Der Schränker 4 (who can help me?)

[marius]

Hi everyone,

After trying, and trying, and trying again for quite some time, I'm about to give up. I simply can't seem to make any further progress in this game. I've managed to collect a few diamonds and run over that line of bombs, but then what? I seem to be completely stuck.

My specific issue is that I can't find a way to get onto the platform where the green bottle is located. Because of this, I can't get past the fire obstacle (the one that looks like a giant candle). I must be missing something obvious, but I just can't see the solution.

I have to be honest: while this game looks incredibly promising, and I can clearly see how much time and energy the coder put into creating it, the sheer level of frustration right now is really getting in the way of the entire experience. It's a shame, but with this degree of unclear progression and the ongoing wall I've hit, I really couldn't give the game more than a 1-point score at the moment.

I'm convinced I'm doing something wrong, and I genuinely want to give this game a fair chance. I find it rather odd that the path isn't more straightforward, but I'm really hoping someone here can point me in the right direction. Any help would be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[andymanone]

Hi marius,

the easiest way would be to ask the programmer himself .

That's Janko (aka Kveldulfur), who is also active here in the forum .

If he doesn't reply here himself, then it's best to send him a PM.


Cheers,
andY

[Irgendwer]

My specific issue is that I can't find a way to get onto the platform where the green bottle is located. Because of this, I can't get past the fire obstacle (the one that looks like a giant candle). I must be missing something obvious, but I just can't see the solution.

Haven't played the game yet, but from the footage on YT, it seems, that you can just jump on the border of the "giant candle".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcoM20smcUw

Problem solved?

[Tigerduck]

Hi Marius,

stay close to the "fire obsticale" and make a long press on the fire button.
Now you will jump to the edge and you can jump above the fire.

I hope this is the solution for your problem...

Edit: Da war wohl irgendwer schneller

[marius]

You guys are really the best.

That works!

Ok, let me play the game some more!

Thanks again, I really appreciate your help. Let's hope I will start to enjoy the game more!

[patjomki]

Ich versuche zu schreiben ohne zu spoilern.

Bin mal gespannt, wie viele Levels das Game hat. Habe lange an einem bestimmten Level festgehangen, aber jetzt habe ich ca. doppelt so viele Levels geschafft und das Game ist noch nicht zu Ende (Der Level, wo man gerade ist, wird ja nirgends angezeigt, oder?).

Das Game macht mir jedenfalls viel Laune.

[Kveldulfur]

Hi everyone!
While everything has already been clarified, I’d like to revisit the topic of “jumping” once more:
Tapping the fire button briefly results in a jump to 50% of the maximum height. This short jump is sometimes even necessary. Holding the fire button longer allows you to jump up to 100% of the maximum height, but you can also cancel the jump early—for example, at 75%.
During beta testing, we had a joystick that unfortunately had auto-fire enabled. This meant that as soon as you pressed the fire button, the joystick simulated continuous fire. As a result, we could only perform short jumps and initially thought there was a bug in the program. Turns out, it was the joystick—so watch out for that!
Otherwise, have fun testing!

Janko


Hallo zusammen!
Obwohl bereits alles geklärt ist, möchte ich noch einmal auf das Thema „Springen” zurückkommen:
Durch kurzes Antippen des Feuerknopfes springt man auf 50 % der maximalen Höhe. Dieser kurze Sprung ist manchmal sogar notwendig. Durch längeres Halten des Feuerknopfes kann man bis zu 100 % der maximalen Höhe springen, aber man kann den Sprung auch vorzeitig abbrechen – zum Beispiel bei 75 %.
Während des Beta-Tests hatten wir einen Joystick, bei dem leider die automatische Feuerfunktion aktiviert war. Das bedeutete, dass der Joystick, sobald man den Feuerknopf drückte, ein kontinuierliches Feuern simulierte. Infolgedessen konnten wir nur kurze Sprünge ausführen und dachten zunächst, es handele sich um einen Fehler im Programm. Es stellte sich jedoch heraus, dass es am Joystick lag – also passt darauf auf!
Ansonsten viel Spaß beim Testen!

Janko

[Kveldulfur]

Der Level, wo man gerade ist, wird ja nirgends angezeigt, oder?

Hi!

Ja... weiß auch nicht. Daran habe ich überhaupt nicht gedacht
Es gibt 10 Level, die es zu meistern gibt. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad der Level ist aber nicht kontinuierlich größer, sondern variiert.

Viel Spaß noch!
Janko

[marius]

Hi everyone!
While everything has already been clarified, I’d like to revisit the topic of “jumping” once more:
Tapping the fire button briefly results in a jump to 50% of the maximum height. This short jump is sometimes even necessary. Holding the fire button longer allows you to jump up to 100% of the maximum height, but you can also cancel the jump early—for example, at 75%.
During beta testing, we had a joystick that unfortunately had auto-fire enabled. This meant that as soon as you pressed the fire button, the joystick simulated continuous fire. As a result, we could only perform short jumps and initially thought there was a bug in the program. Turns out, it was the joystick—so watch out for that!
Otherwise, have fun testing!

Janko

Hey Janko,

Thank you so much for your response. Things had been clarified indeed, which was a big help. I really appreciate the time and energy you have put into this game. It is all very professional and it also looks very pretty. I think you absolutely deserve credit for this, and I hope your game will receive good points.

