Karoshi MSX Community

Title: Slender: The Camping
Developer: Pentacour
Year: 2013
Genre: Maze
Game size/RAM reqs: 16Kb ROM / 8Kb RAM

Based on Slender: The Eight Pages.

Screenshots:
(http://pentacour.com/images/slender_intro.png) (http://pentacour.com/images/slender_1.png)

Story: You are at night with a flashlight in a deserted camping. On the floor there is a manuscript in which is written <<Slender>> with a peculiar calligraphy. You think that should have more pages, but there is an entity that grows increasingly and makes you feel uncomfortable.

Collect the 5 pages and do what you say the last one before Slender finds you. Regulate the power of the flashlight to avoid running out of batteries. And remember, don't look at him!

Download: http://pentacour.com/files/slender.zip

Woa, an MSX Slender game! Hell yeah!!  :D

Lol, seems funny! I mean... scary, scary!  :saimazoom:

Sorry for the delay but testing in my MSX2 I spent a couple of hours with an error and I don't known how to solve it  ???

I uncompress a pletter file with the colors and patterns of the intro screen and crash. Only with the intro screen. But if I soft reset the MSX2, then goes OK  ??? ???

I change controversial compressed data with other and goes Ok, but with this no. The difference is uncompressed data size that fails is 32*24*8 bytes. I upload the last release just in case the problem is in my MSX2, but I doubt it...

Finally I could test it in my Hitbit and the game runs perfectly. So may be it's an error of my MSX2 or an error in the pletter snippet (but I doubt a lot) or an obscure error in my code . Well, you say if it runs in other MSX.

A thrilling game ....

http://msxdev.msxblue.com/?p=1975

Woah! Very surprising entry. I liked it :)
Gets very tense sometimes; the map is so damn twisty! ;D

There is a bug: when getting trapped it seems that the light is not being properly clipped (showing the noise, by example, into the other side of the screen).
And sometimes changing direction shows a little graphical glitch. Could the VRAM writes be moved just after the halt to avoid it?

Good job! Congratulations!

I need to try this game at night with lights off.... ::)

Finished! :) five pages has been found !.
First msxdev13 game that I finish.

i did not know the slender´s games. reminded me.. shadow of the colossus?.... walk walk and walk by an empty world... and time passes! X...-D... that if: amazing atmosphere! X...-ppp

seriously: curious game concept. thanks

Thanks for playing @theNestruo! The two bugs you point were TODO's in my TODO list, but finally I ran out of time to solve them  :-\

@j4mk3 congratulations! jeje. Thanks for playing too!

And sure reminds you for the graphics!  ;D Jeje. Thanks for playing!

Brave boy!

Today I will play the other games of the Dev.

I didn't know the original slender game but i love this game. It's like all hack'slash fims at the seventies. The atmosphere is well built, but msx first gen happy colours didn't fit very well here. Anyway one of my three favs. Nice design work in a difficult task.

A little improvement: When I start to play, I hear the key *click* but when you arre playing for a long time, it dissapeard. Played in bluemsx.

Another original entry! a nice concept which makes you get involved into the scary atmosphere (I was using earphones while playing it and I found myself turning down the volume not to get suddenly scared! ;D). Another little game that could become a big cool one with some improvements :)

I couldn't imagine this type of game in MSX.  :o It's simple but effective.  :)
I played at night with low light ... and I could feel the stress and distress!!!  :-X
The bright colors maybe isn't the best choice for this kind of game, but I
think that this could be improved. Maybe a variety of blues and greens ...
with a more scary graphics. Very promissing concept.  ;D Congratulations!!

When I was playing every game to cast my votes, I never thought I would have such an intense play with this game. In fact, it was not even into my early top 3! It was actually playing it seriously that you get the dimension of the game: and it is not about gfx over music or playability over map design... is a really balanced mix of every aspect of the gameplay that makes a thrilling game experience. When I first met the Slender I literally threw my earphones to the monitor and jump backwards my seat. At that precise moment, I really started to reconsider my early thoughts about this game.

