A well made, if short game. I played through the game in normal mode and the main challenge was really choosing which control scheme to use. The option is there to use up as shoot and the button to jump if you're not a fan of the usual up to jump and button to shoot. The up to shoot and button to jump option is quite a smart idea, though it ultimately broke my brain as my head just wanted me to press up to jump. In the end, up to jump was what I went with and although this made double jump a little awkward at times, I managed to get used to it (sort of). I think that just having one of the characters simply being able to jump further rather than double jump may result in a slightly more manageable control scheme though the current levels are set out in a manner that requires some double jumping. A gamepad with the option to assign up to a button is probably ideal for this game, but sadly I don't have one. I used a Retrobit Sega Saturn style gamepad on a C64 Maxi. Of course, using a PC based C64 emulator would sort this out too.
Regardless of the C64’s limitations in relation to controls, the game plays very well and enemies are not just relentlessly being thrown your way. They all follow some sort of pattern, as do other moving obstacles. The game never feels unfair or cheap. I found the mechanic of switching between the two characters to be a little underutilized early on as I found sticking with the double jumping character to be more useful, but I did find myself using the more powerful character a little more towards the end.
It’s nice graphically with clearly defined sprites and smooth animation. The only fault I could find was that at times the rock formations/walls were a little indistinct, so there were a couple of times where I didn’t notice my path/jump was blocked until I hit the wall. I don’t recall this causing any unnecessary deaths though. This is likely a limitation of the C64 colour palette though. It really does look good. Sound is solid too with sound effects and music being audible at the same time.
I seem to remember an interview where the developer stated the game was meant to be expanded on at some stage and I hope that does eventually happen.
Very nice game. Our German-language review can be found in our recorded livestream starting at 00:17:50. Subscription to our YouTube or Twitch channel is welcome. 🙂
I'm sure you haven't heard this before but I hate the automatic forward movement when jumping up immediately after stopping. Oh. Wait. I was annoyingly whining about this same thing a year ago lol. I just tried to replay the game for fun and had to stop after dying a few times because of this. Argh. My inputs are precise but the game ruins them by trying to correct something that was already perfect lol. Otherwise this game is so nice. . .
Hello, great game. But I cannot seem to get used to the joystick controls. Use to using fire for shoot and up joy to jump. Any way to reverse this in the PRG? Maybe a HEX edit? ;)
Not quite beaten it yet, but there is some serious promise here. I'm hoping it does well enough that the later missions are done, as I'd seriously be on board for those.
Running this on VICE and I'm loving it! I had some stuttering problems with GTKVice, but fortunately realized that there is a daily build link available, from which you can download the SDLVice which at least for me, works almost lagless. There is still some fairly rare random stutteringings but I almost quit playing because of the stutter on GTKVice, and with SDLVice I don't mind it at all so...
Anyhow, are there any recommended settings to use? C64 vs C64C? PAL vs NTSC? etc.
EDIT: I noticed there's this weird, high pitched pop when jumping around and it happens prominently when emulating PAL, when emulating NTSC it happens too but rarely.
Thanks for the reply! I can try to replicate the sounds glitch I'm talking about and record it for you, if you want, though I don't know how much you wanna spend time on it (if at all) if you can't replicate it yourself, and I'm the only one who has mentioned it, and it's on an emulator no less. But I can try to investigate and record some evidence if you want it?
Yeah I thought as much, and totally understandable. It happens to me on Vice 3.5 on the release and the dailies as well, mainly on PAL. Maybe VICE doesn't like my computer and lags the audio sometimes when jumping and the high-pitch pops are from buffer underruns etc.? Who knows, well anyhow I can play it enjoyable on NTSC though.
Fascinating how the weird control system becomes familiar so quickly, revealing how clever it is in reality. Thanks Carleton for innovating also this aspect of C64 games.
Hi, glad you like it. There’s a small bug if you leave the loading image on and allow the music to fade which quietens the mains tunes. Just skip the intro. Sorry about that.
does not work on real c64 for me! 😓 i’ve tried prg on Kung Fu Flash, writing the d64 on a real floppy, and i converted the prg to crt (for kff) and to tap (for tapuino) all them freezes before load.
