* EXCAVATORRR 1.2c *

by Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari

Music by Noby

Sound effects by SFXR

Game created with Multimedia Fusion 2, which is a product of Clickteam.


= ABOUT =

You play as a lonely excavator, who seeks for riches from the depths of the underground world. Of course there're loads of enemies and obstacles to be passed, but who knows what lies down there, just waiting to be found?

I created Excavatorrr to participate the Ludum Dare 15 game creation competition in August 2009. This wasn't my first entry, in fact there was another fully finished game as my entrant, called "CaveFrog", but it was silly and bad in my opinion. The competition version of Excavatorrr was created in 9-11 hours, and as you can guess, it had some weird things and bugs, and the overall gameplay was confusing. Overall the biggest cons that drove people away (and made me not win!) were the confusing controls, lack of information and the fact the game'd require some learning in order to be mastered.

However, I enjoyed the game myself a lot, so I decided to create this new, better version out of it. I tried to fix most of the things people didn't like about it, though with such a complex game the controls were still left rather confusing. Also due to the way I coded the game I couldn't add a real tutorial, just a silly "Controls" help text. One of the great updates is the online scoreboard; but there're also many new items, new enemies and even some random encounters. Woo.


= HOW TO PLAY =

RIGHT / LEFT ARROW = Move

UP / DOWN ARROW = Look up/down, and use ladders.

S = Jump. Your jump is about 3 tiles high.

D = Attack/Use things you have in your hands. Usually just throw them.

D + DOWN = Pick up/Put down. THIS IS IMPORTANT! You really need those items, y'know!

D + UP = Throw upwards/2nd ability

UP = Enter shop. Very useful!

Control + M = Mute/unmute music

Control + N = Mute/unmute sound


You get money by collecting money and bringing jewels to the shop. Also golden idols are welcomed to the shop, they're worth of muchos pesetas! Try to continue deeper, but keep in mind your jump height, and always ensure you can get back! It's a good idea to carry a Ladder Kit with you all the time. Look out for falling blocks, and also look if you can see tiles that have different texture than the others, they may hold secrets! Remember also the falling damage.


= ITEMS IN THE SHOP =

LADDER KIT - Most useful item in the whole game! Press D while holding to make a ladder downwards appear in front of you. Ensure that there's enough space in front of you for the ladder to continue. Hold UP and press D to make the ladder appear from where you stand, and upwards! Each ladder kit has 3 ladders.

BOMB - Throw it to explode some enemies and blocks out of the way. Doesn't have a very good range and explodes quickly, but is otherwise very usable.

DYNAMITE - Same as bomb, but you can't throw it, just set to explode and drop. Explodes with a great range. Due to the non-throwable-ness, it's clever to try to stand near a cliff or be in ladders while setting it on.

SPRINGBOARD - Throwable around, it makes enemies, items and you bounce around like crazy. Look out though - the bounce height is so big you might hurt yourself!

UMBRELLA - Slows your falling so that you don't hurt yourself. Throwable.

DRILL - You can use the drill to dig straight downwards or upwards, using D and D + UP! Useful, but remember to look out so that you can return back!

ELECTRIC STUNNER - Now this one actually kills enemies. It does great damage, and can be aimed diagonally upwards with UP + D. The electric charge can sometimes even hurt enemies through a wall!

= STUFF =

If you still don't get how to play, watch a video I recorded at http://www.vimeo.com/6382316

Hopefully you have fun playing!

(C) Reactor Products 2009