The Adventures of Santa Claus -- Version 0.1

Monkey Archive Forums/Monkey Projects/The Adventures of Santa Claus -- Version 0.1

GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#1]
Hey folks.

Wanted to let you know about my latest Monkey X game project.

First, I am a retro gamer. Really enjoy playing real retro games and modern retro style games. Second, I’m a Christmas nut. One of my most favorite times of the year.

So... I’ve been working on a retro Christmas game for a bit over 5 weeks now. This is pretty rough at this point but is playable.



Strange things are going on in the North Pole. Take on the role of Santa Claus. You’ll receive quests taking you out of the village into the other gameplay areas.



I’m mainly looking for feedback in the following areas at this point:

1. Difficulty: Is it too easy, too hard or just right?

2. Is this the kind of game you think of when you are in the mood to play a Christmas game?

3. Does it feel retro?



More details if you’re interested…

The goal was to create a retro Christmas game basically between the NES and Sega Genesis system constraints. This means basically a retroish style presentation and constraints on the overall amount of graphics and animation that can be present at any one time.

I tried to stick as close to that as possible. Most of the time there are only about 30 colors on the screen. Maximum colors at any one time are about 36 currently. All colors are chosen from a fixed-palette of 128 colors. So it is more than NES 8-bit games and less than the Genesis 16-bit games.

I wanted to combine elements of action adventures with other games. Basically the main hub (North Pole Village) is where events take place to push the story forward. This main area is where you learn what is going on & receive quests.

You’ll leave this area entering other gameplay areas to perform the quests. My goal is to have several styles of gameplay ranging from platformers to topdown skiing levels to flying. However, I’ve only had time to knock out a couple platformer stages. It’s a long-term project I knew I wouldn’t complete until next Christmas.

This is early in development and truly a version 0.1 my first release just to ask for feedback. I was reluctant to throw it out here and almost waited until I had another round of development next year. Because I have a habit of throwing things out so early they really don’t show where I am going with it. I think this one does a better job of it though so I am taking the plunge.

I know much of it is rough (and incomplete such as reusing gifts in place of parts) and this is because it is version 0.1. ;)

Please feel free to leave your comments on the game page or here in this thread.

Thanks for taking your time to check out my game, rate it and leave your feedback on what you like and what can be improved.

Play The Adventures of Santa Claus




therevills(Posted 2015) [#2]
I prefer the look of Santa (and overall graphics) in the overhead section of the game.

The sound effects needs some work, they are just too loud at the moment (esp. the snow balls). The music is fine.

It plays pretty well overall.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#3]
@therevills Thanks for trying it out and giving your feedback. I appreciate it.


TeaBoy(Posted 2015) [#4]
I have only briefing played it, but what I noticed is that the controls are very responsive, atleast for me.

The collision and physics seem pretty decent, you have the makings of a much greater game, with plenty
of scope for more, perhaps add a santas sleigh ride level - if you haven't done already!

- Did you use any frameworks for this?

Good work!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#5]
@TeaBoy Thanks for giving it a play and providing your feedback.

I'm glad you noticed the potential to make the game much larger and more varied.

No frameworks. Just Monkey X (1) and using the HTML5 WebGL build that @rIKmAN provided.
I do have Ignition X (I think it is called) but have been too busy developing to even look at it yet