@saimo Quote:

You're getting closer... but I'm not saying more not to spoil the fun. But please tell me if you want me to

No thanks, I'll only ask when/if I feel like giving-up on BOH. (Need to give BOH more time first, as I really haven't spent much time on it yet.)

Quote:

Believe me, the first phase of the demo is very, very easy... if faced with the right mentality, that is

Sorry, but I find that impossible to believe at the moment: Monsters spawn far too quickly (and soon overwhelm me) for me to have a chance to think about what I am doing, let alone trying to learn how to play BOH, or learn the map (both of which seem rather essential).

I don't see any other option except to read the manual - which IMHO should not be necessary, and could likely be avoided if there were a few "trainer" levels that gradually introduce you to BOH's different gameplay concepts. However, I am not hopeful that the manual will actually help in this case (will let you know).

Quote:

In general, from your posts, it seems like you're playing BOH believing it is (or should be like) some other game: well, no, BOH is BOH, with its own gameplay and rules. Of course, you may not like it and that's fine. But it's not BOH that has to be adapted to the mentality of other games.

Not exactly: What I am trying to do is give YOU the viewpoint of someone who has just tried the BOH demo (or bought BOH).

BOH might the greatest gameplay masterpiece for the last decade, but if it's too obscure & hard to get into then it probably won't do very well. One example of that is "System Shock 2", which was a great game at it's core but too complex for the general public to quickly pick-up, so they lost a lot of money on that. Yet years later the same developers produce "Bioshock", which is essentially the same game, but with some simplification & a very shallow learning curve, and you might of heard of this game because it was massively successful!

A demo is only good if it convinces someone the game is good, otherwise a demo can actually harm sales. A demo costs nothing, so someone has nothing to loose from deleting it, if their FIRST IMPRESSIONS of the demo are not favourable (and mine has not been so far for BOH). The way to convince someone it is good is to NOT be obscure, but to rather make it as easy for them as possible to learn how to play the game. That's why a lot of PC game demos include tutorials from the actual game.

If I take you at your word that the provided level "really is very, very easy", then the problem (currently seems to me) is that YOU already know how to play BOH (because you created it), and therefore are underestimating how difficult it will be for (some) people to learn it. So my current feeling is that BOH desperately needs some simplified "trainer" levels, where concepts are gradually introduced. This should not be hard to produce, because (a) the levels will be fairly small, and (b) you can likely re-use some existing levels, simply removing unnecessary stuff.

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@ChrisH

Quote:

Quote: Believe me, the first phase of the demo is very, very easy... if faced with the right mentality, that is Sorry, but I find that impossible to believe at the moment: Monsters spawn far too quickly (and soon overwhelm me) for me to have a chance to think about what I am doing, let alone trying to learn how to play BOH, or learn the map (both of which seem rather essential).

Again, that happens only because you are facing it with the wrong mentality. That first phase can be finished in some some 33 seconds and without... ouch, I'd better shut up, for now

Quote:

I don't see any other option except to read the manual - which IMHO should not be necessary, and could likely be avoided if there were a few "trainer" levels that gradually introduce you to BOH's different gameplay concepts.

That's precisely how the demo mission is structured, indeed.

Quote:

However, I am not hopeful that the manual will actually help in this case (will let you know).

If you expect the manual to tell you "BOH has to be played this way", then, no, it won't help. But it gives you all-around idea of that the game is about, so that you'll be able to understand the right strategy yourself.

Quote:

BOH might the greatest gameplay masterpiece for the last decade, but if it's too obscure & hard to get into then it probably won't do very well. A demo is only good if it convinces someone the game is good, otherwise a demo can actually harm sales. A demo costs nothing, so someone has nothing to loose from deleting it, if their FIRST IMPRESSIONS of the demo are not favourable (and mine has not been so far for BOH). The way to convince someone it is good is to NOT be obscure, but to rather make it as easy for them as possible to learn how to play the game. That's why a lot of PC game demos include tutorials from the actual game.

