Fear not, it's not an horror game... au contraire, it's sexy
Full Map:
Controls:
⬆️⬇️⬅️➡️ Move with arrow keys
⭕️ [Z or C] Action: interact with objects
❎ [X or V] Attract others' attention
⬆️+⭕️ Place a piece while facing the flashing box (De-medusa)
[P or Enter] Pause Menu and options...
Gameplay:
Collect all the green flashing components to rebuild the De-Medusa device and bring your petrified partner back to life so you can leave the castle in time before the Time Warp!
A couple of crazed characters will try to kill you (specifically RiffRaff and Eddie) others will simply undress you, run away and drop your clothes (blue icon) somewhere. While in this... 'vulnerable' state you can't do much (collect pieces, keys, push buttons, open doors) well a couple things maybe... but you better to find those clothes to proceed with your adventure.
Eddie and Deep Freeze:
Keep an eye on the "Deep Freeze" temperature level, when it reaches 0° Eddie will start driving around his motorbike like a fury, his speed increases with temperature so it's wise to start heading to the cold room (upstairs, all the way to the left at the Lab) and be there when it reaches zero. At that moment you can push the active buttons in sequence to restore the temperature.
De-Medusa:
you're reconstructing the de-medusa on the stage of the theatre hall. To place a piece, keep moving UP and hit the Action button at the same time.
Escape:
as soon as you complete the De-Medusa the castle's front door is unlocked. The countdown is still going though, make sure your partner is following you (actually as soon as you walk through the front door you'll save everyone in the room, except for the crazed ones (RiffRaff and Eddie). Dr. Scott will join by himself, unless he can't move his wheelchair.
There are several actions and events that I won't spoil, if you know the show or have watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show it should be easy. In the characters selection screen push up/down to check the Stats.
Have fun!
Music:
The game currently features a few tunes I've rearranged with the Pico-8 music tracker, the original music is of course from Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show", specifically:
- Time Warp (in-game background music)
- Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me (when you're stripped of your clothes and become "vulnerable")
- Hot Patootie (when Deep Freeze temperature reaches 0° and Eddie rides around)
- Rocky climbs the RKO tower theme (game over / failed to escape)
- Science Fiction/Double Feature Reprise (just a few seconds as title screen starts)
- There's a light / Over at the Frankenstein Place (just a very short loop, during the intro and castle screen)
Remake:
The game is some sort of remake (with more features, playing characters, stats and events) of the 1985 "The Rocky Horror Show" by CRL Group (example C64 Longplay here to have an idea).
Thanks to:
thisismypassword for creating Shrinko8 making the cart fit exactly in 100% compressed characters 👀
bikibird for the label tool Depict
luchak for the tool Waveform Designer
Freds72, Phil for precious feedback on game difficulty... (your name here)
you for playing the game!
Changelog:
- v1: in easier difficulty levels Riff Raff is now gradually less nervous and trigger happy on the laser; placing a piece now plays a sound instead of changing music; fixed colour 13 in the label.
Well, this is a game I never thought anyone would update and convert into a Pico cartridge. I don't have my best memories of playing this in the original form, but its from Heracleum so I thought I'd give it a go. My expectations were very low...
And oh my god, it is just so incredibly frustrating ! One life hell! The speed that the characters walk at! That lift is so slow!!! I've got 2 pieces to go and Riff Raff gets me with his disintegrator and all my progress lost. Aaaargh!!!!
But yet, I played it. A lot! I did eventually have to cheat to complete it ( I modified the walking speed of Rocky to '1'), but I had fun! Once you get to grips with the way the game works, the game is just so beautifully presented and if you like the movie, it certainly is great fun. The music is absolutely top-notch and the animations are great. Dammit (Janet) I think this is really good!
I hope others stick with it as once you get to grips with it, the game becomes a lot easier. I'm sure Heracleum has a lot of love for the source material, but oh the original game was really dire, wasn't it???
@phil lol yes that's me bringing nightmare games from the 80's again. I actually liked the C64 version, I played it probably thousands of times and never ever managed to finish it; mostly due to the countdown being too quick (you lost the clothes once and that meant failure unless you had found it in the next room). Countless times I got stuck on a Riff Raff while exiting from the elevator (softlock). And how not to mention climbing stairs ugh (you had for find that one exact pixel position to start climbing).
So I tried to fix all of those issues in this version and was afraid of making it way too easy, but reading you message.. oh my! 😅 And you were playing as Rocky?
Ok I think I should make Riff Raff less of a threat in easier difficulty levels 👍
Thank you so much for your precious feedback! 💯
Done, v1 is uploaded, Riff Raff now gradually being less implacable on lower difficulty levels:
Your work on adapting the music to the pico-8 is amazing. I had to go look at all the work in the editor for the "how does he do that?". Things like the volume control on sfx 13 really he opened my eyes to the importance of volume.
I'm going to have a lot of fun playing your game.
@phil yesss! ✨ Do you find the tweak on Riff Raff's behaviour working better? It should be easier now for lower diff. levels.
Time to try Columbia
@Heracleum - the new Riff Raff behaviour is working much better. Eddie is still a tough challenge, but I think a fair one, so I wouldn't tweak that. I'll look out for the extra activities. I got Dr Scott motoring around as one of my people saved.
So enjoying the art and music in this game even though I'm not very good at playing it. It's astounding, truly.
@camp39 thanks! Last two weeks were totally spent on making the music, no picnic since the genre of original songs is basically 70's rock'n'roll, not ideal for Pico-8 tracker but with the help of the relatively new Waveforms feature and Luchak's precious tool to model them I had a decent guitar sound and other useful ones. The rest was just writing notes, managing the few sfx slots available and try to have as much tunes as possible.
If you haven't already join the Pico-8 Discord for help, tips&tricks, on music as well. Thanks for playing it!
Playing as Brad (hardest), it is still possible to win with a reasonable amount of time left:
(yeah I got fried twice but at the 3rd attempt, almost 11 time left)
This is, by far, one of the more ambitious Pico8 games I've come across, from the visuals to the gameplay. Very unique.
I didn't have time to really dig into it, but so far I'm intrigued. The extended palette use is pretty wild.
Great work. Once thing though...Rocky Horror Pico Show was right there?
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