Off The Page
Release type: Freeware
Release date: 1992
Levels: 10
Author: Alan Caudel
Website: Dummy Duck
Related games: Dummy Duck II, Dummy Duck 3, DD4, Dummy Duck 5, Dummy Duck 7
As with other early adopter projects, the first Dummy Duck game started well before Alan Caudel saw his first ad for Game-Maker. In grade school he extensively mapped out the game, including some levels that never made it into the final build, on notebook paper. When he received Game-Maker, his first task was a matter of problem-solving that likely set the course for all his future system-bending: how to adapt his existing vision to RSD's eccentric tools and logic.
The resulting game is a mix of clear inexperience and unusually advanced hackery. Each level is a series of console or arcade-style setpieces, that play out either on their own time or as the character approaches. The devices involved in the setpieces rarely repeat; Caudel wasn't just trying to fill space. He had his Rube Goldberg narrative sequence all planned out before he installed the software; any active design was just a matter of figuring out how to make it work.
Some of the solutions are a bit clumsy, as they would be. Even the clumsy ones are often quite clever, however, e.g. meticulously timed background tiles where a monster sprite would suffice. Right off, in his first project, Caudel plays with in-engine cutscenes; animated background hazards; springboards; and (particularly in the Candy World Land level) fun transitory devices that seem straight out of Castle of Illusion.
The game can be awkward to play, with a few ill-advised experiments, some control issues, and some bottlenecks in the flow of some of the levels (like that pond in level two). Some of that is just Game-Maker silliness; some is a result of that mix of inexperience and ambition. There's a clear desire to do everything here, as if this might be Caudel's one chance at making a game. The details aren't always as important as the big ideas: get it all in there, get it all done.
And, for a first volley in a long and storied conversation with the tools, Off the Page is a hell of a start. Later games would take the ideas here much further, and introduce more tricks besides, but Off the Page lays all the seeds for games as late on as Advanced Techniques Demo and indeed Dummy Duck 7.
As a note, the game available for download is slightly amended. The surviving copy of Off the Page is missing some important visual elements (the car sprite, some later background tiles), that Alan Caudel has reconstructed for the purpose of this distribution. The actual level information is as original.
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Contents
Story
The Amazing Never-Ending Epic of DUMMY DUCK
Many years ago at a neighbor's house far, far away... I came up with Dummy Duck.
Dummy Duck woke up one day, it seemed like a normal day, but one thing was different. His dog Foo-Foo Didn't have any food. Now Dummy has to make his way downstairs, outside, and away from Foof (that's what Dummy calls Foo-Foo). His only problem is Foo-Foo has called enormous amounts of badniks over for a house warming party. To get rid of them, you swing the back end of a chainsaw around at them. He's so dumb, he doesn't know how to use it the right way. You can also pick up a Yorkie named Mr. Bear who gives you burger bait. Press "B" to use it.
- Help Dummy through his house, and out the door! U H - O H ! Foo-Foo is guarding the door! No problem, jump over him while he isn't growling! (hint: when you're on the top floor, if you hurry, you can get hit by an anvil. YES THAT'S GOOD!)
- When you are outside, you must jump along window sills from one building to another, then make your way through the thick forest, clear the polluted river, and finally make it to the freeway.
- Once on the freeway, you drive a drag racer at lightning fast speeds dodging road blocks, holes, and brick walls (walls on a freeway?...YES!).
- Once you get off the freeway, you have to find the Hunter. When you do, run up behind him and press "P". If you got him, press "F" and you will have SUPER FLIGHT! That will help you get up that big hill! When You get up the hill, you meet the hunter again. Do what you did before, get behind him and press "P". Then run by him all the way to the right corner of the cave and press "Z" then run left.
- Whoa! Dummy gets warped into candy world land! Here you'll find all the death traps you love to eat! A hot bubbling vat of chocolate syrup, a spring board into a tank of Jell-Oh. Red Fruit Roll Out wall,bashing burgers, flying fries,ice cream spikes, OH MAN! BUM ME OUT!!
- Then you meet the creamiest villain of them all, Hagan Dazz Man! Pick up the spoon, catch the ice cream he throws, and sling it back at him by pressing "B"! Hit him enough times, and he'll start to disappear! When that starts to happen, run by him, and you're home free!
THE END!
Instructions
To make Dummy Duck move, use the arrow key in the direction you want him to go.
- UP makes him jump
- DOWN makes him walk down
- "F" makes him fly
- 7&9 on the number key pad makes him jump left or right
- Press "Q" to make him quack
- "P" makes him pick up an object such as Mr.Bear
- "D" drops it
- To swing the chainsaw around, press "SPACE"
Credits
By: Alan Caudel
Special Thanks To: Adam Tyner and people who helped me of course!
Dummy Duck and all associated characters are copyright 1992
Background
The first Dummy Duck game was originally titled "Off the Page". I came up with the concepts for the game before I had ever heard of Game-Maker. I drew the characters and levels out on sheets of paper, but had no idea how to make computer games. When I saw the ad in a magazine for Game-Maker, I was excited that I could finally bring my ideas to life.
I think it went under both titles Dummy Duck 1 and Off the Page. And yeah, I didn't really distribute it because it was pretty amateurish.— Alan Caudel, email exchange
The plans for "Off The Page" predate my knowing about Game-Maker. I originally drew up several pages of character sheets and maps planning the whole game out on paper before I had any clue about how I would actually MAKE the game! I was in 5th or 6th grade when I first started planning it all out.
The whole Z / F thing was originally pretty awkward. The idea was to sneak up behind the hunter and when he pops out from behind the tree, you press "p". The hunter is an inventory object which, once picked up, will let you use the "F" key to fly up high to get to the top of the big hill. Then you see the hunter again, and you sneak up and press "p" again, and this time the hunter is an inventory object that lets you use the "Z" key to fly the other direction. It doesn't make much sense. I couldn't figure out how to do a good boss battle back then. (I still have trouble with that)
— Alan Caudel, email exchange, October 19, 2016
There were supposed to be 2 other playable characters that never appeared in any other games. The existing game only goes up to what I called Level 3 (candy land). There are plans for 7 levels! There's tons of other stuff that didn't make it into the game, but reappear in later games. Like, I had plans for a submarine level for Dummy, which didn't really appear until Dummy Duck 4.
Also, the level designs in the game are quite different from what I had drawn in the plans. There's even a drawing of a "Lil' Donits" shop! (Lil' Choklit Donit Man may have worked there?)
Some of the drawings have the distinct style of Adam Tyner, so he obviously was part of the design process.
You can tell that it wasn't designed with Game-Maker's limitations in mind. I planned for a ton of stuff that I would have no idea how to do in GM for a long time. Some of it I still don't know how to do. For example, there was "Burger Bait", which, once dropped, would attract other enemies on the screen to it. I don't think this can be done in GM, without some wizardry that I have not yet learned.— Alan Caudel, email exchange, October 29-31, 2016
Availability
Off the Page is not known to have been distributed, prior to its addition to the Archive.
Archive History
After an earlier wave of rediscoveries, on July 13 2011 Alan Caudel provided another archive of previously missing Game-Maker material, including the following:
Links
Sites
Articles
- The Game-Maker Story: Infoboxes (Gamasutra)
Other links
- Older clip (YouTube)
- Play Off the Page online
Downloads
- Off the Page (126 kB)
- Level 1 map (15 kB)
- Level 2-1 map (21 kB)
- Driving map (8 kB)
- Level 2-2 map (20 kB)
- Level 2-3 map (15 kB)
- Level 3 map (44 kB)
