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Dolphinsong Tale

::::::::::::::Last update: April 2013


:::::::::::::::::::::Contacts Starsong Silversea---- dolphin.song@aol.com

:::::::::::::::::::::Updates June 19th 2012-Sonar has been refined to better resemble Ecco's.

-Movement has recieved a considerable update. Acceleration is now an addition, leaping has been refined and Boost/Charge is now activated by a single button (Q) instead of double-tap. I may add double-tap as an option, but it seems redundant now. Spinning and rolling while Boost-leaping may or may not be in the game. Depends if I remember to re-implement it after doing the new leap function.

-Leaping distance and height scales to your acceleration speed like Ecco.

-More fluid movement. There are no abrupt turns now. Sprites have been added to show turning around etc.

-More content. Temple of Echoes Visceral (Internal Reaches) and Shimmer Valley is now ready to explore.

-Instruction buttons have a refined graphic change.

-Menu is now available. Press M to explore it. Space to confirm, Arrow keys/WS to choose options etc.

-Most (not all) collision issues resulting in getting stuck on corners have been resolved. There are still a few lurking around I need to locate.

-Both Ivory and Ana have recieved some graphic changes.

-Alfre now has a "shop". This is what collecting Coins of Delphis will achieve you; you can buy upgrades to Vitality and Air. Later in the game there will be more to offer. To get to the shop again, simply replay the level, since there will not be another shop until much later in the game.

:::::::::::::::::::::Introduction

All content save the background music tracks © Starsong Silversea. Ecco soundtracks © respective composers.

I would like to offer a sincere congratulations to the works of the team at Caverns of Hope (http://web8.orcaserver.de/ecco/). If it wasn't for their persistence in the absence of Ecco I never would have dreamed of creating a game like this. Similarly, if it wasn't for GTK's awe-inspiring Tidesinger Trilogy (which as a part-time story writer myself I'm jealous of) I doubt that I ever would have heard the song that has thus led me in this direction.

I have actually had these plans for a while, but it is only recently I have actually made a move on designing it. I make all my own sprites and backgrounds as well as sound effects. I hope that other Ecco fans can enjoy it as much as I do. I was originally going to finish writing the story first (which I have, but I have yet to proofread and edit), but I was bored one day, had nothing else to do, and decided to start work on the game itself.

The "original" game demo found on Caverns of Hope is by no means an "official" work (if this can be called official). That game was purely a test to see how easy it would be to accomplish an Ecco-esque game. My sprites and stuff were awful back then anyway D:

:::::::::::::::::::::Controls
ASWD or Arrow keys.............Movement, option select

E..........................................Accelerate

Q..........................................Boost/Charge

Space...................................Sonar, confirm, forward speech

Enter.....................................Exiting hidden areas

M..........................................Menu

Esc.......................................Force Quit

1............................Restarts room incase you get stuck or sumthin'
　

:::::::::::::::::::::The Game
1.1 Setting

In the secluded waterscape of Shimmer Valley, bathed by the sun-dappled taint of the azure tides, you find yourself as a young dolphin by the name of Comet. Your family-tied pod of Commerson's has not always lived here. There was once a time when each day was a tortuous fight for survival amongst the most fierce predators the Oceans could throw at you, but thanks to the pursuit of a migrating school of fish that has now become a distant past. You have not seen fin nor tail of any Orca or shark for many cycles, and each passing sun the waves seem to sing a reassuring hymn over your gentle flight beneath the waves. A paradise it is, but what if one day the concept of peace just...melds away into the shimmering sea it was born from?

Dolphinsong Tale is a 2-D game set in the pristine waters of a sub-tropical reef whose delphine company was long nonexistent until a desperate pod took up residence. Due to the absence of dolphin type games, I can only compare this game to Ecco itself, as nothing comes close to describing its aspects. At first the gameplay is simple, with the first few levels teaching and testing your grasp of the basics, but soon you will find yourself immersed in puzzling mazes more reminiscent of the original Ecco games. There is more to the eye then just swimming around, whistling your sonar and charging through schools of fish in hope of devouring enough to refill your vitality. From hidden areas and treasure to interactive puzzles and varying level designs I believe that this game will not waste any Ecco fan's time.

There is no link to the Ecco "world", though perhaps I will have some easter egg level. I kind of feel Mutaclone, Inferno and Pyrglacias AKA Fire/ice dolphin (I'm proud of the names I gave them ) deserve better than the simple repetitive setup they got in DoTF. Hanging Waters might be interesting, too.

　

1.2 Interface
On the screen several variables are measured and displayed:

--------------Vitality: Life force. Typically the thing that happens when this drops to 0 is self-explanatory, so I shouldn't have to explain any more. Just don't step I mean swim in the fire. It tends to hurt you know.

--------------Air: Breathe air to replenish. At 0 you start taking damage, the amount of which increases over time. What kind of mean cold-hearted person would force a dolphin underwater with the intention of drowning it? I know you wouldn't.

--------------Reading: This little tooltip pops up when your sonar hits something and rebounds a message to you. This includes other dolphins, fish, and some other things. If smooth gameplay is your sort of thing, you can turn off fish readings in the Menu.

1.3 Menu
This screen is accessed by pressing M.

--------------Resume Game: Self-explanatory.

--------------Quicksave: Ecco would be so much easier if you could pause the game, save, and return to that position later. Unfortunately not implemented yet, so pressing this will do absolutely nothin'.

--------------Options: Customize things from here.

--------------------------::::::::Sonar SFX (Changes sound for sonar)

--------------------------::::::::Sonar Bounce SFX (Changes sound for when sonar responds to something and rebounds back)

--------------------------::::::::Charge SFX (Changes sound for charging)

--------------------------::::::::Sonar Colour (Changes sonar colour. Default green.)

--------------------------::::::::Register Fish? (Changes if you want sonar to pick up fish. Set to yes if you are a perfectionist 100% completion freak, or no if you want a smoother gameplay with a callous disregard for completionism)----does not work yet don't panic or anything

--------------Return to Title: Returns you to Title Screen. Quit game from here.


:::::::::::::::::::::Known Errors and Troubleshooting
Shouldn't be any, but I won't discount the possibility of getting stuck. Don't mess with the game and try to get stuck on purpose >_>. But please tell me of any errors found or glitches or whatever.



　

Long live Ecco the Dolphin.................