• Hey Guest! Ever feel like entering a Game Jam, but the time limit is always too much pressure? We get it... You lead a hectic life and dedicating 3 whole days to make a game just doesn't work for you! So, why not enter the GMC SLOW JAM? Take your time! Kick back and make your game over 4 months! Interested? Then just click here!

Demo Cool Headed, tactical puzzle

J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Hello everyone,

After 2 important completed projects, I am launching the greenlight campaign for Cool Headed

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=897950722


Cool Headed is a tactical puzzle game for windows:
  • pick your level on the overworld
  • choose your team
  • give orders
  • watch it happen
  • repeat if necessary :)

You can download the game here, I have shared a zip file:
here: http://www.indiedb.com/games/cool-headed/downloads
or here: https://joqlepecheur.itch.io/cool-headed

How to play the game?

1- choose your level in the overworld



2- choose the robots you want to use in your team, each with their own purpose !

Robots with finalized design and use





You can select them depending on how many slots you have available (you start with one, 4 in the screenshot) and the points you can spend in total (15 in the screenshot):



3- give your orders

  • each bots starts with the boot order
  • every bot has 0 to 5 main orders depending on its extra memory stat
  • end loop will be last, bot will either keep moving forward, stop completely, or auto-destruct


4- deploy your team when ready



If you made a mistake, you can abort anytime to adjust orders, they are kept in memory so you can tweak little by little.

Bots are deployed from metal platform to the left and you win when at least one of them reach the pole to the right.


Every level will later in development have a special challenge associated.
Your feedback will help me decide how I proceed with that particular element:
-finish in a certain time
-use certain units
-finds hidden things

Also I am curious as to what levels and what bots you prefer, this will help me emphasize the strong points in the next levels I will design.
Did you find some things boring that I should watch out for ?

Were you able to find the hidden levels in the demo ?

I believe I still have 1 year of work to complete the game, but I always finish my projects :)

You can have a look at my old projects if you are curious, they are not the best looking thing in the world and I have made a lot of progress since then.
However each one took me a year to complete, you should enjoy them if you're a fan of metroidvanias:
A dead world's dream : http://store.steampowered.com/app/517680/
Sand and rust : https://joqlepecheur.itch.io/sand-and-rust

If you have questions, feel free to ask

I am looking forward to your feedbacks !
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Somebody raised the issue of tweaking orders being potentially tedious and suggesting a simulation.

So after a few days of hard work here it is :)


Simulation allows to pick any bot and see how it behaves related to non-obstacles elements of the level
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Game is progressing well and so far everybody liked it.

This is the fourth Overworld reachable. This world will :
  • introduce a new mechanic: the scan upgrade (it allows finding some secrets)
  • rely on fire and heat resistant bots
  • mines that explode to the face of careless or suicidal bots

I will soon start working on a gamejam project, so game won't progress for 2 weeks, but in the meantime I am adding polish to world 2 and 3 and thinking on the next cutscenes.
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Hi there, it's been a while !
I have been at work for quite some time.

After a hiatus to work on other games during summer, I am back at it full time.
I have changed my minds about a few things:
  • scan upgrade added too much outside of the box complexity, I have improved simulation upgrade to include some aspects of the scan instead
  • there won't be fire resistant versions of bots. It is just adding an artificial layer challenge that I would rather remplace with smart usage of bots. Instead, there will be more original bots.


The narrator bot in action - it can activate artifacts -


This critter is purely decorative to break levels monotony

I uploaded the last demo as some improvements have been introduced since.
Don't hesitate to give it a go, I would be very happy if you give it a try :)
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest

Level 3 of the jungle world. Upon completion of this level, player is awarded a new bot.


Jungle (world5 map): 10 levels + 3 hidden levels

Game is progressing at a good pace currently. 3 levels are already done in this world. I am getting closer to releasing the beta !
Theme of world 3 are monster spawners.
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Here we go, beta release is now available:
https://joqlepecheur.itch.io/cool-headed

Game is currently sold at 3$, price will go up to 5$ on completion. Demo is available for free, I will be very proud if you can give it a try.

