Advanced Moves

[Steven]

I was playing chapter 4-5 today, and when I went inside the bank and jumped over one of the thugs they ran into each other! That was so cool! I laughed so hard!

I've been playing this game for awhile, and didn't know you could do that. I looked at the hint sheet that was mentioned in another thread, and discovered that the game has lots of other fun moves like that. Maybe you could add some hints in the game that explained these "advanced" moves...? Or are they supposed to be secret moves?

[TroyHepfner]

Yeah, that was a dilemma we had when we designed these moves. They're not secret, but we wanted them to be unexpected and funny when they happened, like you discovered. I originally thought it better not to put a hint folder in the game that explained how to do it, because then that takes some of the humor out of it. The problem is that a lot of users never seem to discover these moves, as you noticed - they just throw the grenades. I wasn't sure how to make these cartoony moves more discoverable without making them less funny. In fact, I still haven't solved this problem. But I'm open to suggestions.

In the meantime, I put some hints in the Instructions screens within the game, as well as the Hint sheet itself.

[Steven]

I see what you mean. Now that I know these moves are here, I can see how you set up certain situations in some of the levels to try to help players find these moves. But like you said it is easier to throw grenades. If I hadn't jumped instead of throwing a grenade, I wouldn't have discovered it. But maybe now that you have these forums, people will read this thread and discover these cool moves. It's a hoot tricking the thugs into running into stuff or running off of platforms!

[Thurmond]

I discovered early on that you could drop crates onto bad guys to knock them out. But I didn't know about these other moves either. Funny!

I love the way the bad guys go flying when the mining carts hit 'em!

[AlleyCat]

Neato!!! Now I wanna play thru the whole game again to see what I missed! :D

[Duchess]

When (not if!) you do a Dirk Dashing sequel, I would like to have more ways to build up extra lives in the game....I can't seem to make it to the final chapter! Can't wait to see what adventure is next!!

[TroyHepfner]

The trick here is remembering to save your game often, so that when you lose a life, you can resume your previous save game and not have to go back too far.

We are planning to make future sequels to Dirk Dashing, and one of the changes to the basic gameplay formula that we're considering is the addition of a health system. The health system would allow you to withstand one or two hits before dying, and of course, there will be ways to replenish your health. This will make the game a bit more forgiving.

[Thurmond]

I like that idea. Lots of other platformers do that too, and it helps.

[AlleyCat]

I love the way the bad guys go flying when the mining carts hit 'em!

I just found out that the little orange construction robot does the same thing! Very funny! :D

[Steven]

In level 2-3, I dropped a hay bale on a rat. So apparently you can drop objects onto other characters besides the red shirt thugs.

[Duchess]

I never thought to do that! Thanks for the great tip!!

[Thurmond]

In one of the secret levels (5-x I think) you can even drop a crate on Nasty Knuckles. That's a big grenade-saver!!! :p

[Steven]

In the jail on 4-6 you can drop a crate on Tommy Gunn (if you can get past Buzzooka to get to the crate).

[trannybrad]

I found that a while ago and still have to "work" to be able to use the crate. On one of the chapters, I'll have to verify which one, when Dirk jumps down onto the bridge to take out some guys and Knuckles, when shooting with the bazooka Dirk can "fall off" the screen and the only way to get him back is for him to die.

[TroyHepfner]

Thanks, Brad. I think it was Chapter 3-5. That bug should be fixed in the latest release.

[Thurmond]

I had an idea for Dirk 2 - it would be nice if you could trick the robots into driving off the edge of ledges or crashing into walls. It would be funny to see gears and springs and parts go flying when they hit!

[TroyHepfner]

That's a great idea! Thanks!

[AlleyCat]

And dropping crates on them! Don't forget that!!! :D

[surfingpenguin]

I second Thurmond's idea. In fact, I would like to see more interaction with the game world in Dirk2. By the way, how is Dirk2 progressing? Can you give us an update, Troy?

[TroyHepfner]

Hi surfingpenguin,

I guess it has been awhile since my last update, huh? I think the last update was in our August newsletter (http://www.mygamecompany.com/Newsletters/august09.htm). There hasn't been too much progress since then, I'm afraid. I was out sick with pneumonia for most of September, and spent most of October recuperating and trying to get my strength back. But I'm doing better now, and am eager to get going on Dirk Dashing 2 once again.

Even though I haven't been working on the game, I have been thinking about it a lot. I've made a few adjustments to the story, to incorporate some of the good ideas and feedback that everyone has been giving me. One of the ideas I really like is the ability to perform side quests that would unlock additional areas in the game. The side quests won't be necessary to complete the game, but it would add a lot of replayability.

I'll post another update after the holidays. By then, I'll have had time to finalize some of my plans for the game, and perhaps some screenshots to show too.

In the meantime, feel free to post additional ideas and input in this Dirk Dashing 2 (http://www.mygamecompany.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81) thread, if there is anything else you would like to see in the sequel.