Really sorry about this, it’s fully tested on real hardware. I only have a pi1541 though. I’m sure somebody on Twitter installed it on a KFF. I’ll ask on there.
Molto bello e pieno d'azione, peccato duri veramente poco. Undici minuti per finirlo in modalità NORMAL, senza considerare che il gioco ti sproni a "correre" affrontando tutto in velocità, questo significa non assaporare in pieno il gioco e le sue potenzialità. Spero in un secondo capitolo più pacato e longevo, il programmatore ha stoffa per farlo.
Great game and I'm currently trying to complete the hard mode! Just one annoyance: When trying to jump directly up after moving, the character will jump diagonally instead. You have to stand still a moment before pressing jump to not get a diagonal jump.
Thanks. This was a deliberate choice to try and help with diagonals on joysticks. It does help with that but I've seen what you say. The former saves more deaths so I kept it in. I'll try and refine it for the next mission.
Thanks for your answer! I have died to this a few times though. The game is about precise platforming and movement, and this design choice goes against that IMHO. I would want to turn it off at least.
I'm sorry to be such a whiner but the more I have played, the more infuriating the automatic diagonal jumps have become. I have to be consciously thinking about it the whole time to not screw up. I probably don't want to play this anymore unless this gets changed.
Sorry to hear this. It's not an automatically diagonal jump, just your horizontal velocity is maintained when you start a jump. You can adjust in air. Have you tried a different joystick?
This game is really great, best yet, your previous games were too cerebral for me although I had a go I won't be getting very far due to my lack of patience, but this, I'll be playing this.
Saul Cross as well deserves a special mention, what a soundtrack.
PS I forgot about Blockheads, that should be your next release, all it needs it a groovy tune and I'd buy it.
Is there a technical reason for why the keyboard controls are mapped to QAOP and not WASD? I assumed that C64 games had wonky keyboard controls only because WASD had not become the standard yet. Having joystick up to shoot and fire to jump is a great choice btw.
The other standard is moving with the arrow keys but C64 doesn't really have them. WASD layout is essentially replicating the intuitive arrow key layout.
I was trying it on my TheC64 mini and the controls are a bit weird. Stick up shoots while the fire button jumps. Is there a way to customize the controls?
I've tried playing Runn N Gunn on PC with emulators, WinVice and CCS64. I have both a Gamepad F310, and XBox 360 Wireless. In both emulators, when using any gamepad button, the game 1st pauses, and then jumps. I'm going to try and attach a video. Well, I can't add a video file here. How can I get it to you?
Great release! Just 2 hopefully small problems, the volume on a 6581 is a tad low and every scene change makes a loud scratching noise. The button layout should probably default to B = jump is up and fire is shoot!
I think the SID player has a bug where it sometimes plays the music low. Could be something to do with playing the loading tune through. Clicking is also the SID player, I thought that was just a C64 thing. I remember it as a kid. I’ll look into it.
In testing fire for jump was the preferred choice hence default. Just personal preference and quick to change.
I bought it today and completed it today ;) It is a beauty. Great gfx, gameplay and music. I hope for a follow up. If there is one thing that could be done is to add option for joysticks with more buttons. Just as the game "Wormhole" has done! Jump, shoot and change character, 3 buttons as C-64 support.
I’ll look into other joypads, I wasn’t aware of them. Have you completed tricky and hard? There’s a enemy in those modes which doesn’t even appear in normal.
I just completed in normal. I will try tricky if there is a new enemy :) What would be cool is to do something similar as Tiny Little Slug on Amiga regarding high-score. http://tls.apc-tcp.de/highscore-de.php
What happen there is that when the game is completed you get a code to type into a web-browser and you get on the high-score list :D
Das Spiel macht wirklich übelst Laune! Richtig toll gemacht. Auf jeden Fall eine klare Kaufempfehlung und da das Spiel so günstig ist und sich die Entwickler unter Wert verkaufen, sollte man auf jeden Fall ein paar Euro drauflegen! Danke für deinen schönen Kommentar.
Viele Grüße, bleib gesund und bis zum nächsten Video, Andira
Great graphics and sound, smooth game play. I am already struggling though, any chance a future revision could have a save/load system or passwords for each level?
