Insert Staind reference here.
I ended up taking a hiatus on this project due to a lack of interest - both from my testers and myself. It's my fault mainly - I should have been recruiting more people to test as burnout can be a serious thing for a long project like this. However, there's a potential of renewed interest.
A streamer and dear friend of mine, Maeka, has graciously created a video going over the game! You can check it out below. If you're here from her video, hello! Feel free to check out the demo, and if you would like to see more you can apply to be a beta tester. If there is some renewed public interest in the game, I would love to work on it again.
If you're unfamiliar with Maeka, she is a streamer with a passion for games and sushi. You can check out her social media profiles and streaming channels over on her website. If you tune into her stream, tell her Skyline sent you!
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
A new demo and beta - version 0.7.0.0 - have been released side-by-side! We're in the home stretch now, and builds are all about polish rather than drastically changing things up. New levels and bugfixes are the main focus for now. There are a few gameplay additions yet to come, but for the most part it's all about refining what is already there. There's always room for improvement, and balancing that in addition to creating new content is crucial.
Development is a constant learning experience, to the point that present-day me and Olol's infancy me might as well be completely different people. There have been so many a-ha moments, so many times where I look back and go "what on earth was I thinking?" Skulls are a recent example of that. The previous code for skulls was hundreds of lines long, accounting for numerous almost unexplainable scenarios. They recently got cleaned up into less than 100 lines of code that theoretically should make them much less janky. It's things like this that make game development so rewarding. There are always tangible results directly related to your ever-evolving skill set.
Anyway, click the Demo button above and try out the new demo! Levels have been remixed, so there's something new to discover.
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
A new demo is now available to the public! This demo features all the changes and bugfixes from betas 0.4.0.0 and 0.5.0.0 (as well as some others - see our Trello board for more info), including Discord Rich Presence. This means when you're playing Olol & The Oubliette of Intellect it will show up in Discord! As always, custom levels and the level editor are not included in the demo. If you would like to try that out, consider signing up to become a beta tester.
Click the Demo button above to grab the new demo and try it out for yourself!
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
We have just released Beta 5 to testers. Among its new additions is a brand-spanking-new level editor! Now you can edit levels directly in the game without need of the website. However, the web-based level editor isn't going anywhere. This just gives players another option to create and edit custom levels. We've also added Discord Rich Presence, meaning when you're playing Olol & The Oubliette of Intellect it will show up in your Discord client!
If you want to sign up to become a beta tester, just click on "Beta" above. You get access to builds and a testers-only section on Discord, plus your name will show up in the game's credits.
Unrelated to the game, we have also put up all patch notes directly on the website for easy access. Click on "Patch Notes" above to check them out! It was a real trip down memory lane putting those together.
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
At this point you are likely aware that ice cubes are meant to be tricky little things that get in Olol's way. But what if there was one that just didn't feel like it? Introducing the friendly ice cube:
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This little guy is so bored, but once you give it a push it gets excited. Finally, once you push hard enough it takes off, rocketing off in the direction that you pushed with a huge grin on its face! This new ice cube (which behaves much more like a block than anything) should manage to get Olol in and out of slippery situations.
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
Surprise! Today marks the second demo for Olol & The Oubliette of Intellect! This is built from Beta 3 and features all the improvements made since Beta 1. It's a night and day difference, and the polish is finally starting to show. There is still a long way to go before release, but this will help demonstrate the current development progress. Head on over to the Home page and grab the demo found at the bottom of the page.
Now's your chance to check out the latest features if you're not part of the beta. Enjoy!
-Logan
Today we pushed the second beta for Olol & The Oubliette of Intellect! A lot of graphical redesigns were made, some you may have noticed on the website. For instance, now Olol is a cute little bomb! Several under-the-hood improvements have also been made, such as Olol now moving in 8 directions. Frankly, 4-directional movement became too irritating to manage. What was at one point 700+ lines of code just for handling movement is now condensed to around 400 lines - and that's factoring in the 4 new directions!
Level design is starting to see some improvement as well. In the new set of levels, the idea is to introduce concepts in a simple, safe fashion before re-introducing them in future levels that starts to push your understanding of them. It also combines them with other concepts to allow you to see how they interact. The first several levels are crucial, as they cannot be too difficult but also cannot be too easy, all the while teaching you how to play the game. This makes feedback very important.
We are still looking for additional beta testers, so if you'd like to get in on the action click the Beta button above and fill out the form!
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
Here we are, three weeks after the beta has launched. Responses thus far have been mostly positive, and I'm incredibly grateful for people's feedback! Please keep it coming. Together we can improve the game and help it reach its full potential. It's not too late to become a beta tester either, just click on the Beta button at the top of this page and fill out the form.
Now that we're in beta, it's time to improve what already exists. The newest design challenge was with the pillars. By design, they are supposed to hold on to Olol or anything else unfortunate enough to be on top of them when they are activated, and let go when they are deactivated. However, a normal pillar doing this made no sense. Pillars are smooth and certainly not sticky. Say hello to the jelly pillar:
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It still impedes movement, but it's both 100% stickier and grumpier! Also looks to be grape flavored. We also added another button that will toggle the pillars only as long as it is held down by something. This should lead to some more complex puzzle design.
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
As promised, the beta has arrived! This has gone out to testers already, but for the first time ever we have a demo available for the general public! What an exciting, nerve-wracking time. This project that has been in the works for a year and a half is now ready to be shown to the world. If you like it and would like to see more, consider joining us on Discord or Reddit. Sign up to a beta tester if you wish to get the latest builds right away - beta testers earn a free copy of the game upon release and their name in the credits.
We hope that you enjoy the game. Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the demo. If you find a bug, feel free to report it and we will address it ASAP. Please note that the artwork is currently placeholder and will be periodically improved upon in future beta builds.
