Hello readers,

Have any of you been playing the game Salem? If so, you probably want to make sure you haven't missed a single spot right?
Some of you may know, I've been working on a walkthrough for the game. The good news is; It is now completed, and ready for download:

Salem Walkthrough by Sour Jovis

Enjoy,
SJ

PS There is no bad news, if you were still waiting for that.

THIS WALKTHROUGH HAS SINCE BEEN COMLETED! PLEASE CHECK THE NEWER NEWS!

Hello readers,

Lately (since the day before yesterday) I've been playing this game here on Newgrounds called Salem, and I enjoy it very much. It's a game in Castlevania style with a unique battle/puzzle system, great graphics, good voice acting, and catchy music.

I saw there wasn't a walkthrough of it at the time, so I made one myself. Now that I'm finished however, there is a walkthrough by the voice actor of the game Odell Atkinson.

http://vimeo.com/51045596

It's pretty accurate and funny, but it doesn't explain how to get all of the medals. For the people who want to see a written walkthrough I upload this. Then it wasn't all for nothing. You can never have too much information anyway. Btw sorry it looks so crappy. I made a nice pdf file, but Newgrounds won't let me upload it. When all is complete I'll upload a better version somewhere, and upload the link on Newgrounds for you people to see.

Please help me correct any mistakes and things I've missed.

The controls are very basic:

Press "A" to move right,
"S" to duck,
"D" to move left,
"W" to jump,
"P" to pause and go to pause menu,
hold "Space Bar" to use the lantern,
move "Mouse Cursor" to direct the lantern or aim the crossbow
and click "Left Mouse Button" to shoot the crossbow.

At the start menu you can change the settings. If you have a fast computer, and you want to enjoy the game at its fullest you can set it to high. If you have a slower one you can set it to minimum. Trust me, you may want to do that later, because lagging can make this game impossible to defeat the bosses. You can change the settings during the game as well, by pressing "P" and going to the settings menu.

Now let's start the game, by pressing New Game.

Level T Welcome to Salem

You (Anselm aka Sellie) arrive at Salem and are welcomed by a daemon devouring a dead body. When it runs of, press on and get ready to meet your friendly neighborhood daemon (I thought that was a pun of my own, but it turns out they use the exact same line in the game) and comic relieve sidekick Zipp (Short for Zippelnum, although he himself pronounces it differently...). After talking to him, you can either try to shoot him three times, or (the faster way) ignore him, and walk past him. Then he will give you the lantern; the weapon that makes this game so unique. Zipp will give you a short description on how to use this weapon. I'll give you another description.

If you hold the spacebar the game pauses and you can use the lantern. While holding the spacebar, move your mouse cursor over the white dots on the enemies, until you hear a "pling" and the dots disappear. This will kill weaker enemies (sprites), and stun some stronger (zombies and the first boss). Also the crossbow will do more damage (double I think) when enemies are affected by the lantern. The effect will wear off instantly once an enemy is hit, so only one time more damage for each stun. The lantern depletes in energy when you use it. It's not the number of times that count, but the length of time you hold the space bar. So don't hold the spacebar any longer than necessary. In fact, the best thing to do is move the cursor to an enemy first, and then lightly tab the spacebar. You'll see that the circle around the mouse cursor is larger when the lantern is high on energy, and becomes smaller when the lantern is low. The circle serves both as indicator of lantern's energy, and area of effect. You can refill the lantern by standing on lit up places (candles and such), by killing lesser enemies (the sprites), or by hitting some bosses (the white light bulbs released by some enemies restore your lantern).

From the tentacle root sprites emerge. Hold the Spacebar, and move your mouse cursor over the enemies, as explained in the tuorial. Release the space bar. That's it. You get a secret medal if you kill all the sprites without getting hit. Or another secret medal if you get hit three times in a row. (In other words, if you suck). (Thanks Knuckstrike for pointing this out to me. I couldn't have figured it out on my own.)

