[Steam Release] Castle Clamber - A retro arcade platformer

[fallahn]

If you've been on the IRC channel you'll know I've been working on this for the past few months - and now it's ready for Steam release!

Castle Clamber is an arcade inspired action platformer for one or two players, either locally or over a network. It tells the time-old story of a devoted underdog, blinded by a well-meaning sense of duty and a rose tinted visor. Trap enemies in your bubbles, defeat them with explosions or crush them with crates! Reclaim the food they stole and carry it to the waiting Princess Niamh to collect your prize and earn a place in the world online rankings.

A big thanks goes to everyone who helped out on this: Jonny, Rosme, Therocode, Tank, select_this to name but a few (sorry if I forgot anyone!)

Castle Clamber will be available from 12th April 2018 for Windows and macOS, with linux support hopefully to come. The store page is here!

[SpaceInJourney]

Looks interesting.

[eXpl0it3r]

Looking forward to it!

Added it to my wish list.

[fallahn]

The game is now live on Steam!! 

Store page:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/770050/Castle_Clamber/

[eXpl0it3r]

Woho! Got a copy, didn't get around to play it though yesterday, so let's see today.

[fallahn]

Thanks for the support! And thank you to anyone else who has bought the game I've had some good feedback so far, and I'll hopefully be releasing an update in the coming week or so.

[fallahn]

The Steam version has been updated to 1.1 with the following new features:

• 3 new enemies: Swoop the owl, Doris Poopsnail and proximity mines
• New graphics and overhauled maps for the first tower (West Wing)
• Brand new tutorial mode, available from the main menu
• Two new achievements
• Experimental linux support
• Dead players can control their ethereal form in multiplayer mode while they wait for a continue

As well as a bunch of performance and bug fixes. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback!

Store page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/770050/Castle_Clamber/
Twitter updates: https://twitter.com/TrederiaGames

[fallahn]

It's been a while but there's a new update to 1.4!



Changes include:

• All new renderer featuring 3D effects and real time lighting
• New animations
• Improved physics
• Many bug fixes and performance improvements incorporated from the latest version of xygine
• New steam features such as network play via remote play together and rich presence
• Updated game play with added high score challenges and time trial leaderboards
• New enemies and bonuses
• More achievements

For more information, check out the Steam page 

[Nexus]

This looks like a fun little game! From the trailer, the goal was not very clear to me, but then I found a gameplay video here:

[Edit] how can I not embed a Youtube video?

I like the graphics style, simple but still polished and not overly crowded. I especially like the banners and the lava (texture and its wave effect). I think the explosions still have some room for improvement (maybe smoke or so)

Since you mentioned real-time lighting, have you considered adding shadows? I could imagine that a subtle shadow beneath entities or platforms could add quite some depth.

[fallahn]

Thanks! I think the explosions could be best improved with perhaps a decent sprite animation rather than just particle effects. The particles, as you say, would make nice smoke. Shadows are a nice idea, I'd have to think about how to do them. Projection/shadow map shadows don't work so well in 2D, particularly when the light source is to the side of the sprite as there's no depth to cast a shadow I had a similar issue when working on my pirate game:

http://youtu.be/30wvsDwAKHs?t=192

[Sub]

Very cool.  I agree with Nexus.  It was very hard to figure out what was going on and what exactly you do from the trailer.  The gameplay clip made it a lot more clear.  The pirate game looks good too btw

[fallahn]

The latest update for Castle Clamber is now live! Here's a summary of what's included:

New features:

• New potion power ups with a variety of effects, each with its own advantage or disadvantage in different situations
• More achievements
• Updated background artwork
• Revamped menus with full controller support
• Analogue controller input now affects player movement
• Multi-threaded map loader for buttery smooth transitions

Fixes:

• Removed bbcode from news ticker
• Prevent showing incorrect level time if no personal best found
• Fix players sticking to crates when pushing them off the edge of a platform
• Fix players falling through more than one floor when dropping through a platform and touching a wall
• Fix being able to infinitely farm the Magic Hat for points
• Game is paused automatically when opening the steam overlay
• Game is paused automatically if a controller is disconnected
• Game starts in full screen mode when running steam in big picture

The most notable addition is the new potions - these drop at random from defeated enemies or broken crates. Collect one by running over it, and it'll cast its spell for a limited time. Each colour potion has a different effect which can help (or hinder!) the player in a given situation. Keep an eye on the duration icon at the bottom of the screen to see when it runs out.



Also in this update is full controller support for Xbox controllers and direct input devices, thanks to the updated navigation control for the menus. Now you can easily enjoy Castle Clamber from the couch in big picture mode in Steam!