Who stole christmas by StMatn

[raw]
made by StMatn for LD25 (JAM)
We proudly present "Who stole christmas?"

In this game you play a minion who has the task to steal christmas presents for his master.

We wish you much fun, and a tr...merry christmas ;)


Mapeditor-manual is finally out! You can find it in my journal.


(If you want to see the ending, but the game is too hard/frustrating, let me tell you, that there is a cheat. To avoid spoilers here, a hint is included in my journal-entry, which I've posted right after the deadline. It has to be entered on the world-map-screen)



If the game doesn't start, please make sure, that:
-you have the proper working java runtime environment installed
-you have unpacked the archive (Windows lets you browse the archive, but the game isnt able to access the resources, when launched inside the zip)

OK...i've said it many times, but this time the builds should REALLY work on different systems. I tested the Java6-Version under a Java6-JRE and it didnt start a exception-storm in the console, so I believe it should work. Versions aren't operating system specific. If you run Java7 on your mac you can unse the Windows-Download and if you're using Java6 on Windows, the Mac-Download will work for you.
To check your version go to the console/terminal/cmd and type in "java -version" (and hit enter, of course;) ) it should print something like >>java version "1.x...<< where x is your version.

Known issues:
-Problem loading level-icon on Linux ->fixed (Linux is very pedantig about filenames)

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.21 121
Audio(Jam) 2.22 226
Fun(Jam) 3.14 98
Graphics(Jam) 3.06 186
Humor(Jam) 2.73 135
Innovation(Jam) 2.96 143
Mood(Jam) 2.83 159
Theme(Jam) 3.73 74

Feedback

Quantumvm
18. Dec 2012 · 03:49 UTC
What a lovely game! Far more difficult than I initially anticipated but the challenge only made it more fun. Would have been nice if you laid off the default java buttons a bit though ;D
mikemacdee
18. Dec 2012 · 06:22 UTC
i can't get it to run...
SirJson
18. Dec 2012 · 13:09 UTC
Cool game! It reminds me of Commander Keen 1 a bit ;)
Starspell
18. Dec 2012 · 21:34 UTC
I get a UnsupportedClassVersionError: gui/MainFrame error when I run the game. I'll try again later on a different computer.
youdonotexist
18. Dec 2012 · 21:51 UTC
Is it possible to get a Mac version?
Joozey
18. Dec 2012 · 22:07 UTC
Very nice game! Challenged me to keep playing, and the overall gameplay is well balanced. A hard thing to do, especially in such a short time! Congrats on releasing such a solid and complete game.
🎤 StMatn
18. Dec 2012 · 22:13 UTC
Hey Starspell!

The "UnsupportedClassVersionError" seems to occur, when an application is compiled for a later jre version, than your currently installed one. You can check your version by typing "java -version" in the cmd.

If your version is lower than 1.7 (it will print >>java version "1.x...<< where x is lower than 7) you may want to get an update or tell me your version, so I can recompile the game, to support lower versions.

If your version actually is 1.7, all I've written is complete bulls**t. In that case I would be thankful for a short information.

Thank you for reporting the issue!
Greetings,
StMatn
🎤 StMatn
18. Dec 2012 · 22:25 UTC
Hey youdonotexist!

I have absolutely no idea about mac-compatibility of java-programms. The 5 minute web-investigation told me, that mac supports jre 1.6, so I will recompile and reupload it in a minute.

Would be cool, if you could tell me if the windows-version works for you, when the recompiled version is up.

Greetings,
StMatn
Keevor
19. Dec 2012 · 00:08 UTC
Really liked the idea. Harder than i expected.
SuperDisk
19. Dec 2012 · 00:31 UTC
The art was quite nice, and the concept and implementation are great. Very nice and polished entry.
Yngar
19. Dec 2012 · 00:56 UTC
Good game, pretty difficult. Protip: if you walk through a door at the same time as an enemy you can room swap without getting caught.
Kuulog
19. Dec 2012 · 01:00 UTC
Very interesting concept. I liked the intro sequence.
Niki
19. Dec 2012 · 01:10 UTC
Hey guys, (especially Kuulog,) if you enjoyed the intro sequence, why didn't you go through the game? You have to finish it because you don't even know, WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS!!! (that's just a PROTIP ;) )
lando walters
19. Dec 2012 · 01:53 UTC
Nice job. I liked it alot.
Logan
19. Dec 2012 · 02:30 UTC
Neat little game. It's got a sort of exploit, though. Since doors aren't counted as rooms, you can just stand in a doorway and be completely undetected!

