I discovered it over 15 years ago when I was in university on the allegro.cc website, and it was fantastic, super original, and even challenging for a puzzle game.
This remake keeps everything the original had but with better graphics, new levels, and new challenges—truly incredible.
I don’t know if the author will read this, but if he does, thank you so much for all the incredible hours I spent playing your game, and for the ones still to come… :-D!!
Really enjoying the game, I loved playing the original as a kid, along with your Flash games.
5/1 is piquing my curiosity big time though, there are a lot of elements that don't seem to come into play, and there don't seem to be any secrets. There's no reason to destroy the 2 mines at the start for example, so you don't need to touch the down block or the wooden block. There are grills near the start that don't pose any hazard, along with what seems like a superfluous one-way door. I felt that the level was nudging me towards bringing the metal block through the one-way door maze (the two left-most rollers turn that into a clever little puzzle, but don't pose much hazard otherwise), but it doesn't seem to be possible to get the block through the maze.
Am I overthinking this or have I not discovered a secret yet? Put me out of my misery please! :)
I'm afraid the answer to this is plain old human error. I messed up this level and it's a lot easier than it's supposed to be. The little corridor at the right linking the upper and lower parts was a late addition, and for some reason I didn't notice that this made most of the challenges in the level pointless. Don't know if I was tired or not paying attention or what, but yeah, my bad.
I am SOOO looking forward to getting stuck into Blackshift 2, but I want to wait until it's the finished product :D LOVED the first one 10 years ago and I've just completed it agian for my new YouTube channel - here's the complete series, if you're interested: (spoilers!) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkBFZjer6ImPjcQIHQko1YB093Unfk60A
I've been playing Blackshift for a while now (and love it!), both the original version years ago and now the new version. However, I've been stuck on Level 57 for MONTHS and am at my wits end. Either I'm an idiot or there's a bug. What am I missing?
There doesn't seem to be a way to reopen the green gates once you get into the far left room at the beginning and there doesn't seem to be a way to get into it without making the green gates close.
Woah there, didn't realise there was still development on this. I have an old version, version 1.24 it calls itself - when the game was a free download and it still works just fine on my current Windows 10 computer. Trouble is I've forgotten how I managed to beat some of the levels (and I never *did* manage to beat level 100) and am currently stuck on level 82. I remember there used to be a video of a full playthrough but it seems to have disappeared...
Anyway, is the "classic" version of the game available in this game as a set of levels? If not, is there a reason that it couldn't be, or could the old levels still be made with the new engine?
It's not something I have planned, but it would be possible to remake the old levels in the level editor. Some of them would need some changes, because a couple of items are missing or work differently, but I reckon you could get pretty close.
One thing I've noticed is the different behaviour of keys and locks, like one key = one lock and you take the key to the individual lock. Rather than taking a key to one lock in one place, and it opens all the white doors in the level at once (and there are sometimes other things that can close them all again).
I came across Blackshift randomly -- I was researching scene graphs and your devlog turned up. This game looks interesting (and I absolutely LOVED Chip's Challenge). Any plans for a Linux release?
Loving the game so far. Really takes me back to the days of Sokoban and Chip's Challenge.
Would it be too much to ask to have the level editor available in offline mode? I assume unpublished levels are saved locally, anyway. My internet hiccups a lot and it would be great to work on and playtest levels while I'm not connected.
Congrats ! It really feels like the good old version 1.24 Blackshift.
One problem: I understand you may need internet connection during beta testing for telemetry, but please make it stand alone once out of beta. Internet is no safe place for kids and there is no reasons a game could not be playable offline, at least for single players.
(By the way I didn't noticed the old Blackshift from the XP times failed in Windows 10. Last time I checked I was under Windows 7 x64and it worked great. Good idea to rewrite it for modern OSes)
I've been planning an Offline Mode for a while now. Thanks for letting me know you need it — I'll make sure it gets added within the next couple of updates.
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This game is amazing!!
I discovered it over 15 years ago when I was in university on the allegro.cc website, and it was fantastic, super original, and even challenging for a puzzle game.
This remake keeps everything the original had but with better graphics, new levels, and new challenges—truly incredible.
I don’t know if the author will read this, but if he does, thank you so much for all the incredible hours I spent playing your game, and for the ones still to come… :-D!!
Really enjoying the game, I loved playing the original as a kid, along with your Flash games.
5/1 is piquing my curiosity big time though, there are a lot of elements that don't seem to come into play, and there don't seem to be any secrets. There's no reason to destroy the 2 mines at the start for example, so you don't need to touch the down block or the wooden block. There are grills near the start that don't pose any hazard, along with what seems like a superfluous one-way door. I felt that the level was nudging me towards bringing the metal block through the one-way door maze (the two left-most rollers turn that into a clever little puzzle, but don't pose much hazard otherwise), but it doesn't seem to be possible to get the block through the maze.
