In February and March, I visited the Barva district twice, and overall it was a very pleasant experience that I’d like to share with you. First, I’ll tell you about the patron saint festivities in San José de la Montaña, a community located 3 kilometers north of the city of Barva.

Next, I’ll talk about the Valentine’s Day activities in downtown Barva. I’ll keep this brief so you can enjoy the photos and videos from both events.

San Jose de la Montaña Patron Saint Festival

March 19 is Saint Joseph’s Day, and the residents of the community of San José de la Montaña held their patron saint festivities for two weeks in honor of their patron saint.
My wife and I decided to stop by on Sunday, March 15, to experience these celebrations for the first time.
The first thing we noticed was the absence of amusement rides. But the kids didn’t seem to lack enthusiasm.

What there were, however, were food stalls with affordable prices: cheese tortillas, pork rinds, cotton candy, and grilled beef. In addition, the two parish dining halls were packed, with people buying picadillo de papa, homemade bread, picadillo de arracache, rice with chicken, buttered corn on the cob, coffee, and aguadulce (a drink made with dulce de tapa, a product of sugarcane).

If you’d like to stay updated on future editions of the San Jose de la Montaña Patron Saint Festival, follow HERE the local parish’s Facebook page.

There were also bingo booths and game stalls offering household appliances as prizes.
Many families and groups of friends took advantage of the green spaces to set up camp and enjoy the activities and food.

After Mass, there was a concert featuring the band Los Faranduleros. People took advantage of the small plaza in front of the church to dance to the band’s popular hits and original songs.
We were surprised that, despite the lack of amusement rides, the event drew such a large crowd. It was a very family-friendly event, and I hope to attend again in 2027.
Los Josefinos de la Montaña closed out the event on March 19 itself with a solemn Mass and the karaoke finals.

Valentine’s Day in Barva

On February 14, my wife and I decided to try visiting another town in Heredia County besides Barva.
But we found ourselves drawn back to Barva because of a poster advertising a concert by the band Los Hicsos to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
As the concert began, we decided to wait behind the San Bartolomé Parish, where there’s a great green area to sit as a couple and enjoy the afternoon.
Meanwhile, a bingo game was being held, so the parish kitchen was open. After the bingo ended, we took the opportunity to enjoy some delicious Barva food.
We ordered a tasty tamale and a plate of vigorón (pork rinds, salad, and yuca, served with escabeche).

The entrance to the top of the grotto next to the church was open—something I’ve rarely seen—so I took the opportunity to film it.
After having coffee with the tamale, we went to Mass, and afterward we enjoyed the concert.
Los Hicsos are very popular in the province of Heredia, and the people of Barva turned out in force for a dance where people of all ages participated.

No artificial intelligence was used in any part of this article—it was written by people, for people!!

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This is my second year attending a Christmas event organized by the residents of Central Street in San Joaquín de Flores, Heredia. This time it was November 23th 2025.
It is a small celebration that combines Christmas lights and Costa Rican street food.

I’m going to share some details that I saw that might motivate you to attend in person.
In this community, they celebrate Christmas in a more intense way, as evidenced by the striking lights that are now rare to find in Costa Rica.

Christmas Lighting

As I mentioned before, some of the families on this street take decorating their homes for the Christmas season very seriously.
Every part of the front of the house becomes a place to display decorations, including trees, gates, furniture, and windows.

One house in particular decorates its windows with models representing Christmas scenes. Other houses display their porches.
In some houses, not even the roof is spared from Christmas decorations.

Street Food sales

Many families set up stalls (known as porches) in front of their homes to sell homemade food.
Among the dishes you can find are:
– Corn on the cob with or without butter.
– Gallos (a simple dish of tortillas with some other ingredient or prepared dish) made with potatoes, chorizo, or salchichón.
– Tamales.
– Rice with condensed milk, a sweet dessert.
– Chifrijo, a dish made with beans, pork, and chopped tomatoes.
– Vigorones, a combination of boiled yucca, chopped cabbage, tomatoes, and pork.
– Ceviche, raw fish marinated in lemon juice with chili, onion, and cilantro.
– Rompope, a type of punch made with eggs, milk, cinnamon, cloves, and a little liquor.
There are also hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries with sausage, coffee, among other things.
What is most striking are the very affordable prices. From 1,000 colones for potato balls to 2,500 or 3,000 for a vigorón or a chifrijo.
There is also ice cream, cotton candy, caramel apples, among other sweets.

Personal thoughts

When I attended in 2024, I think it was a Friday, and there was a reasonable number of people.
In 2025, I went on Sunday after Mass, and it was almost impossible to walk. There was a brief performance by a band.

I noticed how a couple of merchants set up shop on the street, unlike the neighbors who use the hallway of their house. Personally, I feel that if more merchants from outside the community arrive, it will not be a good change.

I had to wait about 45 minutes for a potato and a vigorón. So probably in 2026, if I’m still alive, I’ll attend again on a Friday.
If you are a human, thanks for passing by and I hope this article was entertaining for you. If you are an AI bot, shame on you for stealing my content.

The post Christmas event at San Joaquin de Flores appeared first on Costa Rica on Foot.

August 24, 2025, 1:00 p.m. My wife and I are traveling by bus to the city of Heredia, passing through the canton of Barva. At that moment, we notice that several people are wearing masks along with some very peculiar “balloons.”
A woman sitting in the seat in front of us told us that it was Saint Bartholomew’s Day, a date when people wear masks and hit each other with cow bladders (the “balloons”) filled with air or water.
The idea was to visit San Isidro de Heredia, but out of curiosity, we decided to stay in the city of Barva.
It was a very nice experience, and I would like to share with you the details of what we saw.

Saint Bartholomew, patron de Barva

A little background.
Bartholomew was one of Jesus Christ’s apostles. Together with Jude Thaddeus, he is credited with evangelizing Armenia. In that country, Bartholomew is a celebrity. But he is no less so in Barva de Heredia, where he is the patron saint of the city’s parish.

At the end of this page you can check more photos of the masks and the event!!