When I saw the solution, which I obviously missed, I even felt a bit 'dumb' and I thought: why didn't I come to this solution myself.

I am not completely sure whether this is the game for me. This is personal of course. I am jumping between two thoughts. On one hand I really like the technical achievement of such a game, and I was wondering: oh I missed version 1 t/m 3, so obviously I have not paid enough attention the last years (which is actually true, my Atari has been gathering some dust the last few years). On the other hand, I am sometimes losing a life, which feels like it is not completely my fault.

I can remember years ago when the game Yoomp! was released, one of the positive feedback points was that people who lose a life, do feel that they can only blame themselves for simply not playing right. The 'controls' of the game in Yoomp! feel very intuitive and natural, and when you lose, it never feels like it was because the game was picky or something like that.

I am sometimes getting the feeling that the difficulty of your 'Mario-style' game leans heavily on precision rather than strategic challenges. I had the same with the Polish game Włóczykij. I really loved Włóczykij, but eventually (in level 4 or so) I mainly die because I kept my joystick 1 microsecond too long in a certain position, or I jumped just 1 microsecond too early. That leads to a certain type of frustration, that I am probably too sensitive for

It is honest feedback. I think you are a very talented coder, and you have created an amazing game. It is technically really top notch, and it really adds another 'Mario style' game to our so beloved platform, which our scene can only be grateful for. At least I am, so I want to thank you for creating it. I honestly think that you deserve good points for this game.

But on the other side, if you could find a way to make the game less reliant on micro-precision to maintain the challenge, it would make the game even cooler (for me at least.)"

[Kveldulfur]

Hi!
Thank you for your kind and honest feedback — and for the nice words about Schränker 4!
Finding the right balance between “too easy” and “too hard” is indeed quite tricky. With Schränker 3 (my favorite installment!), I was especially frustrated that it turned out to be too difficult for many players. After all, my goal is for the games to be fun and actually played.
That’s why I spent nearly two years refining Schränker 4, including a complete overhaul of the jump controls: You can now change direction mid-air, and you don’t have to collect every diamond—players can simply skip the trickiest spots if they prefer. Still, it remains a classic jump’n’run where precision (much like in Yoomp! or Wlóczykij) plays a major role. I fully understand, though, that this style of gameplay isn’t the right fit for everyone.
Unfortunately, I can’t easily rewrite the code to reduce the reliance on micro-precision any further — it’s grown far too complex by now
Please don’t take it the wrong way if I leave the game as it is in this regard. I do hope, however, that you can still appreciate the technical aspects and gameplay design, even if it’s not entirely your cup of tea.

Janko

PS: Since my English is rather poor, I used an automatic translation for this message. I hope it’s clear enough!

[patjomki]

Der Level, wo man gerade ist, wird ja nirgends angezeigt, oder?

Hi!

Ja... weiß auch nicht. Daran habe ich überhaupt nicht gedacht
Es gibt 10 Level, die es zu meistern gibt. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad der Level ist aber nicht kontinuierlich größer, sondern variiert.

Viel Spaß noch!
Janko

Das mit dem nicht stetig ansteigenden Schwierigkeitsgrad finde ich übrigens besonders gelungen.

Ansonsten habe ich gerade das Ende erreicht (werde aber nicht spoilern).

[patjomki]

I am not completely sure whether this is the game for me.

Hi marius,

don't give up too early!

When I got the game a few weeks ago, I felt exactly the same way. Every time that damn bat hit me again, I cursed.

But little by little, it got better, and now that I've finished the game, I can say it was absolutely worth it.

I mean, what would be the point if the game were so easy that you could finish it without any effort?

Please give it another chance! It's worth it.

[Dr. Irata]

Hallo liebe Gemeinde,
als Tester von Schränker 1-4 kann ich nur bestätigen, daß vor allem Schränker 3 und 4 stark sind!
Schränker 4 ist technisch super umgesetzt und mit ein wenig Übung gut bis zum Ende spielbar. Man muss da halt dran bleiben. Wenn mal aber bedenkt, wie man früher solche Spiele gefeiert hat - Montezuma oder Spelunker habe ich viele viele viele Wochen / Monate gespielt - sollte man Übung und Geduld walten lassen.
Bei Schränker 3 muss ich ehrlich sagen: Es ist deutlich "underrated". Jankos bestes Programm bislang. Sehr schwer, aber tolle viele Level - man muss halt viel spielen - wie damals und nicht glaube so ein tolles komplexes Spiel an einem Tag durchzuspielen (wäre ja auch langweilig). Da kann ich jedem empfehlen, sich auch Schränker 3 nochmal anzunehmen.... ähnliches gilt übrigens auch für Infinity: Gerade die letzten beiden Abschnitte sind echt gut mit so vielen Items... fast schade, daß da keiner hinspielt weil zu schwierig - zumindest für kurz mal durchspielen....
LG
Peter

[marius]

Slightly offtopic: what a nice topic we have here together. It is interesting to read your point of views, and you have encouraged me to keep playing the game. That is exact the atmosphere I like from a computer club (Abbuc) and what I like to see on a forum.

I felt a bit reluctant to give Feedback in public on a game, because the last thing I wanted is to sound negative or saying something unpleasant. And it is fabulous to see how well everyone responded to that.

I did not vote yet, so I will try the game in this weekend. Let's see how far I will go. I really love the graphics and the colors, so let's hope I will get into the Schränker atmosphere as well!