Again, I confirm that the demo mission has been structured like that. The whole game is structured like that - that's why there are 5 different levels of difficulty.

Quote:

If I take you at your word that the provided level "really is very, very easy",

Just to clarify, the demo mission is divided into 5 phases ordered by degree of difficulty:
* phase 1: very easy;
* phase 2: easy;
* phase 3: normal;
* phase 4: hard;
* phase 5: very hard.
Such arrangement will make the game immediately accessible and, at the same time, provide an all-around experience of the gameplay (taken from the demo README).

Quote:

then the problem (currently seems to me) is that YOU already know how to play BOH (because you created it), and therefore are underestimating how difficult it will be for (some) people to learn it.

Nope, BOH's gameplay *is* easy. Very basic stuff, that any gamer can handle. What determines the difficulty is the design of missions.
I'm sure you're having such a troubled experience only because you're facing it as if it was some other game - it's as if you switched from soccer to basketball without changing technique - man, it's hard to throw the ball into the basket with the feet

Quote:

So my current feeling is that BOH desperately needs some simplified "trainer" levels, where concepts are gradually introduced.

Again, this is how the demo mission works.

Anyways, I appreciate the effort you're doing to give me feedback, so, in return to that, I'll include the easiest and shortest mission available in the upcoming re-release of the demo (which will include also the C64 theme).
edit: done (news item submitted).

saimo

Last edited by saimo on 15-May-2009 at 09:24 AM.

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@saimo
After finding some time to play BOH demo properly, I managed to get through the first two phases. And I started to find it kind of fun (with some caveats, see later). But, as expected, the manual was of almost no help at all, so I had to work it out myself through a lot of trial & error.

Unfortunately I still feel there are issues with BOH, especially for beginners...

Quote:

Again, that happens only because you are facing it with the wrong mentality. That first phase can be finished in some some 33 seconds and without... ouch, I'd better shut up, for now

I'm only facing it with the "wrong mentality" because BOH doesn't make any effort to teach me how to play it. Maybe that's fine for some people (who like a steep difficulty curve), but for a *demo* (whose purpose is to sell the game to as many people as possible) it is a serious flaw IMHO.

Quote:

Quote: if there were a few "trainer" levels that gradually introduce you to BOH's different gameplay concepts. That's precisely how the demo mission is structured, indeed.

Unfortunately IT ISN'T, because it *STILL* drops you in at the deep end! An proper "trainer" level should start like this:

Two interconnected rooms, separated by a locked door. There is a key or button that opens said door. The other room contains the exit, with NO Evil Master, and in fact no monsters at all!

The next phase is three rooms. The first door responds to your touch, the second door is locked as before. The first room contains all the best power-ups & weapons, and no monsters spawn there. The second room contains some monsters to kill, but not too many (even if the player does not enter it for some time). The third room contains an Evil Master, who should be easy to kill. (This happens to be v.similar to the "easiest & shortest mission available".)

The next phase is slightly more complicated still, and instead of giving you ALL the power-ups/etc at the start, you only get some, with the others scattered around the small level (but easy to find).

The next phase begins to resemble a real BOH level (but still smaller), and makes it hard to *not* play BOH like you are supposed to. Not quite sure how to do that, but I'm still inexperience with BOH myself.

The next phases would then be the ones you currently get in the demo.

Quote:

in return to that, I'll include the easiest and shortest mission available in the upcoming re-release of the demo

MANY THANKS. This was a very good step to making the demo more accessible to new players. Of course it is a *little* too easy, but it's much much better than nothing


Some comments on BOH, in light of completing the first two phases of the main demo level: (SPOLIER ALERT!)

The second phase is actually a better introduction to BOH than the first phase (excluding the fact that it is larger)! Why? Because in the first phase it is **too easy** to spend too long in the first/second room (say 60 seconds or more), and then be unable to progress any further due to the large number of spawned monsters. Where-as the second phase starts with smaller & more maze-like rooms, so you naturally tend to run around (as you are supposed to). The maze-like rooms also reduces the number of monsters that are likely to spawn in any location, thus reducing the number of monsters you tend to have to fight at any one time.

