pre-launch announcement to say a couple quick things.

First, I'm super excited to finally get this game launched, and I truly believe that if you're into platformers you'll have an awesome time. Gambol is a game that is 100% about gameplay driven fun, with very little narrative to slow you down. I designed it as the kind of platformer that I want to play, and I really hope that all of you enjoy it as much as I do.

I also want to mention that there a couple of features that will not be available at launch, but should be out in the coming weeks.

1. Hard Mode. Hard Mode isn't quite ready yet, and I want to be sure that for the few of you wild enough to brave it, that you gets your times worth. Your time is valuable, I want to respect that.

2. Achievements! So check this out, I found out that the software that I used to make this silly game has a plugin that allows me to fiddle with these achievement thingys. Super cool. They’re not ready yet though. Super lame. But hey, I didn’t plan on putting them in the game originally anyway, so it’s just like a bonus to look forward to. Neato.

Thanks for taking the time to check out Gambol, I hope to see you when we launch on March 20th!