I did enjoy it, though. The "never be in the same room" is a neatly-defined rule for a stealth game.
Faust
19. Dec 2012 · 02:46 UTC
Nice little game.
goulding57
19. Dec 2012 · 04:01 UTC
Sounds fun, I hope that you are able to put up a mac version. Would love to play and rate it! Congrats on entering.
MrEvilGuy
19. Dec 2012 · 04:42 UTC
Very difficult! The sound effects were fun. Makes me want to steal presents.
AyCe
19. Dec 2012 · 21:15 UTC
Nice idea, got quite hard at the end. Did not find any hint, but from the gfx, I can see the ending is hilarious ^^
JesterBLUE
19. Dec 2012 · 22:42 UTC
Neat game! the level editor looks cool and confusing. I was hoping that nabbing a candy cane would give me a 'sugar rush speed bonus' or something.
Shugor
19. Dec 2012 · 23:08 UTC
This game was fun! It also took me quite a while to finish, which is more than I can say for many other games in this Jam! good work!
Blodyavenger
20. Dec 2012 · 00:15 UTC
I loved it! Nice timing puzzle game which wasn't easy as all and that's why I liked it even more. Tough levels and even map editor? Nice! Walking sounds were a bit disturbing though and java buttons but that's not big problem though.

Oh and nice twist in the story! Loved it :)
Rex Peppers
20. Dec 2012 · 21:12 UTC
Could not launch executable on mac. :-(
Jiddo
20. Dec 2012 · 21:15 UTC
Really cool. I like the idea and the execution. Crossplatform support is also a plus! Graphically is looked really good as well. Tho, what's up with all the other non-present items that you can take? Do they actually serve any purpose?
youdonotexist
20. Dec 2012 · 22:00 UTC
@StMatn Thanks for putting up a Mac build.

What JRE version are you compiling with? I'm getting a "Unsupported major.minor version 51.0" error when trying to run it.

Doing a 'java -version' returns :

java version "1.6.0_37"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_37-b06-434-11M3909)

The only thing I could find with regard to what's going on was on Stackoverflow:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2466828/java-lang-unsupportedclassversionerror-bad-version-number-in-class-file

Hope this helps. If you're on twitter, ping me (@youdonotexist) if you need any help you troubleshooting your mac build.
🎤 StMatn
21. Dec 2012 · 01:37 UTC
@Mac users: please try the current version again. Eclipse was a bit misunderstanding so I believed I compiled the game for Java6, when it actually was compiled for Java7.

@Jiddo: The items initially should have purpose (locked doors were planned), but I quickly realized that time was short, so the implementation never happend. Currently they are just for decoration.

@youdonotexist: Thank you very much! Your last post was very helpful and it let me hunt down the problem. Like you can see in the first lines, it was a version incompatibility. I changed the global compilation settings, but did not notice, that my project had individual compilation settings activated. So, many thanks for your detailed report. I hope the game wont disappoint you after all effort you put in helping me :)
youdonotexist
21. Dec 2012 · 04:41 UTC
@StMatn: I was able to get it running on my Mac by installing the 1.7 JDK from Oracle's site. Not the most optimal solution, but it worked.