More than 80 levels of puzzles are currently available, and secrets hidden :)
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
I have worked for one year and a half on it, it would be great if you could give it a try :)

Gameplay is more simple that it looks:
  • click on a level on the overworld map
  • choose the bots to put on your team, and click on "go to configure orders"
  • give the orders (boot order is the initial movement, order1-2 etc are wait x seconds, stop x seconds, use special power when available, end loop is the last order executed forever)
  • click on deploy and watch it happen
  • click on "observe" at any time to
 
E

evenprimes

Guest
I love it! Just purchased.

I always enjoy games that let you program a solution & let it run.

I was able to find a hidden level in the demo. I'll have to check for more later.
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
evenprimes said:
I love it! Just purchased.

I always enjoy games that let you program a solution & let it run.

I was able to find a hidden level in the demo. I'll have to check for more later.
Click to expand...
Great ! :)

Demo is giving access to around 20 levels, but you have access to more than 80 with the beta build.
The save file should be compatible between the 2, so if you have started with demo but want to continue with beta, you won't have to redo the levels. If you have issue, just let me know ;)
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Hello,

I have been working non-stop for the last month and all levels of the game (around 110) have been designed. The demo comes with 3 new levels to help learn the mechanics.
More importantly, interface has been improved:



If you want to know more, I also recorded a new trailer, I hope you enjoy the new track ;) (new interface not yet present in trailer)

@evenprimes
I have integrated itch.io workflow "butler" in my project, so if you use itch.io app the game will automatically be updated (like steam).
I hope you won't have to redo levels, at least it won't be so in the future with the update system. If it is the case tell me and I will produce a temporary cheat code for next version to auto-complete levels.

I have added quite a lot of barely noticeable stuff to improve the experience, and this will be my focus for the next month.
link to the demo: https://joqlepecheur.itch.io/cool-headed
 
E

evenprimes

Guest
Looks fantastic! It will be a while before I have time to try out the new version, but I'm looking forward to it.
 
E

evenprimes

Guest
I just ran the new version. I was able to use my old save file in AppData/Local/CoolHeaded by changing its name (sav2.ini) to the new name (coolheaded_sav2.ini).

The new UI is a big improvement. Navigation is a lot more intuitive, and I enjoyed the new map details.

For anyone who hasn't checked out the demo yet, I encourage you to take a look. From the screen shots, you might not realize the amount of depth the gameplay has. The core mechanics contain a variety of constraints (team allocation, instruction limits, etc.) that lead to interesting choices. After the introductory levels, I think it allows a lot of creativity and some very satisfying 'eureka' moments.
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Good, I am glad, it would have been a shame to re-do levels :)
The next release will probably be next week, I have again worked to optimize performance (using profile utilities) and finally got to replace the "abort" button to match the style of the new ones. I am also adding the little bots on the overworld as I go.

Recently, I also added some achievements:


I still need to make the completionist ones (100% keys, secrets etc) and a few hidden ones.

My focus now is to re-make soundtrack of world2, and a trailer with new interface.
 
J

joqlepecheur

Guest
Hi people !

2 years and a half after, project is leaving beta to 1.0

https://store.steampowered.com/app/848660/Cool_Headed/



Game will be sold starting 6th of september for 3.99 $
Cool Headed is a programming puzzle game with simple instructions to give.
Don't fear losing, you can try as much as you want.

The game got loads of content. I don't even know how much time a motivated and good player would require at best 8, 9 hours ?
If you are reluctant to buy or just curious, no issue you can download the demo directly on steam for free and see if it is your cup of tea.

So that's it, no more announcement here, next one will be in "Made with gamemaker" ;)

Have fun and I am looking forward to having players overcome the hardest puzzles !
 
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