Arcade Paradise - run your own arcade while pretending to do laundry! (Switch/PS5/Xbox/PC)

[dadrester]

On 24/08/2022 at 18:54, Eighthours said:

 

Yep, I saw @dadrester talking about it in there. Too modest to make a thread himself, I reckon!

Indeed. But not too modest to be hitting F5 for ages to see if anyone else would make one. Thanks for all the kind words. 

 

It's been a passion project for sure. And for a team of 7 folk making it it's a BIIIIIG game.

[deKay]

On 02/09/2022 at 09:59, Eighthours said:

Hurry up, Switch patch!

 

He's been!!

[cassidy]

29 minutes ago, dadrester said:

Indeed. But not too modest to be hitting F5 for ages to see if anyone else would make one. Thanks for all the kind words. 

 

It's been a passion project for sure. And for a team of 7 folk making it it's a BIIIIIG game.

Great game very much enjoying my time with it.  Bugs and all. 

[dadrester]

Switch patch is live now.

 

We have a hotfix incoming for some nasty progression blockers and trophies/achievements that don't pop on other platforms. Hopefully early next week depending on format QA.

 

Then we can finally start doing some nice quality of life and gameplay tweaks.

 

Other stuff...

 

The "Assistant managers assistant" is me in 1993...

 

KONAMI CODE on title screen means you'll always S-Rank washing.

 

On pool you can add spin if you press circle/equivalent (or is it square?). Physics are still a bit janky though

 

Other than the Recluse and one of the Mono Memory tracks, the music was entirely created for the game (and is streamable with no worries about copyright takedowns). Most of the band names are made up for the game too. More on soundtrack coming soon 

 

Blockchain vs. Drop7... So Blockchain is based on blitz mode in Drop7 but we tweak a fair bit. Each "round", rather than or always taking 6 spawns for a new line to appear we have a random number between 5 and 8. We have power ups (this is the big one) and crucially we encourage big scores by rewarding combos with the power ups.

 

Blockchain is my personal heroin.

 

Bugai (not-puzzle bobble2) is the game that I've worried about the most as it's really close to the original. Along with Windjammers (which we didn't dare touch) it's the most played game in the office. At uni me and a mate would play first to 50 on the PS1 version of it to decide who would do the washing up. We always called it Bugaaaaaaaiiii, as that's what it sounds like they say. That mate's nickname is Effaz (the king pig in woodgal's Adventure) and he grew up on "Goswick farm" which is next to a golf course (one of the courses on the golf game.

 

The Woodgal Adventure music is also used in a game called Maths Prodigy or something. It's a free library one and I didn't know until my daughter was like... Dad, that's the same music as in that game I used to play.

 

The graphics in Llama were done by my daughter.

 

The game is big... It was made by effectively 7 of us.

 

[cassidy]

Amazing to read that.  

 

Looking forward to hearing more about the music as well. Some bangers on there and I love the sax track. 

[deKay]

1 hour ago, dadrester said:

The Woodgal Adventure music is also used in a game called Maths Prodigy or something. It's a free library one and I didn't know until my daughter was like... Dad, that's the same music as in that game I used to play.

Yes! My daughter heard it from the other room and asked why I was playing Maths Prodigy!

[Eighthours]

1 hour ago, dadrester said:

Switch patch is live now.

 

We have a hotfix incoming for some nasty progression blockers and trophies/achievements that don't pop on other platforms. Hopefully early next week depending on format QA.

 

Then we can finally start doing some nice quality of life and gameplay tweaks.

 

Other stuff...

 

The "Assistant managers assistant" is me in 1993...

 

KONAMI CODE on title screen means you'll always S-Rank washing.

 

On pool you can add spin if you press circle/equivalent (or is it square?). Physics are still a bit janky though

 

Other than the Recluse and one of the Mono Memory tracks, the music was entirely created for the game (and is streamable with no worries about copyright takedowns). Most of the band names are made up for the game too. More on soundtrack coming soon 

 

Blockchain vs. Drop7... So Blockchain is based on blitz mode in Drop7 but we tweak a fair bit. Each "round", rather than or always taking 6 spawns for a new line to appear we have a random number between 5 and 8. We have power ups (this is the big one) and crucially we encourage big scores by rewarding combos with the power ups.

 

Blockchain is my personal heroin.

 

Bugai (not-puzzle bobble2) is the game that I've worried about the most as it's really close to the original. Along with Windjammers (which we didn't dare touch) it's the most played game in the office. At uni me and a mate would play first to 50 on the PS1 version of it to decide who would do the washing up. We always called it Bugaaaaaaaiiii, as that's what it sounds like they say. That mate's nickname is Effaz (the king pig in woodgal's Adventure) and he grew up on "Goswick farm" which is next to a golf course (one of the courses on the golf game.

 

The Woodgal Adventure music is also used in a game called Maths Prodigy or something. It's a free library one and I didn't know until my daughter was like... Dad, that's the same music as in that game I used to play.

 

The graphics in Llama were done by my daughter.

 

The game is big... It was made by effectively 7 of us.

 

Can you explain the various Blockchain power ups to me, please? I haven’t quite worked them out, cos stupid.

 

Also, Arcade Paradise is definitely one of my fave games of the year. Well done all!

[dadrester]

3 hours ago, Eighthours said:

Can you explain the various Blockchain power ups to me, please? I haven’t quite worked them out, cos stupid.

 

Also, Arcade Paradise is definitely one of my fave games of the year. Well done all!

Skull - like a bomb that does a square of 9

Worm - a line down whatever column

Arrow - flips board upside down (what was on the top in now on bottom)

Stacked boxes - adds 1 to all numbers (7 becomes = )

The last one shuffles a random number of blocks to a random number

[shirubagan]

Finally decided on platform (Switch) and bought this today. I’ve just played it for three hours straight. Looking like a another strong contender for my GOTY. 

[scissorkicks]

Isn't this game amazing? I've got lots of progress on PS5 but still quite a few games to get... but I'm away for 3 weeks and have found myself considering getting it on Steam to play on my laptop. Surely not....

[Pelekophoros]

Yeah it's great. I just did the last shop expansion so have a number of expensive machines to get now.

 

Upgrading the store fixed the laundry issue I had before that. 

 

Hopelessly addicted to Blockchain. Was addicted to Woodgirl Jr but now have Woodgiy Jr to get the goals on. 

 

My son was looking at Communists Vs Mars yesterday and commented on how good the CRT effects were. Gotta agree. We've spent a lot of time on our MAME cab recently so he has an educated eye!

 

When the campaign is done I'll be keeping it installed so I can drop in and carry on playing. I'm unlikely to go for every goal - some are super difficult - there's so much variety in here there should be something for everyone. 

[cassidy]

I’m all expanded up now and have no more games to buy. 
 

Just got my 90 goals completed achievement but still have more to work on. This game will be on my console for a long time working on the rest of the goals. 

[Mr Majestyk]

This is my 2022 GOTY. After you get by the initial laundry grind it turns into an absolute time sink. Loving the variety of arcade games and the daily todo lists. 

[shirubagan]

The quality of my laundry service has taken a real nosedive since the To Do list feature unlocked. Just bought Space Race and Blockchain and saving up for an assistant (who looks suspiciously like Joseph Gordon Levitt in 3rd Rock from the Sun). 

[Dark Soldier]

You've sold me on this lads, will nab it when back from holiday. Guessing PS5 version is grand?

[cassidy]

If anyone is interested here’s my mate Britts article on the experience of having his bands music in the game and attending the launch party. 
 

https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2022/08/britts-arcade-paradise-launch-day-diary.html

[scissorkicks]

20 hours ago, cassidy said:

If anyone is interested here’s my mate Britts article on the experience of having his bands music in the game and attending the launch party. 
 

https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2022/08/britts-arcade-paradise-launch-day-diary.html

 

Please tell Britt from me that his band's music is *excellent*. Really, really impressed. Like what if Nirvana had done a third album after listening to My Bloody Valentine non-stop for a few years. Really, really impressed.

[cassidy]

I shall indeed pass the message on. I've ordered their 3 CDs from band camp only £15 as well. 

[Paulando]

On 03/09/2022 at 14:52, dadrester said:

We always called it Bugaaaaaaaiiii, as that's what it sounds like they say.

 

Just stuck my head in here after hearing about this on one of the new Back Page episodes and this made me lol. I know exactly the sound you mean.

[shirubagan]

I must have played this for around eight hours this weekend. It's great. Added my second expansion last night and had to put the Switch in sleep mode so I too could go into sleep mode.

[cassidy]

Today I managed to unlock endless mode in Slime pipes. 

 

Devious on occasion that game is. 

[dadrester]

On 04/09/2022 at 14:00, shirubagan said:

The quality of my laundry service has taken a real nosedive since the To Do list feature unlocked. Just bought Space Race and Blockchain and saving up for an assistant (who looks suspiciously like Joseph Gordon Levitt in 3rd Rock from the Sun). 

 

Looks more like 13 year old me, but I'll happily take the Joseph Gordon Levitt comment as a compliment!

[dadrester]

6 hours ago, scissorkicks said:

 

Please tell Britt from me that his band's music is *excellent*. Really, really impressed. Like what if Nirvana had done a third album after listening to My Bloody Valentine non-stop for a few years. Really, really impressed.

 

The story behind this is that almost all the music for the game was written specifically for it by Kieron Pepper - formerly of the Prodigy. This stuff was commissioned by our publisher Wired Productions with me sending them a bunch of stuff I wanted similar vibes to. That's all the stuff you buy from Disk Jammers (little windjammers/flying power disc nod there). All the already unlocked tunes on the jukebox is stuff I got us outside of that. Almost all of it was composed for the game. Bobby Freeform - my mate Russell, Bruise Machine - my mate Paul, and all of the Mono Memory stuff except Outrun the World, was new and specifically for the game. Bruise machine as a name was made up in about 4 seconds after a few beers thinking of a name for this fake band. I know Kieron did the same for all of the music he produced.

As the CEO and Game Director I get LOOOOOAAAADDDS of cold emails about people wanting to do music for games. Some of it is fine, but 99% isn't really appropriate . I always make a point to have a little listen though, if someone's spent the effort to send me it. Britt got in touch on twitter and I though "here we go again", but he was really knowledgeable about the game already and thought his tuff might be "era appropriate".

I had one listen and was instantly sold. I was really into grunge and so on as a kid (Sonic Young tshirt on one of the customers, the king wash is on Murray Street, a bunch of other references) and there was none on the soundtrack; which had already been locked down, but I was like, fuck it... I want this in the game! Had loads of really good chats with Britt over twitter just about music and us introducing each other to stuff we'd not heard of. iirc he hadn't heard of Sebadoh - which I was reaaaaally surprised by given some of the tracks on their albums, and there were plenty of bands he introduced me to too. Because of the deadlines and so on we couldn't really get custom stuff done, so instead he basically let me pick a whole bunch of tunes from their existing albums. It was super cool, but also really hard to narrow down which ones. 

AND THEN... we had a launch party and I invited Britt and he brought me a whole bunch of Recluse merch and CD's. It was lovely.

[Orion]

I am still loving this but I'm not sure "physics" is the only problem with pool. Its possibly the most broken video game version of pool I have ever seen. 

[cassidy]

Thanks for the further musical info @dadrester

I ordered the CD's and their t-shirt yesterday morning.  Imagine my shock when I came home about 15.00 after visiting ma's to find them posted through my door. 

 

Mindblown. Turns out the bassist lives close by and does all the merch so just popped them up. 

 

Never had customer service like that.  Plus I am loving their new album. 

 

Back to the game. Question I have regarding the wack a mole game. 

 

What prompts the time extend? It's taken me two days to finally score over a thousand but can't work the mechanic. 

 

Oh any tip's for clearing a Vostok level without killing any enemies, I swear I've gotten through without killing any but on the boss it's hard to not hit the odd one that spawns right by them. 

[dadrester]

18 minutes ago, Orion said:

I am still loving this but I'm not sure "physics" is the only problem with pool. Its possibly the most broken video game version of pool I have ever seen. 

 

Happy to hear suggestions (not that I'm promising anything). Our first few patches have all been about game breaking or progression blocking bugs, but once the next one is out of the way we're looking to actually do some quality of life stuff and actual gameplay improvements.

For me, the big issue with pool is how powerful the top power is. I'm also not convinced the colliders on the pockets are right but I've checked them umpteen times (including just now while typing this). Adding UI to let the player know they can add spin will be straightforward but i suppose i need to play with ball mass and forces. 

[dadrester]

2 minutes ago, cassidy said:

Thanks for the further musical info @dadrester

I ordered the CD's and their t-shirt yesterday morning.  Imagine my shock when I came home about 15.00 after visiting ma's to find them posted through my door. 

 

Mindblown. Turns out the bassist lives close by and does all the merch so just popped them up. 

 

Never had customer service like that.  Plus I am loving their new album. 

 

Back to the game. Question I have regarding the wack a mole game. 

 

What prompts the time extend? It's taken me two days to finally score over a thousand but can't work the mechanic. 

 

Oh any tip's for clearing a Vostok level without killing any enemies, I swear I've gotten through without killing any but on the boss it's hard to not hit the odd one that spawns right by them. 

 

Whenever you hit a gopher you get extra time, but only a really little bit. Thump-a-gopher makes me rage because i ALWAYS hit woodguy and he costs you -50 points and resets the spawn speeds. If you don't make any mistakes it gets dead fast. That's where to get high scores.

 

On Vostok 2093 - It depends on what upgrades you have. if you've got all of them maxed you need to use the laser and the best level to use it on it the gold head boss on the 4th level IIRC, as he stays in the middle of the screen and you can avoid hitting any enemies in the early part of the level. Actually maybe it's the first animal boss. Originally there were no enemies spawning on the boss bits but it felt kind of dead so we added them, but with weapons that auto target it makes things more tricky. The enemies that explode when the boss dies DON'T count towards the goal. It's definitely doable (and not that difficult), but you have to not crash into enemies.

[Orion]

12 minutes ago, dadrester said:

 

Happy to hear suggestions (not that I'm promising anything). Our first few patches have all been about game breaking or progression blocking bugs, but once the next one is out of the way we're looking to actually do some quality of life stuff and actual gameplay improvements.

For me, the big issue with pool is how powerful the top power is. I'm also not convinced the colliders on the pockets are right but I've checked them umpteen times (including just now while typing this). Adding UI to let the player know they can add spin will be straightforward but i suppose i need to play with ball mass and forces. 

 

I know bounce back from the back of the pocket when playing in real life is possible but you get it loads here. Possibly because of the power issue but you can have the perfect pot lined up then instead watch the ball hit an invisible brick wall and just bounce out loads. There seems to be only two potting powers as well, very slow or ridiculously fast. 

 

[dadrester]

51 minutes ago, Orion said:

 

I know bounce back from the back of the pocket when playing in real life is possible but you get it loads here. Possibly because of the power issue but you can have the perfect pot lined up then instead watch the ball hit an invisible brick wall and just bounce out loads. There seems to be only two potting powers as well, very slow or ridiculously fast. 

 

 

So power is analogue dependent on speed and distance of the stick/mouse but the bounds probably need tweaking. Might also see if adding a (very hacky) collider behind the hole that will dampen the bounce. 

 

As I say more pressing issues first though.

[cassidy]

19 hours ago, dadrester said:

 

On Vostok 2093 - It depends on what upgrades you have. if you've got all of them maxed you need to use the laser and the best level to use it on it the gold head boss on the 4th level IIRC, as he stays in the middle of the screen and you can avoid hitting any enemies in the early part of the level. Actually maybe it's the first animal boss. Originally there were no enemies spawning on the boss bits but it felt kind of dead so we added them, but with weapons that auto target it makes things more tricky. The enemies that explode when the boss dies DON'T count towards the goal. It's definitely doable (and not that difficult), but you have to not crash into enemies.

Top advice thanks,  did it my first go using the full upgraded laser on the first wave. 

 

Brings a lot of cash an hour Vostok does with all the goals done.