I'm not very good at platformers so forgive me if this isn't too helpful, I got to a little after you step of a cliff with a bunch of Guardgoyles on it then I got a game over. It looks like a nice Castlevania game! (I haven't played Castlevania so I can't any in-depth comparisons though)
-I like the artstyle! The little doom-like portrait of Not-Alucard is a nice touch! The UI is very pretty and fits the theme alot
-The little "stage name" text looks very nice!
-The owls are cute!
-Music is really good! It's definitely very Castlevania! (If it's Castlevania music being used as placeholder I'm sorry, I never played it)
-The graphics overall are very charming, I like the death animations and such. Only real complain graphics-wise is that it's sometimes hard to tell foreground tiles from background tiles, and some tiles feel a bit stretched out
Blood Knight is cool, but I feel like he should be doing more than just contact damage when the living armor looks like a lesser enemy and he throws axes
-I can't figure out what the blue fire stuff you get does
-Not-Alucard's feet clip through the floor when you walk
-I've heard a lot of game developers talk about coyote time, like you can still jump for a little bit after stepping off a platform. The game doesn't seem to have that. Are you planning or adding it or is it something the original Castlevania's also didn't have?
-Parallax breaks at the end of the first level/room/scene, since the foreground reaches its edge but the background keeps scrolling
-The hitbox on this one platform is a bit wonky, I fall through it sometimes
Thanks a lot for your time, I don't have a good eye for visual issues and you noticed a lot of them!
As for coyote time, it's currently implemented with 0.1 seconds of delay. It used to be 0.14 seconds, but because there is a double-jump glitch I reduced it (for now, I'll change it back once it's fixed)
Also it really makes me happy that the music fit so well. That's the only thing I can do properly since I'm basically just a game composer with free time.
Oh and thanks for the screenshot, it's much easier for me to fix things like that! Good luck on your project, it was one of my favorites!
This is really difficult for me. I don't have time to understand how the enemies work! The first enemy jumped like a frog, I hardly killed him. White flying birds damage me before I can dodge. Maybe you should look at the game "Momodora" there is a well done combat system. I think something like that would suit your game.
Don't worry, it's a bit hard to beat. Leave it in a lost folder until you feel like trying again.
It takes a bit to get used to the enemy patterns and placement, but they are very predictable so it should get easier after a while.
The main thing going on for this game is that you're only a human fighting very powerful creatures, but you're an expert on what you do, so using your subweapons correctly can make a huge difference. Take a look at this gameplay video about a guy making full use of the subweapon system (and cheesing the boss)
First of all, I want to say about thing that bothers me. The gameplay though is not bad but to make a good game out of what appears to be a clone is a bit tricky.
For now the game lacks of some unique author's gimmick. You should make something that makes game yours. Like put something that you would put in Castlevania because it lacks in Castlevania itself. Give the player a reason to prefer your game over Castlevania itself. It could be some specific challenges, some dynamically occuring events during gameplay or something like this. Don't be afraid to experiment with the game, you can discover some game mechanics that would make a gameplay more unique and pleasant.
Anyway the game is enjoyable and main game mechanics are polished. The weapons feel just right and convenient. Love the HUD portrait and atmosphere. Generally, visuals are not bad. (but blurry font is confusing) Music is also good, definitely gives a gothic vibe.
Thank you very much for the feedback! My idea with this game was to make a simple game with 6 stages and the mechanics in place, then go for something more complex which can evolve a bit from the formula... but I'd love to add something more unique for this one too, which also sets a precedent for the next.
The specific challenges idea is something I had in mind for a while. Things such as events and random mini-bosses are already there in a very simple way (The witch mini-boss at the library or the Wendigo stalking you through the whole stage.) but I'm still thinking of a more efficient way to make the player interact with those events, so for now they're just visual for the most part.
I quite enjoy the small details, like the parallax background scenery and subweapon effects. The music is nice too.
Sometimes when I destroy one of those stacked monsters on the bottom the top ones refuse to drop down and kind of just hang in the air. Your movement can feel too limited compared to that of the enemies which adds to the difficulty so just like in the old games.
Having to open the pause menu to see subweapon controls can be annoying, since they are somewhat arbitrary. I think button combos would work better with gamepad input, otherwise there are plenty of keys to map to on KB+M.
