Support NeoGAF

[Panajev2001a]

So I love the game, it's really cool, and I'm learning!

But I can't help but notice there are a lot of Euro gamers here who still don't seem to understand how economy and cost of living tie into pricing, and that it's not a dollar for dollar conversion from NA to EU.

Yeah, all that shipping and handling and tons of localization work surely justifies the higher price tag .

It would almost be a good argument if Sony did not itself debunk it quite a while ago commenting about how pricing content across worldwide PSN stores of Digitally Delivered content would have to be (and then saying it would have to be more even).

$5 and 7.99 Euros is not even pricing, it is called stupid EU people (and we are obviously or people would have fought back with their wallets a long time ago) allow us to be more competitive in the market we really care about... the U.S. one.

 

[CoG]

This game makes me feel dumb. Back to SSHD.

 

[BeeDog]

I'm sorry if I missed this, but how many stages are there in total in Elefunk? It's an intriguing game, and the demo was fairly interesting.

 

[Dead Prince]

I'm sorry if I missed this, but how many stages are there in total in Elefunk? It's an intriguing game, and the demo was fairly interesting.

20

 

[jeremy_ricci]

Yeah, all that shipping and handling and tons of localization work surely justifies the higher price tag .

It would almost be a good argument if Sony did not itself debunk it quite a while ago commenting about how pricing content across worldwide PSN stores of Digitally Delivered content would have to be (and then saying it would have to be more even).

$5 and 7.99 Euros is not even pricing, it is called stupid EU people (and we are obviously or people would have fought back with their wallets a long time ago) allow us to be more competitive in the market we really care about... the U.S. one.

Well, the Euro and Pound are both significantly stronger than the dollar, the cost of living is higher in EU and England (very few on an average NA salary could survive in EU or England).

I understand why you're upset, who wouldn't be...but honestly, it's been decades, and nothing has changed...aren't any of you the least bit tired of complaining? Hell, you already pay through the roof for petrol and everything else under the sun.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

I'm sorry if I missed this, but how many stages are there in total in Elefunk? It's an intriguing game, and the demo was fairly interesting.

My superior Google skills tell me 20 levels.

Edit: Blah, beaten.

Figured NeoGAF was faster than a Google search. Thanks guys.

You were right.

 

[BeeDog]

Figured NeoGAF was faster than a Google search. Thanks guys.

 

[Pimpwerx]

What else could you have been building? :/

That seems like an obvious solution to me. I'm just wondering what other people are trying to do.

It's what I started building, minus the triangles in the middle. One guess where it kept failing. I started building the left side with tris, then got tired and quit out. I only finished the first two puzzles, and spent a bit too much time trying to match the crazy 3 second mafia that's raping lvl1's high score board. PEACE.

 

[Durante]

You can really tell the players who know what they're doing on multi. I met someone in a random match last night, and he made the exact same moves I would have made. It was great. We managed to remove half of the towers before they collapsed.

What's your PSN id? I haven't tried the MP yet.

Is that the one with the three elephants and only string/platforms? I'm stuck on that one. I figure I have to use the spare platforms as intermediate things for the string to attach to, but I still haven't had much luck with it.

Yes, that's it. It's the only level in the game where I ran out of parts on my first design.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Multi player is nice. I wish we could construct our own towers and puzzles for single playe. No text, bubble text, or voice communication is sad though. It's $5 at least.

 

[Durante]

I have no friends

Spoiler

:.(

who play this game, and comparing yourself to the worldwide top 5 is somewhat frustrating in most levels. So if anyone feels the same please friend me (PSN ID DuranteA).

 

[Panajev2001a]

Well, the Euro and Pound are both significantly stronger than the dollar, the cost of living is higher in EU and England (very few on an average NA salary could survive in EU or England).

I understand why you're upset, who wouldn't be...but honestly, it's been decades, and nothing has changed...aren't any of you the least bit tired of complaining? Hell, you already pay through the roof for petrol and everything else under the sun.

No, I am not tired .

