My First Quantum Translocator
Everyone's wished that they had superpowers at one time or another. Flying would be a great way to bypass the morning commute, for instance, and super strength would make household chores a piece of cake. My First Quantum Translocator, a new puzzling platformer from Cellar Door Games, blows away these mundane fantasies by gifting players with the power to control time itself! Take that, morning commute.
As a new employee at an unnamed R&D lab it's your job to test the Quantum Translocator 4300. This miraculous device allows you to "store" your position in time and return to it whenever you please. You'll use it to get through a gauntlet of tests and challenges, learning more about the mysterious lab and your handler Steve in the process.
Control your character with the [arrow] keys. Place a quantum shadow, which represents your location at a given point in time, with the [W] key, and press the [spacebar] to warp back to that shadow, maintaining any momentum in the process and killing you if you accidentally warp into a solid object. Press [F] to automatically jump and warp at the same time, performing a Tele-jump that will let you reach great heights. (The latest version of the game, which wasn't available at the time of this writing, allows the character to be controlled with the [numpad] or [arrow] keys, shadows to be placed with [Q] or [W] and Tele-jumps to be performed with [D] or [F].)
Quantum warping might seem like a simple mechanic after you've done some experimenting with it, but My First Quantum Translocator pulls out all the stops and sets up some brain-bending puzzles. You'll have to make seemingly impossible leaps, dodge murderous moving walls and avoid being smashed in any number of ways. Thankfully, you've got unlimited lives, but it almost makes you think that there's some sort of sinister undercurrent to these lab tests...
Analysis: My First Quantum Translocator will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the award-winning Valve game Portal (or, more accurately, Portal: The Flash Version) because, well, it's basically exactly the same game with a different physics-bending gimmick. The plot and setting win no awards for originality, in other words, so it comes down to the game's unique mechanic to set it apart.
Thankfully, Cellar Door Games went all out in creating puzzles that exploit the potential of quantum warping. There's a real sense of accomplishment when one manages to solve a seemingly impossible problem through the clever use of warping, and it's this sort of positive reinforcement that gives the game its appeal. There's also a method of skipping levels that prove to be too difficult to figure out, so it's possible for anyone to finish the game.
Unfortunately, that skipping feature might see a bit too much use, as some of the puzzles are truly fiendish. The last few puzzles at the end of the game, for instance, are amazingly difficult and will probably crush some hopes and dreams by forcing players to skip them. A little restraint on the part of the developers would have been nice. Thankfully there's no complaints regarding the fundamentals such as hit detection and control; everything is nice and accurate, so none of your many deaths will feel "cheap."
Despite the unbalanced difficulty, My First Quantum Translocator is a great example of how to exploit the potential of a unique game mechanic. Instead of just opening the player's imagination to the possibilities of quantum warping, the game brings those possibilities to life. Let's hope that future games with the same theme follow its lead.
Finished?
There is a cryptic message:
'R' you sure you aren't missing something
You need to somehow get yourself to appear on the grass right before going into space
Leave a shadow behind right when you get above ground, then when you're floating in space, hit space to reappear there without flying further up
This game was a blast. There were 2 levels that I had to outright skip because they were awful, namely the 4 boxes and the red cross, and one other which I can't recall. I felt sometimes that the jump mechanics were kind of a pain but that might have been due to my zeal for speed. Anyways, fantastic game, well made and adorable. Plus, the ending was superb. I hope to see more :)
I finished the game twice, to get the
girl and grasshopper skins
but I don't really want to finish it a third time. Is there another one to get?
@Mono99099
Yes.
At the end of the fourth playthrough (blue suit, red suit, grasshopper, red person), you get "The End?"
Anybody know if it is?
try using shift+/ you unlock the behemoth's mascot (it's hosted on ng, so thats the whole point)
I am stuck just after the grasshopper mention where the roof and floor are deadly tiles. Level 4-2?
Nevermind, it let me skip finally.
