The Fancy Pants Adventures: Classic Pack News

[h2]Development[/h2]
The longer the Fancy Pants Adventures: Classic Pack has been in development, the more time there's been to contemplate what exactly this Pack could, or should be! It started from a very humble place of, "let's package all the old games together, and add a bit of bonus content to justify charging for it", into something far different - now headed down a path we believe is absolutely for the best!!

We know this has taken a long time. That can be attributed to Brad's commitment to this collection living up to the Fancy Pants legacy, rather than taking any shortcuts. Here is a quick conversation snippet that feels representative of the average development update coming from Brad. I do not envy the amount of work it's been to bring this all together...


Once Brad worked his magic to get "Classic" versions of World 1 and 2 working (these are the original Flash games) his immediate next thought became: "what if I offered up new levels in these old styles? Which leads us to:

[h2]The Back Pages[/h2]
These are BRAND NEW levels accessed through tears added to the Worlds you already know and love. They stretch Fancy Pants in interesting new directions, making use of all the old animation and code to craft new experiences that will play and feel just like old Worlds, with brand new art and challenges to play around in!



[h2]The Demo[/h2]
We wanted to take part in Steam's Next Fest, which requires you to have a demo. It was an odd thing to conceive of a demo for a game that everyone has probably already played. And how do you put limits on a game that is meant to be played around in as a big open sandbox?

The solution we opted to go for is: short and sweet. This demo is just a few levels, and can be completed in 2-5 minutes. The idea is to show off some of The Back Pages, as well as the game's seamless ability to swap between Worlds and engines! So while it's not a very large slice of the game, we hope it does its job of advertising the smooth gameplay Brad's achieved, and the creative ways he's gone about updating the old Flash games.

[h2]Early Access??![/h2]
We felt Next Fest would be the perfect opportunity to share our latest plan for the Classic Pack. I'm worried it won't be the most popular decision, especially considering how patient everyone has been with us! But when Brad explained the development process to me, it quickly became apparent how valuable an Early Access approach could be for a game like Fancy Pants!

I'm paraphrasing, but the main takeaway was, "after working on these same Worlds for 17+ years, how can they ever truly be called done?" The idea is to let the public into the development process, seeing the difficulties of bringing this vision together and allowing for your live feedback along the way - rather than attempting to predict what everyone's ideal version of the Classic Pack would be.

The plan is to launch in Early Access in 2023!!! All of World 1 and 2 are in a playable state. Brad is still polishing things up as much as possible so that the Pack launches with plenty for you to see and do right at launch! We'll hopefully have a date shortly - and the next steps can be decided alongside this wonderful community. Thank you all once again, for everything!!

-Graeme
(2 Left Thumbs)

[h2]Feeling nostalgic?[/h2]
Did you know Kajenx has created a stunning 3D sequel to his classic William and Sly series?


That is intended to release in the spring of 2024. Be sure to add that to your Wishlists, do you don't miss out on what he's got in store. It's looking PHENOMENAL!!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2459620/William_and_Sly/

Today is the 17th ANNIVERSARY of the release of World 1! Perhaps not the flashiest of milestones (although the series is ironically rooted in Flash…) Regardless, we couldn’t let this date pass by without providing an update, and our reassurance that the FPA: Classic Pack is still in production!

A little over 2 years ago I did an interview with Brad to discuss the history of Fancy Pants, to reminisce over the glory days of Flash creation, and commiserate over Flash’s unceremonious loss. I used this interview for a video on the History of Fancy Pants – but this interview was actually the entry point to Brad and I talking about the possibility of bringing the original Fancy Pants games to Steam!

So to celebrate this special day, here is that interview in full, available to the public for the very first time.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The Fancy Pants Adventures: Classic Pack started with the simple idea of bundling together the original Flash games, linking them up with a Yoshi’s Island–like HUB screen, and adding a few QOL of life features.

(An early preview of that HUB world concept)

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At the same time discussions were opening as to what else could be added to this Pack, everything came to a screeching halt! It’s been a long journey, but that hiatus allowed us the time and space to look at what the Classic Pack could be. There is a legacy present here that is WORTH paying tribute to. Here’s an example:

The Classic Pack will include both the original World 1, and the World 1 Remaster. But if the Original World 1 now has added widescreen support, and runs at an improved FPS, have the 2 versions been made too similar? In classic Brad fashion, always wanting to push the envelope, he immediately started brainstorming ways to distinguish the two World 1's, but also to make this Pack much more than I think anyone was originally expecting.

(Footage of the original World 1)

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How do you take choppy 17 year old animations made for a Flash game, and make them look good in a modern engine?

The answer is: you don’t. They’ll always look at least a little off.

So what’s the solution? Well, if your name is Brad Borne, you completely re-animate Fancy Pants Man in the style of the original World 1 to make it feel how you remember, but using entirely new animations!

(Brad started trying to sketch in his old style, finding it difficult to shed 17 years worth of practice!)

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Next thing you know, Brad has create any entirely new set of animations, allowing the game to look and feel like old-school World 1, while still playing buttery smooth!!

(Brand NEW World 1-style animations! Note: gifs do not do the improved FPS justice!)

