So last Friday I started a new Odyssey 2 project: Jack and the Beanstalk.

Jack needs to climb the beanstalk. Most of my time was spent trying to decide what rules I wanted to have in place. I went from Jack being able to fall off the beanstalk to forcing him to always stay on the beanstalk. I went from a little bird to a big bird and then back to a little bird.

Beanstalk climbing isn't the only part of the game. If it was, it wouldn't be a very engaging game. There will also be a huge castle for Jack to roam around in, trying to get the randomly placed key so he can enter the Giant's bedroom to get the harp. The goose that lays the golden eggs will also be hidden, randomly placed. If I make the castle have four stories, each containing 32 screens, it would be a perfectly rounded (computer-wise) 128 screens. But we shall see when we come to that part. Right now I need to finish the beanstalk part.

Each level will be in a bank. Intro in one bank, beanstalk-climbing in another, castle in another, giant's bedroom in another, makes a total of an 8k game. My goal is to make an 8k game. I tried that once with Giuseppe, but couldn't get it to work. I think it was because I was trying to do too many things at one time. If I keep it simple, I think I can actually finish this one...if the computer will let me.

Odyssey 2 programming is a fickle thing. Sometimes it will compile the way you want it, sometimes it will compile but then when you go to play it, it comes out broken. Sometimes it won't compile at all and you need to move stuff around. And sometimes when you have moved stuff all around and can't come up with any other combination of where stuff goes, it still won't compile. And that's when you know your dream of making a complex game is broken.