To unlock different characters at the title screen:
Castle Crashers
N+G
Grasshopper
C+T
Girl Suit
G+L
Chicken Suit
Shift+?
Perpetual Pinwheel
C+G
Marcmagus, what is the "red suit"?
red suit is the girl
Great game!! Especially great in that so few of the puzzles actually require "mad platforming skillz" and most just need you to use your brain and you'll get through them easily. :D
The extra costumes were nice, too. XP Further playthroughs become much easier since you already know how to do the puzzles...
So what's the "blue suit"?
Bane(s) of my existence:
Right before IV.
And the one with the red cross.
And the one before V - it gave my guy a headache (he kept smashing his head on the platforms...)
I REALLY hate the "How did you even get in this room?" level.
But I made it through
the corridor with the red ceiling and floor! w00t!
I totally dig these types of games, but tell me honestly,
how many of you DIDN'T see the "twist" of the experiments being deadly coming? I actually avoided the crushing ceiling the first time because I knew that wasn't the end of the game. I don't want to say it was obvious, but the "Experiment Turned Evil" thing has been turning up since, you guessed it, Portal.
Nevertheless, I really liked the puzzles in this one. They had the aha factor of some of the greats, if not the length. Good stuff!
Hmm, my comment came out a little wrong there. What I meant to say was
... the "Experiment Turned Evil" thing has been turning up more and more frequently since, you guessed it, Portal.
No doubt it's been done before, but since Portal, these things are showing up more often I find. I just hope the theme doesn't get worn out too quickly. So far they've been well done for the most part.
Coldfrog, yes :-), but i still appreciate it over "you dont remember how you got there, get out" (my biggest anti-interesting story) and "safe your girlfriend" (place 2 on anti-interesting story)
Otherwise an interesting platformer!
I need someone to explain to me how to jump. I can use W to make a shadow, and D to jump from the point where the shadow is. But at screen 3 I need to make a shadow mid-air, and D only jumps from the current shadow, and W doesn't work in mid-air. Further more the up arrow doesn't seem to be available for jumping.
SkylerF, I was intentionally avoiding assuming character gender based on color of outfit, although in retrospect I posted in haste and should accurately have said "white suit" and "pink suit". There is no blue; I meant the original character.
I was able to get through everything except the boxes with the big plus. Then I found a walkthrough online and saw that the solution was not terribly difficult. Shame on me!
considering the "red suit" has a flower on it, it's pretty safe to assume it's a girl
or a rather effeminate man(so confusing)
I like the MegaMan-esque music!
ThemePark, the up arrow works for me for jumping; the trick is that you have to jump, then teleport while you're still heading up. (You can't teleport, then jump.)
There's a more convenient way to do this, but you'll learn that as you proceed...
...but just in case, it's the F key.
Thanks, Fred M. Sloniker. The F key works, but only when I already have a shadow, then it jumps up from that shadow. I can't make a shadow in mid air either, as it seems to take as long time to cool down as the jump lasts. So I can't warp again until by the time I've hit the ground. And the only keys that will work are the ones mentioned in the review, except for the up arrow, which still refuses to do anything.
I'm stumped as to why it won't work properly for me. :-/
For that level, ThemePark, I found I had to wait for the robot to bounce back up from the bottom, THEN make a shadow.
Have you tried that?
Loved it! Really, my second 5 stars this year lol
I'm having the same experience as ThemePark. The up arrow just flat out doesn't work for me.
winXP / firefox 3.5.13 / flash 10,1,82,76
Works fine on Chrome, apparently.
I too have the same problem with the up arrow key not working. Firefox 3.5.11 Windows Vista. Shame I can't play this, looks fun.
Since I had that problem, I have upgraded both Firefox and Flash, and now the Up button is working. It could of course be an update from the game developer that has fixed the problem.
I figure I should do a walkthrough for this; I've played through it enough times recently.