While the level design has amazing aesthetics, functionally the platforming can be confusing because of lack of clear separation between foreground and background. I mean thing like showing the player where they can stand on and not just part of the scenery. I understand this is tricky to do though.
The stacked monsters were supposed to work that way, but since I think no one actually likes them this way (not even me) I'll make it so they all fall when there's nothing below them. With the art revamp I'll fix the platforming issues, and try to make the level design a bit more obvious too.
Button combos seem like a great idea that will make the game less clunky. I'll play with it a bit and see if I can get it to work.
Thanks for taking your time playing and reviewing the demo, the ideas you posted WILL make a difference!
Making the controls work better is a MUST at the moment and I've been working on it for a while already, but I can't post that version yet because I need to modify a lot of commands (I used the default gdevelop character controls and now I'm paying the price) After that's done, dynamic mapping would be great.
Your weapon is a wooden stake, and you can see the rest of subweapons and how to use them when you pause (with P)
Graphics... I've been battling with this issue for a long time, I plan to remake them completely.
Also:
>If you jump with Shift (why???)
Uh oh, why indeed. That's not supposed to happen.
Thanks for the feedback, it has a lot of good advice, I'll keep polishing until it shines.
Oh my subweapon comment was a joke about how you have all the subweapons at once instead of having to choose. That's nice. RIP on the graphics, do your best!
Atmosphere, music, art are all very fun. Protagonist looks really cool. Words are kinda hard to read atm.
Wasn't too sure on the game systems, felt very hard to avoid taking damage without a defensive maneuver or mana. I guess the game will be about making those limited mana torches count? I didn't make it too far because it was a little hard.
To make the words readable I'll need to increase the resolution and find a better font. It's planned, but it will take time.
Also yeah, torches give you a large set of tools which if you use wisely can easily tear through hordes of enemies. For example, the cross can push Guardgoyles away so that you can just walk past them, or garlic can purify reviving enemies.
cool stuff! I must add that i dont like old castlevanias so the controls dont work for me but i understand the style is a design choice. some thoughts:
A lot of controls to learn instantly, maybe ease into some of the weapons and stuff
i liked the graphics, maybe some clean up just to make stuff a bit more clear
Thanks for playing! Originally you were supposed to earn these weapons overtime, but since I coded them all I added them to the demo to add some variety. As for the dodge, a Rondo of Blood Richter-esque backflip (jump+backflip) is planned, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it.
I am a filthy casual at these kind of games but here's my feedback: I had fun! The stacked enemies/miniboss guy doesnt fall to the ground if I kill the bottom guy first, I dunno if that is intended. He's fun to fight though. I feel like the first platforming section starts off a little too difficult, punishing me with spikes and resets when I'm just learning the height/distance/timing of the jump and trying to figure out what even is the next platform felt like a sudden difficulty spike, lmao. (I am a filthy casual though.) Its odd that some fading platforms fade when you jump to the platform below them, I guess because your head clips into them. Its also not always clear if I can drop down to another area or die instantly... Walking into the side of spikes hurting you is BULLSHIT!!! It seems kind of awkward when the screen transition isn't at the edge and happens instead 1/3 into the screen. (Like when going indoors/outdoors at some sections) Living Armor was a fun fight. Good demo!
Thanks! As for the spikes... I'll try to make it so you can't simply walk into them anymore. I'll be sure to include it in the next demo, as well as making the level more intuitive.
I liked it even though I'm not a big fan of 2d platformers or castlevanialike games. I really like the art style and the music is really good, I'd say both are on point. My only criticism would be the game being too dark and it's hard sometimes to tell the platforms apart, I even raised my tv brightness up a lot but it didn't fix it.
One thing I think the game is missing is the ability to jump down platforms by pressing down and then jumping to drop down. I tried that but I don't know if you can do that in the game yet but I think that would be a nice feature to have.
I climbed up the tower(?) where you have a breakable wall and got stuck there, it took me a while to realize you had to jump over the ceiling on the platforms. Maybe it's just me not paying enough attention or maybe you could make it a little bit more obvious that you have to go up there because I legit thought that was the ceiling and that's it. I haven't finished the demo yet now that I found my way up the tower so I'll play it more later. Either way I'm looking foward to your game.
Player movement/control is close to feeling like it does in Castlevania.
Good improvement on the mountains, and with getting rid of those blur filters.