I think this gives some hint as to how make "it hard to *not* play BOH like you are supposed to" for the "trainer level".


My next issue with BOH is more of a critique of the gameplay itself, BUT I don't expect you to make radical changes to the game now, despite my misgivings:

The gun you start with IS ALMOST COMPLETELY USELESS (the next most powerful gun is actually useful). This may not be a problem for a more experienced player, or for harder levels. But for beginners on "easy" levels it is a big problem IMHO. Since you are given a gun, you instinctively shoot monsters (as in nearly every other computer game!), but the fact that they don't die quickly (and that there are so many of them) can lead to a (very) frustrating experience. And while you may be expected to use your body shield sometimes (instead of shooting), again this is very anti-intuitive, and made me feel like I was "loosing" (which was demotivating). Basically BOH violates several unspoken assumptions of computer games, which is a SERIOUS problem when it doesn't have any real trainer levels.

BOH seems to have the potential to be a great little game (I need to play the demo a bit more yet to form a full opinion). But if I had been designing it, I would have made a few small changes in light of the above:

1. First you'd start with a slightly more powerful weapon (or one would be *easily* found within the first room or two of each level/phase).

2. Second, the body shield would be weaker, to compensate. With these two changes, the game would now instantly accessible to many more new players.

3. Third, I would put a limit on the number of monsters that could spawn in any location, to prevent the player from ever being completely overwhelmed (I found it hard to even LOOK at the map for a split second because there were usually too many monsters, which is ridiculous for the mazey levels seen in BOH).

4. Shooting/aiming is harder than it needs to be, partly because you cannot fire at all angles (and so have to move a bit to hit many monsters). Even if the player's sprite rotates in little jumps, this should NOT stop the *actual* angle of fire from being rotated smoothly (thus the sprite & the actual angle of fire may not always exactly line-up). Even better, only use keys for moving, and provide a mouse cursor for actual aiming (this has been done in quite a few modern 2D games).

5. Moving is harder than it should be! Really! If I press a side-step key, then it stops me moving forwards/backwards. This makes it basically impossible to "side-strafe around corners" like any half-decent player does in Doom/Quake (yes, these are 3D games, but BOH is kind of a 2D version of Doom). Side-strafing makes it SO much easier to shoot enemies that are hiding just around a corner, and not being able to do this in BOH feels like an artificial limitation. It also makes it harder to retreat & fire at the same time, because you can only navigate backwards (not sideways) while shooting.

Last edited by ChrisH on 16-May-2009 at 12:24 PM.
Last edited by ChrisH on 16-May-2009 at 12:19 PM.

_________________
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@ChrisH

Quote:

After finding some time to play BOH demo properly, I managed to get through the first two phases.

Great

Quote:

I'm only facing it with the "wrong mentality" because BOH doesn't make any effort to teach me how to play it.

I'm sorry, but at this point I have to explain.
We'll just need to consider (it won't be as long and difficult as it may seem, please bear with me):
1. what the introduction words on the website say;
2. what the quick overview in the user's manual says;
3. what you have said yourself in your first report in this thread;

1. "BOH is an original, retro-flavoured game of exploration and action. You move in claustrophobic and dangerous battlefields searching for the Evil Masters. This no easy task not only because of the traps-packed corridors and mind-blowing puzzles, but also because of the countless enemies that the Evil Masters throw at you more and more until you discover them [...]"
This simple piece of text tells us in a very straightforward way that:
* the objective is the Evil Masters;
* it is necessary to first find them;
* enemies are "only" infinite obstables in the quest.

2. "A mission takes place in a battlefield made of dungeons, dangerous areas, etc. Controlling a member of the United Defence Forces (the Main Character, MC from now on), you have to explore it in order to kill the Evil Master hiding in that place. This is no easy task not only because of the traps-packed corridors and mind-blowing puzzles, but also because of the countless enemies that the Evil Master throws at you more and more until you discover the summoning point: then, enemies will stop appearing out of nowhere and you will be attacked directly by the Evil Master himself, the toughest of all. If you manage to defeat him, to complete the mission all you will have to do is reaching the exit."
This part tells us again the very same things.

