(1) Bouncing Bug

Everything used to be better. Games nowadays are just too complicated.
The mouse? Useless.
3D? Overrated.
Hit points? Pfff.


Welcome to Bouncing Bug! A side scrolling Jump 'n' Run similar to Super Mario.

Use the arrow keys to control a Crypt Lord through (up to now) 3 different themed levels.
Stomp crabs and spiders, jump over water gaps, avoid poisonous clouds and spitting hydras and do all the stuff that bugs love to do.


Features:
-Arrow key movement.
-3 levels which take around 2-3 minutes to complete.
-Lots of different monsters.
-A huge (more like HUUUGE) boss.
-Old-school sounds like you know and love them from Mario.
-No game interface. (yeah!)


Story?
No, not really. Maybe later. Like "save the princess" or something. For now just try to reach the other side of the level.

Screenshots?
Level 1


Level 2


Level 3



Updates:

Hidden information: Public Release 3d: -Restart feature. -Minor changes of level 1. Public Release 3e: -Free level selection. -Made level 2 easier. Public Release 3Controls: -New control option - RDFG keys.

Hope you enjoy it.

*Downloads and plays*

Oh that is awesome, pretty nice and well made :P Mario on Warcraft lol xD

The movement could be more smoother, I spent a few minutes trying to get these two gold coins on level one right before the first river/water. Nonetheless, it's quite cool :D

Agree, that is fun and awesome !
Suggestion, give more lives or/and allow the play to restart without loading the map. Because it's boring to go to score screen, click new game, reload the map, reconfirm and start the game...

Yeah, it's really really hard IMO because of the movement. Though after I lost I would just click Restart (if you're playing singleplayer) and then you don't have to go through all the screens. Still, I think it's better to add more flow in the movement or give some lives at the beginning (...okay I know it's probably me not able to reach level 2 because of the constant dying, but I like to think that some other people are probably struggling too and lives are a good option to implement).

EDIT: Despite the lives and difficulty of the game, I really enjoyed the...concept of it and how there was just a small box at the bottom for the interface. Overall, good game!

Yeah, as I said before, the movement could be smoother. Also, after game over, send it to the screen again because it is a little annoying to reload. :P

Great terrain btw. Add some lives maybe or you could make it so that you actually have to go in the water to drown, instead of having your front feet on it. :P

Good map ,well made, good concept but unless you find a way to fix the 2 seconds delay of the arrow key it won't work well.
I was running toward a crab then at the right moment pressed up arrow to jump but 2 seconds delay > Bug keep running toward the crab > failed > killed by the crab.
Same with the river running > pressed jump at the very last moment > 2 sec delay > Stupid bug ran into the river > die stupidly.

It's a shame cause i won't be able to see other level.
And I like to beautiful landscape on the background.

New version is up!
Bringing you a restart option and a free level selection. And the first two levels are easier, especially the second level.


Ya. I blame Blizzard's lame key press detection. =/
A tip, you can press the down arrow key to stop the movement. That's usally more precise than just releasing the right/left arrow key.

2 seconds?! Really? There's always a small delay with arrow keys, but 2 seconds... that's a lot.
Does the map lag for you?


Thanks for the feedback everyone.
I've played the map too often, all levels are more or less easy for me. <.<
If there are certain parts which you find too difficult please let me know.

What the hell are you all whining about? Man I loved this map, very smooth in everything. Movement is near perfect, if you experience a 2 second delay then thats your fault, I had nearly no delay. The only thing that looks weird is when the bug falls, he looks choppy, but only a bit.

I had one concern, sometimes when i jumped nearly on the crabs i died, maybe you should increase the collision size by a bit?

And just like mario, do you plan to add points and score? Secret levels? Pipes? Powerups? Sepcial boxes you can break?

Biggest suggestion:
When you hold the up arrow down, you should keep jumping as soon as you hit the ground. That's a big thing from the Mario games that this lacks (And needs).

• You could really use some better looking floating text messages for getting coins. The big letters that just linger there look pretty terrible. Try to emulate the floating text for gold already in Wc3.
• By the way, although I like the no UI thing, if you had UI you could use skills for the movement using WASD and it wouldn't suffer the same delay as arrow keys. Might not be part of your design paradigm, though.
• For the record, I couldn't beat the first level because the damned bug wouldn't do what I wanted to do.

You can't hold down WASD though..

Well, you could repeatedly press them.
Or maybe set them as toggleable abilites? So turning them on will run the same trigger as pressing up, down, left, right?

Valid, but I was thinking a sort of toggle thing. I don't know man, but the arrow keys make it impossible enough as is.

Hm, actually I thought that's not the case in Super Mario games. I took a closer look at the movement/camera of some of them before I started working on the map.
Anyway, thanks, I'll add it. It's definitely useful.

So more like, smaller golden text messages?
PurgeandFire suggested a coin counter (would be at the top left of the screen). If I can get that to work properly, I'll remove those texts anyway.

Well, I don't want to play the game like that.
But I'll give it a try, not sure how many other problems that will cause though. >:
Right now I guess the controls would be like this:
If you use the ability to move right, the bug will go to the right until you give it another command (left, or down to stop). Your suggestion about the constant jumping wouldn't work in that system though. =/
In case everything works more or less, I'll just add it as a different play option, so the players can choose how they want to play. The option menu looks too empty anyway. =P

=/
Do you have an old computer? I know from old (laggy) versions of the map that the controls screw up if the game lags too much.

I mean the arrow key thingy will never be really precise, but I think it's something you can get used to.


Yar, in some rare situations it's really a bit weird. I'll look into it.


I planned a (gamecache saved) highscore with the elapsed time and the collected gold coins... maybe I could make an actual score out of it.
There's hopefully going to be a "secret" level if you collect all gold coins in every level. I'm sure you'll love that level, kekeke. ^^
Pipes? No, it's a crypt lord not a plumber. =P
Powerups? Maybe... I'll see if I can implent them into future levels.
Breaking boxes... nah. The boss already does that. :P


Thanks for the suggestions, a lot of work ahead, blargh. TT

My computer is only 3 years old and runs anything on WC3 fine. The arrow key detection is laggy as hell on WC3, though, and delays even if it's only a single player map. Also, your depress events seem to be delayed as well because I can't just 'tap' the arrow key and nudge the bug one way or another. I think this may also be a code issue since usually arrow key movement is smooth 'enough' in single player. Also, the map itself didn't lag me at all -- Just the key pressing was delayed. (This suggests it not as a computer problem)
More like the text messages you get when your workers bring gold to base in melee games. The messages currently are just too imposing and don't fade out smoothly.

Man, do not implement the WASD controls, thats dumb. Think about it, you press a then you have to press it again to stop.... No, arrow keys is much better. Any problems people are having is their computer because here it is near perfect.