By Kieron Gillen on September 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm.
This is splendid news. Rogue-like-platformer Spelunky has inched out of Beta status and gained that shiny Gold. You can go get it here. If you need a reason to do so – well, I direct you at the long feature Quinns wrote on its joys, in which he took time to insult me in passing. You remember Quinns. Nice guy. Doesn’t have much iron. Anyway, well done, Derek, maker of Spelunky. Also, the news that he’s bringing another version to XBox Live means we can all look forward to when it’s released in a year’s time, and all the console journalists finally realise it’s awesome, and it really gets on my fucking wick because I’ve been telling them to play the bastard thing for the last two years (Cross-ref: Trials HD).
And to give a taste of what you’ll be doing a lot in Spelunky, here are some death montage vids.
I mean dying. Not making montage videos. Though who am I to judge?
03/09/2009 at 13:26 CMaster says:
Woo, improved Spelunky!
03/09/2009 at 13:36 LewieP says:
I think the only downside to improved console versions of freeware PC games is that more often than not, the improved version never gets a PC release.
See N+
03/09/2009 at 13:47 ChampionHyena says:
A thought.
Is there a way to turn off the blood in Spelunky?
I’d love to play this game (no matter how much I suck at it), but each time I try, I find my happy cartoony Japanese-platformer-style experience irritatingly marred by incongruously plentiful arterial spray.
03/09/2009 at 13:51 Ian says:
I’ve never got close to finishing Spelunky (because my excitedness and desire to be a by-the-skin-of-your-teeth sort of hero always overcomes my desire to be careful) and I still adore it.
03/09/2009 at 13:52 Karry says:
To hell with Spelunky, where’s the DooM Roguelike graphics, Derek, huh ? Its been two years now.
03/09/2009 at 13:53 Mike says:
Oh god, this is amazing. I love this game so much, I was wondering when this would turn up.
It’s a shame he’s moving on from it. I’d love a port for something like the Ipod.
03/09/2009 at 14:13 Psychopomp says:
:)
03/09/2009 at 14:41 Lewis says:
Still hands-down my game of the year.
03/09/2009 at 14:57 Fat Zombie says:
…So. What’s changed since the last version?
03/09/2009 at 14:57 Mike says:
Except Mirror’s Edge, right?
03/09/2009 at 14:59 Zero says:
@ChampionHyena: The blood actually matters in this game. Vampires will drink it and be healed, and you can do something with it too if you play your cards right.
03/09/2009 at 15:00 Pags says:
I gave this game another chance a while back and finally ‘got it’. Now it’s one of those things I have to keep going back to every so often.
03/09/2009 at 15:14 army of none says:
I played this game. So much. It’s awesome that even the console crowd can get to play this !
03/09/2009 at 15:20 Lobotomist says:
Try as i might I never found a way to save the game i am playing. HELP!
03/09/2009 at 15:30 Jayt says:
Ahhh I have been waiting for RPS to do some Spelunky coverage, long overdue!
03/09/2009 at 15:35 Mike says:
Quinns did a nice piece on it, it’s linked in the article, Jayt.
03/09/2009 at 15:55 Norskov says:
A fantastic game, it’s one of the few games that can really make me mad, most of the time due to my utter incompetence.
03/09/2009 at 16:07 Driadan says:
And he also said he will release the source at some point, so i hope there is a port to mac and linux, and maybe a couple of mods :)
03/09/2009 at 16:12 Lobotomist says:
Is there no save at all ? Please somebody tell me :O
03/09/2009 at 16:23 Nero68 says:
I love this game, though I suck terribly at it, but I will someday (maybe) be able to finish it. World 1 music is brilliant.
03/09/2009 at 16:26 gor says:
There is no save but you can eventually unlock the ability to start your game a few levels in
03/09/2009 at 16:49 CaptainHairy says:
I’m reasonably sure that the game is built using Game Maker, so unless the Game Maker, or at least the API sees a port to Mac or Linux, chances are it’s very unlikely to get ported to those or any other platforms, despite the source being open. Shame, really, it’d be nice to see a Linux port.
03/09/2009 at 17:23 RobF says:
There’s a Mac beta of GM floating around but it’s a) time limited b) broken c) currently a bit rubbish. So, it’d have to be a total conversion I fear.
I’m sorta in the same boat wanting to bung one of my games across. It’s a bit twunt.
03/09/2009 at 18:03 Lewis says:
Lobotomist: the inability to save is kind of the point. It’s procedurally generated, so even though you have to ‘start again’ you’re never playing the same level twice. It’s a mad dash to see how far you can get. It’s likely to take you months to see the endgame, but it’s worth persevering – it’s a game that keeps on surprising you the further in you get.
03/09/2009 at 18:08 Lobotomist says:
i have no problems with permanent death. Its roguelike after all.
But fact that game doesnt save when you quit. Like other roguelikes, means you must be able to dedicate 30+ minutes , or else you will be playing starting levels all over again.
This makes this game poorly suited as coffe break game.
And thats a shame, cause other roguelikes fit that perfectly
03/09/2009 at 18:13 Lucas says:
I’m a bit rusty. When I tried to buy the Ankh in the black market, I threw it at the shopkeeper by mistake. That was quite a wakeup call.
03/09/2009 at 18:33 Jayt says:
@Mike, just after commenting I read through the article, thanks though
03/09/2009 at 18:37 GJLARP says:
LewieP: so true. So true. :(
03/09/2009 at 20:10 Zyrxil says:
I’d love a port for something like the Ipod.
Wat. How would you even play something like this on an Ipod?
03/09/2009 at 21:02 ourdreamsoffreedom says:
They have Abuse on the Ipod, why not this?
03/09/2009 at 22:17 Sparvy says:
Oh, god. I morbidly hope its says “Didn’t have much iron” on Quinns gravestone.
04/09/2009 at 00:26 Heliocentric says:
From now on Quintin “not much iron” Smith.
04/09/2009 at 08:45 KP says:
I watched the video before reading the post fully and said to myself “this art looks like Derek Yu’s style.” I’ve been a fan since Trigger Happy. :>
04/09/2009 at 13:20 torchedEARTH says:
@Lobotomist
This is as close as you can get to saving and the like,
http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/Source_code
(read extracting source code, debug mode)
but everyone will call you a big cheaty pants, but you won’t care because you will have completed the game.
04/09/2009 at 21:53 aoanla says:
If only it worked in OSX or Linux (I hear that Wine doesn’t quite manage to get it working)…
Hopefully once Game Maker Mac is out of beta, we’ll get an OSX port at least…
08/09/2009 at 11:48 Super Bladesman says:
I spent far more time playing Spelunky than I ought to have done – it really is a touch of gaming gold.