Related Games > Donkey Kong Junior
"Fixing" DKjr
aarontruitt:
That Colecovision DK Jr pie factory level is really cool and I bet would be a really neat addition to DK Jr Remix! would also be cool to mix up the vine levels like you did with the barrel boards on DK Remix - having the fruit in different spots, different length vines, etc.
krehztim:
--- Quote from: WCopeland on September 27, 2016, 07:12:37 pm ---
...The most glaring issue with DKJr is most of the point pressing is boring as fuck. There is very little randomness to it...
--- End quote ---
Couldn't agree more. Some of this could be alleviated by letting the snapjaws have access to both of the top platforms on the vine levels, so they don't turn around at the height differential (step). That would at least make it a little harder. But that doesn't help the huge point pressing in Mario's Hideout. Maybe the sparks have variable speeds, that might help the point pressing at the top, as in a constant speed for an individual spark, but all sparks having a different, random speed.
up2ng:
DKJR has a lot of flaws. But for me, the one single issue that prevents me from playing the game regularly is that the springboard is broken. That is just so totally unacceptable to me that I feel that the game just shouldn't be played. It's great that you've recognized that issue as being of the very highest priority to fix.
I started typing up some ideas for fixing the leeching problems on the hideout but that screen is REALLY leechable -- it would be hard to fix this without making some pretty big changes.
homerwannabee:
I thought of an idea. Make a second fast yellow spark that is parallel with the original one. That way you would need to kill the second spark with the top Apple. Not an easy feat. It would drastically cut down on point pressing.
Sock Master:
The control lag and springboard fixes alone pretty much eliminate most of the gameplay frustration. It doesn't make the game more fun, nor do anything about the leeching.
--- Quote from: homerwannabee on September 28, 2016, 10:57:00 am ---I don't know if you know about this, but Colecovision had a real secret DK Jr level. It would be cool to see that turned into a level for the arcade version.
--- End quote ---
We're going to be pretty much stuck with using the sprites & background tiles that already exist. There are a few unused sprites that might be interesting, but there won't be much potential for creating new graphics beyond maybe combining existing sprites into something new. Funny enough, the pie sprite from DK survives so it's possible to use, although it's available color choices are limited.
--- Quote from: krehztim on September 28, 2016, 05:33:50 pm ---Some of this could be alleviated by letting the snapjaws have access to both of the top platforms on the vine levels, so they don't turn around at the height differential (step). That would at least make it a little harder. But that doesn't help the huge point pressing in Mario's Hideout. Maybe the sparks have variable speeds, that might help the point pressing at the top, as in a constant speed for an individual spark, but all sparks having a different, random speed.
--- End quote ---
I'm not sure how well animating a snapjaw going up a step would look, but allowing the red snapjaws to step down to the lower platform like the blue ones might be possible.
I think the main problem with that stage is that once Jr reaches a certain height, the blue snapjaws switch to a different logic which makes them always go all the way across the top platforms - and therefore become reliable leeches. Maybe just disabling that to allow blue snapjaws to go down vines early, would reduce leech potential.
Mario's hideout is a whole other kettle of fish, but it also has logic switch for blue sparks once Jr reaches a certain height - main issue is that a blue spark that counts as 100 on the timer can now multiply into several sparks and give more points than the bonus timer decrements. Also those perpetually circling red sparks, just jump over them over and over... There's no 1:1 relation between score-able objects and bonus timer.
Maybe allow red sparks to move from one platform to another once Jr reaches the 3rd platform? Maybe give the blue sparks a more random path or random direction? Maybe simply have the bonus timer tick down once each time a blue spark multiplies into two?
--- Quote from: up2ng on September 28, 2016, 07:23:52 pm ---I started typing up some ideas for fixing the leeching problems on the hideout but that screen is REALLY leechable -- it would be hard to fix this without making some pretty big changes.
--- End quote ---
That's one concern I have right now. I don't want to mess with the original stages/logic/rules too much - if some minor changes can fix issues, that'd be best. The control lag and broken springboard fixes were easy to rationalize because they won't change the game logic itself, just magically make the game less frustrating - the average player probably wouldn't even notice anything was changed (until they went back and played the original game anyway.)
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