Author Topic: Castle Kong Dev Blog  (Read 18056 times)

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Offline chud575

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Castle Kong Dev Blog
« on: January 09, 2019, 09:30:51 am »
Hi Guys,

My name is Josh Chudnovsky, and for the last 5 years I've been tinkering with an homage to Donkey Kong aptly titled "Castle Kong".  The story about PauperBoy saving PrincessGirl from the evil BaronMan.  And I'm happy to say I've finally finished it.  There's even a cabinet!



This seemed like the most relevant place to post this.  What I was hoping to do was share the game here and get some feedback.  I'd also like to extend an invite to the 40 players who have scored 1,000,000+ pts to a streaming, winner take all, 10k$ grand prize tournament.  If you know one of these great players please let them know for me, and I will be trying to reach out to each of them separately as well.

I will be posting more about the game on this thread, some screens, etc, and answering any questions.

If you want to check out the webpage, that's http://www.drowningmonkeys.com/castle-kong/
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Offline danman123456

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2019, 09:50:59 am »
Thats very cool! Just checked the website I'm sure the Top 40 folks (and anyone else for that matter) would love to help you out as much as I can (with 10,000 things ive got going on) with this project!

Shoot me a message i think im still 21st or 22nd or something :D

Dan!
DK High : 1,059,700 (Lvl 22-1 KS!);
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DK Lvl 1 - 1: 12,400
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Offline hooch66

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2019, 11:56:52 am »
I'm nowhere near top anything in this game but this looks really cool.
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Offline chud575

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2019, 02:45:48 pm »
Thats very cool! Just checked the website I'm sure the Top 40 folks (and anyone else for that matter) would love to help you out as much as I can (with 10,000 things ive got going on) with this project!

Shoot me a message i think im still 21st or 22nd or something :D

Dan!

Awesome, thanks Dan
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Offline chud575

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2019, 02:46:30 pm »
I'm nowhere near top anything in this game but this looks really cool.

Thanks hooch. Doesn't mean I wouldn't want your feedback too! :-)
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Offline homerwannabee

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2019, 04:27:16 pm »
How about the million point Donkey Kong Junior players?   Kappa
"Perception forged in delusion and refined by pain"

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"It's like we are able to play beautiful music out there, but no one can hear the instruments"

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Offline Flobeamer1922

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2019, 08:44:59 pm »
I've kill screen'd it, and I'm currently trying for a million. Does that count? Kappa
PBs:
Donkey Kong - 1,032,100 (22-1)
Donkey Kong Junior - 79,400 (4-2)
Donkey Kong 3 - 344,200 (Stage 22)
Crazy Kong Part II - 645,400 (22-4)

I occasionally stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/flobeamer1922
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Offline chud575

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2019, 06:08:22 am »
I've kill screen'd it, and I'm currently trying for a million. Does that count? Kappa
You have my utmost respect! But no :-p
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Offline chud575

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2019, 06:08:55 am »
How about the million point Donkey Kong Junior players?   Kappa

You will be invited to the Castle Kong Jr. tournament! :-)
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Offline Bliss1083

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2019, 10:51:00 am »
Is there a deadline for a million point player to get in on the action? Od love a crack at it and maybe would push more of us to up our scores. Way feb1st deadline?
Donkey kong  arcade 867,000 kill screen
Donkey kong arcade 1-1 12,800 12,200 12,100 and 12,000
Donkey kong end of level 4 132k
working on my hello kitty island adventure skills
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Offline chud575

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2019, 05:25:11 am »
Is there a deadline for a million point player to get in on the action? Od love a crack at it and maybe would push more of us to up our scores. Way feb1st deadline?

Lots of time.  We are getting close to the beta.  That's when everyone on this forum who wants one will get a beta key.  Then I'll be using your feedback to tweak the levels, that could take another solid 30 days.  Then we'll run the tournament on launch day.  Btw your DK score can be on Arcade, Mame, or as far as I'm concerned, Switch (which i dont know if is counted here).
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Offline Bliss1083

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2019, 08:02:21 am »
Awesome thanks Chud.
Donkey kong  arcade 867,000 kill screen
Donkey kong arcade 1-1 12,800 12,200 12,100 and 12,000
Donkey kong end of level 4 132k
working on my hello kitty island adventure skills
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Offline homerwannabee

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2019, 02:45:28 pm »
How about the million point Donkey Kong Junior players?   Kappa

You will be invited to the Castle Kong Jr. tournament! :-)

That works!  8)
"Perception forged in delusion and refined by pain"

-Ross Benzinger

"It's like we are able to play beautiful music out there, but no one can hear the instruments"

-Leon Shepard
Member for 11 Years Former DK3 World Record Holder DK Masters - Rank D DK Killscreener CK Killscreener Blogger Twitch Streamer Former DKJR World Record Holder - MAME DKJR Killscreener DK3 Repetitive Blue Screener

Offline chud575

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #13 on: January 27, 2019, 07:07:12 am »
Hi guys,

so, as we get nearer to the beta, I thought I'd start discussing each stage; how they work, and where they got their inspiration.

You'll notice the term 'stage'.  Staying true to DK, a level is a combination of stages, and our stage progression mirrors DK's.

Let's start with Stage 1: The Castle Wall


Based on: The Barrel Stage
Main obstacle in DK: barrels
Main obstacle in CK: Oil Goops

Like in DK - as you get from Level 1 to Level 3 and beyond, the barrel stage gets consistently harder and then tops off either on the 3rd iteration or shortly thereafter.  Here, you will face 1 vat of falling oil, and then incrementally more until there are 3 vats.

One of the trickiest parts of the design of this stage which I've had much less problem with on stages 2-4, and I believe I'm not done tweaking it yet, is being original while staying true to the intent of the barrel stage.  The whole point of the barrel stage is to overwhelm you with incoming projectiles and force you into a mistake.  As opposed to the elevator stage (timing) or the rivet stage (strategy), this stage is about controlled mayhem.  It would've been all too easy to just make 4 ramps and have you jump over the oil nonstop and point press.

In CK, instead of 1 source (Donkey Kong) firing barrels galore at you, BaronMan has installed 3 vats that turn over flaming hot oil.  Similar to DK, in CK the oil can land on a specific platform and start oozing it's way down until it leaves the screen entirely.

On the first ramp, you will encounter a knight.  He can be avoided altogether, or killed with the pitchfork.
On the second ramp is a moving platform that requires expert timing and also watching out above you as you will be pray to falling oil
on ramp three are platforms that move up and down and require watching the oil pattern to decide when to go for it.

Climbing to the top of the castle wall forces BaronMan to grab PrincessGirl and get outta town.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2019, 07:10:16 am by chud575 »
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Offline Weehawk

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Re: Castle Kong Dev Blog
« Reply #14 on: January 27, 2019, 07:58:43 am »
Seems oddly similar to this game from 2013:

 Kappa

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