3. Your first posts is dominated by your feeling of powerlessness: you are surprised and overwhelmed by the (apparently ) infinitely spawning enemies and you feel very clearly that they prevent you from reaching the goal. This tells us that you immediately understood that the goal was not killing enemies and that enemies were just obstacles.

Now, what has happened? It happened that you, instead of trying to reach the goal, focused entirely on enemies... which is completely useless, given that they are infinite! Hadn't you done so, you would have noticed that the weakness of the weapon doesn't matter much in that first phase; you would have noticed that moving towards the goal without wasting time against enemies actually reduces that overwhelming terror and has also the practical effect of outdistancing the enemies (because none of them moves as quickly as you).

In a nutshell: you were told what to do and you did perceive it, but you remained stuck to a shoot-everything-that-moves mentality that blocked you entirely.

(I hope that all the "you"s I used - and will use below - don't sound as harsh finger-pointing: it's not my intention, it's just that I can't find a way to explain more clearly.)


Quote:

Maybe that's fine for some people (who like a steep difficulty curve), but for a *demo* (whose purpose is to sell the game to as many people as possible) it is a serious flaw IMHO.

The learning curve is not steep at all: do you consider difficult a phase that can be finished in 27 seconds without ever firing a single shot?
Again, it becomes difficult only if you waste time with enemies.

Quote:

proper "trainer" level should start like this: Two interconnected rooms, separated by a locked door. There is a key or button that opens said door. The other room contains the exit, with NO Evil Master, and in fact no monsters at all! The next phase is three rooms. The first door responds to your touch, the second door is locked as before. The first room contains all the best power-ups & weapons, and no monsters spawn there. The second room contains some monsters to kill, but not too many (even if the player does not enter it for some time). The third room contains an Evil Master, who should be easy to kill. (This happens to be v.similar to the "easiest & shortest mission available".) The next phase is slightly more complicated still, and instead of giving you ALL the power-ups/etc at the start, you only get some, with the others scattered around the small level (but easy to find). The next phase begins to resemble a real BOH level (but still smaller), and makes it hard to *not* play BOH like you are supposed to. Not quite sure how to do that, but I'm still inexperience with BOH myself. The next phases would then be the ones you currently get in the demo.

Well, putting aside for a moment the enemies, the initial phase just has:
* 2 doors that open with the button in the starting room;
* 1 door that opens with a key;
* 1 door that opens with another button.
The passageways must and can be opened in a single and obvious sequence. The map is really very easy and teaches the basics of some kinds of passageways.
As regards the monsters: removing a key component of the gameplay wouldn't do any good to the demo - the demo would end up demoing something which isn't the game. The problem you encountered is just that you've been blocked by your fear of enemies. That's all.

Anyway, the mission I added after you gave me feedback is even easier (as you have acknowledged yourself) and, considering the "right way of playing", I really think that making it even easier is just useless.

BTW: distributing the power-ups as you suggest would teach a wrong thing, as in BOH the pieces of equipment collected during a phase are kept for the following ones and no piece of equipment is ever lost.

Quote:

The second phase is actually a better introduction to BOH than the first phase (excluding the fact that it is larger)! Why? Because in the first phase it is **too easy** to spend too long in the first/second room (say 60 seconds or more), and then be unable to progress any further due to the large number of spawned monsters.

Wrong reason
The second phase is a better introduction because the first, having been designed to be obvious and easy, doesn't even come close to the real spirit of BOH.
The fact that you spent lots of time in the rooms of the first phase doesn't depend on the design of the map, but only on how you played (again: anybody can complete that first phase in less than 30 seconds and without shooting).

BTW: the spawning of enemies doesn't depend on the phase.

Quote:

Where-as the second phase starts with smaller & more maze-like rooms, so you naturally tend to run around (as you are supposed to). The maze-like rooms also reduces the number of monsters that are likely to spawn in any location, thus reducing the number of monsters you tend to have to fight at any one time.

