Hai there,

Just like last year, I am taking December off from working on Poor Thing. For almost whole year I have been tinkering with it daily and it is making my head spin a little. Furthermore, after nearly nobody bothered to play the Grey Nether I felt more than a little disheartened and making games has taken a backseat to other activities for now. I want to recharge my batteries a little, gain perspective and some new ideas. And I promise to get back to it come 2016, and really push things forward. And maybe by the end of next year I will have something wobbly and brittle to show off, a demo of sorts.

Bless you all and see you soon

Dear Glorious Trainfriends,

This time I do not have screenshots from Poor Thing to share with you. I have something better! A video presenting it in action! I think it starts to look good, but judge for yourselves. My video editing tool did something horrible with compression, but you can still see what the game is about. I tried to present the things I am most proud of: the Merry Berry minihotel, scrolling levels, floor tiles adjusting to scrolling, some shadows and 3d grass (only in the 1st level but will be implemented overall). I hope you like it! I work on it nearly every day and had a sleepless night sometime ago when I put a lot of things together so I have the backstory also more advanced. Ok, enough, enjoy, and tell me hwat you think!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDqoCDa60QE

Dear All,

Thanks to our own tremendous Sergio Cornaga I was finally able to make playable standalones of Storm Is Coming and Le Sunset Salto. They should run on new systems, as opposed to the old 16 bit versions.

Enjoy, spread the word, let me know if they work.

Storm Is Coming (2009):
You are in a grassy valley where your happiness seems to be going to last forever except that the storm is going to begin as soon as the song ends - and flood the whole valley. To avoid that, you are going to need help of three animals. Two different endings (apart from death obv)

Le Sunset Salto (2010):
The sun is going down, this is going to be your last salto of the cliff. But when you go under, everything is different; everything becomes an adventure in this magical hour. There are 8 different endings. Mermaids, Octopodes, Jellyfish, a Whale, Sunken Ship, Crabs, a Fisherman, an island with palmtrees.

EDIT: Bug fixed, updated version posted. Thanks Sergio, as always!
EDIT 2: Octopus Bug Fixed in LSS, Room leaving fixed in SIC, updated versions posted.
EDIT 3: Achievement screen fixed.
EDIT 4: Achievement screen now really fixed.
EDIT 5: Achievement screen now really really fixed.
EDIT 6: Achievement screen cleaned up and hints hopefully fixed.
EDIT 7: Rock clipping bug and bottom transition from the fisherman fixed.

Dear dears,

A much-needed change of pace and atmosphere here on my end, I have just published an animated video, all animations made in Klik N Play, for my lo-fi casio punk song. It is nonsense but funny at times I think. Enjoy! And if you like my music I have 54 albums available for download / purchase, links are in the video description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR-K0pfHmpw

Hi anybodies,

I have been working on Poor Thing almost every day for five months. Recently I had a bit of a breakdown and I cannot bringmyself to start working on it again, but I will, don't worry, small steps. It is just overwhelming. But I want to finish it. But it just gets bleaker and more depressing, the game I mean. So stepping away for a bit but instead I complete the backstory and work on the plot and these things are actually progressing. I've been working on my music more recently and I am also making a music video on KnP, I will post it when I'm done. There are many new levels added but it is all a secret and I cannot show you the secret levels.

Dear Trainwreckers

As you may have seen I have been screaming for help lately. The situation is under control - my game works in Multimedia Fusion, which means I will be able to export it in a version suitable for 64 bit platforms. So, after a short panic, time to get back to work! Since the beginning of 2015 I have been working on "Poor Thing" about 4 days a week. So you can imagine things are gaining steam again! Many new places, including a secret location I am not authorized to provide screenshots of. Some spooky figures, unnatural goings-on and looots of new ideas!

I attach some places and also a comparison shot of an interior - before and after some redecorating, the second being the level of detail that I mean to implement everywhere else.

I think I am going to continue making the game in KNP because I am so used to it, and animating stuff in MMF makes me rip my hair out! And from time to time I will port it to MMF to see if everything is compatible (for some reason certain things go crazy when ported from KNP to MMF, mainly things anchored to other things). I am also writing a "script" of sorts, as in movie, not as in coding, to keep track of all action in right order and logic. And I made a handy map to see what goes where and what corners are missing. So in other words, full speed ahead!

