Nice upgrades CaptainD! Best of luck on the upcoming Steam page

One thing I did notice, was the first time I played it, my standard platform curser got stuck in the middle of the screen. This didn't happen the second time I opened the game.

Also, what is the recommended resolution? I've been playing around with them, I default to a 4K resolution which makes it "attack of the nano-bots", lower resolutions worked much better.

Hi TM! Glad you like the updates.

Do you mean the mouse cursor stays on the screen? I haven't seen the before, will have to have a look at what may be causing that...

The game's native resolution is 1024x768. (Sorry a bit odd but when we had a break-in my monitor got stolen, only able to replace it with a cheap refurbished one so far that can't do higher resolutions, so I have to stick with what I can easily test on!)

LOL, I just noticed the Native Game Resolution choice on the set-up screen. Couldn't have been more obvious for me. Pretty bad considering I've done software testing. I was pretty tired when checking it out the first time though

I noticed that the only time I get the curser issue now is when I start up the game through the set-up screen, and then only after the PC has been shut down prior. It may just be a Windows 10 thing, I ran the compatibility wizard which indicated it would be best run as Windows 8, that seemed to work fine.

One suggestion I would make, since it jumps right into the game when you select a level, is to indicate that the player needs to select game options (speed, difficulty, number of bombs and so on) before selecting a level to play. Moving the game options to the top of the start screen and adding a start button might be nice.

That's a great suggestion thanks, think I'll add a short message the pops up when you first load the game only.

Now gotta get my head round implementing Steam Achievements into AGS...

​If you want to wishlist the game on Steam you now can:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1285960/The_Ancient_Art_of_Staying_Alive/



Obviously when the game is released on Steam, people who bought the game on Itch will be able to claim a key! :-)​

Added to my Wishlist

Just wondering, and you know me, always full of suggestions or full of something

Have you ever thought about maybe shortening the name?

I kinda like long names!

Don't forget your Itch purchase will get you a Steam key too (not that I don't appreciate the wishlist! )

Hmm I've had an idea about how I might be able to get your "boss level" idea to work...

Just a little over a year later... and I've uploaded a version with bosses!!!

Every 5th Challenge Mode level will give you just one enemy to avoid, but it's bigger than your normal enemy, and will grow bigger - and get faster - as time moves on. You have to survive until the timer bar at the bottom of the screen disappears. The later the level, the longer the time you have to survive (and the bigger the boss becomes...)

There are also several other improvements here and there. I'm not necessarily done yet but as long as no-one finds anything major this will be the version I release on Steam (with the code for the leaderboards turned on and a few achievements in place).

Also since only having one life to attempt the Challenge Mode was a bit mean, I've changed it so that you start with five lives - however, if you finish with just the one life left, you miss out on a juicy bonus score (obviously the biggest bonus is awarded if you have all five lives still intact).

Happy playing - hope you enjoy the update!



https://captaind.itch.io/the-ancient-art-of-staying-alive

Thanks, CaptainD! I just love the title of this game!

The game will be coming to Steam next month (unless I manage to do something incredibly stupid! ) - same game but featuring integrated leaderboards and achievements. Not confident about AGSteam plugin for Linux so it may only be a PC release (the Linux build will still be available on Itch but obviously doesn't have Steam achievements).

I've created a trailer for the game complete with synthesised singing that has to be heard to be believed:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKYKc69a3ec

Come on admit it, you were singing along


Please note - if you already own the game on Itch (as in, if you bought it not got it on free promo), you will be able to grab a Steam key from there shortly after release.

Well, I will be honest and say that I wasn't singing along, but I *was* smiling!

That is great that the game will be available on Steam.

Steam release just 6 days away now!

Now released!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1285960/The_Ancient_Art_of_Staying_Alive/

MAJOR UPDATE

Turn-based mode added to the game - it plays VERY differently to the arcade version so beware!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1285960/The_Ancient_Art_of_Staying_Alive/



Also several other tweaks / improvements:

Full Changelog (v2.15)

New features:

- turn-based mode added
- 4 new achievements linked to completing levels in turn-based mode
- timer bar showing when bonus score still available for staying alive
- music on / off selection added to menu screen

Updates:

- spruced up menu screen
- shinier mouse cursor
- visible pointer for teleport destination and tiny game pause to allow for orientation
- scoring algorithms tweaked - slightly higher scores will be possible
- bonus score added for completing levels in Challenge Mode to aid getting achievements

Bug Fixes:

- Minus scores not possible at start of levels
- enemies and objects can no longer appear outside the arena border (actually not 100% fixed, will resolve this on later update)
- other small background fixes

Thanks, CaptainD! Nice to have a choice of play modes.