Nice. I definitely like the new player graphics in Braid better than the old :)

Whoa, that new Lexaloffle game looks pretty decent. Nice to see him trying new stuff too!

I agree about the new player graphics in Braid -- it wasn't that it was a guy in a business suit that made it unappealing before, it was more of his expression and how he looked and the style that he was drawn in. Now it looks much more comparable in technique to the wonderful background graphics.

Wow - I'm really looking forward to Braid. At first I wasn't really interested in this project but the many interesting interviews with and lectures by Jon Blow did the trick for me.

P.S. Is it just me or has Tim like doubled his efforts since changing the blog's domain and host? He's busier posting new stuff than ever... It seems that changes bring about a boost in motivation. Or do you get paid for maintaining the blog now, Tim? Just asking - no evil intentions behind this question.

Is that a pipe? Is that a green pipe? I smell a lawsuit.

Many things in the game take after Mario games, which is sort of ironic.

Disregard the pipe - think of the black suit, white shirt and RED TIE! Braid rips-off Hitman! Jon probably tries to tie into the recent movie (although it was crap ;-)...

And the mad rabbits? As in Rayman Raving Rabbits? Aaah!

My original visual concept for the character was as an amalgamation between a bunch of formalwear-ish characters from other works: D-FENS, Mr. Pink, Nick Cave, etc. But over time he just gelled and became his own thing.

There are many Super Mario Bros. references in this game, but they are exactly that: references. They're intended to make the player think of those games (not to take things from those games and hope the player *doesn't* realize / think of them).

Oh, and I don't think I would ever reference Rayman -- I hate every single Rayman game I have ever seen. (Though I have not seen Raving Rabbids).

But, Monty Python and the Holy Grail? I could go there. (But, just a touch... and again, they became their own thing).

Don't take the comments too seriously, Jon. From what I've seen in all the nice interviews etc. you're really a guy who knows what is what.

I think all the major indie projects have to get their share of rip-off jokes - it all started with all "the Underside is a Cave Story rip-off" comments (incidentally I think that way myself :-D)...

Oh, had Podunkian forseen the ramifications of his project when it comes to the whole indie community... ;-)

Oh, I knew that you were joking. I just thought I'd share some rnadom info about the game.

I don't really like the new design of the Giant Enemy Fluffballs, but the character artwork meshes much better with the backgrounds now, so it's a step in the right direction overall. Just a minor nitpick, at any rate.
Looking forward to the PC release.

Wii exploit author interviewed

I've been looking forward to Jasper's Journeys for a very long time. I'm really quite excited!

So, Jonathan, d'you still have the lovely fading stuff going on with the backgrounds in Braid?

Also, given that this will be on XBLA, have you been forced to change *that* ending? Only wow! Talk about out of left-field... :)

I sort of liked the character better as regular business guy rather than "hopefully grinning glow" business guy.

Also, everyone MUST BUY ESCHALON BOOK 1!

At least, anyone who liked CRPGs from the 80s/90s (especially 'The Summoning'). . it really should have made it into the IGF last year :(

Hi Graham. The graphics are as you saw, but better. We did some more-sophisticated fading kinds of things in the later levels, too. David has been working hard on all that stuff.

I am changing the ending, but it's not from any Microsoft pressure. They were great about it -- they said it might earn the game an M rating, but they would stand behind my decision to make that be the ending if that's what I wanted.

However, there are some things about the ending you saw that I don't like -- it has a certain shock value that detracts from what I think the important parts are. So I am trying something else out... which will hopefully end up being better.

Ah, I'm kinda' pleased you're changing it, if only because the M rating would have stopped a pool of people from playing your game. And really it's the kiddy-widdies who need to play it so they can tell the difference between a truly excellent platformer, and Crash Bandicoot 12.

This might be more about me hating Crash Bandicoot than a genuine desire for kids to play your game, though...

In fact, screw 'em! As long as I get to play the finished product that's all that matters... ;)

If the ending's changed, will the original one be available somewhere in some form (easter egg in PC version maybe)? Sounds pretty interesting to me!

No. I'm changing it because I don't think it's the right ending...

If I kept everything in this game that I ever did but that ended up not quite right, it would be 2-3x as long as it is, and it would kind of suck.

I mean, some people might be interested to know that at one point I had an entire retro remake of Mountain King built into the game, but enhanced, with somewhat deeper gameplay. (And that was going to be the first remake of 6 or 7). But, that just didn't gel with what the game really turned out to be, so it's been cut.

I didn't keep it in the game because it would reduce the focus / quality of the game (and also, eventually the game would just become totally impractical to finish -- it's hard enough maintaining all the core parts of the game so that they keep working every time I change something. Adding all this extra stuff... straw that broke the camel's back).