Level 1-1 Cathedral Foyer

Great music eh? I think it's the best song in the game. Listen to it for over five minutes and you'll get a secret medal. You can get this medal anywhere in a level if you stay for longer than five minutes. (Thanks again Knuckstrike)

From every root emerging from the wall sprout sprites. Remember that for when you see them, so you won't be surprised. Sometimes sprites emerge when you've already walked past, and they try to ambush you or attack you in the back. Kill all the sprites with the lantern.

When you arrive at the door, break it by shooting. (This goes for every closed door in the game.) You now have to defeat your first zombie. Stun it with the lantern. Then shoot it with the crossbow. Repeat stun an' shoot until the zombie is dead. If you kill a zombie without stunning it, you'll get a secret medal.

Destroy the second door plus the zombie right behind it, and walk on.

Level 1-2 Possession

A small puzzle. (If only there were more of these.) Further ahead is an "up and over door", that only opens when a button is pressed. The problem is the button is underneath the stairs, and you can't reach it. Note however the zombie trapped there. As soon as the zombie stands on the large red button, you'll have to stun it with your lantern. Now the door will stay open, and you can walk past it. If you do this in under 22 seconds, you get a secret medal.

Past the door you'll be ambushed. Immediately hold spacebar to kill the sprites instantly and stun the zombie. Then kill the zombie. Kill the next zombie as well. Move on.

Level 1-3 House of Worship

This is where your first boss Betel appears. The daemon you saw at the beginning.

It's a simple matter of stun, shoot, stun shoot as fast as you can. You will however have to dodge his attacks in between, by running, jumping and ducking. He has three attacks. He shoots three red arrows (move in between them). He slides towards you (jump over him) and he goes underground and sticks his arm through the floor to attack you (run to the left or right, and don't stay on one place).

Once you have depleted his health, you have to hold the space bar to "weave a sigil" (as I call it) by connecting dots (Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow style). When the sigil is complete, shoot the boss one more time, and it dies (this is how you finish off all of the bosses so remember it). Now you've killed your first boss, and you get a medal for that.

Walk on and be ready for some suspenseful cut scene.

Level 2-1 No Place for Politics

Instead of longer and more difficult, the levels actually get shorter and easier in this game. Pity, but at least it keeps it from getting repetitive, and leaves more time for boss battles.

What you have to do is; Get rid of the sprites emerging from the roots. Shoot the floor that glows up purple when you move the cursor over it (purple things must be destroyed). Fall down through the hole you've created. Kill the three zombies. Shoot the wooden stuff that's in your way. Kill the sprites and onward.

Level 2-2 Big Things

After a dialogue with Zipp, shoot down the door. Behind it is the second boss Mogrimm. It's a large mudskipper, with an eye in his mouth.

To defeat him you'll have to hold duck and keep shooting. You have to hit him in the eye, and you can only hit him when his mouth is open. I heard you can hit the eye with the lantern to do more damage with the crossbow, but that seldom works, so I just keep shooting.

When Mogrimm shoots green goo at you, be sure to time your shooting so you don't get hit. I never got hit by this. Maybe it isn't even possible to get hit when you shoot as long as you keep holding the down arrow.

When Mogrimm starts sucking you in, run to the left. Be ready to duck at any time, or get shot in the back of the head.

When you have depleted all of Mogrimm's health, it's time to weave the sigil. You can only do this when his mouth is open and his eye is revealed.

If you're unlucky he won't open his mouth at all, and simply corner and eat you.

When your sigil is successful, shoot him in the eye once more and you have won. You get another medal for this. Onward!

Level 3-1 The Spiral Library

Not much going on here. Just a lot of dialogue revealing the plot. (Did I mention the levels get shorter and easier?) You can actually get the secret medal "The Demons Once Were..." here. I don't remember how I got it. I know it was during New Game +. You can use the lantern to reveal hidden messages left in blood on the walls and shelves. Maybe that's what you have to do.