Wheeee

All the best to you and I will let you know what's up in another 3 months or so!

I am making "Poor Thing" on a Windows XP system and have never tried to run it anywhere else. Apparently no new windows will be able to run a 16-bit program. Will there be no way for anyone to play my upcoming game made with KnP, unless they are running a virtual windows machine?

I am an idiot when it comes to matters like this and honestly have not thought of it earlier. When I make my game I would like everyone to be able to play it, but now it seems it will not be operable on 99% of current computers...

So this will probably result in a collective facepalm from all of you in the know but...is there any way to make my game compatible with 64 bit systems? Even if it would mean porting and transferring parts of the game to another program. Would that be possible at all or is the only possibility making it from scratch in, say, Clickteam Fusion or something like that?

Help me, I know you are smarter than I am...Right now I do not see much point in making something so gigantic if hardly anyone will be able to play it in their os.

Dear All,
Ever since my last update I have been working on the game almost every day, encouraged by your comments. I have added a ton of new levels (and also deleted some unnecessary to make room for more among the 255 available), details and so on... I have also been working on the backstory, which I am afraid to say is getting darker and darker. Graphically I have started lately making more interiors,as you can see attached. But it really wore me out, especially that I have to incorporate more and more "action" elements which mean programming, failing, reprogramming without an end... So I will be taking a short break now and probably restart next year. I need a pause with these endless obstacles and also the everso more depressing narrative. But worry not, I love the project like a 3rd baby and will complete it for sure! It is just more exhausting than I initially thought it to be. As always, lots of pixellated love for you dear crazy computer peoples and keep creating!

Hello everybody.

It has been half a year since my last information on my game in progress, "Poor Thing". Since then I have maintained a fairly steady pace in development and added a lot to the game, however there is a looot of work still in front of me. I have calculated that I still have more or less 100 levels to add. I have 178 levels in my game so far, but some of them are placeholders and some more can be cut out. If no other obstacles emerge, I should be able to fit my game within the planned maximum of 255 levels.

While still adding new levels, I alternate it with either fleshing out already existing locations or finally adding some action sequences. I worked out a way to make objects standing in the middle that can be either walked in front of or behind, which adds a lot of 3d feeling to the game.

At the same time I am working on the story and characters, because I really mean it to be a complete tale, with beginning, middle and an end. Things are constantly falling into place, or switched around if they do not work.

I think I am rambling, but I am really excited that I have kept at it so long and do not feel bored or intend to stop. I calculate it will take about a year to complete and add details to all the levels, then probably another year to interconnect everything, hunt bugs, beta test and add sound effects and probably some music. A long, long way... but almost every other day I keep developing it further.

I hope 6 months is an enough long pause not to be pushy with my project. Truly said, I often have to fight the urge to share every new detail that I am proud of, with you lot!

I go back to working on the game now. As always, lots of love to you lovely people, and keep creating!

Jan Strach

Hello everybody.

It has been a long time. As you may easily check, the last thing I submitted was three years ago. Through this time I have not been dead but had to redirect my priorities somewhat. I was busy, making music and minions.

However, already in 2010 I started working on a project, only this time I wanted to create something gigantic. I have been working on it since, in short bursts of creative passion. It is slowly taking shape. Due to the self-imposed scale of the project, it is going take a long time to complete. It is hard to tell if I am even halfway through.

I intend to use all available levels. Did you know there is a level limit of 255 in KNP? I checked.

There is going to be a backstory, a mystery, a mythology, a bestiary. There is going to be creepiness, solitude, heavy, brooding, melancholic atmosphere.

Since the beginning of this year I made a decision to work on the game at least every other day. The optimistic release date is within 1 year. The pessimistic/more realistic version is 2 years from now.

Although I did not have much time lately, I have been popping by from time to time. I love yous dearly. I hope I will finish the damn thing. It is big and complicated and frightens me sometimes.

Take care!