Terra - Revision history

Azure at 23:59, 22 June 2021

2021-06-22T23:59:12Z

Aderack at 00:08, 27 September 2016

2016-09-27T00:08:36Z

Aderack at 01:21, 19 August 2016

2016-08-19T01:21:38Z

Aderack at 00:04, 29 July 2016

2016-07-29T00:04:28Z

Aderack at 13:49, 15 July 2016

2016-07-15T13:49:04Z

Aderack at 13:45, 15 July 2016

2016-07-15T13:45:57Z

216.151.52.59 at 16:49, 12 July 2016

2016-07-12T16:49:47Z

Aderack at 02:20, 22 June 2016

2016-06-22T02:20:56Z

Aderack at 16:17, 17 June 2016

2016-06-17T16:17:37Z

Aderack at 14:09, 17 June 2016

2016-06-17T14:09:01Z

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 Edited by
-: EJR Tairne
+: <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Azurelore Korrigan]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>
 == Background ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:08, 27 September 2016
Line 123:		Line 123:
	[[Category: Massachusetts]]		[[Category: Massachusetts]]
	[[Category: United States]]		[[Category: United States]]
		+	[[Category: Corrupted games]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:21, 19 August 2016
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	As with most of John and Robert Brandon's games, ''Terra'' is incomplete. John got further with ''Terra'' than with most games, though, and what he did complete is kind of prescient for where indie games would go in the following decade. With a little more structure and attention to detail, it could really be something special. As it stands, ''Terra'' is a neat little rough draft for the future.		As with most of John and Robert Brandon's games, ''Terra'' is incomplete. John got further with ''Terra'' than with most games, though, and what he did complete is kind of prescient for where indie games would go in the following decade. With a little more structure and attention to detail, it could really be something special. As it stands, ''Terra'' is a neat little rough draft for the future.
		+
		+	{{SeriesNav\|Raven\|Terra\|SkateGhoul series{{!}}(Overview)\|[[SkateGhoul series]]}}

	== Story ==		== Story ==

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 At times the environments include strange physics --  mysterious updrafts or gravity wells. In response the trick moves from ''Skate Board'' are worked into the level design as practical tools for navigation; ollies permit extensive platforming, and board slides let SkateGhoul slip beneath low-hanging spikes. The game doesn't go out of its way to explain itself, yet it has a holistic, if rough feel. All of the elements feel like they go together, even if they could use a bit more work to hang just right.
-It's an occasionally ominous, dreamlike space. There are occasional signs of life -- the active street lights, the occasional bit of machinery -- but nothing to say where that life actually went, or how long ago, or why. The world tends to sit in a perpetual twilight, neither quite day nor night. As a consequence, exploring can be a little spooky; like exploring an abandoned stadium or shopping mall.
+It can be an ominous, dreamlike space. There are occasional signs of life -- the active street lights, the occasional bit of machinery -- but nothing to say where that life actually went, or how long ago, or why. The world tends to sit in a perpetual twilight, neither quite day nor night. As a consequence, exploring can be a little spooky; like exploring an abandoned stadium or shopping mall.
 As with most of John and Robert Brandon's games, ''Terra'' is incomplete. John got further with ''Terra'' than with most games, though, and what he did complete is kind of prescient for where indie games would go in the following decade. With a little more structure and attention to detail, it could really be something special. As it stands, ''Terra'' is a neat little rough draft for the future.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 By and large there is little to do in ''Terra'' except to explore -- yet the game does a pretty good job of rewarding wanderlust. Each level is distinct, with its own color scheme and architectural details. The backgrounds are mostly built from flat colors and shapes, yet the style is pretty consistent, creating a coherent aesthetic. The architecture tends to be both distinctive -- full of setpieces and landmarks -- and varied, helping to break up the monotony and prevent the player from getting too lost.
 At times the environments include strange physics --  mysterious updrafts or gravity wells. In response the trick moves from ''Skate Board'' are worked into the level design as practical tools for navigation; ollies permit extensive platforming, and board slides let SkateGhoul slip beneath low-hanging spikes. The game doesn't go out of its way to explain itself, yet it has a holistic, if rough feel. All of the elements feel like they go together, even if they could use a bit more work to hang just right.
@@ Line 31: / Line 33: @@
 == Instructions ==
 === CONTROLS ===

