The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest News

Shellors are crab-like monsters inhabiting the underground section of the Bram Mansion. Along with several Manfish, these crustaceans hunt on top of rocky platforms, eager for their next victim!


Although they tend to just move from side to side, Shellors will sometimes stop and produce columns of bubbles! While most novice adventurers may view these bubbles as harmless, they’ll knock you off your feet if you happen to crash into one while trying to hop a gap!

Or you could just…ya know…drop a ROCK on ‘em!


And unlike most common fiends, Shellors will require two cracks of the whip to dispatch, so don’t let up for a second!


Stay tuned for even more as we continue with development!

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Across Transylvania, you’ll come across spooky-looking lanterns that will light up as soon as you walk past them for the first time (or when you return to them at a later point).


Lanterns are helpful landmarks that serve as a checkpoint respawn location in the event you happen to die while in the overworld. Conversely, dying in mansions will cause you to start at the beginning of the section you died within.

For lanterns, you'll respawn at the last one you passed, so be sure to…ya know, NOT die. Also! If you happen to attack a lantern enough times, their flames will go out, which means you won't be able to spawn back at that lantern. Unless, of course, you pass it again, which will reactivate it. Long story short: DON'T attack any checkpoint lantern!


Stay tuned for even more!

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You’ll think twice before taking that casual stroll above deep water pools!

Enter the Manfish!


These gilled goons will jump out of the water and land on the platform you’re moving across! With webbed hands and feet, they’ll walk on rocky platforms hunting for their next prey, so you best take them down before they take YOU down into the deep with them!


And just HOW can you deal with these fishy Manfish? Why, with your trusty whip, of course! You can attack a Manfish with your whip, and, like Skelebones and other lightweight enemies, they will burst into flames upon defeat!


Stay tuned for even more updates as we continue with development!

Be sure to follow Retroware’s publisher page to stay up-to-date on all our games, news, and more!

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This week, we finish our discussion with Lead QA Tester Christian detailing his work on The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest (TASQ)!

[h3]What are some unique gameplay elements that you think distinguish TASQ from similar titles?[/h3]

Christian: I'm not exactly an expert on every game in this wheelhouse, but from what I know they were trying to recapture a different era than TASQ is. TASQ is after that classic gameplay with a few modern touches for quality of life and variety, but at it's core it's trying to emulate that mid to late 80's feel. I also think TASQ is taking a comedic slant that I think is unique for the genre.


[h3]What are some of your favorite features in TASQ so far?[/h3]

Christian: I cannot tell you how satisfying it is for me to kill a Skelebone and then whip his head out of the air into the guy behind him. I just can't help myself; even when I have no reason to hit the skull, I will anyway! The secret routes in each dungeon are probably a more tangible feature that I should be taking. In each boss dungeon, there is actually an alternate route that leads to an entirely different boss fight for the dungeon. Also, there are a bunch of minigames to play throughout Transylvania to find. I swear, Programancer can't help himself but to just jam his games with as much content as he can manage.


[h3]What are some things you learned while QA testing Prison City that you can apply to your work on TASQ?[/h3]

Christian: I think the importance of clear communication is the main take away from working on Prison City. By the time I was doing the interview for Prison City, I had learned that, but early on it's hard to come up to someone and tell them you think they messed something up, especially when it's subjective. The bugs are the bugs; you find them, you report them, because they can't stay no matter what. But when you have an opinion on the quality elsewhere, it's important to open that line of communication, too. Maybe Programancer agrees with me and he changes it, or maybe he disagrees and explains the decision to me. Both of those results are fine, so there's no reason not to do it.


[h3]From what you've seen so far, how would you describe TASQ for those who have yet to play?[/h3]

Christian: If you look at TASQ and think "this looks like something I might like", I promise you it is. Programancer is a master at recapturing the magic and I would encourage people to give a try. There's no trick here, it looks the way it does because it's exactly like that!


And that's a wrap! Stay tuned for even more as we continue with development!

Be sure to follow Retroware’s publisher page to stay up-to-date on all our games, news, and more!

https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/retroware

This week, our Lead QA Tester, Christian, gives a behind-the-scenes insight into what it’s like working on TASQ!

[h3]1. As a tester moving from Prison City to TASQ, how do you think both games play differently?[/h3]

Christian: The games play very differently, I understand why people might not get that at first, but Prison City is a much more free-moving game with being able to angle the chakram and the way jumping works. In TASQ, when you jump you're committed, once you're in the air there's nothing you can really do to change what's going to happen, save for an emergency back flip. The two games were inspired by different retro games and that is reflected in how they work.


[h3]2. Have you noticed anything similar between both games? Anything different?[/h3]

Christian: I mean they are both still in the same game genre and Programancer's brand of humor is still present. Of course, the crabbin comes back in a huge way in TASQ, for those who get that haha. Again, I'll say the differences are far more present. In Prison City, you picked individual levels and went in whichever order you preferred minus the start and end, meanwhile TASQ is a world you are traveling and exploring yourself; it all connects.


[h3]3. What are some bugs you've found in TASQ so far?[/h3]

Christian: So TASQ is sort of being rebuilt by Programancer right now because the demo we've been using is a bit outdated. Those parts were pretty bug-free at this point and finding bugs in something that is about to be remade isn't exactly productive. As of right now my job has been making more suggestions, for example there is a staircase in the cave between the towns of Bram and Bela that I felt was hard to actually notice, so I asked to have it raised up so players could notice what it was easier, and boom it was done. That's a part of QA too; it's not just bugs that can make a player's time with a game worse.


[h3]4. How do you feel about working with Programancer once again on another project?[/h3]

Christian: What did I say last time? "Programancer is the man" or something like that? I'm ecstatic, he's just the best to work with. Incredibly responsive and kind.


Look forward to Part 2 of our interview with Lead QA Tester Christian!

Be sure to follow Retroware’s publisher page to stay up-to-date on all our games, news, and more!

https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/retroware