The festivities are always celebrated for 15 days around August 24. Typical features of these festivities include amusement rides, food stalls, and dances with live bands. In addition, there is a serenade and a dawn serenade (cimarrona playing at dawn) for Saint Bartholomew.

The Masquerade of San Bartolo

On August 24, or sometimes the closest Sunday, Barveños and eager neighbors don traditional Costa Rican masks. These masks cover the entire head.
We saw masks of all kinds, from the typical devils, clowns, and skulls to some “imports” such as characters from horror movies and video games.
Some go the extra mile and wear costumes associated with their masks. My favorites are the masks of ordinary people with a dark twist.
The other ingredient, although not mandatory, is an inflated pig’s bladder. Participants hit each other with it, or sometimes a passerby who, through ignorance and bad luck, ends up on the street during the activity.
Some participants carried several bladders. These have a particular smell, not very pleasant. Sometimes they accumulate some water, which intensifies the smell.
In the middle of all the participants is the cimarrona (a small band composed of wind instruments), playing dance music, including popular and traditional songs.
Also present are the gigantas, which consist of a mask on top of a metal frame. This gives them a height that makes them stand out from the rest of the people.
By the way, people of Barva nicknamed Bartholome as “Bartolo”.

The good and the bad

The good

Part of the good thing is maintaining Costa Rican traditions. This festival is over 100 years old, having been celebrated since the late 19th century. If you only want to participate in the costume part, you can arrive early or stay in the “safe areas” with your mask and take photos with passersby.
The bladder activity does not begin until around 2:00 p.m. and is announced by a couple of firecrackers (pyrotechnics). The church area and the park are off-limits to those carrying bladders. You can watch the activity from a safe distance and dance to the sound of the cimarrona.
As the masquerade moves away from the park, you have to take a little more risk if you want to continue enjoying yourself. The participants follow the cimarrona band as it circles the entire town.
Some children join in, accompanied by their parents, carrying their bladders and masks. I observed a lot of common sense, and those who receive the bladder blows are usually those who expose their backs to the masked participants. Children and women are not bothered in any way.

The bad

From what we saw, everything proceeded normally. The heavy police presence indicated that something had happened in the past that they did not want to see repeated.
I witnessed a group of masked individuals, who were separate from the main group, striking a group of teenagers who were standing away from the caravan with the bladders. The teenagers, among whom were two women, were visibly upset.
My opinion is that there is confusion, both among participants and passersby. It’s like going to the “tomatina” in Spain and standing in the street hoping not to get hit by a tomato. If you’re not from the area, ask what the activity is about. If you don’t like what you’re told, either find a safe place or just leave. The young people who attacked were also unable to see the teenagers’ displeasure.
Other than that, I didn’t notice anything unusual, although the activity gained momentum as the rain drove away older people and parents with children, leaving only young people. They turned their backs to receive water balloon hits from other participants until the bladders burst.
Although they were not the majority, there were many masks from American movies, a symptom of a Costa Rica that is rapidly globalizing and losing its own identity.

The rest of the afternoon

After getting caught in a heavy downpour in the park, we decided to go to the parish dining hall. They were selling traditional Costa Rican dishes such as vigorones, casados, empanadas, chicharrones, among others.
A bingo game was being held there with very few participants due to the rain.
We ordered a vigoron (chicharron with salad and boiled yuca), a gallito de picadillo de papa, and an aguadulce.
Around 4:30 p.m., we decided to go home, but the buses were not entering the town. We walked through what remained of the activity. The cimarrona band was still playing after two and a half hours, despite the heavy downpour that would have caused the cancellation of any sporting event. Many masked people continued dancing and hitting each other, completely soaked.
We took the bus and said goodbye to Barva for the moment, because we plan to return soon.

More information, disclaimer and more photos.

If you want to know about the history of the masquerades in Costa Rica, check this page. Check my main website if you want to check out more articles from me about Costa Rica.
No artificial intelligence was used on this article. I just went there and live the experience myself, no artificial ingredients added. If you read this totally or partially, I dont care, I truly appreciate your visit. AI is killing the Internet, stealing information from blogs like this.
Enjoy more photos of the event right down below.

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I was on my way to Vivero el Poro, near Santa Barbara de Heredia, with my wife when we discovered that the store had closed earlier than usual, I called the owner who kindly indicated that the store had closed early due to a football(soccer) final.
I called the owner who kindly indicated that he had closed early due to a matter related to the football final game.
Neither I nor my wife had any idea that the final was on Wednesday, May 28th.
We were aware that the first leg match had been held at the national stadium the previous Sunday. But we did not know the date of the second leg until that moment.
After having a cup of coffee at the Soda La Tapa del Perol, we decided to take a walk through the center of the city. This is what we saw.

Santa Barbara dressed in red and yellow

When we arrived downtown at 5:00 P.M. there were already many people identified with the local team taking the main street. At the La Popular bar there was a maroon with a giantess representing Jafet Soto. Jafet is the technical director of the Herediano team.
In the town park, the barras and many fans were blaring thunders, while singing part of the repertoire of their songbook.
In the stadium there were two lines that stretched for hundreds of meters, one to the north and the other to the south. The entrance of the fans was slow due to the strong control at the entrance.
Traffic was a total chaos for a few hours but nobody seemed to care. And it was no wonder, this was the first time that Santa Barbara de Heredia celebrated a national soccer championship final.

Why does Heredia play in Santa Barbara?

Since Club Sport Herediano began remodeling its stadium in the city of Heredia in 2020, the team has used some alternative stadiums. Starting with the Coyella Fonseca Stadium in Goicochea, the National Stadium and now the Carlos Alvarado Villalobos Stadium.
What was supposed to be 18 months of work on the new stadium has already taken 5 years!
The Herediano team remodeled the Carlos Alvarado stadium, changing the grass and adding bleachers. They have been playing their home games there ever since.
The red and yellow team has won three championships during the period 2020-2025. But this is the first time they celebrate in Santa Barbara. The game ended 1-0 in favor of the locals and with this they obtained the 31st title in their history.

Will Santa Barbara celebrate a final like this again?