Collecting pages just with the light of the lantern, while trying not to waste too much battery, and exploring the campring, form the lake, the ruins, to the restaurant or the football field... the atmosphere is great. Not just because of walking into the dark: also the sfx of your walk sound different when you are on solid flor than walking on grass... that simple detail makes you "into" the game, amplifying the inmersion effect. Also the light management has been done pretty cool, as obstacles block the light and you cannot see behind them. And well, when you start to hear the dark tones of the music, that's when the game caughts you into its net.

Well, I agree the game has some glitches here and there, but it is easy to forgive when an MSX game is able to scare the pants out of you. And this one does! Congrats!

I don't know why the people doesn't comment this game, at less bring new ideas to the monotone msx world, also if you start to play in a dark room with headphones, you will get scare, i have found some bugs and with more time the game would be improved.

What a surprise! The game has very simple graphics, simple engine, simple sound... but, even though, it creates an amazing atmosphere.

I wonder how the game could be using a more realistic field of vision algorithm. Nevertheless, nice concept and nice playability. With some more details, it could become a very good game and, properly porting to a bigger format (32KB or 48KB) it could lead to a masterpiece.

It's the first time i'm scared, playing at MSX!  :o

Really excellent game! It's very original, the atmosphere is really good recreated. As Jon have stated, it's fantastic the different sounds in every kind of terrain. And scaring when the terrorizer music plays. Slender!!!

It quite innovative the idea of the battery getting empty and the torch.

I need to play more and more this game.

It's difficult to find something negative about this game! Well, just a minor point, I would enhance a little bit the manual.

Ei! Thanks for your comments! They all are valuable and important for a games programmer.

After unsuccessful attempts to present a game to previous editions I wanted to finish a game for this edition and I would depend few people as possible, even knowing my limitations as graphist. Lack of time and last minute problem testing it in my MSX2 make than remain some TODO's in my TODO list, with some minor bugs and not no review the manual, writing badly my nick at the end and not to agree the Slender sprite to @aorante  :spank: . I know too the game it has not the professional look than others. It's something to improve.

But with the cool music and efects that gave me @aorante (and the Slender sprite), I could program more or less the game I wanted. A game that I could play. Probably with a graphist and more time it could make a better game, but of unfinished games I have a few.

<Post mortem notes>
I was sure how it would be the light management and that cannot pass the obstacles. But initially would be the moonlight (in fact, code variables and functions names are Moonlight prefixed yet) that was covered periodically by clouds and a fixed flashlight, and play with the darkness of tiles. But my skills as graphist where insufficient, and the MSX palette too (or not...). Then I took algorithms of moonlight to adapt to flashlight and I introduce the battery management.

Other curiosity is that initally, you could see shaded points on the path you had visited, like a map, because I was afraid it was too easy to be lost by the small portion of map you can see. It was all programmed but the final look didn't convinced me. So, all commented in the code and some hours to "trash". Then I introduce the screen name to help to situate.
</Post mortem notes>

<Offtopic>It would be an interesting idea to make some thread of post mortems. I read someones and it could be valuable.</Offtopic>

Thanks for playing!

+1
I always find interesting to read about game coding (MSX specially).
In fact, I enjoyed even the short postmortem you wrote :) Do you have screenshots of those preliminary versions?

Are there any plans to release an enhanced version (bugfixes, maybe some of discarded variations as options, etc.)?

@theNestruo Firstly I thought to document every step to make a post mortem. But finally for lack of time I didn't. Maybe there is some backup. If I finally have material I will do one.

I'm not sure to release an enhanced version. I don't like (to my games, not the others) to version them. But I don't know. I'm thinking to release a version without bugs (yeahhh, as a professional programmer it's hard to say "without bugs").

About this game:
its a completly new concept to me, thats good.  But sometimes, I get a big frustated about the game speed, it becomes a bit boring because of that.
Another idea its that it would be cool to see, at least, a few lights on the camping as safe spots or as a guide spots, just thinking on a biger game, with more screens, letters, missions...
BTW, the use of the sound is EXCELLENT.... that bass is really good.

Good work!