scarygirl
April 14, 2009 11:49 AM Subscribe
Scarygirl. Flash platformer/adventure game with absolutely staggering production values and art. The intro sequence is awesome.
Yeah you weren't kidding. That opening animation shows more talent and visual flair than 98% of studio animation out there. This is just about the best looking platofmer I've seen. Inspiring on the one hand and daunting on the other.
posted by autodidact at 11:58 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by autodidact at 11:58 AM on April 14, 2009
Looks like they're having PHP issues.
posted by autodidact at 12:05 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by autodidact at 12:05 PM on April 14, 2009
Gorgeous. Horrible controls. Net result = good.
posted by rokusan at 12:06 PM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by rokusan at 12:06 PM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
(Also, is it just me, or is that intro the Animaniacs version of the Bioshock intro?)
posted by rokusan at 12:06 PM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by rokusan at 12:06 PM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
Level one was great (then php ate me)! Getting the level bonuses requires a level of OCD.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 12:18 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by a robot made out of meat at 12:18 PM on April 14, 2009
Holy frijole - it's gorgeous. Now if only they would allow me to remap controls - it's not 1986, people!
posted by ooga_booga at 12:19 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by ooga_booga at 12:19 PM on April 14, 2009
I hate it when games map the "jump" button to some random key instead of just the up arrow.
That said, it's a very pretty game.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:24 PM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
That said, it's a very pretty game.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:24 PM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
Whoa, it automatically pauses when you switch to another window! Are we truly living in the world of tommorow?
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 12:31 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 12:31 PM on April 14, 2009
Very pretty.
In level one, though, was climbing up all the ledges and I fell to the leftmost side of the screen, where all the little buggers were coming from. I seemed to get stuck and then I disappeared. "I" could go left and right and make the attack sound when holding down the button, but there was no Scarygirl...
posted by CPAGirl at 12:32 PM on April 14, 2009
In level one, though, was climbing up all the ledges and I fell to the leftmost side of the screen, where all the little buggers were coming from. I seemed to get stuck and then I disappeared. "I" could go left and right and make the attack sound when holding down the button, but there was no Scarygirl...
posted by CPAGirl at 12:32 PM on April 14, 2009
The art is just gorgeous, although I agree that the movement is a little slow and the controls somewhat awkward and unresponsive (why can't one button suffice for both "activate" and "spin"?). For a Flash game, though, this is A+.
posted by oulipian at 12:41 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by oulipian at 12:41 PM on April 14, 2009
Pretty meh...
what? someone had to say it. Now let me go check it out 'cause it really does sound worthy of the hyperbole.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:43 PM on April 14, 2009
what? someone had to say it. Now let me go check it out 'cause it really does sound worthy of the hyperbole.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:43 PM on April 14, 2009
CPAGirl: "Very pretty.
In level one, though, was climbing up all the ledges and I fell to the leftmost side of the screen, where all the little buggers were coming from. I seemed to get stuck and then I disappeared. "I" could go left and right and make the attack sound when holding down the button, but there was no Scarygirl..."
Same thing happened to me!
Yeah, the game looks very pretty but it could do with some improvements: it should be visible which ledges / trees / branches can be walked on and which can't. There should be an explanation at the beginning explaining about the high jump (s+d simultaneously) and the fact you can hang from ledges with your hook-hand, Prince-of-Persia-style. And there should be a reason why you just can't reach certain areas (climb the tree you come out of at the beginning by hooking on to the red UFO and then work your way up - at the very top is a treasure and a dozen of tasty fishies; juuuust out of reach! Argh!). Oh, and there should be some kind of "suicide" button for those emergencies like the one mentioned above...
posted by PontifexPrimus at 12:58 PM on April 14, 2009
In level one, though, was climbing up all the ledges and I fell to the leftmost side of the screen, where all the little buggers were coming from. I seemed to get stuck and then I disappeared. "I" could go left and right and make the attack sound when holding down the button, but there was no Scarygirl..."
Same thing happened to me!
Yeah, the game looks very pretty but it could do with some improvements: it should be visible which ledges / trees / branches can be walked on and which can't. There should be an explanation at the beginning explaining about the high jump (s+d simultaneously) and the fact you can hang from ledges with your hook-hand, Prince-of-Persia-style. And there should be a reason why you just can't reach certain areas (climb the tree you come out of at the beginning by hooking on to the red UFO and then work your way up - at the very top is a treasure and a dozen of tasty fishies; juuuust out of reach! Argh!). Oh, and there should be some kind of "suicide" button for those emergencies like the one mentioned above...
posted by PontifexPrimus at 12:58 PM on April 14, 2009
Lovely and fun to play. Bookmarked.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:07 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:07 PM on April 14, 2009
Wonderful, beautiful, sluggish controls and movement.