To go on you have to jump over all the things in your way. There's a large shelve that you have to jump several times to get higher. Once you're past it, go through all of the dialogue and continue to the next room.

Level 3-2 Restricted Section

This is where the boss is. A demon wall composed of corpses and large eyes.

People seem to have a lot of problems defeating this boss, and so did I. I had to try about three times to get him. You'll have to kill him before the middle eye opens up completely, or he will unleash his final attack and instantly kill you. You'll know when you see a bright flash and well... You die.

To defeat him, you'll first have to find the right spot to stand. I think the best place is close to the boss on the lower bookshelf. Here you won't get hit by the projectiles shot by the eyes as long as you duck. Also you're close to a light so your lantern gets re-filled. The crossbow will knock you back somewhat, so move forward every now and then, to not fall of the shelf.

Kill the two eyes by shooting them. Remember you do double damage after stunning an eye. Using the lantern doesn't cost extra time, so stun before each shot. This will deplete the lantern energy very fast, but you can replenish it by shooting the middle eye every now and then. (This will not do any damage to the boss.)

Kill the lower eye first. Every now and then the wall releases a zombie. Stun both the lower eye and the zombie in one action with the lantern. Kill the zombie first before it gets to you.

Once the lower eye is dead, concentrate on the upper eye. You don't have to waste time on the zombies anymore. Simply stun them with the lantern so they can't get to you, and focus on killing the eye.

Once the upper eye is dead, it's time to finish of the boss. Make sure your lantern has enough energy to complete the sigil. If not hit the middle eye one or two more times. Then weave the sigil, and shoot the middle eye.

You'll get a medal for defeating Nocxis, and another secret medal if you kill it before it opens its large eye more than halfway. This is easiest to do in the New Game + mode.

Note that if you weave the sigil on Nocxis, en press the spacebar again, the screen will turn completely black. The game will go on, but you won't be able to see anything. Zombies still attack you. If you somehow make it to the loading screen, all will go back to normal.

Now you have defeated the boss, we go onward!

Level 4-1 Ancient Forest

It turns out Zippelnum is an enemy after all, and you have to fight him. But first you can ask him one question. You get to choose between five question/responses. Each gives you a secret medal. You can select a from the start screen menu to go back to level 4 see all the questions and receive all 5 secret medals.

To defeat Zippelnum you have to survive the battle until a conversation starts. Actually you don't have to survive at all. The fastest way to trigger the conversation is to simply let yourself get hit until you have only one bar of health left.

If you decide to battle him, note he's immune to the lantern. Keep shooting at him (though you'll never do enough damage to kill him in time). When he lunches at you jump over him. When he sticks his arm in the ground get off the red area. When he throws a fireball, stay in between the fire pillars (they get closer together each time). When Zipp exits the screen on one side be ready for him to emerge at the other. He can teleport and the stage loops in on itself. Btw you get nothing for beating him without getting hit, so why bother.

During the conversation at the end of the battle your lantern lights up red, and you can weave the sigil, and shoot him. You get a medal for defeating Zipp.

Note, if you have weaved the sigil on Zipp, and you don't shoot him afterwards, but instead walk away, you'll get stuck forever. So don't.

Now it's time to leave Zipp behind and continue. ONWAAARD!

Level 4-2 Darkest Fear

Now a gimmick boss battle starts. You'll have to shoot a daemon simply because it's in your way. (Sellie sure got less nice after killing his only friend.) It doesn't do anything to harm you though. He'll die instantly. Must've been almost dead already. But now you'll have to run from the real boss, into a dark cave, and you'll fall down a pit where darkness swallows you.

Level 4-3 Black Obelisk

First hit the roots (or larvae) on either side of the screen. Sprites come out. Kill them with your lantern to replenish it. Now the battle starts.

Hit the roots at the top of the screen as fast as you can. You'll see the roots sap your lantern's power, so hit the roots on the sides of the screen and kill the sprites whenever you can't do anything else. The roots will slowly replenish the sprites, so wait a while until they're ready for harvest.