 

[Tntnnbltn]

I had a round of multiplayer with Durante. On one of the rounds we had the top half of the tower (including an elephant) collapsing after the timer had gone off. Yeah... after that I stayed the hell away from the top half.

Multi player is nice. I wish we could construct our own towers and puzzles for single playe. No text, bubble text, or voice communication is sad though. It's $5 at least.

I agree. At the very least, multiplayer needs some completely unsymmetrical maps.

 

[Durante]

I had a round of multiplayer with Durante. On one of the rounds we had the top half of the tower (including an elephant) collapsing after the timer had gone off. Yeah... after that I stayed the hell away from the top half.

The second level collapsing was a real WTF moment for me. I definitely didn't expect that.

Anyway, I agree with you all, this game needs a level editor (preferably both for SP and MP levels).

 

[jstevenson]

this game is so awesome.

 

[dreamer3kx]

This game makes me feel dumb. Back to SSHD.

your not alone, i suck.

 

[PixelJunkie]

this game is so awesome.

For $4.99 here in the US its an excellent little time waster.

 

[jstevenson]

For $4.99 here in the US its an excellent little time waster.

I am having a blast. But I also love puzzle games like this.

 

[Metalmurphy]

This game makes me feel dumb. Back to SSHD.

Haha, I thought the exact same thing.



Took me more then 10 tries to complete the first level :lol

 

[Tntnnbltn]

Just beat 4-3. Wow, that stage was epic. At two different sections the bridge collapses under my elephants, and the wave of destruction races after them, but they just make it to the next section in time!

Photos of the interesting bits ahoy (all from my successful attempt, believe it or not):

 

[BeeDog]

The early trailers of Elefunk showed some pretty nasty framerate drops, are those still in there?

 

[Tntnnbltn]

The early trailers of Elefunk showed some pretty nasty framerate drops, are those still in there?

Haven't noticed any framerate problems (or tearing, for that matter) myself. If they're there, they must be too subtle for me notice.

 

[Flunkie]

The early trailers of Elefunk showed some pretty nasty framerate drops, are those still in there?

No framerate problems for me so far. The only time it chugged just a litte was when I was zoomed all the way in on one of my elephants, and the bridge broke and he fell through. Other than that minor occurrence, it's been perfect.

 

[KTallguy]

Hmm, I kind of like this, but I don't know if I like it enough to buy.

 

[TTP]

Is it me or those two disclaimers at the game start up are the most annoying thing ever? I mean, they last AGES and are unskippable. And there are loading "steps" before and after them. WTF. Why?

BeeDog, yeah, no frame rate issues at all. Trailers were just poorly encoded or something.

 

[indie85]

I think its the last level of the second stage, anyway, theres two elephants rolling and I get them to their destinations on the opposite sides of the screen but nothing happens and i have to restart the level? wtf?

 

[Durante]

Is it me or those two disclaimers at the game start up are the most annoying thing ever? I mean, they last AGES and are unskippable. And there are loading "steps" before and after them. WTF. Why?

Absolutely agreed. Who thought this was a good idea and how did it get through testing?

I think its the last level of the second stage, anyway, theres two elephants rolling and I get them to their destinations on the opposite sides of the screen but nothing happens and i have to restart the level? wtf?

Did you get all the pickup items?

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

Im up to the swamps......... HARD! ......... I only build my bridges for one crossing :lol so if shit falls down once hes gone past it, no biggie, the rolling thing was a hoot, just used the bare minimum to get the elephants.

 

[indie85]

Did you get all the pickup items?

Yeah, I think so, I mean they rolled where they were supposed to do so I assumed they got all the stars, though thinking about it I didnt check that. Too late now though, I quit. I'll check tomorrow.

 

[GodofWine]

I love the multiplayer, its like Jenga, without having to build that stupid tower everytime.

 

[Evander]

You're doing it wrong. You have to use the shape of the pieces of in different situations, like use the triangles as flying buttresses, use straight pieces to suspend a bridge, etc. And don't be afraid to use all the pieces, not just trying to use as few as possible to up your score. Also, you HAVE to make a strong base on the strong spots. And don't try to hang so much weight that they just fall apart.

