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A Hat in Time |OT| A Kid in Space

Maximo

Member
Finished the game tonight with 40 shine... time pieces and I really enjoyed it. Battle of the Birds was my favorite chapter. The fourth one was really great as well, gameplay wise, but I felt it was lacking in characters and humor compared to the other chapters.

Looking forward to user made levels, hopefully they give us enough tools to make some really crazy stuff

And supposedly two more worlds coming out for free in the coming months.
 

jholmes

Member
So are people on this forum just refusing to engage with this game because of the JonTron controversy, or did no one buy it? Because the game's a blast and it'd be a shame if people slept on it.

There is so much shitty about what Gears for Breakfast has done beyond one YouTuber having his voice recorded for his game, but every thread about these issues eventually gets locked and the edict is to keep that sort of talk out of unrelated threads where possible. I'm not saying I think the mods are wrong to do it, I in fact think it's the right call, it's just a matter of fact that those threads always meet an early end. If you don't want to engage with the issues other people have discussed at length in how the lead dev has behaved in the past, the stuff Gears for Breakfast pulled during the Kickstarter and how GfB is again refusing to own up to a controversy of their own making, that's certainly your right.
 

Rhete

Banned
And supposedly two more worlds coming out for free in the coming months.

Given how long the base game took to come out, I'm not really holding my breath for those, especially if they plan to be fairly major and elaborate chapters. Yacht Club Games took a year to add in a single playable character to Shovel Knight, but it was totally worth the wait.
 

capnjazz

Neo Member
I've been absolutely smitten by this games charm. I was a bit disappointed in Yooka-Laylee but I played this game for about 9 hours the first day I had it.

Does anyone else love the OST? The main menu music is great that I have the game open in the background with it on loop.
 
So are people on this forum just refusing to engage with this game because of the JonTron controversy, or did no one buy it? Because the game's a blast and it'd be a shame if people slept on it.

I guess I'm one of those folks. With the way one of the lead devs GFB acted in the past (proof was linked in one of the closed threads) plus the fact they remained silent on the inclusion of JonTron meanwhile their ex-employees have spoken up against JT's views, it's easy for me to skip this regardless whether the game is delightful or not. Plenty of other games out there.
 

TDLink

Member
I feel like I'm missing something obvious in the Subcon Forest Act 1. I get that I need to burn the 4 paintings. But one is in ice. How do I melt all the ice? I can't seem to figure it out. Also not sure what the dweller mask actually does, doesn't seem to let me see anything different or talk to anything I couldn't before.

Any help?
 

capnjazz

Neo Member
I feel like I'm missing something obvious in the Subcon Forest Act 1. I get that I need to burn the 4 paintings. But one is in ice. How do I melt all the ice? I can't seem to figure it out. Also not sure what the dweller mask actually does, doesn't seem to let me see anything different or talk to anything I couldn't before.

Any help?

Grab the fruit and have the spirit make it into a bomb and then throw it at the ice.
 

Crayolan

Member
I feel like I'm missing something obvious in the Subcon Forest Act 1. I get that I need to burn the 4 paintings. But one is in ice. How do I melt all the ice? I can't seem to figure it out. Also not sure what the dweller mask actually does, doesn't seem to let me see anything different or talk to anything I couldn't before.

Any help?

Remember those cherry bombs you saw earlier in the level? Those can break ice.

Dweller mask turns invisible platforms visible, and vice versa in some cases. You will eventually run into platforms with green outlines which are affected by the mask.
 

AJ_Wings

Member
I feel like I'm missing something obvious in the Subcon Forest Act 1. I get that I need to burn the 4 paintings. But one is in ice. How do I melt all the ice? I can't seem to figure it out. Also not sure what the dweller mask actually does, doesn't seem to let me see anything different or talk to anything I couldn't before.

Any help?

Dweller mask is mechanically the same as the bell mechanic which youll run into later in the forest act but maintains mobility instead of being static. It reveals & phases in green platforms & phases out purple coded platforms/objects.
 

TDLink

Member
Grab the fruit and have the spirit make it into a bomb and then throw it at the ice.

Remember those cherry bombs you saw earlier in the level? Those can break ice.

I feel really stupid now. Thanks guys.

Dweller mask turns invisible platforms visible, and vice versa in some cases. You will eventually run into platforms with green outlines which are affected by the mask.

Oh, I've seen those in other worlds before. Got it.
 
So are people on this forum just refusing to engage with this game because of the JonTron controversy, or did no one buy it? Because the game's a blast and it'd be a shame if people slept on it.

In practical terms... there is a bigger factor than the JonTron controversy. This is an indie game, without almost no marketing. It's being barely talked about, outside of GAF too. I didn't know about it until I watched a video in one of those 'games to be released in 2017' compilations half a year ago.