I like having all those sub-weapons available at once, though maybe offer an alternate control scheme that takes advantage of more keys/buttons.
Different buttons to open/close the pause menu is odd.
Transitions between rooms/sections are too jarring/immediate.
Level design is where I feel the main issues are right now. It can be difficult to gauge jumps, some jumps need more space to clear them consistently, destructible blocks and crumbling platforms don't stand out as much as they should.
I dig the music.
Overall it feels like an improvement over earlier versions, good work.
Comments
I'm not very good at platformers so forgive me if this isn't too helpful, I got to a little after you step of a cliff with a bunch of Guardgoyles on it then I got a game over. It looks like a nice Castlevania game! (I haven't played Castlevania so I can't any in-depth comparisons though)
-I like the artstyle! The little doom-like portrait of Not-Alucard is a nice touch! The UI is very pretty and fits the theme alot
-The little "stage name" text looks very nice!
-The owls are cute!
-Music is really good! It's definitely very Castlevania! (If it's Castlevania music being used as placeholder I'm sorry, I never played it)
-The graphics overall are very charming, I like the death animations and such. Only real complain graphics-wise is that it's sometimes hard to tell foreground tiles from background tiles, and some tiles feel a bit stretched out
Blood Knight is cool, but I feel like he should be doing more than just contact damage when the living armor looks like a lesser enemy and he throws axes
-I can't figure out what the blue fire stuff you get does
-Not-Alucard's feet clip through the floor when you walk
-I've heard a lot of game developers talk about coyote time, like you can still jump for a little bit after stepping off a platform. The game doesn't seem to have that. Are you planning or adding it or is it something the original Castlevania's also didn't have?
-Parallax breaks at the end of the first level/room/scene, since the foreground reaches its edge but the background keeps scrolling
-The hitbox on this one platform is a bit wonky, I fall through it sometimes
Thanks a lot for your time, I don't have a good eye for visual issues and you noticed a lot of them!
As for coyote time, it's currently implemented with 0.1 seconds of delay. It used to be 0.14 seconds, but because there is a double-jump glitch I reduced it (for now, I'll change it back once it's fixed)
Also it really makes me happy that the music fit so well.
That's the only thing I can do properly since I'm basically just a game composer with free time.Oh and thanks for the screenshot, it's much easier for me to fix things like that! Good luck on your project, it was one of my favorites!
This is really difficult for me. I don't have time to understand how the enemies work! The first enemy jumped like a frog, I hardly killed him. White flying birds damage me before I can dodge. Maybe you should look at the game "Momodora" there is a well done combat system. I think something like that would suit your game.
Don't worry, it's a bit hard to beat. Leave it in a lost folder until you feel like trying again.
It takes a bit to get used to the enemy patterns and placement, but they are very predictable so it should get easier after a while.
The main thing going on for this game is that you're only a human fighting very powerful creatures, but you're an expert on what you do, so using your subweapons correctly can make a huge difference. Take a look at this gameplay video about a guy making full use of the subweapon system (and cheesing the boss)
https://streamable.com/uyfqu8
First of all, I want to say about thing that bothers me.
The gameplay though is not bad but to make a good game out of what appears to be a clone is a bit tricky.
For now the game lacks of some unique author's gimmick. You should make something that makes game yours. Like put something that you would put in Castlevania because it lacks in Castlevania itself. Give the player a reason to prefer your game over Castlevania itself.
It could be some specific challenges, some dynamically occuring events during gameplay or something like this. Don't be afraid to experiment with the game, you can discover some game mechanics that would make a gameplay more unique and pleasant.
Anyway the game is enjoyable and main game mechanics are polished. The weapons feel just right and convenient.
Love the HUD portrait and atmosphere. Generally, visuals are not bad. (but blurry font is confusing)
Music is also good, definitely gives a gothic vibe.
Thank you very much for the feedback! My idea with this game was to make a simple game with 6 stages and the mechanics in place, then go for something more complex which can evolve a bit from the formula... but I'd love to add something more unique for this one too, which also sets a precedent for the next.
The specific challenges idea is something I had in mind for a while. Things such as events and random mini-bosses are already there in a very simple way (The witch mini-boss at the library or the Wendigo stalking you through the whole stage.) but I'm still thinking of a more efficient way to make the player interact with those events, so for now they're just visual for the most part.
I quite enjoy the small details, like the parallax background scenery and subweapon effects. The music is nice too.