I had a lot of fun playing this game. Awesome Christmas-themed execution of the stealth genre. My only nitpick was that collisions were a bit unforgiving and got caught while struggling to fit between a wall and a table.
haxpor
22. Dec 2012 · 00:01 UTC
Nice execution for Christmas!
A bit hard to distinguish which is a walkable block or blocked. But that's nice job!
DaGamesta
22. Dec 2012 · 00:40 UTC
I'd say this is among the top 10 games I've played so far JUST because the feel of the gameplay is so nice and crisp, aside from a few tight squeezes. Aside from that you've also got good graphics, and nice humorous storyline, even if it's clearly taken from The Grinch who stole Christmas, and I enjoyed it overall, in spite of the difficulty. Keep up the good work!
🎤 StMatn
22. Dec 2012 · 01:11 UTC
Thank you for all this astonishingly positive comments! Feels great to read all this lines :)

@DaGamesta: Thank you very much for the compliments. I dont know exactly the ending, but the wikipedia-article clearly says, that the ending of Dr.Suess' story isn't the same as ours. The jar-name "spoils" the fact that the grinch actually has a major role in the story, but there also is this mysterious other one. The intro shows a master and a minion ;) You may want to check out the instant-win-cheat, described in my journal :)
dek
22. Dec 2012 · 01:32 UTC
Nice concept, liked the entry :)
BrothersT
22. Dec 2012 · 01:38 UTC
Nice little game :) well done.
sclark39
22. Dec 2012 · 04:24 UTC
Double clicked, but it won't run :(
🎤 StMatn
22. Dec 2012 · 11:03 UTC
@sclark39: I'm sorry, the game does not start for you :( If you would post some information on your OS, Java-Version and supposed you start is from console/terminal an error-message. Unfortunately I haven't got many possibilities for testing different systems, but if you report a problem, I promise, I'll do my best to try to solve it. For the problem to solve, I just need some information, where to start the bug-hunt ;)
dj_pale
22. Dec 2012 · 22:27 UTC
Can't figure out how to play past the tutorial when I get to the star-map :}
🎤 StMatn
22. Dec 2012 · 22:39 UTC
@dj_pale: The star-poles represent a level, each. Just click on them to enter. Yellow stars are unlocked levels, grey ones are locked. You unlock a level by winning the previous one. Start in the USA. To win a level, "just" collect all presents and go to the exit-zone(indicated by little signs with "exit" on them). A check mark right next to the slots in the present-count-bar will indicate, that the exit is open. Win the last level to see who the mysterious master in the armchair is.

P.S. I very much like the smiley you posted :D Could it be kind of a reference to something? :P
AdricZero
26. Dec 2012 · 16:44 UTC
Spent several minutes trying to get it to work on Windows 7. Could not find the main class.
KevinWorkman
05. Jan 2013 · 03:20 UTC
Worked great for me on Windows 7. I like this take on the theme. It was pretty hard though, and maybe things like places you can hide (under trees?) would help with that.

By the way, if you're looking for a better host than drop box, you might want to check out the free Java hosting I offer at http://StaticVoidGames.com. This would have fit in perfectly with out December holiday theme! Either way, nice job!
🎤 StMatn
06. Jan 2013 · 01:48 UTC
@AdricZero: I'm sorry, that the game won't start for you. If you could provide some information on your java-version and things youve tried to get it to work, i'd like to help figuring out the problem.

@KevinWorkman: Thank you for trying our game! The idea about places to hide actually was part of the development-plan, but got kicked out because of lack of time (real life, mostly sleeping and eating, took too much time ;) ).
Also thank you for the offer about your website. I definetly will have a look at it, when I get some spare time :)
tripleVisionGames
06. Jan 2013 · 13:06 UTC
Argh the collision detection was frustrating! It's fun when you don't get stuck though :)
RawBits
07. Jan 2013 · 01:09 UTC
There are some bugs here. I was in another room and it droped me out to the level selection screen. Once I teleported through a wall and I even walked to the opposite direction.

It's a good game though. What are the hearts for?
🎤 StMatn
07. Jan 2013 · 01:42 UTC
@tripleVisionGames & @RawBits: I'm very sorry for those glitches. We finished the game just in time, so we didn't have any time to give it any polish. The hearts and other items initially schould have purpose, but there was no time to implement those features. Thank you very much for playing :)