Dizzy Down the Abyss v1.01 [DOWNLOADABLE]

By Anthony Burns

- Download here

Story:
The ancient village of Wynnadunn in the Valley of Lenge was once the envy of It's neighbours, deriving great wealth from the magnificent blood emeralds it extracted
from its mines.

That all changed a few years ago, however, when monstrous creatures
began emerging from the deepest mineshafts.

The mines were abandoned and most of the villagers fled in terror. Only a few poor wretches remain, living in constant fear of the curse that still broods beneath them. They could definitely use the help of an experienced adventurer with time on his hands...

Bored with the lack of adventure at home of late, Dizzy sets fourth to the cursed village of Wynnadunn.

Suddenly.....Dizzy's hot air balloon got struck by lightening and catches fire, he jumps for safety over the blighted realm.

Notes:
CONTROLS:
The "left" and "right" cursor keys make Dizzy walk left and right, and the "up" cursor key makes him jump.

The SPACE key is used to pick up useful objects and blood emeralds. Collectable items always appear in the foreground (in front of Dizzy).

The number keys 1-4 are used to drop held objects. If dropped in certain areas, or in conjunction with certain other objects, this may result in solving puzzles.

The "E" key is used to examine areas, including scrolls and inscriptions in the background. This can result in useful hints, or even finding hidden objects.

The "T" key is used to talk to characters (though they may not always respond).

The "C" key is used to advance text in conversations.

The "S" key is used to cast a spell, but only if you have a certain object.

OBJECTS:
There are 39 useable objects in the game, though Dizzy can only hold up to 4 of them at a time. Some of them need to be used in conjunction with other objects (drop them in the same space to see if they interact) whereas others need to be used at certain locations.

BLOOD EMERALDS:
These valuable stones are possessed of a powerful magical energy. Collecting five of them will give Dizzy an extra life. There are twenty in total, but not all of them are easy to find. Emeralds do not take up space in Dizzy's inventory.

HAZARDS:
Dizzy will lose a life if he comes into contact with a monster, a ghost (or the trail it leaves), spores, falling rocks, fire, lava, or deep water (Shallow, flowing water and waterfalls are not dangerous).
After losing a life, Dizzy will flash for a few seconds, allowing you to move him to safety. Interactions with characters are not possible during Dizzy's "hurt" phase.
Some items can protect Dizzy from certain hazards.

Any issues, feel free to post here. :smile:

[quote data-userid="380" data-postid="78787"]

Hi Anthony, really excited about a new Dizzy game. The game file works fine but I can’t get the sound effects. I’ve saved it in Documents on my c drive and also tried to save it in programme files but neither works. I think I need some expert help!!

[/quote]

That's easily solved. I'm afraid the sound folder has to go directly onto the C: drive, and not into another folder at all. Visual Basic's media player is a clunky old beast that hates having to hunt around in more than one directory, so the only way to get the sound to play is to copy the folder right onto the main drive. As long as the folder keeps its original name, that should solve the issue.

[quote data-userid="380" data-postid="78789"]

Sorry to be a pain. I’ve got 7Zip on my pc. I tried moving the file to C: but the programme won’t do it. Is there any other way I can save direct onto the c drive? and is there a save game? I tried esc but no joy.

[/quote]

Whereever 7Zip unpacks the file to, it should be possible to just move it by click and drag in Windows Explorer. Just find where it is, grab the whole folder, and drag it to the C: icon. That should move it to where it needs to be.

I'm afraid there is no save game option. I was hoping to include one but couldn't think of a way to implement it. There were too many variables for a simple password system (and I never was overly keen on Crystal Kingdom Dizzy's broken-up-adventure style).

Thanks Anthony, for a great original take on Dizzy!!

Amazing that youve built a Dizzy game on a VB platformIm loving the extra controls, graphics and sound

Yes it could do with a save feature and when Dizzy dies would be good to have a respawn.

Maybe theres other VB experts on this forum who can suggest something?

Great stuff!!

[quote data-userid="150" data-postid="78797"]

Thanks Anthony, for a great original take on Dizzy!!

Amazing that youve built a Dizzy game on a VB platformIm loving the extra controls, graphics and sound

Yes it could do with a save feature and when Dizzy dies would be good to have a respawn.

Maybe theres other VB experts on this forum who can suggest something?

Great stuff!!

[/quote]

Thank you for the feedback. :smile: I used to give Dizzy respawn-type deaths on my old flick-screen games, but that was easy as I just had to designate a safe spot on each screen. In a scrolling game, where the "rooms" as such are twenty screens wide, I just found it simpler to follow the Crystal Kingdom example and have "flashing" deaths except for the final death.

Having said that, I guess it could be reprogrammed to make him go through his full death animation before he starts flashing, but that could slow gameplay (Especially since I neglected to include an energy bar).

Aside from breaking the game up into level blocks that can be accessed via password, I wouldn't know where to begin designing a save mode. :sad: There are so many variables that would have to be recorded (Position and state of Dizzy, positions of objects, puzzles solved / unsolved etc). It isn't a very long game, though. I think it can be finished in about twenty-thirty minutes when the solution is known.

Just to let you know, there is an easy way to get past pretty much everything. :wink: I contemplated putting in a few areas where the player has no choice but to dice with death, but then remembered how frustrating I used to find those (Especially in the original Dizzy game, though I do love the gothic tone of that one).