It doesn't even have the nostalgia factor that some Kickstarter games have, where they can say 'the spiritual sequel to <X famous old game>' or 'from the creators of Y famous old game>.
 

Cade

Member
Said as much in the review thread, but I loved this game from start to finish. Absolutely fantastic love letter to the genre, with so much polish on every single aspect. A Kickstarter success by all accounts. I reviewed it here if anyone wants my full thoughts.

I'm sure it's been asked and answered, but I didn't see it, is there a rough idea for the times of upcoming features (co-op, mod support, etc.)?
 

PaulloDEC

Member
I've been absolutely smitten by this games charm. I was a bit disappointed in Yooka-Laylee but I played this game for about 9 hours the first day I had it.

Same here (besides the 9 hours part). I backed both games, but Yooka just fell flat for me; the moveset wasn't much fun, and the worlds didn't inspire much enthusiasm. This on the other hand is a joy to play, and the worlds (so far at least) have interesting themes that are rich with detail.
 

Protome

Member
So are people on this forum just refusing to engage with this game because of the JonTron controversy, or did no one buy it? Because the game's a blast and it'd be a shame if people slept on it.

Bit of both. The Jontron stuff is shitty and put a lot of people off of it, releasing in the busiest month of the year for both AAA and indie games didn't help either though. There is no word of mouth for this game and no marketing. People are going to sleep on it because nobody knows it exists.
 
I like that the Crows in the train area kinda serve as an educative example of the dangers of phishing bots and identity theft on the internet for younger players.
 

ymgve

Member
I love the World 3 boss fight.

"That's not how contracts work."

Actually, that is how contracts DO work. You are free to make any changes you want then send it back to the the issuer for approval. If both parties then sign the modified contract, it's valid. One dude even used it to get a 0% interest credit card approved because the bank didn't read his modifications: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...-bank-accidentally-approves-article-1.1422388
 

epmode

Member
Played yet another boss fight and loved it. That makes three hits so far and one semi-miss.
From what I've heard so far, I love it. You might be interested in this, which I linked this in my post on the previous page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoJYOEm9RMY

Did Grant Kirkhope end up doing more than the hub area track?

I figure there was some kind of drama surrounding his involvement (or maybe it would cost too much) so they kept it to that one track. It's a great song and the 239865244697 different variations are lovely.

Thankfully, the rest of the soundtrack holds up. There's some genuinely great stuff. I really love how a song goes through multiple variations as you progress through a pink time rift.
 

A.J.

Banned
Actually, that is how contracts DO work. You are free to make any changes you want then send it back to the the issuer for approval. If both parties then sign the modified contract, it's valid. One dude even used it to get a 0% interest credit card approved because the bank didn't read his modifications: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...-bank-accidentally-approves-article-1.1422388
I was just quoting the boss because I thought it was funny. Thanks for the explanation though.
 

Crayolan

Member
From what I've heard so far, I love it. You might be interested in this, which I linked this in my post on the previous page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoJYOEm9RMY

Did Grant Kirkhope end up doing more than the hub area track?

Kirkhope actually composed 2 songs, but only one was used. That's the spaceship hub theme.

Here is the track that was unused: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKI4LA2AVVs

It was in the beta as the theme for a beta-exclusive challenge time rift. There's a chance it might be on the swap music list (when you talk to the owls in the hub) since there is cut music featured there, but I haven't checked.
 
Did Grant Kirkhope end up doing more than the hub area track?

I figure there was some kind of drama surrounding his involvement (or maybe it would cost too much) so they kept it to that one track. It's a great song and the 239865244697 different variations are lovely.

I actually had the same question and asked some backers, and apparently there was a backer-exclusive post about it.

Here is it: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...me-3d-collect-a-thon-platformer/posts/1210802

At the start of composing the 3rd track, Grant had raised some concerns about his style of music fitting in with the rest of the game. Seeing as Grant is a veteran composer, we did not take his concern lightly and after discussing the situation we both reached a mutual agreement for him to stop at this point. He pointed out that there were no bad feelings over this decision and he felt Pascal could carry on doing a great job. We don't want anyone to feel any sort of hard feelings towards Grant, as he has done an outstanding job, and we fully respect this decision.