Who told you that BOH has just to have mazes?
BOH's maps are as varied as possible. There are rooms of all kinds.
You liked it more because the direction of the assaults is a bit more predictable... but the problem is, again, that you focus too much on enemies.


Quote:

The gun you start with IS ALMOST COMPLETELY USELESS (the next most powerful gun is actually useful). This may not be a problem for a more experienced player, or for harder levels. But for beginners on "easy" levels it is a big problem IMHO. Since you are given a gun, you instinctively shoot monsters (as in nearly every other computer game!), but the fact that they don't die quickly (and that there are so many of them) can lead to a (very) frustrating experience. And while you may be expected to use your body shield sometimes (instead of shooting), again this is very anti-intuitive, and made me feel like I was "loosing" (which was demotivating). Basically BOH violates several unspoken assumptions of computer games, which is a SERIOUS problem when it doesn't have any real trainer levels.

Then, why didn't you listen to me when I said that BOH is BOH and must be played for what it is and not for what other games are? The problems you have with weapons are mostly due to the fact that you focus on killing enemies, because that's the kind of guy you are as you have admitted in another post.
Don't approach BOH expecting it to work as other games do. BOH is BOH. Once you do that, then you can decide whether you like it or not. But don't decide BOH isn't your kind of game only because it doesn't play like Alien Breed/Doom/whatever

Quote:

BOH seems to have the potential to be a great little game (I need to play the demo a bit more yet to form a full opinion). But if I had been designing it, I would have made a few small changes in light of the above: 1. First you'd start with a slightly more powerful weapon (or one would be *easily* found within the first room or two of each level/phase). 2. Second, the body shield would be weaker, to compensate. With these two changes, the game would now instantly accessible to many more new players. 3. Third, I would put a limit on the number of monsters that could spawn in any location, to prevent the player from ever being completely overwhelmed (I found it hard to even LOOK at the map for a split second because there were usually too many monsters, which is ridiculous for the mazey levels seen in BOH). 4. Shooting/aiming is harder than it needs to be, partly because you cannot fire at all angles (and so have to move a bit to hit many monsters). Even if the player's sprite rotates in little jumps, this should NOT stop the *actual* angle of fire from being rotated smoothly (thus the sprite & the actual angle of fire may not always exactly line-up). Even better, only use keys for moving, and provide a mouse cursor for actual aiming (this has been done in quite a few modern 2D games). 5. Moving is harder than it should be! Really! If I press a side-step key, then it stops me moving forwards/backwards. This makes it basically impossible to "side-strafe around corners" like any half-decent player does in Doom/Quake (yes, these are 3D games, but BOH is kind of a 2D version of Doom). Side-strafing makes it SO much easier to shoot enemies that are hiding just around a corner, and not being able to do this in BOH feels like an artificial limitation. It also makes it harder to retreat & fire at the same time, because you can only navigate backwards (not sideways) while shooting.

I thank you for giving these suggestions, but - as you said - the gameplay won't change. Why? Because BOH plays exactly like I wanted it to (indeed, if it were for me, even sidestepping wouldn't have been there: I just added it on request). I have to repeat that you'd like it to be a different game. Another game. You want different (and more complicated) controls, you want different mechanics, you want a different design of missions. Well, I can understand that, but, sorry that's not what I want (and it's not that nobody else wants what I want ). Of course, it's OK with me if you don't like BOH - no game can ever please everybody.

saimo

Last edited by saimo on 16-May-2009 at 11:34 PM.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

@ChrisH

Geeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss.

take it easy.

When I played it, I didnt read the manual, and after ten minutes of gameplay, and some mistakes, I still didnt have even a quarter of the complaining problems that your telling through your various posts???

You remind me of my friend Lee.

Yeah your right about side straffing, I love to side step like in doom type games, but then, I didnt find this limitation stopping me from playing the game?? Yet alone, I am still having fun playing the game???