Walkthrough
(Note: The rooms are divided into seven sections, with the save points being the dividing points.)
Section I
Room 1: Jump up the ledges and exit the right side of the screen. No surprises.
Room 2: Note the square sliding left and right. Don't worry, it won't hurt you, just push you to the left. You can get about halfway across the screen before it hits you; before it does, drop a shadow with W, then after the square is to the left of the shadow, press SPACE to warp to it. Then exit.
Room 3: This is your introduction to "tele-jumping". You get a pretty good explanation of it from Steve, even with a visual aid, so I won't walk you through it. Just get over the ledges and exit to the right.
Room 4: Ignore the platforms in the upper left. Just tele-jump up the "ladder" on the right and exit.
Room 5: This may be a little tricky. Jump from the left ledge, and drop a shadow when you're level with the ledge again, or right after. Then you should be able to tele-jump up to the right ledge. If you screwed up the shadow drop, press R and try again.
Room 6: Wow, nice technobabble there, Steve. Just hold right and you'll exit just fine.
Section II
(You can get a little extra dialogue if you wait a moment after tagging the save point preceding this section.)
Room 7: This is a little tricky, too. What you want to do is get bouncing on the bouncy platform, then drop a shadow at the peak of your bounce, then teleport at the bottom of your bounce-- this'll make you bounce higher. Repeat until you can reach the high ledge. Be careful, you'll bounce a little lower with each bounce if you don't teleport!
Room 8: A simple tele-jump won't get you up to that ledge. What you want to do is drop a shadow near the ledge like you're about to do a normal tele-jump, then jump onto the bouncy platform down below. (Don't just drop, jump! You'll get more air!) Then, press SPACE right after the bounce to get onto the ledge. After that, jump towards the exit from the floating platform; you won't make it, but just drop a shadow on your way down (it should be about halfway to the other ledge). Then jump down to the entrance and repeat the bouncy-tele-jump move you used to get up; hold the right arrow key and it should give you enough air to reach the exit.
Room 9: Before approaching the exit, drop a shadow. Then as soon as the ceiling rumbles, hit SPACE. After that, tele-jump onto the fallen ceiling and proceed.
Room 10: Walk off the ledge and immediately drop a shadow, then tele-jump up to the other ledge. Easy.
Room 11: Those red things kill you on contact! Drop a shadow and teleport between two of the red columns, then walk with them to the right until they stop, drop another shadow, walk left with them until they stop, teleport and walk to safety.
Room 12: You'll have to switch between above and below the moving bar in order to make it to the other side safely. Just make sure to jump and drop a shadow at the peak of your jump when you're below it, and just drop it at your feet when you're above. Either way, keep moving right, teleport as soon as the bar passes, and drop another shadow as soon as it's on its way back towards you.
Section III
(You get extra dialogue at this save point, too, by the same method.)
Room 13: Your new guide teaches you how to do an automatic tele-jump. Jump up above the gap, drop a shadow (aim to put it directly below the word "you" in the second line of the dialogue), and fall back on the ledge, then hold right and press F to automatically teleport and jump simultaneously. (I'll call that technique the F-jump from now on.) You should clear the gap easily.
Room 14: This one's tricky. Stand on the lower platform when it stops on the bottom. Then, about when its upper edge is about level with the lower of the two green switches on the right, jump off to the right and drop a shadow about level with the upper of the two green switches, or slightly higher. Then when the two moving platforms meet and stop, F-jump on top of the other one, then ride it to where you can jump to the ledge.
Room 15: Jump down onto the moving platform (be careful with the timing), but drop a shadow when you're about level with your starting point. Then F-jump when you're on your way right and hold right.
Room 16: Jump from the moving platform when it's on its way up; you'll catch crazy air. Drop a shadow at the peak of your jump. Then, F-jump when the platform is on its way up again, and you'll reach the ledge just fine.