I was stuck for a while on a long and winding road but once I figured it out, I understood the way the game works.

Is there some kind of tutorial that teaches this stuff?

I mean, sure, I work for an engineering and architecture firm, but I'm just a finance guy; I don't know what shapes support what kind of weight off the top of my head.

Is it me or those two disclaimers at the game start up are the most annoying thing ever? I mean, they last AGES and are unskippable.

Elefunk Wii confirmed!

 

[Doel]

:lol
:lol

Here are some of my completion times for a few levels. This is for the first time I ever tried the respective level:
- 3-4: 221 seconds
- 3-5: 164 seconds
- 5-1: 109 seconds
- 5-2: 172 seconds

I'm not

Spoiler

just

posting this to brag, but to illustrate that the game is about as far from trial and error as you can get. It works on the same principles as every other building game. If you have a lot of experience with them it's easy to pass levels on the first try (and fast, once you get used to the controls).

I think it's easily worth even the €8 I paid for it, what I dislike most are the set pieces (I'd rather place each strut manually), the lack of an undo option and the fact that time counts a lot more in terms of score than ingenuity in building. And it could use some more complex levels.

Help me with "Across the Swamp" on "The Swamp Lands" theme! I can't figure it out.

 

[mik]

Loved the demo--but I'm way too stupid to play this.

 

[chickensoup]

Yeah, I think so, I mean they rolled where they were supposed to do so I assumed they got all the stars, though thinking about it I didnt check that. Too late now though, I quit. I'll check tomorrow.

One of the pickups on the right hand side after the crossover point isn't on the floor, so the elephant needs to be going quick enough before the gap to jump into it.

The other problem I had is that the elephants need to get all the way over to the ends of the platforms for it to register as complete, right up against the bit where it ramps up again. Just getting down onto that bottom section isn't enough.

That level is a right pain in the backside.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

I think its the last level of the second stage, anyway, theres two elephants rolling and I get them to their destinations on the opposite sides of the screen but nothing happens and i have to restart the level? wtf?

I also had a LOT of trouble with this stage. Even though I collected all the items, it kept sending me to the failure screen. I think it's because the elephant that started on the left was rolling too fast -- at the end of the level it wasn't lined up with the Exit sign on the map. It rolled up the ramp, down again and half way across the bottom platform.

Came back and started from scratch the next day, and I guess I built it differently because this time it stopped in the right place.

 

[BobsRevenge]

Just beat 4-3. Wow, that stage was epic. At two different sections the bridge collapses under my elephants, and the wave of destruction races after them, but they just make it to the next section in time!

Photos of the interesting bits ahoy (all from my successful attempt, believe it or not):
[IM G]http://i37.tinypic.com/2gsmsdz.jpg[/IMG]
[IM G]http://i34.tinypic.com/29zoeh3.jpg[/IMG]
[IM G]http://i33.tinypic.com/2412q6t.jpg[/IMG]

I never thought to do what you're doing with the extra platforms on that level. That's pretty awesome actually.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

I never thought to do what you're doing with the extra platforms on that level. That's pretty awesome actually.

I figured that was the only way possible. From experience, if you try and link multiple ropes together in mid-air they collapse under their own weight.

 

[Durante]

Help me with "Across the Swamp" on "The Swamp Lands" theme! I can't figure it out.

Here, built just for you:
http://i35.tinypic.com/mi2iki.jpg (spoilers!)
(Note that this is a really inelegant solution, I jut threw it together as quickly as possible (138 seconds))

I figured that was the only way possible. From experience, if you try and link multiple ropes together in mid-air they collapse under their own weight.

I didn't use any such mid-air platforms. However, I did need to use every single rope. The key is to use the rope in shapes similar to real rope-based bridges, there's a reason they do that

Here's a simple example of what I mean in Pontifex 2:

 

[Tntnnbltn]

Here, built just for you:
http://i35.tinypic.com/mi2iki.jpg (spoilers!)
(Note that this is a really inelegant solution, I jut threw it together as quickly as possible (138 seconds))

Lol, so much more simple and elegant than anything I build.

