N (game)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| N v1.4 | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Metanet Software |
| Publisher(s) | Metanet Software |
| Designer(s) | Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard |
| Release date(s) | May 16th 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | gotoAndPlay() Review (92%) |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| Media | Adobe Flash executable download |
N is an award-winning[1] freeware Adobe Flash computer game developed by Metanet Software. It was inspired in part by Lode Runner, Soldat, and other side-scrolling games, and features a realistic physics engine. The name is derived from "The Way of the Ninja," which is described in the background story. N features a ninja, who is the player-controlled character in the game.
Contents |
[edit] Story
"Your god-like speed, dexterity, jumping power, and reflexes are all a result of an amazingly fast metabolism; sadly, so is your natural lifetime of 1.5 minutes. Like all ninjas, you have an unquenchable thirst for gold, a natural propensity for exploring rooms infested by increasingly lethal ninja-killing robots, and a devout belief in N. N, 'the way of the ninja,' is a highly advanced system of spiritual, cognitive, and physical training. It emphasizes pacifism, humility, and the need to traverse a series of 5 rooms before the end of your lifetime, a feat known only as "beating an episode". In accordance with the teachings of N, it is your profound hope that one day you will develop the skill, intelligence, and inexplicable ability to reincarnate necessary to achieve mastery of all 100 episodes."[2]
[edit] Gameplay
In N, the player controls a ninja who runs and jumps around levels, picks up gold, opens and closes doors through switches, and avoids obstacles in an attempt to trigger a switch which opens an exit door, and get to it safely. Gameplay involves three keys—moving left, moving right, and jumping—but combinations of these moves on various types of terrain allow the ninja to do much more than simply run and jump.
N is composed of episodes, each featuring five levels, numbered 0 through 4. As of version 1.4, the game contains 500 official levels. The goal of each level is to trigger the switch and exit through a door it opens before the 90-second time-limit is up. Some levels have more than one exit and associated switch.
N also contains a feature that adds support for custom, user-made levels through a built-in level editor. Some fan-made maps are given to players with the game's download. Levels can be added into a game by modifying a text file that contains user level data; adding level data to this file allows user levels to be played in a timed setting, though it does not support the episode structure of the main game.
[edit] Objects
Along the way, the ninja will encounter various objects:
- Gold; each piece collected will add 2 seconds to your time limit. Time limits carry over levels in an episode.
- (Thanks to your sickeningly materialistic attitude, collecting this stuff makes you happy, and helps you live a bit longer. (translation: adds 2 seconds to your lifespan))[3]
- Launchpads launch the ninja a considerable distance into the air. The height is just enough so that if you do not land on another Launchpad, or break your fall with terrain, the fall will kill you.
- (Touching this thing will launch you on a trip into the air; make sure you've got a landing planned or it may end up being a one way trip.)[3]
- One-way platforms, comparable to platforms in side-scrolling games, allow the ninja to come through in one direction, but are solid on the other side.
- (These little ledges will stop you in only one direction. Hopefully it's not the direction you want to go.)[3]
- Bounce blocks are squares that cushion the ninja when landed on; if used correctly, these can be used to launch the ninja into the air.
- (It won't stop weapons, but it's kinda fun to jump on.)[3]
[edit] Doors
[edit] Enemies
Various enemies seek to kill the ninja:
- Mines are stationary but will blow the ninja apart if touched, and are by far the most common enemies in the game.
- (These guys are pretty reasonable: don't touch them and they won't blow you up)[3]
- Homing turrets launch explosive, homing rockets, when the ninja is in the turret's line of sight. They can only fire one rocket at a time, and their rockets explode harmlessly when they hit a wall or door, although they have a fast turn rate.
- (There are two key differences between you and these guys: they can't move and you can't fire deadly ninja-seeking rockets)[3]
- Gauss turrets fire an instantaneous shot (apparently composed of U-238) in a straight line at the ninja. Their targeting reticules locate the ninja at a speed based on distance; the farther away the ninja is from the cursor, the faster it will attempt to track the ninja. The reticule disappears if there is a wall or a door between the ninja and the turret.
- (The bad news: these guys fire depleted uranium at supersonic speeds; The good news: they can't move and their targeting software is obsolete)[3]
- Laser drones slowly move and fire a locked laser beam at the ninja's location upon the ninja's entering their lines of sight. However, they require charging time during which a faint, harmless red laser precursor appears. Laser drones tend to be found in areas with steep slopes.
- (Sluggish but deadly, these guys need 1 second of charging before firing; use it to run for cover)[3]
- Zap drones deliver a fatal electric shock and are the fastest of all drones. Usually "blind," sometimes the drones will have antennae, indicating that they are capable of giving chase across a straight line if the ninja is in a direct line in front of or on either side of them. It is possible to lure these drones into chasing, and then avoiding them much like a matador would, as they cannot change directions while chasing.
