Wake

By: Xander

On: January 16th, 2010

Boss Baddie, the two man team behind exploratory platformer Lunnye Devisty have announced their new project to be released within the next coming weeks.

Wake is being pitched as a kind of survival platformer inside a sinking ship. As an engineer on board you have to make your way to the top of the ship in order to escape, whilst numerous obstacles line the path. The biggest of these is of course the rising sea level, which is the only element of the game capable of killing you. There’s also a scoring system in place which awards you based on how long it took you to escape and whether you fainted along the way (as well as other unknown objectives), so it appears that simply surviving isn’t the whole experience.

There’s also a ‘Rolling Demo’ available, but after the 40MB download there really doesn’t seem to be any real point to it. I suppose it’s meant to give you an idea of the atmosphere, but there didn’t seem to be anything to be gained from watching it that wasn’t conveyed simply by the screen shots. Still I’m pretty excited about the survival game concept, so looking forward to seeing more soon.

Posted in Adventure, Platformers, Puzzle, Windows

…

Sounds like that old SNES game SOS or whatever.
Echo

SOS instantly comes to mind.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/sos/sos.htm
Mr. Podunkian

james whitehead has yet to release a game that is:

A) not self hyped
B) good
C) not self hyped and good

see: satan sam/new satan sam. i realize now i should be eating my own words for wishing tigsource would post about smaller games, but this guy is literally the worst person on the face of the earth.
Anont

Lunyey was okay and this looks nice and dark. I would dump them for their tormishire game any day of the year.
Mr. Podunkian

yo tigsource nerds. how about not posting about a bad mmf2 game by a terrible developer and instead posting about a pretty good mmf1 game by a respected and active member of the tigsource community? i’m talking about mina of the pirates, a mmf game that was abandoned years ago by konjak, the creator of the noitu love and legend of princess (do i even have to clarify this?).

it was a game that was being developed around the same time as eternal daughter, and it serves as an interesting relic of both the klik community circa that era, and of konjak’s game design philosophy (though they’re a bit rough around the edges, you can see the beginnings of konjak’s great boss designs). in its incomplete state, there is still a good hour or two worth of gameplay in it.

but don’t take my word for it. check it out at your local library. http://konjak.org

(but seriously, fuck james whitehead)
Golds

Pigscene should post about smaller games! Keep that shit going.
Dodger

Actually it does sound a lot like S.O.S on the old SNES console. It’s a decent idea for a game.

@Mr. Pdunkian,

why the harsh words toward him and his work though? I have to be honest, I haven’t played Lunnye Devitsy so I can’t judge it. Satan Sam was kind of a generic platformer, it’s also free and I could see some people liking it as much as other old NES, Genesis, and SNES titles. Tormishire does look like a good game, though we’ll have to wait until it’s actually out to decide. I’m just wondering why the hostility? I’m just curious because most devs aren’t usually so brash and callus towards other devs, at least, not without some reason.
Aron

Reminds me of the PC Game “Sink or Swim” … maybe its the same as the SNES Game but I never had one. Nevertheless it sounds interesting (I liked Sink or Swim)
Adamski

Usually I wouldn’t agree with Podunkian, but he’s spot on.
jrjellybeans

I’m curious as well, why the hate on James?

I’m looking at his site/blog and there doesn’t seem anything wrong with him…

In any case, the game looks great! Can’t wait to try it!
W3R3W00F

The graphics, man… Gorgeous. That, and I love surival games.

Am downloading!
http://elvisbrevi.blogspot.com Elvis Brevi

is notdemo, is advertising!
Jotaf

I take it Podunkian is still pumped up from the VVVVV thread? ;) What’s with all the hate? I saw none of that when the tormishire trailers and all that were announced. Satan Sam being rough around the edges – that’s not an excuse for genuinely hating someone… Care to explain?
Adamski

I guess it depends on how well you know James from the past, and all the times he’s self-loved, overhyped his games and fantasized. He told me Tormishire was being developed by Atari well over a year ago now, yet he’s still working on it in MMF2…
Jimbo

Ok I’ll post.
No Adam Lobacz, I’ve said time and time again that I was in talks with a producer there. They asked for a demo to evaluate and that’s the last I told you.
All I do is post on my blog and the Daily Click. Sam and Wake had no announcements until they were nearly finished. I announced Tormi because it was going to be such a long-term project. I’m not exactly spamming my games around to hype it up.
Adamski

You can post my full name all you like, I dont mind.