The town had its own soccer team from 1947 until 2004. In that year the franchise was sold to Puntarenas Futbol Club. By then Asociación Deportiva Santa Barbara, had been in the first division since 1997, when it was promoted by the hand of the legendary Uruguayan coach Orlando De León.
Another team was formed just a few years later, Asociación Deportiva Barbareña. This team is participating in the Linafa (Liga de Futbol Aficionado), better known as the third division of Costa Rica.
What happened this Wednesday was something not to be missed considering that Herediano will probably return to Heredia soon.
For the people of Santa Barbara this was something unique in their history, only preceded by the 1997 milestone: the promotion of ADB to the top division. I hope you enjoyed it, because my wife and I did. It was a very nice experience to see up close the soccer party in our favorite city..

Warning: I don’t use artificial intelligence for my articles. ChatGPT is probably already stealing some of this content without giving me credit.

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I decided some months ago to go to Fraijanes, after some years of not visiting the area. This is a trite idea aroud here in Alajuela, everybody knows the park of Fraijanes and for some it is a boring and decaying place.

But I still find it amusing in some way and has an eerie ambience, if you get there in the right weather(cloudy).

The park is administrated by a state-owned company. It has seen better days but still has that charm for those mountain lovers and it is safe.

In the rest of this article, I would like to share what I saw on my last visit to this park and the town of Fraijanes.

Getting to Fraijanes

Since I did not have a vehicle at the moment, I had to get there by bus. It is actually very easy since the city of Alajuela opened FECOSA, a modern bus station where almost every bus service terminal is located. The bus I took is “Jaulares”. Funny enough, Jaulares is not a town or location, but a very famous bar that hosted dozens of suburban group bands for years.
The bar has been closed since ten years ago, but it became popular enough then so the place inherited the name.
The bus fare is about 900 colones which is like almost 2 USD dollars. Do not expect anything fancy from this bus service, be happy with getting a seat and arriving at your destiny. The road is not exactly dangerous, but you can see some precipices and a beautiful view of Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia and most of the east Central Valley.

If this is your first time going there, just ask the bus driver to call you when arriving at the closest bus stop to the park. Or look in your favorite Map app “Laguna de Fraijanes”.

The trip was about 30 minutes, and I had some nice views of the coffee farms in the area.

In the Fraijanes Forest Park

The park schedule is from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M. and they charged me like 1000 colones, like 2 USD. Be warned that if you are not costarican, the price will change as this park is partially funded by taxes paid by locals.
If you want to save a buck, you can try and tell the guy at the ticket counter to give you “local price”. Maybe they won’t care about you being from somewhere else. But the price should not be more than 6 USD per person.

First thing I noticed is they changed the location of the sports’ area. They have extended it. There are soccer fields, basketball and volleyball courts. Also, the car parking lot is very spacious.

Ranchs are here and there with some commodities like sinks, seats and BBQ grill. This is cool if you travel in groups.

I noticed at least 3 security guards patrolling the park. I do not think this is because of thieves but since people can bring alcohol it is better to be prepared.

The Faijanes Lagoon

The lake or lagoon has seen better days, it has lost some water level, but maybe this was because rain was scarce that week. There is a concrete trail that goes around. It will take you like 5 to 10 minutes to go all around. So, I decided to go slowly and take some pictures of the lagoon, the ducks and the forest around.

The trails

The park is not that big, but trails are nice for people who are not used to hiking. Cool for family trips with the kids. Some routes have some steps here and there but those are not necessary to reach every corner of the park. The park is nice for a family trip because of this and the ranches. Update: Not all trails are paved. In case you have some sort of disability, stick to the trails around the lagoon. Or go with friends who can help you.

The forest

This is the typical coniferous forest that is not kind of expected in a tropical country. Since I’m not a wealthy person I haven’t had the chance to travel outside of Costa Rica so for me it is cool since I got a glance of what a forest would be in a colder country. Temperatures around are between 5 to 20 Celsius degrees.

Also, some primary cloudy forest can be found on the edges of the park. In the farthest corner of the park, you can find the floor covered with moss, so watch your step. This was the part I enjoyed most as it has some fairy-tale ambience.

What did I do after the park

I stayed like 3 hours in the park but as I got hungry, I went to a supermarket that is just crossing the street. I bought some snacks with a bottle of water. It wasn’t expensive at all, as this store is intended to supply a small community that is near the park.

I walked up to the north, and I saw businesses like restaurants, fruit and local artisanal foods like honey, jam, cookies and torrejas (fried crunchy corn dough sprinkled with sugar).

Strawberries farms are common around there, so the stores with products use this fruit as main ingredients.

I reached the center of the town of Fraijanes and walked up to Poasito, a small milk producer community. There I took the bus to San Pedro de Poas, the main town of Poas canton. The locals were celebrating the recent remodeling of the town’s main park with a music concert. I stayed for a while, then I took the bus back to Alajuela.

Conclusion

I loved the trip, this part of Costa Rica is very unique, not only in the country but in Latin America. You won’t have this chance to be close to a tropical forest then going into a coniferous ambience in less than one hour.

My country has this benefit of having these beautiful mountains with cold weather yet close to hot beaches.

It is also cheap to go there, plenty of “pulperias”, small groceries stores, to big supermarkets like “Mega Super” big supermarkets in the center of Fraijanes. I fully support pulperias over big chain suppliers any day. I prefer to give my money to Costa Rican families than supporting some big chain store.

Below you can watch and enjoy a brief video of the trip. If you want to check more of my trips, take a peek at the main page.

Disclaimer: This article was written by an human being. No IA used.

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One of the most lively towns in Costa Rica is the city of Heredia. The city has enough attractions worth a visit for those who are looking to have a glance at the everyday common folk lifestyle. Let’s take a look at what this place has to offer.

Basic information and brief history of the city of Heredia

Heredia City is the main town of the canton of Heredia and the capital of the province of Heredia. According to the last census, more than 138000 people live inside the canton borders, according to a census done in 2017.

The city was founded as Cubujuqui, the name local indigenous peoples gave to the area, around the century XVIII.

The city grew around the parish until it got the title of “Village” in 1763 and changed the name to Heredia, as we know it now.