So there was no drama at all, just Grant deciding to limit his participation due to his style not being quirky enough for the game. :p

via

As addition you can see that Pascal Michael Stiefel (the main composer) loved working with Grant in this a 2015 interview:

http://tay.kinja.com/a-timeless-conclusion-with-the-man-behind-a-hat-in-time-1681316688

There was this one particular moment where Jonas and I were discussing and planning the concept of what the “Hat Kid’s Spaceship” Theme music of our Hub World should sound like. This area is of quite importance to the game as it serves as a sort of central home for player. Naturally we were getting very excited as we knew Mr. Kirkhope was going to do his magic and create the actual music for this crucial level. My task that day was to pitch our carefully picked concepts and ideas to Grant and check back with him what his ideas and thoughts for the Theme were. Grant instantly understood our vision and passionately got to work right away with a jolly “I’m On it!”
[...]
What happened next was nothing short of magical. As Grant’s music began to spread gently through our Spaceship , the red brick-wall halls suddenly began to come to life with child like wonder. “An aura of adventure and thrilling mystery had quickly taken over the place. Even the glittering dust particles floating above Hat Kid must have felt it. You could even hear her mischievous reflection in the massive glass panels of the Spaceship. It quickly began to feel like an actual place instead of just being a level.
[...]
It’s difficult to explain but there was something very special in seeing the ideas of Jonas, Grant and myself come together so perfectly. It made me think back to my teenage days when I was playing Banjo on my new N64 and falling in love with the music of that game and not knowing who Grant was. It made me realize how surreal the entire situation is and the strange paths life sometimes likes to take.
It has become an important memory to me, something I like to think about when things don’t quite go the way they should. A small warm flame for cold days. Usually it’s a good thing to have a few of those in your inventory.
Fun fact: “My Trusty Umbrella”, a mini boss theme I have composed for Hat, is actually partially based on Grant Kirkhope’s A Hat in Time Main Theme composition. Working with Grant and being able to use parts of his Hat compositions as a basis to create new fun things has been delightful.

Conclusion: tracks Grant participated to are all on GearsforBreakfast's Youtube channel:
 
Unfortunate that GK did so little. The hub music is immediately recognizable as his own.

Fortunately the rest of the OST is damn good on its own.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
Bit of both. The Jontron stuff is shitty and put a lot of people off of it, releasing in the busiest month of the year for both AAA and indie games didn't help either though. There is no word of mouth for this game and no marketing. People are going to sleep on it because nobody knows it exists.
In the grand scheme I think the game might pull through decently, going by the Steam reviews. It's getting GLOWING reception on there.
 

capnjazz

Neo Member
Did Grant Kirkhope end up doing more than the hub area track?

I have no idea, honestly. I bought this game on a whim and pretty much fell in love with it so I don't know much about the background of it besides that it was a 3D platformer reminiscent of Mario Sunshhine/Banjo so I was on board. I backed Yooka but it didn't give me the same feeling as Banjo/Sunshine while this game did.

I'm going to buy the soundtrack just to support the devs at this point, I'd really like to see more games from them. I know they're adding 2 more worlds which I'm really excited for but a sequel or even a new IP from these guys would be really welcome down the road.

Same here (besides the 9 hours part). I backed both games, but Yooka just fell flat for me; the moveset wasn't much fun, and the worlds didn't inspire much enthusiasm. This on the other hand is a joy to play, and the worlds (so far at least) have interesting themes that are rich with detail.

How far have you gotten? I really like exploring and searching for relics so I haven't bothered to upgrade to having them show up on my map and I'm taking the long route to really enjoy it. I was also unexpectedly unnerved on a certain mission, more so than I'd like to admit from a game this cute lol
 

Alexlf

Member
Just completed this, 40 shines timepieces and all relics. I can't believe the game ended up being this good. Characters, gameplay, everything was amazing. Really wish it was longer.
 

jholmes

Member
I actually had the same question and asked some backers, and apparently there was a backer-exclusive post about it.

Here is it: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...me-3d-collect-a-thon-platformer/posts/1210802

At the start of composing the 3rd track, Grant had raised some concerns about his style of music fitting in with the rest of the game. Seeing as Grant is a veteran composer, we did not take his concern lightly and after discussing the situation we both reached a mutual agreement for him to stop at this point. He pointed out that there were no bad feelings over this decision and he felt Pascal could carry on doing a great job. We don't want anyone to feel any sort of hard feelings towards Grant, as he has done an outstanding job, and we fully respect this decision.

So there was no drama at all, just Grant deciding to limit his participation due to his style not being quirky enough for the game. :p

That was two years after this:

k3zEmz6.jpg

And one year after this:

I'm only doing 6 mins of music for A Hat in time, I've done the main theme, the hub level and I've still got one to do.

Which was followed by this statement by Gears for Breakfast:

The total Kickstarter amount seen on the right ($296,360) does not match the amount we actually ended up receiving, because a lot of backers had their payments fail (either due to incorrect credit card or similar issues). That is why 7 is not the total pieces Grant will be performing.

And then there's this.