The first thing to watch out for are the demon Xil (the large mouth thing) that pops up at either side of the screen. Its appearance is announced by a red light. He'll always try to attack you from behind. The first two times he appears he'll do nothing, just stay away from him. The third time however, he'll shoot a black beam (with a piano sound...) stay on the lower floor and keep ducking to avoid it. Before Xil shoots its beam, it starts biting, so if you lost count, that's how you can tell it's the third time.

The second thing to watch out for is when the screen starts glowing purple. Get on a ledge on the right or left side of the screen, because purple energy will cover the bottom of the screen.

From time to time the roots on the ceiling raise a shield. You can't hit it during this period, so it's time to replenish your lantern by shooting the roots on the sides of the screen.

Once you have depleted all of the boss's hp and your lantern starts glowing red, it's time for the sigil. But beware. This is a long one. Make sure your lantern is at full energy.

You may also want to change the settings to low, because you don't want any lagging to mess this up.

Complete the sigil, shoot the boss (medal), and... You now have completed the game. Let the credits roll.

If you have completed the game in one sitting, without dying, you get a medal. (This only works on New Game normal mode. Not the + mode.)

Wait for the credits to end, because there'll be more... Also you only get the medal for completion after the credits.

Now you have completed the game, you can start the New Game +. This means you can restart the game with all your prior gained experience, making it even easier to play through again and get more medals. You get a new medal, simply for completing the New Game + mode.

Here's a "table" with all the medals you can get (tabs and multiple spaces didn't work, so it looks like rubish):

Medals: Points: Conditions:
Betel 10 Slay Betel.
Mogrimm 10 Vanquish Mogrimm.
Nocxis 25 Destroy Nocxis.
Zippelnumm 25 "Defeat" Zippelnum.
Salem 50 Beat Salem (finish game normal mode).
Salem Plus 50 Beat Salem On New Game + Mode.
Xil 50 Annihilate Xil and the Black Obelisk.
Onward! 100 Beat Game on normal in one go without dying.
But Why? 5 Choose "Why betray me?" before fighting Zipp.
Not Very Good At This Are We... 5 Fail all three lantern tutorial attempts
Oh Sellie... 5 Choose "Just one question..." before Zipp fight.
Over Sellie's Head 5 Choose "Explain the Prophecy" before Zipp fight.
You Lied To Me? 5 Choose "Who are you?" before fighting Zipp.
Good Job Hunter! 10 Kill sprites in tutorial without getting hit.
The Finest Cranequin 10 Defeat a zombie using only the crossbow.
What IS A Man? 10 Choose "Enough talk!" before fighting Zipp.
Possession 25 Solve the puzzle in The Possession under 22 sec.
The Demon's Were Once 25 Not sure how I got this (see walkthrough).
You Forgot About Chu? 25 Spend more than 5 minutes in a non-boss level.
Not So Insignificant 50 Defeat Nocxis before he can open his main eye more than halfway.

THIS WALKTHROUGH HAS SINCE BEEN COMLETED! PLEASE CHECK THE NEWER NEWS!

Today I've uploaded my first video game music arrangement on Newgrounds. I've been postponing this. First I've uploaded some of my original work, to show what I'm capable of and that I don't only do remixes.

It's usually snes games I arrange. With arrange I mean, rewrite for more elaborate sounds than the snes sound chip can handle, while remaining true to the intention of the original song. (In other words: making it sound as good as I can, while changing as little as possible.) When you forget the original song didn't sound as good as this, that's when I've reached my goal.

If you still don't know what I'm talking about, or if I caught your interest, check out my latest audio submission. It's an arrangement of South Cape, the Town by the Sea from Illusion of Gaia. If you like it, I will upload more arrangements.

Enjoy.