Anyway, I dont find the easy, or medium missions too difficult, just time consuming to remember not to repeat some previous mistakes, its the hard levels that are really more involved and require more concentration.

Cheers.

P.S. Not having a go at you or anything, your doing quiet an extensive report and review here, for something that is really a simple and playable game, IMHO. i was just wondering what is motivating you to write such large extensive essays towards saimo?

Is it so BOH 2 is produced more to you and other users liking?

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https://blitterwolf.blogspot.com

Hello,

I thought I'd throw in my $0.02 since the a'.org is still down (i'll probably risk getting banned too)

I received my copy of BOH a couple of weeks ago via mail. I recently had the chance to complete a couple of levels and my initial impressions were great. Hell I even used the TV-OUT on my graphics card and plugged in a 1080S, just for the retro feel

YES the game is hard, YES it takes some time to get used to disappearing tiles, aiming, enemy AI, re-spawns and the epileptical seizures that ensue... BUT, the game turned out to be everything I hoped it would be. The fact that the controls are a little difficult makes the game even more amazing, and adds to the sense of nostalgia.

<vent>

*Someone* commented about not having a "guide" for aiming since the steps of rotation can be a little coarse. What are you, a Microsoft fanboy? Do you enjoy having your job done for you? Would you like auto-aim implemented too? HOW ABOUT A LEVEL THAT COMPLETES ITSELF?

I've also even seen others complaining about how "behind" the game is in terms of graphics/technology, someone even mentioned being able to create it using off-the-shelf programs and that it's not worth paying for. Well, *ahem*, may the fleas of a thousand afghan camels infest your crotch. If you can do it better, do it, show it off even, otherwise go back home and cry onto your phallicly shaped pillow, in the knowledge that nobody else appreciates your overbearing superiority complex.

You should SUPPORT coders that still believe in the amiga platform. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and criticism, which is fair enough, but hold back a little for the sake of our dwindling community.

</vent>

Edited: Had to manually add html entities for ">" and "<", they kept getting filtered after previewing

Last edited by PodeCoet on 17-May-2009 at 04:18 AM.
Last edited by PodeCoet on 17-May-2009 at 04:15 AM.

@saimo
Sadly it seems you are not paying close attention to what I am saying, and instead are just trying to defend BOH.

Maybe that is because we are doing this in a public forum, instead of privately? Whatever the reason, if I wrote anything more it would just be repeating my last post. Therefore that will be my final post in trying to get you to understand BOH from a beginner's point of view.

I can only request that you re-read my last post again, and try to avoid blaming me this time. If the user of a program/game has difficulty using it correctly, is it the user's fault for not being perceptive enough, or is it the designer's fault for not making it easier to use? IMHO, the best & most successful software is produced by designers who consider the user (even stupid ones like me) above all else.

_________________
Author of the PortablE programming language.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue...

@Gebrochen
As I said in a previous post(s), I HAVE NOT PLAYED BOH MUCH YET. My very early reports were aimed at reporting my very early experiences with BOH, because these are the ones that determine how many users give-up trying (especially with a demo).

Again, as I said in a previous post(s), BOH seems like the potential to be a really great game, but I need to play it more first before reaching a firm conclusion.

P.S. I am easily annoyed by minor niggles, which is one reason why Windows drives me crazy, and why I much prefer AmigaOS4. I try to put that tendency to good use, by providing constructive feedback among other things.

@PodeCoet
I don't recall reading any of the complaints you disagreed with, but I don't think they were sensible complaints either! (edit: Well, maybe you were referring to me when you said "guides" for firing, but the rest of your sentence makes it sound like you are talking about auto-aiming!?!)

Last edited by ChrisH on 17-May-2009 at 04:32 AM.
Last edited by ChrisH on 17-May-2009 at 04:30 AM.
Last edited by ChrisH on 17-May-2009 at 04:25 AM.

_________________
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It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue...

@ChrisH

I LOVE YOU MAN! *HUGS*

@PodeCoet
I don't accept hugs from strangers

_________________
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It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue...