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Pending}}{{box
+{{box
 |header='''''Terra'''''
 |file=[[File:TerraTitle.png|290px|border]]
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 '''Author:''' [[Robert Brandon]]<br />
 '''Related games:''' ''[[Skate Board]]'', ''[[Raven]]''
-}}{{PendingHeader}}{{Disambig|RSD|Terrain}}
+}}{{Disambig|RSD|Terrain}}
-When John Brandon designed ''[[Skate Board]]'' what he intended was a performance piece, where the player noodles around open terrain and gets points for style. What he wound up with was more of an exploration platformer. From there, John went on to chase his ideal in games like ''[[Skatenig]]'' while his brother Robert built on what John actually accomplished in ''Skate Board''. ''Terra'' is the culmination of that path.
+With ''Terra'', Robert Brandon completed what might well be dubbed the "SkateGhoul Trilogy" (along with ''[[Skate Board]]'' and ''[[Raven]]'').
-Game three of the "SkateGhoul Trilogy", which also includes ''[[Skate Board]]'' and ''[[Raven]]''.
+When his brother John designed the first of those games, what he intended was a performance piece, where the player would noodle around open terrain and get points for style. What he made was more of an exploration platformer -- like an early, small-scale ''Seikuls'' or ''Knytt''. From there, John went on to chase his ideal in games like ''[[Skatenig]]'' while Robert took up the pieces of his brother's work and built on what John actually accomplished. ''Terra'' is the culmination of that path.
-Follows through on latent elements in ''Skate Board''. Result is sort of an exploration platformer, in the vein of ''Seiklus''. Sort of a precursor to a Nifflas or cly5m game.
+[[File:SkateGhoulSprite.png|center]]
-Huge, labyrinthine levels to explore; some lock-and-key action. The "trick" moves are used for practical navigation; ollies permit extensive platforming, and board slides let SkateGhoul slip beneath low-hanging spikes.
+The game is nonlinear both in terms of its progression and its level design. The game begins in a black wander-void similar to the one in ''[[Fox World]]'' -- another of Robert's projects where he took John's content and built a new, more sympathetic context for it. Find a cul-de-sac in the path, and the game brings you to a side-scrolling area. Each such area uses most or all of the available map space to create a huge, largely empty vertical labyrinth. For most of these levels the object is just to get to the endpoint; occasionally, they present a lock-and-key puzzle that shifts the player's role from meandering to searching.
-Borrows a bit from ''[[Fox World]]'' -- another attempt at taking an existing game and turning it into an adventure platformer. Also, similar level selection area.
+By and large there is little to do in ''Terra'' except to explore -- yet the game does a pretty good job of rewarding wanderlust. Each level is distinct, with its own color scheme and architectural details. The backgrounds are mostly built from flat colors and shapes, yet the style is pretty consistent, creating a coherent aesthetic. The architecture tends to be both distinctive -- full of setpieces and landmarks -- and varied, helping to break up the monotony and prevent the player from getting too lost.
-Nothing really to do except to explore, but the world does a pretty good job at rewarding that. Levels are mostly flat colors and shapes, but arranged in a reasonably consistent way to make a solid aesthetic. Each level feels distinct, with its own color scheme and architectural details. Neat lamp posts, for instance.
+At times the environments include strange physics --  mysterious updrafts or gravity wells. In response the trick moves from ''Skate Board'' are worked into the level design as practical tools for navigation; ollies permit extensive platforming, and board slides let SkateGhoul slip beneath low-hanging spikes. The game doesn't go out of its way to explain itself, yet it has a holistic, if rough feel. All of the elements feel like they go together, even if they could use a bit more work to hang just right.
-Some occasionally peculiar physics, as with certain areas with mysterious updrafts or gravity bubbles.
+It's an occasionally ominous, dreamlike space. There are occasional signs of life -- the active street lights, the occasional bit of machinery -- but nothing to say where that life actually went, or how long ago, or why. The world tends to sit in a perpetual twilight, neither quite day nor night. As a consequence, exploring can be a little spooky; like exploring an abandoned stadium or shopping mall.
-[[File:SkateGhoulSprite.png|center]]
+As with most of John and Robert Brandon's games, ''Terra'' is incomplete. John got further with ''Terra'' than with most games, though, and what he did complete is kind of prescient for where indie games would go in the following decade. With a little more structure and attention to detail, it could really be something special. As it stands, ''Terra'' is a neat little rough draft for the future.
 == Story ==
@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
 * '''''[http://www.aderack.com/game-maker/downloads/terra.zip Terra]''''' (191.1 kB)
 [[Category: Incomplete games]]
 [[Category: Brandon Enterprises]]

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 [[Category: Side-scrolling]]
 [[Category: Exploration game]]
-[[Category: Arizona]]
+[[Category: Massachusetts]]
 [[Category: United States]]