Dear readers,

Finally my profile has been approved. Now everyone can find my uploads. I suppose that means the ratings will go down, but hey. At least people get to see my work. That's what it's all about. Also I think it's a green light for future remixes and covers. It's because of my arrangements of video game songs, someone suggested Newgrounds to me. That someone is VaeVIKTUZ. Who makes some great music himself. Check out his profile too. I think I will upload some more of my original work before that. Then I'll see about the remixes and covers. Working on a comic and web-series as well. Where do I get the time? Maybe I can get some funding once I've got some more to show. We'll see.

Cheers,
SJ

Dear readers,

Almost a month now on Newgrounds. Still none of my submitted songs have been approved. My stats are starting to look pretty good already. Yes apparently I'm a stat whore. I won't deny it. But I need a good start sprint don't I? Nobody wants to look like a noob. Not that I have a problem with people with low stats. I just want to distinguish myself a little bit, and get some recognition. Most of my stats jus went up on their own accord, because I simply like it here. Still I try to keep a steady rhythm of voting on at least 5 under submission movies a day, and submitting one thing a week. So far only songs.

Recently I'm starting to learn more about the whistle status. Probably the status that is hardest to grasp. I don't mean to start flagging submissions like crazy, to increase my level ASAP. I just don't accidentally want to mess up my whistle status. It pays to look a little bit into it. This is the most helpful thing I could find:

http://web.eagleworld.net:8000/egbforums/viewtop ic.php?f=12&t=25

I hope it is of help to you too.

Cheers,
SJ

Hello readers,

3 and a halve weeks since I've entered Newgrounds. How long am I going to post news like this? I don't know. Probably after the first month not every week anymore, but only if I have actual news, instead of when I haven't got anything interesting to say like now.

I've checked out several games here, and I really dig some of them.

Depict1 is probably my favourite. It's short and simple, yet original and engaging. Even though I don't like platform games, I still like this very much.

Gretel and Hansel is my second favourite. Part 2 is even better than 1, and a part 3 is in the making. I don't know if there will be more. It's a point and click adventure about the fairy tale Hansel und Gretel, with Gretel as main character. It's very dark and gory. Kind of like a Tim Burton film but... More messed up. I'm really looking forward to part 3.

Other games I like are Super Adventure Pals, Necrorun 2.0 (the controls are way better than in 1.0) and Symphonic Tower Defense.

I expect to upload entries of all different categories here on Newgounds. Music, art and videos. Unfortunately I can't program, so I won't be able to make a game. Seeing all these great games that makes me kinda sad. If anyone wants to do a colab with me, please contact. I can compose, write screenplays, animate and voice act.

Until next time,
SJ

Dear readers,

11 Days since I first made my Newgrounds account and uploaded the first song. None of my songs have been approved yet. They said it might take a few days, but how long is that? Hopefully not too long from now. At least they got some views and downloads.

Also I participated in a competition Comic Jam 3, only to drop out immediately afterwards. Have never made a serious comic and I can't make anything good in such a short time. Besides I misread the topic; Thought it was fight instead of flight. At least it made me start a comic of my own. Check the image as a sample (it's the only page I've fully drawn out, and it isn't even the first one). Could you stand a comic entirely in this style? I hope so, because all of it will be in this large pixels of-key 16-colour digital fx style. I will finish and upload it in my own time. Good luck to all you contestants. Looking forward to your entries.

I guess I will try uploading another song... I'll see when it gets approved.

Regards,
SJ

Hello again,

It's been a week now since I'm on Newgrounds. Still learning the basics, but it has already been much fun. I'm happy to discover so many new projects. I thought it was about time to upload another song (It's called Battle of the Bits. Please check it out.) even though my first song hasn't been approved yet. Apparently that takes at least a week. Hope it will get approved soon.

Peace,
SJ

Hello there.

Newgrounds looks awesome so I thought I'd try it out and make an account.
My name is Sour Jovis. I create videos, make arrangements of video game songs and compose songs of my own. I hope you'll like the things I do. I'm interested in what you do as well.

Cheers, Jovis