The Adventures of Captain Potato
Game intro available again!
After some toiling we've finished updating the intro to use the current engine. It is back in the game with a couple of improvements along the way!
We've also added some motion to one type of tree found in the gameplay level, to simulate branches moving in the wind. For those of you starting a new game, you'll notice them right away! Those of you who continue from a previous save will find them as you continue to move throughout the level.
Have a wonderful weekend, enjoy!
TAOCP Team
Prologue level active again!!
It took a while, but we've finally reactivated the prologue playable level. We've thrown in some improvements too, like switching between 2D platform gameplay and full 2.5D exploration much more seamlessly, a new, explorable area right at the end of the level, and the first enemies and use of combat mechanics against them.
Over the next few days and weeks we'll be making many other improvements, adding more explorable areas, new mechanics, and more game- and characters- story progressions!
Currently the game Intro and Potato Village have been left out of the game due to time restrictions. We'll be working to add them back on again alongside the other improvements to be made in the coming weeks.
That's all for now. We hope you'll enjoy the improved level, along with the rest of the game!
Have fun!
TAOCP Team
Tree of Magic out now!!
We have some exciting news today. We've added a new series of levels, collectively called Tree of Magic, independent of the main story line and accessable straight from the main menu.
These levels will allow you to jump straight into the platform / action side of the game. We have also added the first mini boss of the game at the end for you to try the updated combat mechanics.
For now there are only 5 playable, short levels. We're planning to add more in the coming weeks, making them increasingly challenging, but also more rewarding.
On another note, we'll now be returning to the main story, reinstating the prologue and improving on it in the next couple of weeks.
We're very excited to come back to the original game in order to improve and push past its current state.
More updates coming soon! Stay tuned!!
Main menu adventures
We've got a small update today, focused on the main menu.
We've added a new option called Adventures which will gather all optional levels, old and new, in one place. Currently Easter Run is the only playable level, but the Mushrooms Level will also be added there once it's functional again, along with future secondary content.
That is all, have a great week and have fun!
Easter level update!
We have a small update for you today. We've improved the Easter Run level we added last week, making it longer and more fun! It's not yet fully finished, but it's reached a much further point of completion.
We've also added a new abilitity: the magic-powered sprint. Using MP you'll be able to run faster and jump much further! Currently it's only available on this level, but it might be usable in the main game at some point in the future...
That's all for now. With this level almost done we'll be turning our attention back to the main game. Expect more content to be playable again soon!
Have a great Sunday, enjoy the new level and see you soon!
Easter Update!!
We're back after taking some time off to figure things out.
We have a new level for you, currently in early beta, which we've called Easter Run!
Compete against Speed the rabbit in an obstacle filled track, using your new ability to overcome him and win the race!
As stated this level is still being developed and will continue to be updated over the following week.
We've been working on a number of improvements to the engine while we've been away, as such Easter Run is currently the only playable level. We've disabled all other content, including story mode. All of this will be restored over the course of the next few weeks as we finish working on technicalities and debugging.
We're going to start updating regularly once again as we hit milestones and improve the game.
Enjoy the new level, improvements to come over the next few days!
Happy Easter to everyone, see you soon!
Team expansion, new technologies and temporary hiatus
We'd like to announce that the project updates will be put on hiatus for a few weeks.
We're currently looking to expand our team and invest in new technologies to take the project to the next level. As a result of these changes we will need some time to fully learn new things and integrate them and the new team member into the project, as well as establishing a new work flow, before continuing with regular updates.
Progress will therefore stop for some time while we go through these changes and reestablish solid ground beneath us. This does NOT imply in any way, shape or form that the project will stay that way indefinitely, we are just taking time off to gather our bearings and make a number of improvements before jumping back into the fray.
We hope to be back within a few weeks with more and improved content for you all!
Until then, have fun playing and thank you for your patience and for your continued support.
The TAOCP Team.
Delays + new hires
We have mixed news today, which we hope will prove worthwhile in the the coming months despite the initial setback.
We have to unfortunately delay the update due tomorrow, again, given the lack of necessary progress. This has been happening more nad more frequently as of late, which makes it apparent that the game is growing past what we, as a 2 person team, can handle.
This leads me to the next point: we'll be hiring another programmer in order to spead things up and start delivering more content and actually keeping up with promised updates.
We apologise to everyone for the frequent delays. We hope that with the extra pair of hands we'll be able to finally scale things up and take the game to higher peaks.
As such, the update, along with more stuff in the works, has been moved to the 23rd of December. We won't reveal what else we're working on just yet, but we hope to make it this time.
That's all for now. Have fun everyone and see you in a few weeks!
Content Update!
We have some new content and bug fixes for you. We are currently still working on the platform level that was meant to accompany the update, it will be included in the next one. Meanwhile, here's the list of new stuff:
PROLOGUE GAMEPLAY LEVEL
We've been working on the TNT box explosions:
- Added camera shake
- Now twice as big
- Breaks nearby boxes
- Leaves a soot stain on the ground
- Added a slight delay before explosion happens
- Added a sound effect before explosion
- Added a smoke particle effect for a few seconds at the end of the animation
POTATO VILLAGE
- Added a conversation with the Sage bear
- Replaced a few wooden boxes with their broken versions spread around the village
- Added a couple more smoke particle effects
- Added some animation to Claw
- Darkened entities positioned in shaded areas, depending on their distance from the shade center
- Added in-game dialogues to captive soldiers
- Added in-game dialogues to Claw
- Added in-game animation to the grey bear carrying the shield
- Expanded the Claw dialogue sprite to look as big as he really is
- Added a dialogue with the bear on the top left of the map
MUSHROOMS DEMO
Added a backflip animation when jumping from the small mushrooms
BUGS CORRECTED
- Potato Village loading bar progression didn't correspond to correct loading progress
- When Potato was placed to the left of the screen during dialogues the symbol on his forehead was horizontally inverted
- Player vertical walks animations would skew to the left or right when going back to a resting position
- Corrected a number of imperfections on the gameplay level soil paths (vertical lines)
That is all for now. We're switching to monthly updates from now on, the next update will therefore be on the 29th November!!
Have a great Halloween, until next time!
Content Update!
We're adding some more stuff today. Nothing major this time, just an expansion of Potato Village mechanics and content and a couple of other small things:
- The exploration mechanics in the whole village were remade entirely to allow much more freedom of movement
- Added a first smoke particles test at the far right of the level, coming out of the window
- Player can now run up and down in the village to explore it faster
- Added some animation to the soldiers where they move around a bit randomly
- First look at in-game mini dialogues between characters as Julius and Potato talk about their friends' possessions, found to the left of the village entrance
- Made the in-game interaction pop up balloon more obvious and added a sound effect
- Added an ad hoc loading screen background to both Potato Village and the Mushrooms' Paradise demo
The mechanics revamp took a while as we had to modify and update core parts of the engine, particularly player physics. This last component is currently somewhat buggy , we tried to get rid of as many bugs as we could but you might find Julius going through solid objects occasionally as a result.
We'll work to get rid of new and old bugs and improve both Potato Village and the first gameplay level by the next update, which will be Friday the 31st of October.
Next update will include a Halloween special, we're getting ready to add another small level and improve what's already there. Look forward to it!