And yes, you did tell me they were developing it, and they had some kind of team that were going to help you. The last time we spoke you came out with some crap about them buying you a computer so you could set up your own proper dev studio.

You tell such extreme lies and fantasies then twist it all around when it comes out, to save your own face, James. You’re the future’s Tim Langdell but even less truthful.
Jimbo

I was just echoing what the producer said, that if it got the green light it would have to be developed by an external studio. N was originally a flash game but developed by another studio for Xbox, after all.
Another investor helped with equipment early last year. :)
konjak

People dislike him for his past where he didn’t take responsibility when people pointed out that he took ideas and copied spritework from other games, and rather called people jealous, which irks people quite easily. That’s my experience.

He might be a different person today, though!
Jimbo

Natress told me it was jealousy, the beautiful troll.
W3R3W00F

It’s all about first impressions. If James was that way back THEN and not anymore nobody should hold anything against him today. I sure won’t. And hey, development team or not, I just want Tormishire!
deadeye

Hmm. I don’t know about all this drama, but I gotta say… the screenshots actually look better than the demo. I was expecting it to be the other way around, but the water effects are just odd looking in motion.
xhunterko

My my my. I guess I didn’t need to submit it. Be careful what you wish for I guess. And don’t take it too hard, they hate more on cartoon characters. I better get out before I cause too much trouble. Laters!
falsion

I dunno who this guy is. But I’m with my bros from the oldschool klik community on this one, fuck this guy.
Dusty Spur

SOS is the first thing I thought of as well.

I hope this game has yelling sound effects like that did!

WAAAAAGH
Sergio

Mr. Podunkian, I really get the impression konjak isn’t proud of Mina, so I don’t think he’d want it featured here. On the other hand, based on your claims James would appreciate the coverage.
Jad

I want to say what falsion said too but with fewer words

I dunno who this guy is but fuck this guy

Yay

I mean

Whatever
falsion

@Jad, are you saying I’m wrong for supporting my friends? I fight for my friends. What do you fight for? Probably nothing.

I mean, shit I trust their judgment, that’s probably more than I can say for you. Who the fuck are you anyway?
falsion

#k&p represent!
Mr. Podunkian

@sergio — he may not be proud of it, but it’s still very fascinating as one of the surviving examples of a golden-era of klik game making. also, regardless of what konjak thinks about it himself, i think it’s a really great game, and far ahead of its time, especially given the tool used to create it. compared to other games of its time, like eternal daughter, the game has a professional feel, feeling more like a real SNES game than a teenaged hobbyist’s project.

as for why all the hate for james whitehead — the others have said it better than i have.

this has nothing to do with VVVVVV, nor my opinions on that. rather, it has to do with the both the low quality of his games and the sickening persistence in which he torture me about the underside.

i can’t recall one conversation i’ve had with him that didn’t start and end with some variation of “cave story ripoff”, which was rich considering his game was more or less cave story set in yoshi’s island’s cave levels with garish lighting effects. for every claim of the non-originality of my work that i’ve made, james whitehead has made the opposite, attacking anyone who dares insinuate even an artistic influence of ANYTHING on his work.

he is not a developer to support, and is probably the only developer that i feel a genuine hatred towards, which is of course just as well that his games are absolutely and utterly mediocre.
Jimbo

Pod I’ve never had a conversation with you. I’ve also listed my game and film inspirations on my site and TDC. I’ve done the same with Tormishire too.
Mr. Podunkian

@jimbo — you’re right, i’ve imagined this all along.
falsion

All joking aside, I vaguely remember the name, though I can’t place exactly where.

Though to have both Podunkian and Konjack both hate this guy really means he did something wrong, as the klik community was a pretty even keel place and to gain this kind of notoriety, you’d have to do something to really stand out.
Mr. Podunkian

(also, [and this is a very minor nitpick], looked for said list of inspirations and came up with nothing)
Jimbo

Oh right, on the blog I mentioned Sink or Swim and Thunderbirds on the Amiga. And from films the usual 2 about sinking ships.
Dodger

@Mr. Podunkian,

At some point you need to let things go. I can understand being frustrated with people, especially when it comes to communicating with people over the net. I also can’t stick up for James or his past behavior because I don’t know anything about it. Saying things like “Fuck James Whitehead” don’t resolve issues though, it just makes the matter worse. Perhaps it’s because I don’t have anything personal to take from James’ behavior, but still, there has to be a time when you tell yourself “ah fuck it, I don’t care anymore, I’m not going to let garbage from the past bother me”.