← Return to C64 game
Comments
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A well made, if short game. I played through the game in normal mode and the main challenge was really choosing which control scheme to use. The option is there to use up as shoot and the button to jump if you're not a fan of the usual up to jump and button to shoot. The up to shoot and button to jump option is quite a smart idea, though it ultimately broke my brain as my head just wanted me to press up to jump. In the end, up to jump was what I went with and although this made double jump a little awkward at times, I managed to get used to it (sort of). I think that just having one of the characters simply being able to jump further rather than double jump may result in a slightly more manageable control scheme though the current levels are set out in a manner that requires some double jumping. A gamepad with the option to assign up to a button is probably ideal for this game, but sadly I don't have one. I used a Retrobit Sega Saturn style gamepad on a C64 Maxi. Of course, using a PC based C64 emulator would sort this out too.
Regardless of the C64’s limitations in relation to controls, the game plays very well and enemies are not just relentlessly being thrown your way. They all follow some sort of pattern, as do other moving obstacles. The game never feels unfair or cheap. I found the mechanic of switching between the two characters to be a little underutilized early on as I found sticking with the double jumping character to be more useful, but I did find myself using the more powerful character a little more towards the end.
It’s nice graphically with clearly defined sprites and smooth animation. The only fault I could find was that at times the rock formations/walls were a little indistinct, so there were a couple of times where I didn’t notice my path/jump was blocked until I hit the wall. I don’t recall this causing any unnecessary deaths though. This is likely a limitation of the C64 colour palette though. It really does look good. Sound is solid too with sound effects and music being audible at the same time.
I seem to remember an interview where the developer stated the game was meant to be expanded on at some stage and I hope that does eventually happen.
Very nice game. Our German-language review can be found in our recorded livestream starting at 00:17:50. Subscription to our YouTube or Twitch channel is welcome. 🙂
Thank you for this, here is my tribute...
Thanks, I'll check out the video later.
Hello!
If I want to redownload this game from itch.io, do I now need to purchase it?
Cheers :)
Mat
Hi,
If it's already in your itch.io library I'm sure you could get it from there.
No worries; Thank you!
this game didn't grab me. 6/10
What an amazing game! Sir, you are awesome!
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say. Saul Cross' amazing sound and graphics really helped as well.
Saul Cross contributed to this!
I just finished l'Abbaye des morts and LOVED it.
Buying my copy right away :D
This game is awesome!
Thank you!
This was announced to be start of a trilogy. Any news on that?
Hi,
I did start coding the second mission however since then my spare time to put into such a project has reduced greatly. So it's on hold for now sadly.
I'm sure you haven't heard this before but I hate the automatic forward movement when jumping up immediately after stopping. Oh. Wait. I was annoyingly whining about this same thing a year ago lol. I just tried to replay the game for fun and had to stop after dying a few times because of this. Argh. My inputs are precise but the game ruins them by trying to correct something that was already perfect lol. Otherwise this game is so nice. . .
There is a chance to support Joy what has Second Fire Button (potx)? Now even Vice emulator supports fire2 (potx) fire3 (poty) for gamepads
It’s a good idea. If I get time I’ll look into it.
Hello, great game. But I cannot seem to get used to the joystick controls. Use to using fire for shoot and up joy to jump. Any way to reverse this in the PRG? Maybe a HEX edit? ;)
Thanks.
You can change to control method B on the "Help and Options" screen.
Thannk you for this wonderful game, i buy yesterday and play on Twitch.tv here's the record of the play on youtube (italian spoken)
C64 - "Runn N Gunn" Live on www.twitch.tv/alextiger71 - YouTube
Thanks for playing. I look forward to watching the video.
Not quite beaten it yet, but there is some serious promise here. I'm hoping it does well enough that the later missions are done, as I'd seriously be on board for those.
I'll let my latest episode speak for itself :)
Really nice and fair video, thanks for making it.
Running this on VICE and I'm loving it! I had some stuttering problems with GTKVice, but fortunately realized that there is a daily build link available, from which you can download the SDLVice which at least for me, works almost lagless. There is still some fairly rare random stutteringings but I almost quit playing because of the stutter on GTKVice, and with SDLVice I don't mind it at all so...