Am I overthinking this or have I not discovered a secret yet? Put me out of my misery please! :)
Hi, thanks for your comment!
I'm afraid the answer to this is plain old human error. I messed up this level and it's a lot easier than it's supposed to be. The little corridor at the right linking the upper and lower parts was a late addition, and for some reason I didn't notice that this made most of the challenges in the level pointless. Don't know if I was tired or not paying attention or what, but yeah, my bad.
I will fix the level when I get the chance.
Cheers
Robin
Haha, at least I can move on to 5-2 with peace of mind. Thanks very much for your reply!
Now that it's on Steam...
Purchase comes with a Steam Key, but what if I bought it *before* it was on Steam? Can I still get a Steam Key for it, and how?
Yes! Your Steam key should be available from your itch.io purchase page.
I am SOOO looking forward to getting stuck into Blackshift 2, but I want to wait until it's the finished product :D LOVED the first one 10 years ago and I've just completed it agian for my new YouTube channel - here's the complete series, if you're interested: (spoilers!)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkBFZjer6ImPjcQIHQko1YB093Unfk60A
Great videos, and well done for sticking it out through some of the nastier levels. I'd forgotten how truly mean the original Blackshift was at times.
This new version should be just as tricky, but a lot less vindictive. I'm looking forward to seeing what you make of it!
I've been playing Blackshift for a while now (and love it!), both the original version years ago and now the new version. However, I've been stuck on Level 57 for MONTHS and am at my wits end. Either I'm an idiot or there's a bug. What am I missing?
I've just had a play through and it is possible — which bit are you stuck on?
There doesn't seem to be a way to reopen the green gates once you get into the far left room at the beginning and there doesn't seem to be a way to get into it without making the green gates close.
True, but what if they closed before they opened?
And yay... after 15 years I *finally* beat level 100 of the original Blackshift v 1.24!
Well done! That thing's a beast.
No kidding!! But it's such a satisfying solution once you get it. Well done jle! Really hoping the Blackshift 2 finale is equally epic! :D
Woah there, didn't realise there was still development on this. I have an old version, version 1.24 it calls itself - when the game was a free download and it still works just fine on my current Windows 10 computer. Trouble is I've forgotten how I managed to beat some of the levels (and I never *did* manage to beat level 100) and am currently stuck on level 82. I remember there used to be a video of a full playthrough but it seems to have disappeared...
Anyway, is the "classic" version of the game available in this game as a set of levels? If not, is there a reason that it couldn't be, or could the old levels still be made with the new engine?
It's not something I have planned, but it would be possible to remake the old levels in the level editor. Some of them would need some changes, because a couple of items are missing or work differently, but I reckon you could get pretty close.
One thing I've noticed is the different behaviour of keys and locks, like one key = one lock and you take the key to the individual lock. Rather than taking a key to one lock in one place, and it opens all the white doors in the level at once (and there are sometimes other things that can close them all again).
Please release this game on steam.
I came across Blackshift randomly -- I was researching scene graphs and your devlog turned up. This game looks interesting (and I absolutely LOVED Chip's Challenge). Any plans for a Linux release?
I'd love to release for Linux, and I have already started work on a port. It's a difficult platform to port games to, but I'll get there :)
Sweet! I supposed I could also download it onto a Windows laptop heh. But my primary lappy runs Linux
It worked perfectly on linux with a wineprefix 64bit and with Windows 7 set as windows version.
In the game choose Opengl and enjoy ! :)
Sweet! I'll try it out!
Loving the game so far. Really takes me back to the days of Sokoban and Chip's Challenge.
Would it be too much to ask to have the level editor available in offline mode? I assume unpublished levels are saved locally, anyway. My internet hiccups a lot and it would be great to work on and playtest levels while I'm not connected.
Tricky, but I'll see what I can do.
As of version 2.2.0, the editor is now available in offline mode.
Hi Robin,
I just baught the beta (2016-04-07).
Congrats ! It really feels like the good old version 1.24 Blackshift.
One problem: I understand you may need internet connection during beta testing for telemetry, but please make it stand alone once out of beta. Internet is no safe place for kids and there is no reasons a game could not be playable offline, at least for single players.
(By the way I didn't noticed the old Blackshift from the XP times failed in Windows 10. Last time I checked I was under Windows 7 x64and it worked great. Good idea to rewrite it for modern OSes)
Hi, thanks for buying!
I've been planning an Offline Mode for a while now. Thanks for letting me know you need it — I'll make sure it gets added within the next couple of updates.
Enjoy Blackshift
-Robin
Hey, just to let you know — the latest Alpha version now contains an option for offline mode.