This is a public comment area though and I don’t think the majority of people who develop indie games and frequent the site would want to be insulted or defamed with attempts at humiliation. It’s not right and I think you already know better you’re probably just frustrated and angered because of a bad experience or correspondence you may have had in the past. That’s understandable, but you should try to move on. You’ve got your own games you’ve worked on and are working on, try to focus on those because belittling James won’t help anyone, not you or him. Besides, not everyone knows where the negativity stems from and that’s not really fair nor is it respectful to James or the community who appreciate you guys, whether it be gamers who enjoy indie games or other indie developers. I’m looking forward to both of your games, his Tormishire and your finished version of The Underside. :) I wish you both best regards in your future development… cuz I really wanna play those games! ;-)
Mr. Podunkian

@dodger — as you say yourself, you don’t know anything about it. i think people be held accountable for their actions, and just as i am aware of how i am perceived (justifiably) in the community, i too believe i am entitled to my own perceptions and my own value judgments of other developers. in my experience, james whitehead is a deplorable individual whose self promotion often comes at the cost of other developers, and while you’re right in saying it may not ‘resolve issues’, i think it is an error to ignore it completely.
xhunterko

Mr podunkian, knonjak, jad, and falsion, are all representations of what the internet can do to people. I really feel sorry for you guys. And jad, I am positivlely certain you and a sprite artist with the same name I know aren’t the same person. At least I hope not.
falsion

@xhunterko, I was kidding. Now you’re just insulting me. Come on, man. You’re not helping this guys case much.
falsion

Something about this smells fishy. I don’t like it.
konjak

I feel like I’m being put in a worse light somehow…
fuzz

didn’t much like satan sam or anything else james has done, but i don’t quite see why he’s such a terrible person? rolling demos are strange for an indie game, why not just post a video to youtube, or a playable demo?
Zeb

I can vouch for what konjak and Pod are saying (although I wouldn’t put it as strongly as Podunkian did). Whether he’s a developer to support is up to you.

I strongly suggest not believing in the trailers or rolling demos. He tends to make lackluster and downright horrible games look good by means of pretty effects and well-edited trailers. Satan Sam is a monumental fuckfest of bugs and horrible design, but granted it was released a while ago. Lunnye is a bare-bones platform engine with a layer of lighting effects and “ambient” music. I can’t imagine that anyone outside of the amateur “klik and play” community will be impressed.
Jad

falsion: one hundred posts later:

I just thought what you wrote looked funny so I picked out the funny from it.

Who the [FUCK] am I? A poster on a comments page – sorry to have somehow made you bust out the fuckwords against me, didn’t mean any offense. Fighting for your friends is a good thing anyways, so I wasn’t really dissing on you.
falsion

dude i was kiddingggggg
Jad

xhunterko: I’m the same jad, dude : D

I just think there’s a difference between saying ‘I really trust my friends, so I’m inclined to believe what podunkian says’ and

‘I don’t know who this is but fuck him’

even though both are variants on a opinion that I think is good and valid (“I trust my friends and would back them up”)

I just think that the second one looks hilarious in all its bluntness so I just repeated it for funs. Will not do that next time since it apparently brews misunderstanding and looks like trolling. Wall of text over, love <3
falsion

But the more and more I hear about this guy, the more it seems like Pod and others aren’t lying. A rolling demo instead of actual gameplay? Sounds fishy to me.
falsion

Either way, I think TIGSource should only put games up here if they have something to show for it. A lot of people in the klik community used to hype up their games without ever releasing anything. This looks like more of the same.
xhunterko

@falsion: well, it certainly didn’t sound like kidding. Still, thanks for clearing that up.

*Steps away slowly and thinks twice about putting games on here or stuff for crit on pixelation.*
falsion

I thought “I fight for my friends,” an obvious Brawl reference gave it away.
GZ

I agree with a lot of what people are saying about standards for posting games in development. Unless the developer has some kind of solid history, I would be weary of posting their in development stuff. If there was a real demo, I’d be fine with it, but this isn’t the case in this instance.