IIRC Kirkhope seemed really steamed about this at his MAGFest talk two years ago; deliberately sidestepped going into details, though. I wonder what happened there; first instinct is a money issue, but he literally does obscure mobile games these days that couldn't have paid him very much, lol.
 

SoulClap

Member
I have a completion percentage of about 60% right now. I'm really enjoying the game. Love how expressive the main character is. Only complaints so far are the moments where I have to fight the camera and getting in stuck in geometry.

I hope the game is doing well. Either way I'm guessing the devs really regret adding two new chapters as stretch goals.
 
Brief Kickstarter update went out about the pre-release speedrunning event, and they referred to "future events," which I didn't know they were planning. It'd be pretty cool to have "official" stuff like that once in a while, I had a lot of fun spending an afternoon trying to get further up on the leaderboards.
 

Samemind

Member
There's so much to like in this game, it's kind of cool to play one of those games people always joke about saying "Man what if they did this one thing for this specific part of the game". It's kind of a shame that it's also the recurring theme in the game's flaws, lack of consistency. The jump attack feels awkward and inconsistent, the rules for air actions are hard to grasp, you can sprint while carrying the cherry bomb in the Subcon boss fight but not any other time you carry something, the Mafia Town boss is cool but the game isn't made for a 2D perspective.

It could have been genuinely outstanding, but it's held back by a ton of little things. Still pretty good overall.
 
Holy shit, the opening of Chapter 4.

The mysterious start in the desolate peak, the foreboding storm... and then you finally find out how to advance to the real level, with
the journey with the air hook through the clouds that open up showing a super epic location in the sky. The verticality, the beautiful vistas with the aurora boreal, the varied and colorful locations..
. Great.
 

Szadek

Member
I'm gettiing close to finishing chapter 1.
Loving it so far, even if it is a bit unpolished at some places, but that doesn't really hurt my enjoyment.
Once I'm done I will probably have to borrow my gf's N64 to play some mario.
 

epmode

Member
I'm gettiing close to finishing chapter 1.
Loving it so far, even if it is a bit unpolished at some places, but that doesn't really hurt my enjoyment.
Once I'm done I will probably have to borrow my gf's N64 to play some mario.

While I liked it, Chapter 1 is clearly the game’s low point.

I finished, BTW. Loved almost every minute. ..although I haven’t beaten all of the time rifts because I got annoyed with having to find them in each chapter.
 

Crayolan

Member

It just looks so good, I admit. Can't wait to try out 4K next week.
Also, is there
2 endings to Act 2 if you take the High Score with Conductor?

Whoever wins is who the boss is. It's the same fight with a different skin aside from a bit of unique dialogue.
 

A.J.

Banned
The final boss was pretty crazy.
Also it's kind of fucked up that everyone started killing themselves to give you infinite life.
 
The final boss was pretty crazy.
Also it's kind of fucked up that everyone started killing themselves to give you infinite life.

Yeah the ending was pretty fucked up lol.
Finally got 100% and all achievements done. Took 16 hours. It was a very enjoyable game.
 

epmode

Member
The final boss was pretty crazy.
Also it's kind of fucked up that everyone started killing themselves to give you infinite life.

The whole ending and story is a bit strange.
Are we supposed to be on the mafia's side? I guess so. It's just a weird subject for a game like this.

That ending bit where Hat Girl throws everyone off her ship is strange too!
 

K.Sabot

Member
Game kicked ass.

Ending was definitely bizarre, but I found that entertaining.

GET LOST

GET LOST

GET LOST LITTLE GIRL
 
Whoever wins is who the boss is. It's the same fight with a different skin aside from a bit of unique dialogue.

It's worth to play both, though, if you can.
Watching the DJ grooves ending and then watching the Conductor one and the Conductor goes through all that effort for only one trophy <333
 

Kudo

Member
Whoever wins is who the boss is. It's the same fight with a different skin aside from a bit of unique dialogue.

Thanks, I assume there's no extra Time thingamajig for doing the other route, but guess I'll do it anyways.
 

Crayolan

Member
Steam Workshop Beta is live. There are two developer made hats to start: Raz's hat from Psychonauts and Lilac's Headpiece from Freedom Planet 2. They actually give you new abilities too.

74F00099AD204755437DAB008B89D9B8A9DA284C
 

Mivey

Member
That was two years after this:



And one year after this:



Which was followed by this statement by Gears for Breakfast:



And then there's this.
Seems like it worked out for the best. No point in paying Grant for more songs if you are not going to use them, since he himself admitted the style didn't fit. Using that funding for the remaining project is a good idea.
They could have informed people sooner, sure, but it probably wasn't until 2015 they really went forward with that choice.
 
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