Going to keep playing it though, although with sound next time.
posted by Hactar at 1:33 PM on April 14, 2009
Going to keep playing it though, although with sound next time.
posted by Hactar at 1:33 PM on April 14, 2009
Animation / direction of eye-popping intro by Chris Hauge, who also did The Munky King, working at href="http://www.halopictures.com/">Halo Pictures.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 1:49 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by gorgor_balabala at 1:49 PM on April 14, 2009
oops.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 1:49 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by gorgor_balabala at 1:49 PM on April 14, 2009
Beautiful, beautiful intro-- My thought was, "You show me this, but then you put me in a Flash game?" The world created by the intro looks like it's meant for something more ambitious than "--> for Right, <-- for Left, and [P] to Punch. "
posted by darth_tedious at 2:11 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by darth_tedious at 2:11 PM on April 14, 2009
Oh yeah, this is some best of the web right here. The controls are a little wonky, but holy cow. Character design... geez, this girl's got an eye patch, a hook hand, an exposed bone for her other hand... crazy. Her friends are bunnies and octopi, she collects fish and video games, wears a skull and crossbones party hat, and everyone talks in iconography. This is like a playable design school.
posted by scrowdid at 2:11 PM on April 14, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by scrowdid at 2:11 PM on April 14, 2009 [3 favorites]
Oooh, pretty. Thanks for this. Bookmarked!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:32 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:32 PM on April 14, 2009
I'm just seeing a black screen on my Mac, is this happening for anyone else?
posted by Space Coyote at 3:34 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by Space Coyote at 3:34 PM on April 14, 2009
This really goes to show that if you are going to put a lot of effort into a game don't make it flash. God, it controls horribly, the water level is stupidly unforgiving.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 4:09 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by The Devil Tesla at 4:09 PM on April 14, 2009
Yeah, it's a totally beautiful black screen, Space Coyote.
posted by edd at 4:34 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by edd at 4:34 PM on April 14, 2009
Great game. Thank you!
posted by vibrotronica at 4:59 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by vibrotronica at 4:59 PM on April 14, 2009
Wow, and fun.
@Space Coyote: Seems to run fine on my MacBook Pro (OS 10.5.6, Safari 4).
posted by esome at 5:09 PM on April 14, 2009
@Space Coyote: Seems to run fine on my MacBook Pro (OS 10.5.6, Safari 4).
posted by esome at 5:09 PM on April 14, 2009
Works smooth and great for me on my MacBook Pro with 4GB ram, even the underwater level. Gorgeous game!
posted by deusx at 5:38 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by deusx at 5:38 PM on April 14, 2009
I hate that water level so much. The controls are sluggish and it requires extremely good controls to run through.
posted by winna at 6:24 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by winna at 6:24 PM on April 14, 2009
Is this someone's portfolio piece? With the effort that's gone into the pre-rendered intro, I almost wonder if this is someone trying to kickstart interest in a TV show idea. It's certainly "meh" as a platformer, but very pretty to look at.
posted by ®@ at 7:14 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by ®@ at 7:14 PM on April 14, 2009
On the level in Treedweller's tree, halfway up all the platforms freeze and the screen stops scrolling, making it impossible to get any higher. Too bad, it's pretty good up until then.
posted by samw at 8:01 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by samw at 8:01 PM on April 14, 2009
Like with so many others (but perhaps to a greater extent) this would be an excellent game if they actually implemented it properly. As a design mock-up, the flash thing is great. But it's horribly slow, technically limited in the extreme, and in no way a good platform for coding a platformer.
posted by Dysk at 8:04 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by Dysk at 8:04 PM on April 14, 2009
Man, that is good looking, but the pipe that just sucked me back to the beginning of the water level? Not cool, man.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:23 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by Rock Steady at 8:23 PM on April 14, 2009
By the time you get to the marketplace level, the art has gotten old and the shitty controls are enough to make this a joyless clusterfuck.
posted by Krrrlson at 8:56 PM on April 14, 2009
posted by Krrrlson at 8:56 PM on April 14, 2009
Man, that is good looking, but the pipe that just sucked me back to the beginning of the water level? Not cool, man.
Seriously, that pissed me off so bad. I thought game design had grown out of that kind of bullshit.
posted by rifflesby at 9:41 PM on April 14, 2009
Seriously, that pissed me off so bad. I thought game design had grown out of that kind of bullshit.
posted by rifflesby at 9:41 PM on April 14, 2009
I was absolutely certain that there used to be Scarygirl comics as giant jpgs on the net, that she's an existing character. I thought there were about 13 of them. But I can't seem to find them anymore... am I just imagining this?
posted by harriet vane at 7:31 AM on April 15, 2009
posted by harriet vane at 7:31 AM on April 15, 2009
Is this someone's portfolio piece? With the effort that's gone into the pre-rendered intro, I almost wonder if this is someone trying to kickstart interest in a TV show idea.
Bankrolled by an arts grant, according to the "About."
posted by rokusan at 8:22 AM on April 15, 2009
Bankrolled by an arts grant, according to the "About."
posted by rokusan at 8:22 AM on April 15, 2009
harriet vane: "I was absolutely certain that there used to be Scarygirl comics as giant jpgs on the net, that she's an existing character. I thought there were about 13 of them. But I can't seem to find them anymore... am I just imagining this?"
Maybe a little confusion because of the similarity to Lenore, the cute little dead girl^?
posted by PontifexPrimus at 9:48 AM on April 15, 2009
Maybe a little confusion because of the similarity to Lenore, the cute little dead girl^?
posted by PontifexPrimus at 9:48 AM on April 15, 2009
No, that's not it. She sure is a cute little dead girl, though!
posted by harriet vane at 6:32 AM on April 16, 2009
posted by harriet vane at 6:32 AM on April 16, 2009
It looks like the creators have been listening to the critiques: The controls are now the arrow keys and space. Gameplay feels snappier too.
This game is gorgeous, I just wish I wasn't deathly allergic to platform games.
posted by lekvar at 8:45 PM on April 17, 2009
This game is gorgeous, I just wish I wasn't deathly allergic to platform games.
posted by lekvar at 8:45 PM on April 17, 2009
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posted by drjimmy11 at 11:53 AM on April 14, 2009