Afterlife 3 version 1.3.1 bug-fix roundup

[Ryan]

With continued thanks to everyone who's reported issues, Afterlife 3 version 1.3.1 is now available, featuring a roundup of bug-fixes, improvements and key revisions reported since the last major release, and including several important fixes for serious bugs causing crashes or major gameplay issues.

As always, the update is available here, and a full list of fixes in this version can be found here. And of course, please do feel welcome to post below with any comments, questions or suggestions relating to this update.

Ryan

[fruity]

Not sure if I should post this here; but anyways: sound options and windowed mode would be nice.

[Ryan]

Hello there - welcome to the forum (and congratulations on the top placement on the Target Tower chart!)

sound options and windowed mode would be nice

What sound options do you have in mind? I did consider adding an in-game volume control at one point, but I realised that most people generally just use the volume on their speakers to control the sound level, so it might be one of those features that goes largely unused...

Regarding a windowed mode, I have to admit that I don't especially like the idea. The thing is, I'd never consider running a game in a window myself; it always strikes me as something alike to downsizing a TV screen in order to see more of the surrounding wall, and I don't really have any need to see my Windows interface when playing a game... Unless I'm trying to do something else at the same time, perhaps, and I kind of think that a good game is something that should receive my full attention. Then again, I'm not great at multitasking, and I have seen at least one person I know simultaneously reading a novel, watching television, checking their email and holding a conversation throughout - but I do find myself doubting that it's possible that they can appreciate or absorb any of those things individually as much as when doing them alone.

Comment always welcome though.

Ryan

[fruity]

I think separate volume controls for music and sound effects could be quite useful; I -and I'm quite sure many other people too- like to listen to music my own music while I play videogames, generally leaving the sound effects on -though at a low volume- if I have the chance.

About the windowed mode, I must admit I only thought of it at the moment I was making the post, but I still think it'd be a useful feature for some people, I enjoy chatting while playing some game at the same time, and also need to change the music once in a while.
Also, since there's no save feature in the game, when one wants to take a break and maybe use the computer for something else the only thing to do is pause and minimize, but this leaves the screen at a lower resolution (at least in my pc) annnd the music still sounding. Have you ever played Spelunky? It's very similar to your game, and it has both of these options (by the way have, have you mentioned your game to Spelunky's community? I think many of them would love it). While I think it's perfectly fine that you prefer to be fully immersed in the game when you play it I don't see anything wrong with letting other people play it a different way as long as it doesn't affect gameplay.

I know maybe you don't have the time to go around advertising your game, but you should really try to get a few indie gaming sites to review it. It really surprises me that it has such a small community, but I'm certain it'll eventually grow.

By the way, isn't it a little ilogical that Fire Fortress' Skull Captain is so much harder than Frigid Freezer's? Fire Fortress' one is quite hardcore for an Episode 1 boss I must say.

[Ryan]

I think separate volume controls for music and sound effects could be quite useful; I -and I'm quite sure many other people too- like to listen to music my own music while I play videogames, generally leaving the sound effects on -though at a low volume- if I have the chance.

And after I put so much time into writing the music.

But yes, it shouldn't be hard to implement some kind of volume controls to the options menu - I'll add it to my notes for the next version.

Also, since there's no save feature in the game, when one wants to take a break and maybe use the computer for something else the only thing to do is pause and minimize, but this leaves the screen at a lower resolution (at least in my pc) annnd the music still sounding.

This is perhaps a good point for consideration, particularly as successful runs can last a while. A windowed mode shouldn't be very difficult to implement in theory, but there may be some other technical issues to consider, and I still don't especially like the idea of the game itself running in a window. One possibility would be to add an option to the pause menu to allow the game to be minimised to a window when paused and the sound muted, to allow a break to use the computer if necessary during longer runs.

Have you ever played Spelunky? It's very similar to your game, and it has both of these options (by the way have, have you mentioned your game to Spelunky's community? I think many of them would love it).

Thanks - a comparison to Spelunky is pretty flattering.

I spent way too much time playing it back when it was doing the rounds in the feedback forum at TIGS (and I'm sure that it was probably part of the inspiration for me to finally get round to working on the plans I'd had for a roguelike version of Afterlife), but I'm not really an active member of the Spelunky community now, so no, I've not mentioned it there. If you think there are people who might enjoy the game, though, please do feel very welcome to let them know about it - of course it'd be great for more people to be playing, and besides, recommendations from players are a much better way to hear about a new game than from self-promoting developers.