- (These fast moving guards have a deadly electric touch. Some even have upgraded nav software, which lets them run chasing algorithms!)[3]
- Chaingun drones fire a short stream of bullets in a random, wedge-shaped area in the direction of the ninja, if in their lines of sight. The further away from the drone, the more spread out the bullets are, and so the further the ninja is from the drone, the less likely the ninja is to be hit. As with Laser drones, Chaingun drones require a minor starting time.
- (These drones are equipped with a rapid-fire (but not so accurate) machine gun)[3]
- Floorguards race along the ground toward the ninja if the ninja is visible on the horizontal line on either side of the Floorguard, unless there is a wall or door. A floorguard can move on top of a horizontal door even if opened, making it seem as if it can hover. As with Zap drones, Floorguards deliver deadly electricity upon contact.
- (Like happy little puppies, these robots will eagerly scamper along the ground towards you. Unlike most puppies, they'll kill you if they get close enough.)[3]
- Thwumps attempt to shock and crush the ninja if the ninja is in their path. The ninja can hold onto, stand, and walk on three of the sides of a Thwump, and can get crushed if trapped between a wall and the returning side of a Thwump. As the in-game story claims, they are based on Thwomps from the Super Mario Series.
- (According to legend, in pre-robotic times there existed a race of large, spiky stone bastards, whose complete invulnerability and hereditary hatred of heroic Italian plumbers led to their persecution, and eventually to extinction. Thankfully, they've been recreated, in robot form, and 3 of their 4 sides have been rendered harmless.)[3]
[edit] Deaths
There are various ways to die in N:
- Impact from hitting any surface at a high speed relative to the angle of the surface (the floor and objects included), often the result of a long fall;
- Electrocution by a Zap drone, Floorguard, or Thwump;
- Explosion from a Mine or rocket from a Homing Turret;
- Hit from a Gauss Turret, Chaingun drone, or Laser drone;
- Pulverization by a moving thwump or a closing door;
- Suicide, which kills the ninja with the press of a button (default control: "K");
- Dissatisfaction (i.e., running out of time).
After each death, the player may retry the level, with the time reset as it was at the start the level. Prior to version 1.4, running out of time meant restarting the entire episode, but as of version 1.4, time-deaths only cause the restart of a single level within an episode. After death, the ninja continues to move around in an amusing ragdoll physics simulation, even maintaining interaction with various objects.
[edit] User-created custom levels
N includes a full level editor, nicknamed "Ned" ("N-editor") by Metanet. It is accessed by either pressing the tilde (~) or backslash (\) key (depending on keyboard layout) at the main menu. Caps lock must be on to playtest normally in the editor's debug mode; otherwise, the game pauses and can be advanced frame-by-frame by clicking in the window. Once completed, maps can be submitted to NUMA for review by other fans.
In creating a map, some users choose to directly edit the level code to make various objects behave differently than normal. Some popular code modifications include setting stationary drones, making a giant ninja appear in the left corner, or showing just the eyes of a drone. One well-known trick is the ability to create teleporters through Launchpads; the official forum's Teleporter Tutorial explains how to create general teleporters. The Manual Nediting topic also shows other ways of editing the level code directly.
[edit] DDAs
Maps on NUMA can be submitted into many different categories, including one special category, which is the DDA (Don't Do Anything) category. These maps require no input whatsoever from the user, who is free to sit back and watch the ninja hurtle through the level, propelled by Launchpads, Thwumps, and many other creative forms of propulsion, often harnessing the power of various glitches within the game. The best DDAs require a lot of time to make, since the ninja must avoid enemies and traps. The true challenge of creating a DDA is to make the ninja barely miss various traps and enemies, thus creating hair-raising spectacles. There are a few subgenres of DDA, including the hold-left and hold-right DDAs, which require the player to continuously hold down one movement key, and the KRADDA (Keep the Rocket Alive DDA), in which the main focus of the level is a rocket which follows the ninja closely throughout the level, passing very near or even through walls, but never actually exploding.
[edit] Community
N has an active community, mainly based around highscores and custom levels, which congregates at the Metanet Forums.
The N User Map Archive (NUMA) is a collection of over 8000 levels created by players. At NUMA you can submit, rate, review, and download other levels users have made in Ned.
Another valuable resource for the N community is the N Wiki.
[edit] Future development
The next version of the game, N v1.5, is currently being developed[4]. According to the developers, the next version will include changes to the core gameplay and physics such as improvement of objects' movement and reduction of randomness; however, the gameplay style of previous versions will be preserved, as a 'classic' mode. The highscore system, which currently is affected by cheating, may be rewritten for better security and restarted, with existing highscores frozen.
A console version, dubbed N+, is to be released in the near future.[5] It is currently expected to release on the Xbox Live Arcade service, but may release on other marketplaces or formats.[6]
