Builder
Release type: Shareware
Release date: May 8, 2011)
Levels: 15
Author: A-J Games
Related games: Beware the Gremlin
Builder is a game of environmental anxiety. The world is closing in on you, and you need to escape. To do this, you observe your environment, build footholds, and destroy obstacles to your progress.
Builder is designed on the 20-year-old Game-Maker engine by Recreational Software Designs. The engine is really not meant for games like Builder, which in some ways plays into the game's themes. Stylistic and technical influences include the work of Max Fleischer, Cab Calloway, Solomon's Key, Metroid, Super Mario Bros. 2 (US), Hero Core, La La Land, Seiklus, Braid, Berzerk, Magic Carousel, and maybe a bit of Silent Hill 2.
Contents
How to run Builder
1) Install DOSBox
The game will not run properly on Windows 95 or higher, and will not run at all on 64-bit Windows. You therefore should run the game on DOSBox. Another good thing about DOSBox is that it's cross-platform, which makes Builder accessible to everyone.
Windows users should download the D-Fend Reloaded frontend, which comes with DOSBox preloaded. Mac users can download the much more basic Boxer frontend.
2) Set up Builder
To install Builder, simply drag the BUILDER.EXE file into the D-Fend Reloaded window (Windows users) and follow the prompts. Accept all of the default settings for now.
When the game appears on your installed list, right-click the title and select Edit. From here go to CPU and set CPU cycles to Max. Next go to Profile/Setup and choose CONFIG.BAT as your Setup file.
You can also prettify Builder in your listings. An icon is provided, that you can set in Profile. The recommended Profile name is "Builder". If you select Profile information, the recommended settings are as follows:
- Genre: Puzzle Platformer
- Developer: A-J Games
- Publisher: Jeneric Rules
- Year: 2011
- Language: English
- Internet address: gloaming.aderack.com
- License: Shareware
3) Alternative controls
Builder is designed for an extended PC keyboard. If you're playing on a laptop or other condensed keyboard, an alternative control scheme is available. Simply unpack the ALTCTRL.RAR archive, remove the hash marks (#) from the file names, and dump them into the main program directory.
Before you do this, you may want to back up the corresponding files from the original install. That's all up to you.
4) Stipulations of use
Although Builder is free to use and distribute, and indeed to dissect for your own enjoyment, I do ask that you neither reuse its components (including graphics, sounds, original music, text, and layout) in your own projects nor distribute the game in an edited form. The only exception is the non-original music files (which you can determine by reading the credits). As I found them in various music libraries over the years, so you too may reuse them at will.
Thank you, and enjoy.
Links
Downloads
- Builder (175 kB)