Room 17: This is difficult. As soon as the level starts, walk to the right as far as you can without panicking, drop a shadow and quickly start moving left. Then teleport as soon as it's safe, go right and jump to the next ledge up. Drop a shadow and drop back down, then teleport once the horizontal red wall passes. Then climb up and teleport past the vertical wall again, then drop a shadow on the third or fourth ledge so you can teleport to it to pass the horizontal wall again. One last teleport past the vertical wall should get you to the exit.
Section IV
Room 18: You can go above or below the red blocks, but it's safer to go below. Start bouncing and drop a shadow as low as you can, then teleport at the peak of your bounce; you can pass under with ease. Then use the bounce-teleport technique from room 7 to get up to the ledge on the right.
Room 19: This is difficult, too. Jump onto the ledge when it's above you but on its way down, then drop a shadow near the ceiling of red blocks (it may take a few tries; try to get it just before the vent in the ceiling). Then teleport to it as soon as the bar passes it on its way down and hold right. You should make it.
Room 20: Start bouncing and get close to the red blocks (but not underneath them!), then drop a shadow as low as you can. Then get back onto solid ground, hold right, and teleport. Don't look back.
Room 21: This one looks harder than it is. Basically you want to jump to the next ledge to the right, drop a shadow at the peak of your jump, and then F-jump to the ledge above where you were when you teleported. Do this three times in succession to reach the exit, but watch your head and make sure you aren't jumping into anything.
Section V
Room 22: This one should be easy. Jump from the platform when it's on its way up and drop a shadow about level with the ledge on the right, then F-jump from the platform the same way and drop another shadow as soon as the QT cools. One more F-jump from the platform should get you to the exit.
Room 23: When the C-shaped moving object is on the right, jump straight up from the edge of the left ledge and drop a shadow at the peak. Then wait for the object to return, and F-jump right before it reaches the shadow from the left; it should push you to the right ledge.
Room 24: Drop down beneath the line of red blocks and drop a shadow down there, then jump back up to the top. Jump onto the moving platform, then hold right and F-jump right as you're about to pass above the shadow; you should bonk your head on the platform and land safely.
Room 25: Ignore the staircase on the right. F-jump up the ledges to the left, then make your way across the platforms to the exit. (You can make the first gap with a shadow in the middle followed by an F-jump).
Room 26: This is a bit of a puzzle. Drop onto the square when it stops in the lower left and drop a shadow, then teleport into it. When it stops in the upper right, jump and drop a shadow, then teleport to it when the square stops in the lower right; you should land safely back on top of the square. Don't drop a third shadow; just F-jump when the square's on its way up again and you'll reach the exit just fine.
Room 27: This one's a catch-your-breath level. Real easy, just hop from platform to platform and reach the exit.
Section VI
Room 28: This one's easy once you get the hang of it. You're in one of four moving squares. Hug the left wall until the square reaches the upper left (don't forget to jump so the square below you doesn't crush you with its corner), then navigate to the right wall. As soon as the square stops in the upper right, jump and drop a shadow up high against the right wall, then teleport to it as the squares are moving again, so that you land outside them.
Room 29: Same thing with a bit more difficulty. As soon as the level starts, use a well-placed shadow to get to the next square counterclockwise from your starting point, then hug the left wall; if you do it right, the red cross will miss you. Don't teleport again yet; hug the right side of the square you teleported from as soon as you can and the red cross will miss you again. When everything stops moving, drop another shadow, then remain absolutely still until things stop again and you're in the lower right corner, then teleport. From there you can repeat the upper-right corner teleport from the previous level to get out of the squares and exit.
Section VII
Room 30: Finally it all ends. Note the hole in the ceiling. Jump and drop a shadow right beneath the hole, then stand on top of the crushing platform and F-jump at just the right time to be sent hurtling upwards. Drop a shadow after you clear the surface of the ground but before you hit the top of the screen in that area, then teleport once you're stranded in space to reach terra firma safely.
The rest is up to you.
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