@ChrisH

You have to sleep some time

Last edited by PodeCoet on 17-May-2009 at 04:43 AM.

@ChrisH

Quote:

Sadly it seems you are not paying close attention to what I am saying, and instead are just trying to defend BOH.

No. The fact alone that I've answered to your remarks in detail shows that I did pay close attention. Moreover, I've tried hard to leave you the pleasure of discovering the game, which shows also that I care about you enjoying it.

Quote:

Maybe that is because we are doing this in a public forum, instead of privately?

It would have made no difference.

Quote:

I can only request that you re-read my last post again, and try to avoid blaming me this time. If the user of a program/game has difficulty using it correctly, is it the user's fault for not being perceptive enough, or is it the designer's fault for not making it easier to use? IMHO, the best & most successful software is produced by designers who consider the user (even stupid ones like me) above all else.

I will not add anything more, as you've already had all the answers
But, no, it's not BOH's fault. You may or may not like its (basic, very basic) mechanisms. But the fact that you don't like (or feel at ease with) them* doesn't mean BOH is bad.
*And you will never, if you first don't stop thinking at how you want them to be.

saimo

Last edited by saimo on 17-May-2009 at 02:57 PM.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Hi,

another quick note to inform you that the C64 theme is now available for download on the DOWNLOADS page of the website.

Enjoy,
saimo

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Hi everybody,

another quick update to inform you that the first draft of the developer's manual is now available for download on the DOWNLOADS page of the website.
At the moment it covers only the creation of missions, but the rest is already being worked on.
This release allows who wants to make his own missions to get started without having to wait any longer and, at the same time, will be useful to see what needs to be changed/clarified/added (so, please, do not hesitate to give feedback).

Enjoy,
saimo

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Has anyone else got stuck on Phase 3 of the demo? Several times now I have entered a small room (IIRC through an "Automatic door"), then been unable to leave (as door will not reopen), and have to quit as the only option (which rather ####es me off after having taken ages to get through Phase 2, as it means I have to repeat the whole damn thing again).

_________________
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It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue...

@ChrisH

SPOILER ALERT
Here's one of those hints I omitted in the user's manual: before taking those doors, make sure you have already done all that you could possibly do and picked up all that you could possibly pick up.
SPOILER ALERT END

If you want to a better indication, just ask me

Thanks for keeping on trying

saimo

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@ChrisH

Quote:

Unfortunately IT ISN'T, because it *STILL* drops you in at the deep end! An proper "trainer" level should start like this:

Trying to meet your wish of a gentler introduction to the game, I have added a few missions... check the next post out

saimo

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Hi everybody,

I'm here once again to inform you that yet another version of BOH's demo is available.
This update brings 4 new tutorial missions and the preview of the "castle" theme.
You can download it from the DOWNLOADS page of the website as usual.

Enjoy,
saimo

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Dear BOH players,

I hope I'm bringing a nice piece of news to you: Mark Ashley (motorollin from Amiga.org) has just released a nice editor that allows the creation of new BOH missions! You can find all the details in his announcement on Amiga.org.
Many thanks to Mark, I hope his hard work will be rewarded with lots of new missions!

saimo

Last edited by saimo on 12-Jun-2009 at 10:30 AM.
Last edited by saimo on 12-Jun-2009 at 10:07 AM.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Hi all,

just a few miscellaneous notes:

1. since yesterday an updated developer's manual is available on the DOWNLOADS page of the website - now only some in-depth explanations about sprites are missing;

2. the fact that some customers were surprised by the quality of the package (shrink-wrap, properly pressed and printed CD, glossy manual) led me to think that maybe the message wasn't clear enough, so I put a few pictures online: shrink-wrapped box, open box, CD-ROM, user's manual (http://www.bohthegame.com/data/user's_manual.png - raw URL because the single quote in the name causes troubles);

3. since few days BOH has a Facebook page, which is meant to become a connection point for discussions and updates: everybody is welcome (it isn't necessary to own a copy ).

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC