• Projects
  • Hop! 2D : a simple yet not-all-that-easy 2D platformer with 2 control keys !

Hello everyone !

Can't believe it, but I'm ahead of schedule so here's the new BETA 25 version of my game !

Hop!2D beta 25 (french/english latest WIP version, 97% done)
- download Hop!2D beta 25 (Windows/Linux/macOS)
- play Hop!2D beta 25 online (itch.io, not from mobile phone)

What's new for this one ? 4 more playable levels, 1 new enemy, mouse-controllable menus and game, improved interface, 2 more slots to save your games, a native Window icon, and quite a lot of bugs fixed (but most of them were related to the recent game saving system which, now, should work fine, both for downloadable and online versions of the game). I'm pretty excited to go on for next beta, as this one may be the last one before tackling the last boss levels of the game.

more detail below... and waiting for your own screenshots !


interface changes

changelog

  • 4 new playable levels (97% of the game)
  • a few levels modified
  • 1 new enemy type
  • mouse-controllable basic actions (left/right/confirm/cancel)
  • mouse added in control visual reminders
  • HELP menu extended (14 pages)
  • content of saved games extended
  • 2 more slots for saved games (8 in total)
  • character animations added in welcome screen and DEV. MODE menu
  • position saving in LOAD/SAVE GAME menu
  • blinking life number if last life
  • new Windows icon (Hop's profile)
  • more sound effects
  • sound adjustments
  • mouse added in shortcut reminders
  • a few sprites modified
  • other interface details added or modified
  • ASTHALIS times updated
  • new functionalities in developer mode
  • thanks updated

bugs fixed

  • no more crash due to a crawling enemy killed
  • no more crash due to a boss touching a trampoline
  • possible wrong next world corrected
  • 1 trampoline reset
  • collision parameters of an enemy rectified
  • code of 3 enemies rewritten
  • counting of collected and bonus coins corrected
  • no more possible multiple validations in some menus
  • display bug corrected in SAVE GAME menu
  • graphic bug corrected in SUMMARY screen

coming up

  • one more regular level
  • final bosses levels !
23 days later

Hello everyone !

Chrismas is almost here and I won't be able to work much this month on Hop ! 2D. However, I can tell you that the current work-in-progress BETA 26 has 1 more playable level (98% of the total planned) and I have spent quite a lot of time on the MUSEUM, which will be the "congratulations" level once the player has completed the game.

I won't reveal you much about this huge area (there is much to see and visit), just let you know that a quiz will await you there and you can send me your answers if you succeed in completing the game.

Here's a picture of the MUSEUM's beginning just to give you a glance of what it looks like.

I will release BETA 26 later this month once all I want is functional in the MUSEUM and some remaining minor bugs fixed. 2 boss levels are still to be built to end the game, this will be the "to do list" for BETA 27. Things run fine so far, the final version of the game is planned for the end of february in 2023.

I Hope you are ready for a massive final test before the 1.0 version !

See you soon.

I just logged back into the forums for the first time in probably over a year specifically to see if this game was still being developed. I'm glad to see it is. I love to see single indie developers sticking to a project the way you are sticking to this one. You've done a great job of creating a game with an extremely low barrier to entry, that is fun to play, and which has a distinct personaliity. I can't wait to play the newest build.

Edit: Well, this is odd. I'm getting an error saying it can't initialize the video driver. This is the same video card I've always used to play Hop! 2D, and the drivers are up-to-date. Also, setting LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 has no effect, and I get the same error. I am using OpenGL in some of my own projects with no issue.

    SpaceAce
    First of all, Thanks a lot for your great support !
    Strange issue, indeed... I suppose you're a Windows user ? I never changed anything in the default Godot video settings, I simply switched versions when they were released (from Godot 3.2 at the beginning of the project to 3.5 for the latest updates). I may try different setups to see if one of them works better for you but I guess I would need your e-mail to provide you links to these files (my e-mail is in the ABOUT menu of the game if you still have an older working version). By the way, what is your last Hop! 2D working version ?

      Asthalis

      I'm on Linux, actually. If you look way back in the thread, you'll see me talking about how I was running it under Wine, and asking for a Linux build. After that, you posted some Linux builds, and they worked for me, as far as I can recall.

      I'm not in front of the machine I was talking about in my last post, but I think my previous version was something like Beta 4. If you look back to my last post about a year ago, whatever was out then is what I had before I updated to the newest beta a few days ago.

      Edit: I just downloaded Beta 25 onto this machine (laptop), and it started right up.
      Edit II: Wait, how come I can't go into full-screen? Also, are the menus supposed to be sideways, now?
      Edit III: Ok, space bar does full screen.

        SpaceAce
        Great if it works fine on Linux, I actually had no feedback so far from players using this OS (I only use Windows). I kept the default video settings for the latest beta so it looks like I don't need to change anything. Of course, you can alternatively play Hop on itch.io as well, whatever your system.

        It seems you eventually answered your own questions in the "edits" ! Indeed, if you looked at the HELP menu of the game, you can read that spacebar switches between window and fullscreen mode. In the first versions playable on itch.io, I changed the "cancel" key from Esc to backspace as it conflicted with the default "exit" action on itch.io. I finally kept it this way because it felt "logical" to me and backspace is accessible with the right hand as every other action in the game or its menus (in fact, you just need one hand to play !).

        I know "sideways menus" may first look odd and unusual but I think you will quickly get used to it. In a way, it's part of the game design and I chose to show them this way to keep consistency with direction keys in the game (left or right move but no "up" or "right" action). By the way, you can now also use your mouse to play or navigate in the game (left and right button as directions, roll down to confirm and up to cancel).

        One major change you may have already used is the game saving system. I finally chose to add one as games can now last quite long (2 hours may not be enough to end the game) and I did not want to discourage "hurried" players.

        So, if you're back, I hope you can find time to get me some feedback about your progression and how you feel about it. Thanks again !

        You are doing a fantastic job with this. It plays well and is both difficult and not overly annoying.

          stevegeorge
          Hello and thanks, glad to hear you like it !
          May I know which version you use (Win/Linux/macOS/online) and how you prefer to play (keyboard/mouse) ?

          Hello everyone !

          Chrismas is almost here and here's the latest (BETA 26) version of Hop! 2D.

          Hop!2D beta 26 (french/english latest WIP version, 98% done)
          - download Hop!2D beta 26 (Windows/Linux/macOS)
          - play Hop!2D beta 26 online (itch.io, not from mobile phone)

          Nothing really new at first glance but one more level is available in this new beta and much has been done in the MUSEUM, the "congratulations level" every player hopes to get to once his quest is complete. Lots of sprite polishing and code adjustments were made too and several minor remaining bugs fixed.

          Now that 98% of the game is done, my next task is to build the 2 last boss levels and a victory animation. I will then ask as many testers as possible to play Hop!2D in a month-long final "megatest" to make sure there is no remaining bug and then... I will be done with the official version of my "dream retrogaming 2D platformer" !

          changelog

          • 1 new playable level
          • final level (MUSEUM) enlarged and enriched
          • a few levels updated
          • Hop's animation modified in SUMMARY screen
          • ASTHALIS times updated
          • some sprites reworked
          • thanks updated

          bugs fixed

          • no more errors in high levels if "next level" command used in developer mode
          • 1 superfluous scenery element removed
          • boss code minor mistake corrected
          • Hop : no more front/profile view blinking if collision to the right
          • text position corrected in end-of-level stats

          coming up

          • final bosses levels !
          • victory animation
          5 days later

          Hi,
          Work is progressing on the penultimate level !

          Now building and testing the very last level !

          5 days later

          Currently testing next boss...

          7 days later

          Hello everyone !

          The very last boss isn't functional yet but the epilog animation of the game is ready and Hop can now (really) meet his girlfriend and go back home with her to visit the museum, where all enemies and bosses are caged. I'm now working on the detailed credits screen.

          I guess the final boss will be the last piece of the puzzle !


          epilog animation


          Hop with his girlfriend in the final museum

          Here's an updated demo of the first 2 worlds of the game. Enjoy !

          [

          5 days later

          I'm currently working on saved games and general parameters (the structure of both file types has been modified to include more data). Everything seems to run fine so I will start to take care of the very last boss next week. There won't be a new beta this month as I really want the next one to be the last before the final open "mega-test". Everyone will be welcome for this crucial last step.

          Hope the final version will be worth the while !

          Hop's energy decrease will be slowed down in next beta (-2% per second instead of -2.5%), which gives the player 10 more seconds to complete a level is no bonus is collected 😉


          It's a nice game, congratulations of getting so far in this project, alone I guess, if it's the case, it's not easy at all to stay motivated through all failures or obstacles along the way.
          I like how it's designed, the menu system, saving ability is great (but a little bit the opposite way of the spirit of such game, I believe the codes would have been more in sync, like in many Amiga games : Populous 2, Lost vikings, and so many I can't remember.

          The reference to Crafton & Xunk is amazing ! So much memory, I don't even think I ever known what was the purpose of the game, but it was a frustrating as Hop can be after level 8 and tunnels ! Typical 8 bits era style game (especially crazy Spanish games like Game Over 1 & 2, Army Moves, Navy Moves or Satan), I guess there are more of them on TV screens.

          I'm looking forward to the next beta. Keep up the good work !

          Regarding the game technical side itself, it works great on windows, no issue at all, everything's fine.
          There is one little thing which could be improve I guess : to quit directly from a level, it's not that easy ! Hop doesn't really want us to leave him alone. Also, the vertical texts in some menu are a bit annoying to read this way.

          I forgot, I like the way visuals are made, not awesome but consistent, which is not so easy to do.

            JusTiCe8

            First of all, thanks a lot for your support, it is much appreciated ! Hop! 2D is my dearest project so far (probably my only presentable one !) and except musics and some sounds, I did make the rest of the game myself.

            You're right about the saving system, it's clearly a concession I made to the spirit of vintage video games but, due to the growth of the game from its very beginning, it became necessary to find a practical way to do it, with only a few "clicks" and nothing to type. In earlier versions, I did use 6 digit-codes, just like in Lemmings once you have completed a level, but at the end of each world in my case (series of 10 levels). But the more I used it, the more I felt most players would not like to note (or even remember !) these codes just to avoid restarting from scratch. I also had some feedback about players discouraged to have to restart a whole world after losing their last life near its end. So I came to the current system, where you can restart a game from the beginning of any unlocked world (kind of "automatic progression save") or choose when to save manually a game at the end of any level. 6-digit codes are still used in the game but only to access secret areas (have you tried at least the first one you can see in level 5 ?).

            I'm also glad I'm not the only one here to know Crafton & Xunk ! To me, this game was a true masterpiece considering the memory of the Amstrad CPC, which was my first computer. I've completed the game and its sequel if you're interested (search "Asthalis", "Crafton & Xunk" and "Ange de cristal" on Youtube) and dedicated a whole part of my website (asthalis.free.fr) to video games (Arcade, CPC and PC) so you're likely to find (or re-discover) lots of hits of the 80s and 90s there. One of my favourite childhood video games was the CPC version of Ikari Warriors.

            But back to my game... When you say Hop is hard to quit, you may be right too if you mean the number of needed steps is a bit too much. There is a quick way, though : switch to windowed mode (space bar) and... just close the window ! Jokes apart, do you think I should add a "quit" button in the pause menu and/or the main menu ?

            To be honest, you're not the first one to mention the "unorthodox" layout of the menus. This was dictated from the start by my choice to keep controls consistent between the game itself and the navigation in menus (left and right directions only). Now that I've added (I hope) self-explanatory icons on each button, I'm pretty sure you won't notice it anymore after a few games.

            Thanks for sharing this and good all memories (and sorry for being so wordy !), I'll add your name in the "thanks" section of Hop! 2D's next beta (27). By the way, Which level have you reached so far ?