Timecode
Release type: TBA
Latest build date: 2014
Levels: TBA
Author: Alan Caudel
Website: Dummy Duck
Related games: Lighting, Bionic ComMANd
ALL INFORMATION IS TENTATIVE
When the game starts, and you see a code written on the wall, and a panel next to it. Notice that the code and the panel have the same letter over it. That means code "A" goes with panel "A".
When you walk to the panel, you are shown three numbers, which you must change to match the code. Once you do, a path opens up for you to move on to the next area.
The next area shows panel "B", but it doesn't show a code. It does show the same letter "B" and it says "F5". If you press F5, you get a prompt to save your game. (A good idea is to give the saved game the name of the letter above the "F5" on the wall. In this case, you could name your saved game "B".)
Once you've saved your game, you can move to the right. Once you walked to the right, you'll see a code marked "B", but you'll discover that you can't walk left back to the panel! Touching the flashing red area will kill your character. But if you notice, on the wall there is written "F6". with a "B" over it. This is letting you know to press F6 and load the game titled "B". When you load saved game "B", you will be back at the panel and you can enter the code.
As the game progresses, the puzzles get more non-linear and more tricky. If you use the wrong code with a panel that doesn't have the matching letter above it, the code won't work! Remember to save new game states in different slots, so you don't erase old game states! Re-trace your steps, and try to find the correct path to solve the Timecode!
| Previous | Current | Next |
|---|---|---|
| FallDownGoBoom | Timecode | Sneaky |
| Man Game series | ||
Background[edit]
From the author:
The inspiration for this came from 2 places: Minecraft and Nightcrawler from the X-Men. I was playing Minecraft on a friend's multiplayer server. They had teleportation enabled. You just had to enter in the coordinates you wanted to go to, and press enter. This was great except for one thing. If you typed in the wrong coordinates, you could find yourself accidentally teleported to the middle of a mountain, buried underneath the rocks or at the bottom of the ocean. It became clear how important it was to write down coordinates of safe locations, and only teleport to them. This reminded me of something I read in an X-Men comic, where someone asked Nightcrawler how he can teleport safely, and not end up in the middle of a wall or something. He responded something like, "Don't teleport where you haven't been." This got me thinking about a time travel device that can only travel to points in space and time where it has already been before. It would essentially be like saving and loading a game. This got me thinking about Game-Maker's Save/Load function. People have debated the ability to save/load games at any point vs. requiring the player to reach a "save point". Some people think that saving and loading a game at any point is almost like cheating. With Game-Maker, you don't have the choice to remove the Save/Load function, so I decided to go the "It's A Feature" route, and make the save/load function an integral part of the game. I thought instead of using it to retry areas you messed up on, why not design levels that can't be passed unless you save & load your game at different points. This got me thinking about the awesome things Mike Perrucci did in his game Wordlock. I tried to copy what he did there to make the code entry panel. Once I had that, it all came down to planning out a set of non-linear levels, which gradually introduced the concepts of the game. Part A introduces the code and the panel. Part B introduces the need to save and load the game. Parts C-E are all about solving non-linear puzzles.
A version of this game also appears in Caudel's Advanced Techniques Demo package.
Links[edit]
