I could sum up my Undrium experience in three words: playability, nostalgia and good taste. First Melkhior's Mansion and now a new masterpiece. Richard, you are a genius!
Thank you so much, my friend.
Haha, things that happen...
By the way, the game has crashed twice on my son's computer, the last time a few minutes ago when he was in the middle of a game. The error window said "Melkhior's Mansion encountered the following problem and will have to close: Referencia a objeto no establecida como instancia de un objeto". I have the log files, if you want to have a look at them.
Anyway, you know kids are doing 20 things at the same time on the PC, and they keep changing the focus from one thing to another, watching streams, talking on discord, etc. That may have caused the problem, but I don't know.
I find it a bit absurd to have to answer this, I don't see the point, but since you insist so much I'll do it just once. As I told you, my son saw the game and asked me to install it for him, because he liked it. He watched me play for about 2 minutes, no more. The only thing I told him was the objective of the game (which the game itself tells you), he saw that there were some coloured keys to open doors and I told him that one of the pieces he was looking for was in an attic (which the game also tells you!). From there, he went to his room and managed by himself to find the keys, look for the stairs upwards, go up to the attic, etc. All by himself and no more spoilers. And I assure you that after only three games, he knew the map much better than I did. I hope you'll feel more at ease now that I've revealed the 'hidden details'.
I have discovered the <Setting Key="Palette" Value="0" /> value in the Settings.xml file, but I have never edited it. I don't know why it is set to zero. Maybe after taking them all, the next time it goes back to zero? Or something like that.
EDIT: Never mind: I noticed that this value is the selected palette, not the unlocked ones.
Don't worry about the scores, my son and I will continue playing it regularly. I'll tell you something else that worries me more, and that might be a bug. Yesterday afternoon I finally unlocked all the palettes, I left the last one on (Spectrum dimmed, or something like that). Today I started the game and it's as if my data has been erased: I have all the palettes locked again. Maybe you can figure out the cause. I don't mind getting them again, it can be fun. What worries me is that it keeps happening over and over again.
I disagree, and I will try to explain it in a reasoned way.
1- The game is inspired by Atic Atac, respecting its essence and mechanics deeply. It's like reliving that game 40 years later, in 3D style, with beautiful music and a really wonderful art style. And adding, in a very inspired way, new game modes. It would be meaningless without the frenetic pace, opening and closing doors, constant appearance of enemies, life drainage, etc.
2- The map is available on the consoles. There are 5 floors, and you have one map per floor. When you have discovered a complete floor, take a picture of it with your mobile phone (or a screenshot) and you have maps forever, if you wish so. Other players prefer to play without a map.
3- I don't think it's a hardcore game, not even close. My son, who had never seen a game like this before, saw it on Monday and immediately asked me to install it for him. He played two test games with Stamperlot, understood the objective perfectly, and the next game he won the game in 17 minutes (Andrew13 at the score table). I was surprised how well he knew the map after a few games, and he was more familiar with the main paths than I was. He made one more comment: Dad, it's too easy to refill the life bar, there's food everywhere.
After that, he won it twice with Lester (one of them didn't enter due to server error) and once with Zouch (was also not registered for the same reason). And although he usually plays Fortnite and League of Legends, he also loves Melkhior's Mansion.
So, as you can see, for some it is easy, for others it is hard. You have to ask yourself whether you really like it or not, it won't suit all players. In my opinion it's a marvellous game, a gem. And on top of that, it's free.
Very excited, I have been following this project since the beginning. I am one of those people who in 1983 were lucky enough to play the original Atic Atac, which left an indelible memory in my mind. Now, at 51 years old, I will be able to feel like that child again, thanks to you. The game you have made is really amazing!