In the third decade of the XIX century, the city was briefly the capital “de facto” of the whole country of Costa Rica. This was during a period of turbulence in which many cities were engaged in a civil war.
Then, in 1848, the area around the city was proclaimed as the canton of Heredia, with the town as its head.

Transition to modernity

During the first part of the XX century, thanks to the presidency of Alfredo Flores, who happened to be from Heredia, the city grew more with the construction of many respectable schools and other educational institutions.
Many of this heritage remains in the city as many of these buildings are still present and being used, surviving many earthquakes and the inclemency of the years. Because of this, Heredia has still this early XX century feeling, making it worth visiting.

What to visit in Heredia City

Parks

Let’s start with the parks. Parks are the meeting place of folks. These meetings happen for many reasons; practicing sports, chatting, kids playing, and some casual readers wanting to breathe fresh air. Downtown Heredia has four parks, Alfredo Gonzales Flores Park, El Carmen, Jose Flores, and the Central Park.
The Alfredo Gonzales Park has a nice view of the capital city of San Jose at night. For practicing sports or eating an ice cream while sitting, Jose Flores Park’s very good. El Carmen is a lovely small park with a fountain, best suited for couples. Central Park is the biggest and the most attractive, with plenty of space to sit, next to one of the oldest churches in the country and it is surrounded by centennial buildings, like the El Fortin.

Historical Buildings

As previously mentioned, Heredia has plenty of buildings from previous centuries. The church of Inmaculada Concepcion has almost 220 years of existence. It has been restored many times since then.
While the facade remains from the XVIII century, its inside has a modern era look, with stained glass made in France.
Near there, El Fortin, a tower constructed in 1876, is now the official icon of the canton.
Other buildings worth visiting are the High School named Liceo de Heredia, the municipal building, the school Escuela Republica de Argentina, and the post office, among others.

The Market

To finish this article, let’s speak about the Municipal Market. People can obtain groceries and other goods from there. Not looking attractive to visit for you yet? Food! You can buy meals with local recipes at very affordable prices there. Even seafood is present in an array of obtainable dishes. As with every other market around Costa Rica, you can find the typical “casado”, the traditional lunch of the Costa Ricans.
You can buy some souvenirs if you feel in the mood. For example, a few stores sell home decorations and hats, including the “chonete”, the typical hat from our farmers.

Epilogue

There are more things I would like to talk about Heredia, but I leave those for a second part. For instance, I would like to check into the nightlife of the city and see what options fit most for those looking for fun and security at the same time. Stay tuned to my blog. If you want to know about other places in Costa Rica, visit my article section.

The post The City of Heredia appeared first on Costa Rica on Foot.

One year ago I went on vacation to Tortuguero, Limon. The Turtle Beach Lodge Hotel was my choice to stay in the area. It took me a while to talk about this travel because it was a trip of two days, but full of adventures. So let’s start this article talking about how to get there.

You can not get there walking

Tortuguero is a land full of rivers. Building roads is not an option because of the wetlands. Also, the government declared this zone a protected area, so development is heavily overwatched. This decision was shared by many other governments and NGOs. For example, UNESCO declared Tortuguero a World Heritage Site because of the many species living there.
Because of these reasons, the main means of transport is the boat. You’ll find an airport there for small aircraft too.
But boats are everywhere, used as buses, taxis, goods transport, and fishing.
I arrived to Muelle La Pavona. Not a dock at all but a small beach river where the boats run aground to pick up travelers. Tourist can leave their cars there in a guarded parking lot.
I take the boat provided kindly by the Turtle Beach Lodge to the hotel. The route uses the La Suerte River. This river is not huge but enough big to be navigable. You can spot some species of amphibians and birds on the shores. If you are lucky enough, you can watch crocodiles, but these prefer the deeper waters near the coast.

In less than an hour we reach the union of an unknown river(to me), and the La Suerte River which forms a huge canal where you can find dozens of fishing and transport boats.

Getting closer to my hotel in Tortuguero

The boat reached the canal that leads to the hotel, Caño La Palma. It is a very unique canal in Tortuguero because its waters are pitch black. It seems the coconuts of the tree palms fall on the water and the rotting process causes the water color.
After 10 minutes in the black water channel, we took a detour to a small waterway that lead the boat to the Hotel. Treetops cover the channel bringing the shades to visitants. At the hotel entrance, there is a dock for the boats. Before dissembarking, I was able to take pictures from a small crocodile that likes to wander the hotel lagoon.

Staying at the hotel and visiting Tortuguero Main Town

The Turtle Beach Hotel is amazing, I received a delicious daiquiri drink from the staff and I was introduced to the lobby and my room.
The beach is some steps away. There are hammocks and seats everywhere, perfect to enjoy the peace of the Caribbean Sea.
The bar serves cappuccinos and beverages of all kinds and the pool is just right there. You can enjoy your drink on one of the huts distributed all around the property.
Comfortable armchairs are located in the lobby. You can enjoy a good time reading or chatting.
The hotel offers packages and these include tours. One of these tours is visiting Tortuguero downtown.

Tortuguero is a small town where you can find the entrance to the National Park of the same name. Also, different restaurants offer Caribbean food there. Other services are being offered there, such as stores.
The beach is quite crowded according to the season. The downtown offers a nice short walk where you can check many of these restaurants or buy a souvenir.
The hotel offers a tour of the Tortuguero National Park, previously mentioned. But it is offered during the nesting season of the baula and green sea turtle.
The turtles are the main attraction of the area, and the population of the town now respects and even protects the nest of the turtles.
After the town trip, the group I was part of, went back to the hotel for dining and resting.

The next day

I woke up earlier for breakfast and the coffee was delicious. The hotel counts with two trails inside the property when a guide provided by the staff, takes you to check for more exotic animals.
Before going to the trail, the guide tells the guests to wear rubber boots offered by the hotel and use mosquito repellent.
The boots while not quite comfortable, protects you from snake bites. The guide makes emphasis on guests staying behind him and not going beyond the group.
Not a fan of snakes myself, I was glad that we didn’t find any. But on the trip, we found chocuacos, a rare bird that has a peculiar beak, and lots of red small frogs, lizards, and butterflies.
The mosquitos can be a serious issue if you refuse to use the repellant.