What are you waiting for? Click on Home and grab the demo!
-Logan
One positive thing from being in quarantine is you have nothing but time to work on projects. This means that progress on Olol has been significant, and we're incredibly close to launching a public demo and opening applications for beta testing! Without giving an exact date, at this rate you can anticipate a demo release within the next two weeks.
The demo will contain 10 levels from Olol & The Oubliette of Intellect, but no access to custom levels. Custom levels will be limited to retail copies of the game. Beta testers will have full access to every aspect of the game, so if you would like to be a part of the team stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
Here's a screenshot of the first level. Nice and simple, just enough to give you an idea of what to expect. It only gets better from here.
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
After a bit of a hiatus, we're back in production! A new build has been pushed to testers, and it's a big one full of major bugfixes and new features. If you're reading this, you probably read about the game from another website. In that case, hello! We are looking for more beta testers at this time, so by all means feel free to join the Discord and sign up.
Yet another trap has been added: toggle blocks! Press a button to toggle the pillars to pop up or recede into the ground. If you're on top of one when it pops up, it can hold you in place. Not just Olol can press the button - enemies can also press them.
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With button mechanics also comes a button to toggle the direction of one-way tiles. They can be interacted with in the same way to rotate the one-way tiles clockwise.
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That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
What a busy time the past month has been. We've been hard at work rebuilding the very foundation of the game in a significant way. Custom levels introduced a whole new way that levels were built, and it just so happens that that way is completely different from how official levels are built. This led to many issues since enemies, etc were depending on levels being built a specific way. Issues that existed in custom levels did not exist in official levels and vice-versa. This was a major headache and was not sustainable.
So like any sensible person would do, we completely rebuilt the core foundation of the level building system.
Now, built-in levels and custom levels behave the same way. They are handled the same and can be designed and supported the same. This also significantly improves the speed at which levels can be designed, as the level editor can be used to build official levels too! Speaking of official levels, we are now working on adding actual levels to the game as opposed to the same seven placeholder levels that have existed since Alpha 1. Here's one example - in this level, you're encouraged to take things slowly and work your way around the lasers surrounding the room. Patience is key here to avoid being vaporized!
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
This week we focused on adding yet another trap that should add another degree of difficulty to levels: one-way tiles!
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As the name implies, one-way tiles force movement in one direction. Once Olol steps on one, he is forced to keep walking in that direction until he's off of the tile. This could allow for interesting mazes without walls, forced entrances and exits, even a walk of shame to Olol's demise.
We're also adding some additional help features to the game so even from the title screen, you can read up on the controls. The title screen is beginning to expand a little as well as we head into another feature that should add replayability long after the game is finished: custom levels! Initially custom levels will be created using the Level Editor on the website, but an in-game level editor is in the works for PC. If we can make it work using a controller, perhaps it could see inclusion in a future console release. However, trying to build a level piece by piece may be too cumbersome with a controller. Only time will tell.
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
Hi there!
A brief progress report today: we just pushed a new internal build to our alpha testers. Finally, we have sound effects! It's unbelievable how much audio breathes life into a game, and as we move forward it's nice to continue to shape the overall feel of the game in yet another dimension. On top of that, our testers continue to provide continuous bug reports and feature suggestions which constantly help shape and polish the game. My appreciation for them cannot be overstated.
One recent suggestion was to add some help to the pause screen, and so now when you pause the game you can see all relevant controls to the input method you're using (keyboard vs controller). Take a look for yourself:
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
This week was focused on improving graphics, either by editing existing sprites or redoing them altogether. One case of the latter was the enemy known as the Biter. It looked like a cross between a frog and a teddy bear, and not so much like a walking mouth. You'd want to hug it, not run away from it! Skulls also didn't look at all like how I wanted them to, and so they also got redesigned. Seeing as how this is my first legitimate game and I'm stubbornly choosing to do graphical work myself, it's nice to see a gradual progression of things improving in quality ask my skills develop. Practice makes perfect, after all.
Here is a sneak peek of what was improved:
| Enemy | Old | New |
|---|---|---|
Slime (horizontal) |
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Slime (vertical) |
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Ice (horizontal) |
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Ice (Vertical) |
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Skulls |
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Biters |
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Testers will be able to see all of this in action in the next alpha build, ETA TBD. There is plenty more to do for the next alpha build - including more graphical improvements and potentially sound effects - and so it will keep on coming as time allows.
That's all for now, see you next time!
-Logan
Hi there! This is the first time I've made anything related to this project public. Olol & The Oubliette of Intellect is a puzzle game in which you navigate rooms, collect gems, outsmart enemies, and avoid traps. The finished game will feature 50-100 levels, and from what you can probably gather already it will also feature a level editor so you can import custom levels. This will likely be limited to the PC version. Fun fact, I wrote the level editor in an afternoon so that I could design levels on the go, and once I realized how far I had taken it I decided that it would probably be a fun feature to add to the game proper. Eventually the web-based version may disappear in lieu of it being added to the game, but for now enjoy playing with it. Feel free to share your level designs/codes on the official Discord. Who knows, if your design is interesting it may be added to the game!
Olol is currently in closed Alpha, but if you would like to apply to become a tester you can do so on our Discord. See the link above to check it out. The explanation on how to do so is mentioned in the rules. Please note though that I am looking for skilled testers who are capable of picking apart a game and being honest about what they like and don't like, and I really need consistent feedback from my testers. Testers also get their name (or Discord handle if you prefer) in the credits of the game.
With that said, enjoy a few screenshots for the time being! These are from the latest alpha build and represent a work in progress. Level design and graphics are not yet final.
That's all for now, I'll keep this page updated when anything newsworthy happens. See you then!
-Logan