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Having new animations in old styles opened up some crazy ideas Brad had already been tinkering with. But we’ll save those details for you to discover on your own…



If you want the most up-to-date information on development, be sure to Support Brad on Patreon, and join in the Fancy Pants Discord. Thanks for 17 Fancy years!
-Graeme (2 Left Thumbs)


Looking for more high energy, showy platforming action? Please consider checking out Magenta Horizon! It's being Published by 2 Left Thumbs, and the entirety of Act 1 (~2-3 hours) is available now as a Free Demo! Be sure to try it out and add Magenta Horizon to your Wishlist.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2109060/Magenta_Horizon/

[h2]Back to work![/h2]
When we announced that production of the Classic Pack had been delayed, we didn't anticipate that hiatus growing into a full YEAR! I offer up our sincerest apologies for that. But best not to dwell on it, and we can instead focus on the hype for our reinvigorated development!

We don't want to share too much too early. And certainly don't want to make any promises of release dates/windows at this stage. We'll ease back into things slowly. Staring off today, sharing some of the cool things Brad has been doing behind the scenes to optimize this experience!

[h2]Enhance![/h2]
Flash games are crafted in infinitely-scalable vector art. Brad has now rendered out the game files at a whopping 4k resolution (roughly 7x larger than the original browser version, if you can believe it!). I worry I am making that process sound easier than it is... It took some serious programming wizardry to not only make that playable, but to make the experience smooooth as well.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Get a load of that Widescreen support while we're at it!
Adobe Flash has many limitations that wouldn't usually allow anyone to take full advantage of such high resolutions. Adding that support again took an abundance of technical know-how from Brad!

And he has now rigged things up, so levels load near-instantly - despite being FAR larger than what Flash could normally support, let alone load anything that size in a timely manner.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Levels now load SO quickly, that there isn't even time for the scribbled-in white transition animation. We'll likely have to add in a faked minimum load time, just to keep that fun effect in place!

We are excited to share more as development progresses, and we cannot thank you enough for your patience! Our time away from the project allowed as to come back with renewed confidence, and we (especially Brad) are overflowing with a wealth of ideas of how to make this Pack the best it can be. Hopefully we can share some teases for that soon enough :)

-Graeme
(2 Left Thumbs)

DELAYS
I had put off posting an update until there was major news to be shared. But now it's been nearly 2 months, and I feel that an updated is owed.
Progress was going smoothly, with Brad hard at work cracking into old code, and updating these old Flash games to work in ways the quite simply were never designed to! It's no small task, but is something Brad is definitely capable of (despite near-daily development hurdles that seem to present themselves at every conceivable turn).

Reaching beyond the actual game development, it has instead been real-world circumstances that have lead to these delays. Without disclosing any personal details, or risking over-sharing more than they are comfortable with - Brad and his family weathered an awful hurricane a while back.
His top priority at this time is ensuring sure his family's health and safety. That has meant stepping away from the Classic Pack for the time being to take care of them, his home, and any other personal needs while things get back to normal.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The motto right now is: Family first.
I support Brad 100% in this, and I strongly believe it is the right (and quite frankly, only) decision. I know many of you are excited for this game - I am too! But that needs to be put on hold for the time being. Luckily we never actually set a release date. So that "Coming soon" placeholder is as true never as it was just a few months back.
We appreciate your patience and support at this time, and promise things will be back on track as soon as possible.

ART CONTEST RESULTS
In lighter news, the winners of our art contest were announced! I probably could have made an announcement just for that, but was waiting to see how the dust might settle.
The cover image used for this post comes courtesy of LiteralHat, the winner of that contest. Check them out!

-Graeme
2 Left Thumbs

First off:
You have just over a week to complete your Art Contest submissions. Don't forget!
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Initially, our goal was to present this collection of Fancy Pants games, very specifically as you remember them. This meant editing or changing those original games as little as possible - and selling the back mostly around features like localization, steam integration, and the Treasure Trove of bonus content.

But as we've spoken with the community over the last few weeks, we've come to better understand where that line of remaining "true to the original" really is, and how that can be played around with.

World 2, as seen in it's original web-based aspect ratio

Sometimes it's better to present a game in a more ideal way, and give you an enhanced experience that will give you the same feelings you had when first playing these games online 15 years ago. We've all had the experience of revisiting a gem from our childhood, only to learn it wasn't quite what we had built it up to be in our heads.
With that in mind, Brad is hard at work to give players the option to play the original 3 Worlds in a widescreen format on your PC for the very first time! The goal here is to ensure this game plays and feels AS good as you remember, while also giving new players the best possible version of these games.

The best you could hope for with "faked" widescreen

Many of you have likely experienced downloading these games, or playing them through a service like Flashpoint. That allows you to "fake" widescreen, by dragging the executable window wider.
While it may feel functional, the games were never designed with this in mind, and it always comes with a litany of errors. There would be art assets that did not extend to the full screen width. Edges of incomplete art that were not meant to be seen. Graphical glitches that would harm the overall feel and appeal of the experience. The "bounds" of each level in the code were set in ways that would make the added width feel clunky. It technically worked. But we saw this as an opportunity to improve beyond that, and offer something greater than what you can already do for free with existing versions of the game.

A WIP screenshot of the widescreen support Brad is currently implementing!

Brad has been hard at work, cracking into old code in multiple coding languages, reverse engineering his decade+ old work to make this a reality!
Thank you to you all for letting us know how important this feature was to you - and motivating us to put in the additional time to do it right!