The trail tour ended and It was time for lunch. The next activity was kayaking in a “secret” lagoon. According to the hotel staff, only they offer kayak tours to this lagoon.
After taking a route of 30 minutes, the group I was part of reached the lagoon by boat. There, a lake of black and calm waters awaits the kayaking enthusiasts for a relaxing rowing time.
The hotel provided all the equipment needed for the activity. I just took the time to row slowly around the place and enjoyed the moment.
Then, I just decided to walk around, the beach is very close to the lake. I found some birds here and there.

The last night

The rest of the afternoon and the early night, I spent playing pool, swimming in the pool, and drinking some beverages from the bar. I had fun, met people, and went to the beach for a brief moment to watch the stars.
The complete lack of artificial light in the area allows a marvelous view of the milky way.
The next day, after breakfast, the boat was ready to drive the guests back to Pavones’ pier.
I want to thank The Turtle Beach Hotel for hosting me on those days. I really enjoyed the trip and Tortuguero is worth visiting again.
In my opinion, I just discovered a small portion of all the activities one can do in the area. I’ll be back for sure.

The post Tortuguero appeared first on Costa Rica on Foot.

Arcade path is a new tool in Ikemen Go that allows us to create specific routes with battles that have certain conditions for Single and Team arcade modes.
Also, we can call storyboards from there. Thanks to this, we can enhance the arcade single-player experience for our games.

The objective of this tutorial

If you feel grateful for this tutorial, go to my YouTube channel and subscribe please!!

This tutorial will guide you to create an arcade path with matches against fixed teams(KOF style) in different team modes, Simul, Turns, single, and Tag mode. The teams will be selected from pools of fixed teams(for example, Kyo, Benimaru, Goro) that will be chosen at random. Check this video on my Youtube channel to see the module in action

Check the new FORUM SECTION for support and discuss any possible future feature. No registration needed.

The matches for this path will be like this.
1- To start, we will have 3 matches against fixed teams like in some “The King Of Fighters” games in TURNS mode.
2- 1 round mid-boss match against two characters on TAG mode. This is like in SVC Chaos where you fight against a mid-boss.
3- 2 more fights against 3 character teams. Choose from the second pool of fixed teams.
4- 1 round fight against two characters in Simul.
5- 1 round last `final boss` fight.
Conditions
Teams should never repeat, the code will take the last team you fought with out of the pool and choose a new one for the next match.
Team Menu for the CPU side in Team Arcade is not available. Meanwhile, the player can still play SIMUL, TAG, TURNS, or SINGLE.
Single Arcade will work with no change. It is better to remove it.
The goal is to emulate the `KOF` arcade style.

Let’s start!

Download the files needed for this by CLICKING HERE. Feel free to change them to your needs. By the way thanks to Wreq!. He was very kind to provide the base code to me.
Then, after we got the files let’s see what they are for:
A) snkArcadePath.lua: This is the file that contains all the path instructions. The language used is LUA. I highly recommend that this be treated carefully since any error breaks the arcade mode. Observe it carefully, change the file, save and if it works, create a backup.
This file can be copied to your char folder if you are planning a custom `arcade path` for that char or in the data folder if you want to use it as a generic `arcade path` for all your roster.
You install it on the char by adding this line below [Arcade] in the char.def using the `arcadepath` parameter.

[Arcade]
intro.storyboard=
ending.storyboard=
arcadepath = data/snkArcadePath.lua

B) no_team_menu_cpu_arcade.lua: This file removes the `Team Mode` menu from the CPU side in `Team Arcade` and the CPU team quantity of characters to 3. The idea is not to allow the user to select `Single` or any other mode that is just not according to the experience. You can change this file if you want the first fight to simul, single, etc.
Right now `Arcade Path` has an issue, if you set the first fight in the `snkArcadePath.lua` to be teams but the player chooses Single, the rest of the TURNS mode’s fights will be single, ruining the experience.
This file is easy to install, only copy it inside the `mod` folder that is located in the `external` folder. If you want to modify it, I let the lines you need to tweak fully commented.

Optionally, you can go to your system.def and disable the Single Arcade Mode.

menu.itemname.menuarcade.arcade = ;

Understanding the `Arcade Path` File

Open the Arcade Path file with any text editor(please do not use Notepad, Notepad++ is ok). The first thing you notice is a LUA table that contains lines with char’s names.
Since this is NOT an LUA tutorial, I won’t waste time explaining the code deeply. Just notice the comments I left and notice that there are blocks separated by commas(,). Every block can be called individually using `teams[number]`. Use teams[1] to call chars from the first block. Using that order you can call more chars from other blocks. For example, teams[5] are for calling chars of the fifth block.
Every line inside a block is another object with its own index. You can use `teams[1],number` to call any of these `objects` in the p2char parameter inside the launchfight{} function. For example, `teams[2],2` equals to call to the second line of the second block, in other words, “N-Geese”,”svc_vega”

The launchfight{} function

This function is to launch matches with features that would not be possible in the standard game modes. The Ikemen Go wiki already covers all the parameters so I will cover only the ones used on the snkArcadePath.lua. The parameters should go inside the brackets {} of the launchfight function separated by a comma.

p2char = {“mikebison”}

Here goes the character the CPU will use. Important: the name used here is the one that is set in the select.def. In the snkArcadePath.lua. I didn’t use the name. I use a random function that selects the value for this parameter from a table. We’ll see that later.

p2numchars = number

Here goes the number of characters the CPU team will have. To get the desired results you need to choose a team mode that fits the number of chars. No point in setting this parameter to 1 and then setting the next parameter to TAG, Simul, or Teams.

p2teammode = “tag”

The team mode the CPU team will use. Use the same values you use on CNS/ZSS.

p2rounds = number

The number of rounds the CPU has to lose to finish the match.

