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VVVVVV (pronounced as "The Letter V Six Times" or "V's") is a 2D puzzle platform video game designed by Terry Cavanagh and scored by Magnus Pålsson. The game was built in Adobe Flash and released on January 11, 2010, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game was ported to C++ by Simon Roth in 2011, and released as part of the Humble Indie Bundle #3. The port to C++ allowed the release of a previously-cancelled version of VVVVVV for Linux. A version for the Nintendo 3DS has been released and also a binary port is being made for the Open Pandora which will require the data files from the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X or Linux version of the game to work. In VVVVVV, the player controls Captain Viridian, who is lost in an alternate dimension, in search of the missing members of the spaceship's crew. Instead of jumping, the player is able to control the direction of gravity, allowing Captain Viridian to flip between the floors and ceilings of the environment. The graphical style of VVVVVV is heavily influenced by the Commodore 64; similarly, the game's music is entirely chiptune. Magnus Pålsson released the soundtrack to VVVVVV as PPPPPP.
VVVVVV (pronounced as "The Letter V Six Times" or "V's") is a 2D puzzle platform video game designed by Terry Cavanagh and scored by Magnus Pålsson. The game was built in Adobe Flash and released on January 11, 2010, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game was ported to C++ by Simon Roth in 2011, and released as part of the Humble Indie Bundle #3. The port to C++ allowed the release of a previously-cancelled version of VVVVVV for Linux. A version for the Nintendo 3DS has been released and also a binary port is being made for the Open Pandora which will require the data files from the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X or Linux version of the game to work. In VVVVVV, the player controls Captain Viridian, who is lost in an alternate dimension, in search of the missing members of the spaceship's crew. Instead of jumping, the player is able to control the direction of gravity, allowing Captain Viridian to flip between the floors and ceilings of the environment. The graphical style of VVVVVV is heavily influenced by the Commodore 64; similarly, the game's music is entirely chiptune. Magnus Pålsson released the soundtrack to VVVVVV as PPPPPP.
Gameplay
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Unlike most platforming games, in VVVVVV the player is not able to jump, but instead can reverse the direction of gravity when standing on a surface, causing Captain Viridian to fall either upwards or downwards. The player utilizes this mechanic to traverse the game's environment and avoid various hazards, including stationary spikes and moving enemies. Later areas introduce new mechanics such as moving floors or rooms which, upon touching one edge of the screen, cause the player character to appear on the other side. VVVVVV contains eight main levels situated inside a larger open world for the player to explore. Due to its high level of difficulty, the game world contains many checkpoints, to which the player's character is reset upon death.
Development The gravity-flipping mechanic of VVVVVV is based on an earlier game designed by Cavanagh, entitled Sine Wave Ninja. In an interview with IndieGames.com, Cavanagh said that he was interested in utilizing this idea as a core concept of a game, something he felt other games which include a gravity-flipping mechanism had never done before.
Cavanagh first unveiled VVVVVV on his blog, Distractionware, in June 2009. The game had been in development for two weeks, and Cavanagh estimated that the game would be finished in another two, "but hopefully not much longer." A follow-up post published in July 2009 included screenshots of the game and an explanation of the game's gravity-flipping mechanic. Cavanagh wrote that VVVVVV, unlike some of his previous work such as Judith and Pathways, would not be a "storytelling experiment", but rather "focused on the level design". The game was first shown publicly at the 2009 Eurogamer Expo, which gave Cavanagh the opportunity to collect feedback from players. In December 2009, a beta version of VVVVVV which had been given to donators was leaked on 4chan.
The visual style of VVVVVV is heavily inspired by games released for the Commodore 64 8-bit computer from the 1980s, especially Jet Set Willy which is referenced by the giant elephant, collecting difficult to reach shiny objects and most notably the naming of each room; Cavanagh aimed to create a game "that looked and felt like the C64 games I grew up with." He also considered this game an opportunity to indulge in his "retro fetish". Cavanagh has said because he lacks the technical prowess to make more modern-looking games, he instead focuses on making them visually interesting; additionally, he finds this to be made easier by "working within narrow limits".
VVVVVV was released on January 11, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A trial version of the game is playable on the website Kongregate. A Linux version was in development, but a number of technical difficulties arose in the porting process, which led to its cancellation by Cavanagh.