Anyhow, are there any recommended settings to use? C64 vs C64C? PAL vs NTSC? etc.
EDIT: I noticed there's this weird, high pitched pop when jumping around and it happens prominently when emulating PAL, when emulating NTSC it happens too but rarely.
I'd recommend PAL at 50Hz output if you can. I find the emulators hit and miss though so real hardware is best.
People have reported a noise glitch when changing rooms, it's something I'm looking into. That the only one I'm aware of though.
Thanks for the reply! I can try to replicate the sounds glitch I'm talking about and record it for you, if you want, though I don't know how much you wanna spend time on it (if at all) if you can't replicate it yourself, and I'm the only one who has mentioned it, and it's on an emulator no less. But I can try to investigate and record some evidence if you want it?
To be honest if it's an emulator issues it's not something I can fix. All I can say is that it works great on Win-Vice 3.5
Yeah I thought as much, and totally understandable. It happens to me on Vice 3.5 on the release and the dailies as well, mainly on PAL. Maybe VICE doesn't like my computer and lags the audio sometimes when jumping and the high-pitch pops are from buffer underruns etc.? Who knows, well anyhow I can play it enjoyable on NTSC though.
make a video on this soon
Fascinating how the weird control system becomes familiar so quickly, revealing how clever it is in reality. Thanks Carleton for innovating also this aspect of C64 games.
My No Hit Hard Mode run. Sorry for the quality. I will soon have a better way to capture C64 footage...
Mad skills! Well done. 6:37 as well, rapid.
It's too hard for me. Half that many enemies would be enough!
fun gameplay, great music, cool game
Hi, lovely the game.
Just one thing...Volume is too low when playing on The c64 (disc image).
Still great game.
Hi, glad you like it. There’s a small bug if you leave the loading image on and allow the music to fade which quietens the mains tunes. Just skip the intro. Sorry about that.
Great game. I love the graphics. Very playable. Thanks for this ;)
does not work on real c64 for me! 😓 i’ve tried prg on Kung Fu Flash, writing the d64 on a real floppy, and i converted the prg to crt (for kff) and to tap (for tapuino) all them freezes before load.
Really sorry about this, it’s fully tested on real hardware. I only have a pi1541 though. I’m sure somebody on Twitter installed it on a KFF. I’ll ask on there.
So apparently you should put the D64 on to the KFF. I don’t have one so can’t confirm. Also trouble check your firmware on the KFF.
PRG works for me on the kung fu flash, make sure your kung fu flash is running on the latest firmware ones below 19 have bugs (easy to update)
Molto bello e pieno d'azione, peccato duri veramente poco. Undici minuti per finirlo in modalità NORMAL, senza considerare che il gioco ti sproni a "correre" affrontando tutto in velocità, questo significa non assaporare in pieno il gioco e le sue potenzialità. Spero in un secondo capitolo più pacato e longevo, il programmatore ha stoffa per farlo.
Never mind. I know what I did wrong. Excellent game!
I cannot figure out how to use the terminals. Nothing seems to work. What am I doing wrong?
Great game and I'm currently trying to complete the hard mode! Just one annoyance: When trying to jump directly up after moving, the character will jump diagonally instead. You have to stand still a moment before pressing jump to not get a diagonal jump.
Thanks. This was a deliberate choice to try and help with diagonals on joysticks. It does help with that but I've seen what you say. The former saves more deaths so I kept it in. I'll try and refine it for the next mission.
Thanks for your answer! I have died to this a few times though. The game is about precise platforming and movement, and this design choice goes against that IMHO. I would want to turn it off at least.
I'm sorry to be such a whiner but the more I have played, the more infuriating the automatic diagonal jumps have become. I have to be consciously thinking about it the whole time to not screw up. I probably don't want to play this anymore unless this gets changed.
Sorry to hear this. It's not an automatically diagonal jump, just your horizontal velocity is maintained when you start a jump. You can adjust in air. Have you tried a different joystick?
Just played on Vice (Linux) with a joypad using QJoyPad. Great game, really like simplicity and tight control. Just got killed by the boss on normal.