I didn't use any such mid-air platforms. However, I did need to use every single rope. The key is to use the rope in shapes similar to real rope-based bridges, there's a reason they do that

I think I ended up with 3 spare pieces of rope, but used up all of the platforms (the other two were on the right hand side of the screen).

On a related note, I beat the last two levels tonight. They were a piece of cake after 4-3.

Do the elephants dance?

^ Weirdest stealth edit I've ever seen.

 

[cryptic]

Do the elephants dance?

 

[dk_]

I really wanted to buy Elefunk, but after the Euro pricing disaster I tried Armadillo and I loved it. After some impressions, I'm really glad I didn't pick this up for fucking 7,99 EUR.

 

[Durante]

^ Weirdest stealth edit I've ever seen.

Yeah :lol

I really wanted to buy Elefunk, but after the Euro pricing disaster I tried Armadillo and I loved it. After some impressions, I'm really glad I didn't pick this up for fucking 7,99 EUR.

Armadillo Run is an utterly amazing game that I've played for literally hundreds of hours, and incomparable to Elefunk in terms of complexity and long-term entertainment -- I'm happy you bought it. But I still think Elefunk is not a bad value at 8€. Of course it's an even better value at $5.

You could say Elefunk is the Civilization Revolution to Armadillo Run's Civilization 4. </geek-out>

 

[dock]

Fuck this game...seriously...

I'm too stupid to beat the thrid level...I accept that...fine...

But let me fucking go on to the fourth level rather than having the whole game locked out until I find a YouTube video on how to beat the third damn level.

Yeah, this is a lame design decision. With stage based puzzle games, you really ought to let the player 'skip' a certain number of puzzles and then go back and beat it later on to get that option back. Toki Tori allows this, as does Zen Puzzle Garden, and I'm sure most good puzzle games.

 

[chickensoup]

- high scores will not register for a level if you choose to Restart/Clear Level before getting a personal best. Very stupid.

Ah so is that the reason why I can't see the score for some of the levels, even after I've gone back and got new PBs? I hope this is a bug, because if someone actually designed it to work like this then they deserve to have their devkit confiscated and get demoted to the QA department :-(

 

[Tntnnbltn]

Ah so is that the reason why I can't see the score for some of the levels, even after I've gone back and got new PBs? I hope this is a bug, because if someone actually designed it to work like this then they deserve to have their devkit confiscated and get demoted to the QA department :-(

Well that's what someone said to me in the PlayStation Store thread. Sometimes I still can't get the high score to register though.

 

[BeeDog]

Thanks guys for answering my framerate question.

Anyway, apparently the dev for this game is 8bit Games, but can't really find shit about them. Does anyone know if they have a forum or so? Thought I'd drop a message and ask if they had planned trophies for this game, and/or a patch that does some of the possible improvements suggested here.

 

[TTP]

Thanks guys for answering my framerate question.

Anyway, apparently the dev for this game is 8bit Games, but can't really find shit about them. Does anyone know if they have a forum or so? Thought I'd drop a message and ask if they had planned trophies for this game, and/or a patch that does some of the possible improvements suggested here.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/contractor_display.php?contractor_id=3429

Their website is so minimalistic...

 

[Tntnnbltn]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/contractor_display.php?contractor_id=3429

Their website is so minimalistic...

One logo websites are all the rage now for PSN devs.

Their previous website was a bit more substantial.

 

[BeeDog]

Thanks. Mailed them, and hoping for a response. Doubt it though.

EDIT: whoopdedoo,

<contact@8bitgames.com>:This address no longer accepts mail.

 

[TTP]

One logo websites are all the rage now for PSN devs.

Their previous website was a bit more substantial.

But did they move from UK to US?
I read they are an UK dev (as the old website shows as well), but Gamasutra profile says they are based in Salt Lake City (and the new webiste being a ".com" rather than a "co.uk" kinda supports this).