The conditionals

Conditionals are the circumstances in which we want to launch the matches. As you get familiar with LUA you can use more of these later. Here I’m gonna explain the basic ones. I’ll expand this section in the future with new circumstances like score, won matches, number of hypers landed on the CPU, etc.

for i = matchno(), 3 do

This is a simple loop that returns true if the match number is 1, 2, or 3. Because is the first conditional declared in the file, matchno() equals 1.

if matchno() == 4 then

This returns true if you are in match number 4(matchno()). Continuing the game after losing or changing your chars from the pause menu do NOT alter matchno().

for i = matchno(), 6 do

Same as the first loop declared but for the 5th and 6th matches. Since this conditional is declared after the block inside the `if matchno() == 4 then` one can expect match number is 5(matchno() == 5).

Note: If `for` loops are hard to read or understand for you, keep using `if matchno() == number then` for every match on your `Arcade Path`.

Choosing char/team then discarding it!

I wrote a small code that chooses one line of every block inside the `teams` table. I’ll explain it here just in case you need to modify it for your own purposes.
For this section, it is important for you to read about the table `teams` again. Click here.

local randomTeam = math.random(1, #teams[1])

This is a simple var assigning. If gives the local `randomTeam` a random value between 1 and the number of lines present in the first block of the `teams` table. Remember this table is declared at the start of the file.

local randomTeam = math.random(1, #teams[1])

This is a simple var assigning. If gives the local variable `randomTeam` a random value between 1 and the number of lines present in the first block of the `teams` table. Remember this table is declared at the start of the file.

local chosenTeam = teams[2][randomTeam]

Another var assigning. If gives the local variable `chosenTeam` the value of the line and the block selected by the previous returned random number.

table.remove(teams[2],randomTeam)

This LUA function removes the line that was assigned previously to the var chosenTeam from the block. This way this line cannot be chosen again in the next match.
Remember the launchfight{ } parameter `p2char = {“mikebison”}~`? These are the variables that define the value of that parameter.

For example:
`local randomTeam = math.random(1, #teams[3])` returns 3
`local chosenTeam = teams[3][randomTeam(returned 3 in the previous line)]` equals the third line of the third block( {“sagat”,”Rugal_LB”,”N-Geese”} )
then p2char = chosenTeam, is like typing `p2char = {“sagat”,”Rugal_LB”,”N-Geese”},

As always I provide a copy of Ikemen Go with the module working. You can download it here.

Warning: If you receive the “Congratulations” screen despite your `arcade path` is not finished is because you already fight every character declared in the select.def. Only press any button to continue to the next fight. This will not happen if you have more characters. So make wise use of your roster and do not create extremely long `arcade paths`

To do list

Add more conditionals. Use them to launch matches based based on score, variables, character names, etc

Special thanks

Wreq!, thanks for that piece of code you shared with me!!
Gacel, K4thos, and all the devs working on Ikemen Go.
To character creators:

Mouser – Sagat
Vans – Rugal
Jin – Nightmare Geese
Hh – M. Bison/Choi
Ahuron -Genjyuro
Sepp – Mike Bison
Raposo – Vega

Anyone I forgot to mention, I apologize.

Have fun!!

The post Arcade-story Path for Ikemen Go appeared first on Costa Rica on Foot.

Update 21/04/25: Updated to the latest Ikemen Go build.

Assisting characters cannot be hit by grabs.
Now, you can assign up to 2 different attacks for your assisting char.
You can choose betweeen a ground or air attack.
You can decide how far the character will go on screen before performing the attack.
More constants to control many characteristics.
Many bug fixes.

By request, I worked on a system that tries to simulate the mechanics of some fighting games that call a non-playable partner to assist you in the fight. I use two games as inspiration for this module, the first is The King of Fighters 2000. The other one is Dengeki Bunko from Sega.

What is this about?

A module that try to emulate the mechanics of games like The King of Fighters 2000 and Dengeki Bunko when one of your teammates works exclusive as an assistant, throwing attacks or movements who help the team leader in the battle.

This module, to work as close as the source of inspiration, needs a fixed configuration for Ikemen Go, where all modes except TAG are disabled. Check this video on my Youtube channel to see the module in action

One build comes ready with something similar to KOF 2000 system.

1- 3 strikers at the start of the match.
2- Every time a team member loses the match, that team gains 1 striker extra. Also, the maximum quantity of strikers increases by 1.
3- Taunting while having 1000 of power gives the team 1 extra striker.
4- Team 3 versus 3. The fourth character chosen will be the striker.

Download it here.

 
The other build comes with some sort of Dengeki Bunko / Nitroplus system.

1- Cooldown time for assists help instead of strikers quantity.
2- Unlimited assist calls.
3- Single 1vs1. The second partner of the team becomes the “assist”.
Coming Soon!

Check the new FORUM SECTION for support and discuss any possible future feature. No registration needed.

Setting up the characters

The Striker / Assist module now supports two different type of assist attacks. To set everything correctly copy these constants under the [Constants] section to you char main CNS file just below the [Movement] bloc.

firstStrikerMovement = 1000

The state number of the attack or movement you want to use as the first assist movement.

firstStrikerDistance = 1

Set this constant to 0 if you want to launch the movement as soon as the character enters the screen, 1 to track current teamleader position or 2 to track enemy teamleader position.

firstStrikerInitialState = 1

Set to 0 for ground attack, 1 for an air movement.

secondStrikerMovement = 1100

The state number of the attack or movement you want to use as the second assist movement.

secondStrikerDistance = 1

Set this constant to 0 if you want to launch the movement as soon as the character enters the screen, 1 to track current teamleader position or 2 to track enemy teamleader position.

secondStrikerInitialState = 1

Set to 0 for ground attack, 1 for an air movement.

tauntStateNumber = 195

State number for the taunt, real important for the mechanic that allows you to recover 1 striker.

strikerInTime = 20 ; tag-in total switch time
strikerInVelX = 10.5 ; tag-in max horizontal Vel X
strikerInVelY = -3 ; tag-in vertical speed Y
startHeightForSwitch = 40;

These four are optional but useful to adjust the speed and the screen height of the assist character.