The game was rewritten in C++ by games developer Simon Roth in 2011, allowing Linux support to be successfully implemented. This formed version 2.0 of VVVVVV, launched on July 24, 2011 as part of the third Humble Indie Bundle. Version 2.0 also features support for custom levels, and a level editor.The C++ port also allowed for the implementation of new graphics modes and various speed improvements. Version 2.0, however, does not support saved games from the original Flash version of VVVVVV; many players received this update via Steam without warning, and hence were unable to continue their existing saved games. A save-file exporter is in development.
VVVVVV was the first game which Cavanagh sold commercially. While his previous games were all released as free-to-play Flash games, due to the size of VVVVVV compared to his previous work, Cavanagh felt that he "couldn't see [himself] going down that route."
On October 7, 2011, it was announced that a version of the game is being made for Nintendo 3DS by Nicalis. It was released on December 29, 2011 in North America and will be released in February 2012 in Europe.
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Unlike most platforming games, in VVVVVV the player is not able to jump, but instead can reverse the direction of gravity when standing on a surface, causing Captain Viridian to fall either upwards or downwards. The player utilizes this mechanic to traverse the game's environment and avoid various hazards, including stationary spikes and moving enemies. Later areas introduce new mechanics such as moving floors or rooms which, upon touching one edge of the screen, cause the player character to appear on the other side. VVVVVV contains eight main levels situated inside a larger open world for the player to explore. Due to its high level of difficulty, the game world contains many checkpoints, to which the player's character is reset upon death.
Development The gravity-flipping mechanic of VVVVVV is based on an earlier game designed by Cavanagh, entitled Sine Wave Ninja. In an interview with IndieGames.com, Cavanagh said that he was interested in utilizing this idea as a core concept of a game, something he felt other games which include a gravity-flipping mechanism had never done before.
Cavanagh first unveiled VVVVVV on his blog, Distractionware, in June 2009. The game had been in development for two weeks, and Cavanagh estimated that the game would be finished in another two, "but hopefully not much longer." A follow-up post published in July 2009 included screenshots of the game and an explanation of the game's gravity-flipping mechanic. Cavanagh wrote that VVVVVV, unlike some of his previous work such as Judith and Pathways, would not be a "storytelling experiment", but rather "focused on the level design". The game was first shown publicly at the 2009 Eurogamer Expo, which gave Cavanagh the opportunity to collect feedback from players. In December 2009, a beta version of VVVVVV which had been given to donators was leaked on 4chan.
The visual style of VVVVVV is heavily inspired by games released for the Commodore 64 8-bit computer from the 1980s, especially Jet Set Willy which is referenced by the giant elephant, collecting difficult to reach shiny objects and most notably the naming of each room; Cavanagh aimed to create a game "that looked and felt like the C64 games I grew up with." He also considered this game an opportunity to indulge in his "retro fetish". Cavanagh has said because he lacks the technical prowess to make more modern-looking games, he instead focuses on making them visually interesting; additionally, he finds this to be made easier by "working within narrow limits".
VVVVVV was released on January 11, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A trial version of the game is playable on the website Kongregate. A Linux version was in development, but a number of technical difficulties arose in the porting process, which led to its cancellation by Cavanagh.
The game was rewritten in C++ by games developer Simon Roth in 2011, allowing Linux support to be successfully implemented. This formed version 2.0 of VVVVVV, launched on July 24, 2011 as part of the third Humble Indie Bundle. Version 2.0 also features support for custom levels, and a level editor.The C++ port also allowed for the implementation of new graphics modes and various speed improvements. Version 2.0, however, does not support saved games from the original Flash version of VVVVVV; many players received this update via Steam without warning, and hence were unable to continue their existing saved games. A save-file exporter is in development.
VVVVVV was the first game which Cavanagh sold commercially. While his previous games were all released as free-to-play Flash games, due to the size of VVVVVV compared to his previous work, Cavanagh felt that he "couldn't see [himself] going down that route."
On October 7, 2011, it was announced that a version of the game is being made for Nintendo 3DS by Nicalis. It was released on December 29, 2011 in North America and will be released in February 2012 in Europe.
Read this article on Wikipedia