By the way, isn't it a little ilogical that Fire Fortress' Skull Captain is so much harder than Frigid Freezer's? Fire Fortress' one is quite hardcore for an Episode 1 boss I must say.

Hmm... I guess that might just be one of those quirks of the game.

Both should be fairly easy once you're familiar with their attack patterns though, and it's possible that the Fire Fortress Captain is actually easier in some respects, depending on your playing style (the lack of platforms makes him more vulnerable to DHU attacks, for instance).

Ryan

[fruity]

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Unexpected Error!
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Afterlife 3 encountered an error (#9:BBKDKDKCKGKGJDIELBFGCF)! Please report this information to the author (CTRL+C to copy this message). Thank you!
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Aceptar
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I was doing so good

Dark future zone, was just about to pick up a fuel barrel

Edit: By the way, I'm quite sure my inventory was full, so I wouldn't have been able to pick it up, the game crashed before I got to it, though, it seemed like a pretty random error.

While I'm at it, this reminds me, sometimes the game freezes for a split second when I'm about to either pick something up, get hit, or kill an enemy.

[Ryan]

D'oh! Thanks for the report - I'll look into it.

Ryan

[fruity]

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Unexpected Error!
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Afterlife 3 encountered an error (#6:GKCKABKGKAKIBJJHLGEAGCF)! Please report this information to the author (CTRL+C to copy this message). Thank you!
---------------------------
Aceptar
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I had just made an score of 97 at Target Tower and got this when I died...

>:l

[Ryan]

Clearly the code gremlins don't like you doing well! Apologies - I'll see if I can find and fix this one too.

Ryan

[fruity]

One more little detail, yesterday I noticed I made 2 new achievements, one for killing 100 ballrogs and the other for 100 spooks, thing is I don't really think I killed neither of these in a single run in adventure mode, I probably did this in Last Stand, shouldn't these be achievable only in Adventure mode?

[Ryan]

That's interesting - I'll investigate. It's definitely a bug if that's happening though.

[Ryan]

I finally found some time tonight to engage in a little hemipterology, so...

One more little detail, yesterday I noticed I made 2 new achievements, one for killing 100 ballrogs and the other for 100 spooks, thing is I don't really think I killed neither of these in a single run in adventure mode, I probably did this in Last Stand, shouldn't these be achievable only in Adventure mode?

I've found and fixed this - as you guessed, it shouldn't be possible to earn these achievements in The Last Stand. Thanks for spotting!

Dark future zone, was just about to pick up a fuel barrel
Edit: By the way, I'm quite sure my inventory was full, so I wouldn't have been able to pick it up, the game crashed before I got to it, though, it seemed like a pretty random error.

Ahah, also just found and fixed this - a nasty little bug, but your error reporting was impeccable: it was caused when picking up certain fuel barrels, but only with a full inventory, so I'm very glad you mentioned that.

While I'm at it, this reminds me, sometimes the game freezes for a split second when I'm about to either pick something up, get hit, or kill an enemy.

My guess is that this is probably caused by the game loading sound files, as it only loads sounds when they are used for the first time, rather than caching all the sounds in memory in advance - which improves memory usage and loading times, but means that there might sometimes be a very small (system-dependent) delay when triggering a sound-effect. In other words, nothing to worry about.

Right, so now to go and track down that crash in Target Tower...

Ryan

[Ryan]

Afterlife 3 encountered an error (#6:GKCKABKGKAKIBJJHLGEAGCF)!
[...]
I had just made an score of 97 at Target Tower and got this when I died...

Ahah! Just found and fixed this last issue. It was caused in some circumstances by very large combos, and of course, Target Tower does tend to be prone to those! I've also found and fixed quite a few smaller bugs while looking for this, so it's good that you found it!

I have some more tweaks and features from my notes that I want to implement, and then an update will follow.

Ryan

[Ryan]

Also, since there's no save feature in the game, when one wants to take a break and maybe use the computer for something else the only thing to do is pause and minimize, but this leaves the screen at a lower resolution (at least in my pc) annnd the music still sounding.

I've also just implemented a new feature to solve this for the next update.

Ryan