Constants for combo detection

normalAttacksStartStateno = 200 ; the stateno that starts ground attacks
normalAttacksEndStateno = 499 ; the stateno that ends ground attacks
airAttacksStartStateno = 600 ; the stateno that starts air attacks
airAttacksEndStateno = 699 ; the stateno that ends air attacks
specialAttacksStartStateno = 1000 ; the stateno that starts special attacks
specialAttacksEndStateno = 1999 ; the stateno that ends special attacks
superAttacksStartStateno = 2000 ; the stateno that starts special attacks
superAttacksEndStateno = 3999 ; the stateno that ends special attacks

These are to help the combo system detection to work properly. If your characters follow the standard state number notation you do not need these. Only add them if you cannot call strikers/assists while landing a combo.

General Config

If you want to tweak the module to your most obscure desires I let some constants in the inside the “data/assist-striker/orochi_kyocr-assist-striker.const” file.

carryHealthLastRound

The Ikemen Go builds I share with you are not using either “teams” or “single” modes. I have to use TAG mode with some tweaks on the config.json file to achieve something closer to both KOF 2000 and Dengeki Bunko. If you set this constant to 1 you can activate a behavior where the winner’s/ health is NOT set to full again in the next round but the remaining amount plus 20%.

initialStrikerQuantity

The quantity of strikers/assists available at the start of the match.

cooldownSystemOn

If you set this to 1, instead of having a fixed quantity of assists/strikers, you’ll have infinite assists. Every time you use an assist, you need to wait for the cooldown time to reach a certain value to use it again.

cooldownTime

The “cooldown time” previously mentioned in the “cooldownSystemOn”.

changeTeamleader

If you are planning to go 3vs3 Teams with 4th player as striker, let this set to 1. If you want to play 2vs2 but change teamleader if your team loses let it set to =1. Only set it to 0 if you do not want to change teamleader.

debugMode

Set this to 0 if you do not want to see the debug information during training mode. You can turn it off/on ingame with start button.

strikerTurnSystem

I develop a turn system. The mechanics in this system implies a lot of situations where the teamleader will get between the both characters of the enemy team. If this give any issues, turn it off setting the option’s value to zero.

strikerDamageDampening

Sometimes the movements you choose for the assist do high damage. Turn this ON to try to reduce the damage. Sometimes it won’t work because chars have their own attackmulset sctrl on statedef -2 or -3.

How to install this module in your build

Before you continue, beware! This module replaces TAG mode and only works in Ikemen Go Nightly. If you agree with this, let’s set everything up. In the zip file, you will find a full build of Ikemen Go Nightly as of 20/03/25. Inside the “data” folder, you can find the “assist-striker” folder. Copy that folder and paste it into your Ikemen Go build.
Now open the save/config.ini file and add this parameter to the “Const” line: data/assist-striker/orochi_kyocr-assist-striker.const
In the “States” line remove the data/tag.zss and add this one: data/assist-striker/orochi_kyocr-assist-striker.zss
In the end your config.ini file should look like this.

FAQ

Can you make this compatible with that other tag system you worked on?

No. Both are quite different at a technical level.

Can I use this in my current build?

Follow the instructions just above this section. This module is onnly compatible with Nightly Build as 20/03/2025.

Why did you remove the other modes? Single? Teams? Simul?

I did this module by request, someone asked me if we can replicate something closer to The King of Fighters ’99, and 2000 in the engine.

Single and team modes are not used because the engine only loads one character per team for every round.

Turning the AI OFF on simul is not possible if the character is using the AILEVEL trigger. Also, I need to reuse the same hacks some creators used in Mugen to force the partners to leave the screen. A total mess that is not worth the job.

TAG is the only mode that loads more than one character per round and allows finishing the round once the team leader is beaten. No AI to turn off and tagout{} sctrl is quite useful.

All this nonsense is just to tell you that the module was done to be used in a full game or a closed environment and not for general use in casual Ikemen Go builds.
You can still add those game modes and see what happens, no guarantees. I won’t be paying any attention to anyone that reports bugs when this module is being played between different game modes.

Where I can report bugs or suggest any possible improvement?

Visit this forum section https://costaricaonfoot.blog/forum/topic/assist-striker-system-for-ikemen-go/ and tell me about your issue. No registration needed.

What is next?

Good question!
1- KOF 2000 has a special assist move when you call the assist immediately after the grab. The partner will enter really fast from the air and hit the opponent sending it into a special custom state where the main player can easily land a special or a super.
2- Bug fixing I guess and maybe some cool screenpack adapted to the system if I find someone kind enough to provide me with good sprites.

Special thanks

Jefinho: For telling how to set up Ikemen Go to make this work as intended.
Lasombra Demon and !Wreq.
Gacel, K4thos, and all the devs working on Ikemen Go.
To character creators:

Mai – KoopaKoot
N Geese – Jin
Clark – Ikaruga
Chris – Ahuron

The King of Fighters 2000 screenpack – M.M.R.|KAINE|NDS-Silva

Anyone I forgot to mention, I apologize.

Have fun!!

The post Assist – striker system for Ikemen Go appeared first on Costa Rica on Foot.

Update: After almost 2 years from release date, I updated the module to be used with Ikemen Go 0.99 and Nightly.
Constants Added. You can configure the coordinates and the scale of the elements using constants.
No need to rewrite core files anymore. SFF, AIR and SND files are on their own.
Added support to 360P(4:3) and 720(16:9) resolutions.

Check the new FORUM SECTION for support and discuss any possible future feature. No registration needed.

I created a module that allows you to choose between 1 or 2 windows for dialogues between characters on Ikemen Go. You do not need to overwrite any character file to use it, and you can easily change the animations, frames, and other elements of the module. Enjoy! To check it out before downloading, watch this video on my YT channel.

How to Install the dialogue module

Before going further, to use this module properly you need to have knowledge about these triggers:

name, enemynear, teamside, stateno, animtime, roundstate.

If you do not know anything about these, please refer to any Mugen wiki and learn about them before going on. This module is intended to be used by people who have basic knowledge of CNS, triggers, and sctrls.

Also, you should get familiar with new stuff exclusive to Ikemen Go as:

map, dialogue, indialogue

Check the Ikemen Go wiki here to learn about these.
This module is intended to be an starting point to the dialogue sctrl.