Just made my forehead sweat. Super game full marks!
This game is really great, best yet, your previous games were too cerebral for me although I had a go I won't be getting very far due to my lack of patience, but this, I'll be playing this.
Saul Cross as well deserves a special mention, what a soundtrack.
PS I forgot about Blockheads, that should be your next release, all it needs it a groovy tune and I'd buy it.
Is there a technical reason for why the keyboard controls are mapped to QAOP and not WASD? I assumed that C64 games had wonky keyboard controls only because WASD had not become the standard yet. Having joystick up to shoot and fire to jump is a great choice btw.
QAOP was what I grew up with. I didn’t think people would use keyboard at all to be honest. Is not a very 64 thing to do.
The only reason WASD has become 'the standard' is because of the mouse...back in the day we used to use both hands on the keyboard?
The other standard is moving with the arrow keys but C64 doesn't really have them. WASD layout is essentially replicating the intuitive arrow key layout.
I was trying it on my TheC64 mini and the controls are a bit weird. Stick up shoots while the fire button jumps. Is there a way to customize the controls?
Yes. In the options.
Carleton,
I've tried playing Runn N Gunn on PC with emulators, WinVice and CCS64. I have both a Gamepad F310, and XBox 360 Wireless. In both emulators, when using any gamepad button, the game 1st pauses, and then jumps. I'm going to try and attach a video. Well, I can't add a video file here. How can I get it to you?
Thanks,
Shawn
Sounds like you’ve got some keyboard conflicts. F1 is pause and space is also used. Check your input settings. Possibly port one is set to something.
Great release! Just 2 hopefully small problems, the volume on a 6581 is a tad low and every scene change makes a loud scratching noise. The button layout should probably default to B = jump is up and fire is shoot!
That’s 3 things. ;)
I think the SID player has a bug where it sometimes plays the music low. Could be something to do with playing the loading tune through. Clicking is also the SID player, I thought that was just a C64 thing. I remember it as a kid. I’ll look into it.
In testing fire for jump was the preferred choice hence default. Just personal preference and quick to change.
I bought it today and completed it today ;) It is a beauty. Great gfx, gameplay and music. I hope for a follow up. If there is one thing that could be done is to add option for joysticks with more buttons. Just as the game "Wormhole" has done! Jump, shoot and change character, 3 buttons as C-64 support.
I’ll look into other joypads, I wasn’t aware of them. Have you completed tricky and hard? There’s a enemy in those modes which doesn’t even appear in normal.
I just completed in normal. I will try tricky if there is a new enemy :) What would be cool is to do something similar as Tiny Little Slug on Amiga regarding high-score. http://tls.apc-tcp.de/highscore-de.php
What happen there is that when the game is completed you get a code to type into a web-browser and you get on the high-score list :D
I like that idea.
Really very good game
Looks very cool. I love those simply, immediate plattform-arcade games. Very well done.
Fan-bloody-tastic! Thank you so much for adding to the legacy that is the Commodore 64!
Only .d64 version?
No, the zip has d64, t64 and prg
Charleton Handley hat zusammen mit Saul Cross wieder ganze Arbeit geleistet und ein richtig tolles Spiel rausgebracht!
Auf meinem YouTube Kanal habe ich es im Rahmen der C64 Spielzeit vorgestellt. Schaut doch mal vorbei:
Sieht wirklich super geil aus. Ein beraubendes Spiel das nicht viel braucht um auf ersten Blick zu gefallen ! Das ist die Spende wert.
Hey MacGyver
Das Spiel macht wirklich übelst Laune! Richtig toll gemacht. Auf jeden Fall eine klare Kaufempfehlung und da das Spiel so günstig ist und sich die Entwickler unter Wert verkaufen, sollte man auf jeden Fall ein paar Euro drauflegen! Danke für deinen schönen Kommentar.
Viele Grüße, bleib gesund und bis zum nächsten Video, Andira
Great graphics and sound, smooth game play. I am already struggling though, any chance a future revision could have a save/load system or passwords for each level?
The game is not that long and there are continue. It is perfect like it is. That is at least my opinion.