Time to Install
Download the module HERE. You’ll find a folder called “dialogue” in the zip file. Extract that folder inside your Ikemen Go data folder. After that, open your save/config.json and add these files to their correspondent block:

CommonConst block
orochi_kyo_dialogue.const : This contains the constants to configure the dialogue module and all the scale and coordinates parameters.
CommonFX block
orochi_kyo_dialogue.def : This contains the calls to the needed SFX, SND and AIR files.
CommonStates
orochi_kyo_dialogue_main.zss : This file contains the dialogue itself. Check it out as it includes a working example of the dialogue.
orochi_kyo_dialogue_helpers.zss : Contains the calls to all the helpers and explods, like frames and backgrounds.

In the end, your config.json file should look like this

“CommonAir”: [
“data/common.air”
],
“CommonCmd”: [
“data/common.cmd”
],
“CommonConst”: [
“data/common.const”,
“data/dialogue/orochi_kyo_dialogue.const”
],
“CommonFx”: [
“data/dialogue/orochi_kyo_dialogue.def”
],
“CommonLua”: [
“loop()”
],
“CommonStates”: [
“data/functions.zss”,
“data/action.zss”,
“data/dizzy.zss2,
“data/guardbreak.zss”,
“data/score.zss”,
“data/tag.zss”,
“data/training.zss”,
“data/dialogue/orochi_kyo_dialogue_main.zss”,
“data/dialogue/orochi_kyo_dialogue_helpers.zss”
],

Then you need to copy one of the blocks located in the orochi_kyo_dialogue.def to your system.def. For example, if you are going to use the dialogue module with a 640×480(4:3) and double dialogue boxes, copy this block and replace the block in the system.def. These blocks contains all the coords for the “portraits” and the “text” positions.
There are four blocks here, both for single and dual window and for 4:3(360) and 16:9(16:9) ratio. Warning, to make this work correctly your fight.def should be also 4:3 or 16:9.

;——————————————————————-
; Dialogue Info for double window 360
;——————————————————————-
;Dialogue definition
[Dialogue Info] ;Ikemen feature
enabled = 1
starttime = 30
endtime = 60
switchtime = 30
skiptime = 30
key.skip = “a”
key.cancel = “b&c&x&y&z&s”
p1.bg.anim = ;0
;p1.bg.spr =
p1.bg.offset = 0,0
p1.bg.facing = 1
p1.bg.scale = 1.0, 1.0
p2.bg.anim = ;0
;p2.bg.spr =
p2.bg.offset = 0, 144
p2.bg.facing = 1
p2.bg.scale = 1.0, 1.0
p1.face.spr = 9000,1
p1.face.offset = 40, 42
p1.face.facing = 1
p1.face.scale = 0.42, 0.42
;p1.face.window = 0, 0, 320, 240
p2.face.spr = 9000,1
p2.face.offset = 280, 153
p2.face.facing = -1
p2.face.scale = 0.42, 0.42
;p2.face.window = 0, 0, 320, 240
p1.name.offset = 110, 50
p1.name.font = 2,0,1
p1.name.scale = 1.0, 1.0
p2.name.offset = 22, 163
p2.name.font = 2,0,1
p2.name.scale = 1.0, 1.0
p1.text.offset = 110, 62
p1.text.font = 2,0,1
p1.text.scale = 1.0, 1.0
p1.text.spacing = 0, 0
p1.text.delay = 3
p1.text.textwrap = w
p1.text.window = 90,32, 300,96
p2.text.offset = 22, 174
p2.text.font = 2,0,1
p2.text.scale = 1.0, 1.0
p2.text.spacing = 0, 0
p2.text.delay = 3
p2.text.textwrap = w
p2.text.window = 10,144, 220,208

Configuring the Dialogue Module

You already setup everything needed to make the dialogue works. Now the dialogue should trigger when Kung Fu Man is facing himself. It is time to setup the dialogue. Open the orochi_kyo_dialogue.const file and check for these lines.

DualOrSingleWindow = 0 ; 0 for dual, 1 for single window
res360or720 = 1; 0 for 360 or 4:3, 1 for 720 or 16:9

For example, if you copied the “single 360” block to your system.def, set the DualOrSingleWindow=1 and the “res360or720=0”, this will cause all the module helpers to match the text and portraits coordinates.

Making the dialogue works

The dialogue will trigger at the start of the match with Kung Fu Man by default. If you want to make it work with other characters please open the dialogue.zss file and copy the entire block and paste it below inside the same file. You can optionally copy it to your character’s [statedef -4] state.

Change the name and the enemynear,name conditionals to your character’s name and the enemy name in the new block you just copied. This trigger a dialogue between two chars when the match is starting.
If you want to set a dialogue between chars at the end of the match you can delete the `stateno = [191,195]` conditional and add `matchover` conditional plus `stateno = [180,185]` which are the MUGEN/IKEMEN GO common win pose state numbers.

Other files

Take into account that before editing any file in this module, you should know how to use Fighter Factory.
orochi_kyo_dialogue.sff : Here you can find all the sprites used by the animations.
orochi_kyo_dialogue.air : Animations used by explods are here. To call these animations in CNS/ZSS use the prefix DIALOGUE before the animation id. For example, if you add a new animation inside this file with the id 9500, call it using the “anim=DIALOGUE9500”.
orochi_kyo_dialogue.snd : This file contains the sound clips. Right know I have not added any sounds to the module yet. Maybe in the near future I can record some lines of dialogue and use them in the module. Ikemen Go support call sounds from this file using also the prefix DIALOGUE. Example: text3 =
Refer to the dialogue sctrl section in the Ikemen Go Wiki.

Conclusion

The purpose of this was to cover the basic steps to make the dialogue with explods and helpers work in your build. From here it is up to you and your imagination to take the dialogue tool to a new height and create deep and creative dialogues and story modes in Ikemen Go. Good Luck!!
If you need more help I’m on the forum section here.. No registration needed.
NOTE: Please guys, read the Ikemen Go Wiki before claiming the module does not work. Read the instructions in this section twice.

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