Sometimes when I destroy one of those stacked monsters on the bottom the top ones refuse to drop down and kind of just hang in the air. Your movement can feel too limited compared to that of the enemies which adds to the difficulty so just like in the old games.
Having to open the pause menu to see subweapon controls can be annoying, since they are somewhat arbitrary. I think button combos would work better with gamepad input, otherwise there are plenty of keys to map to on KB+M.
While the level design has amazing aesthetics, functionally the platforming can be confusing because of lack of clear separation between foreground and background. I mean thing like showing the player where they can stand on and not just part of the scenery. I understand this is tricky to do though.
Overall, it was a great experience. I liked it!
The stacked monsters were supposed to work that way, but since I think no one actually likes them this way (not even me) I'll make it so they all fall when there's nothing below them. With the art revamp I'll fix the platforming issues, and try to make the level design a bit more obvious too.
Button combos seem like a great idea that will make the game less clunky. I'll play with it a bit and see if I can get it to work.
Thanks for taking your time playing and reviewing the demo, the ideas you posted WILL make a difference!
Playing this~
-The font is almost unreadable. Castlevania had this issue too. You could see it as a pro given the style though so make of that what you will.
-Holding jump makes you jump forever. You should force a release before the next jump.
-Default controls are infuriating, tbh. I suggest getting better ones AND dynamic mapping.
-If you jump with Shift (why???) you get stuck in the jump animation for a bit.
-I didn't like the portrait thing with how fast the attacks are.
-I also can't tell what my weapon is.
-"Which Subweapon do I have?" "Yes." neat.
-The graphics can be really muddy and hard to tell where things are. Or even what's an enemy sometimes.
Overall, the game's in an extremely rough state, but I could see you working all this out and making a good game of it. Keep up the progress!
Making the controls work better is a MUST at the moment and I've been working on it for a while already, but I can't post that version yet because I need to modify a lot of commands (I used the default gdevelop character controls and now I'm paying the price) After that's done, dynamic mapping would be great.
Your weapon is a wooden stake, and you can see the rest of subweapons and how to use them when you pause (with P)
Graphics... I've been battling with this issue for a long time, I plan to remake them completely.
Also:
>If you jump with Shift (why???)
Uh oh, why indeed. That's not supposed to happen.
Thanks for the feedback, it has a lot of good advice, I'll keep polishing until it shines.
Oh my subweapon comment was a joke about how you have all the subweapons at once instead of having to choose. That's nice. RIP on the graphics, do your best!
Atmosphere, music, art are all very fun. Protagonist looks really cool. Words are kinda hard to read atm.
Wasn't too sure on the game systems, felt very hard to avoid taking damage without a defensive maneuver or mana. I guess the game will be about making those limited mana torches count? I didn't make it too far because it was a little hard.
To make the words readable I'll need to increase the resolution and find a better font. It's planned, but it will take time.
Also yeah, torches give you a large set of tools which if you use wisely can easily tear through hordes of enemies. For example, the cross can push Guardgoyles away so that you can just walk past them, or garlic can purify reviving enemies.
Thanks for playing and reviewing it!
cool stuff! I must add that i dont like old castlevanias so the controls dont work for me but i understand the style is a design choice. some thoughts:
Thanks for playing! Originally you were supposed to earn these weapons overtime, but since I coded them all I added them to the demo to add some variety. As for the dodge, a Rondo of Blood Richter-esque backflip (jump+backflip) is planned, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it.
I am a filthy casual at these kind of games but here's my feedback: I had fun! The stacked enemies/miniboss guy doesnt fall to the ground if I kill the bottom guy first, I dunno if that is intended. He's fun to fight though. I feel like the first platforming section starts off a little too difficult, punishing me with spikes and resets when I'm just learning the height/distance/timing of the jump and trying to figure out what even is the next platform felt like a sudden difficulty spike, lmao. (I am a filthy casual though.) Its odd that some fading platforms fade when you jump to the platform below them, I guess because your head clips into them. Its also not always clear if I can drop down to another area or die instantly... Walking into the side of spikes hurting you is BULLSHIT!!! It seems kind of awkward when the screen transition isn't at the edge and happens instead 1/3 into the screen. (Like when going indoors/outdoors at some sections) Living Armor was a fun fight. Good demo!
Thanks! As for the spikes... I'll try to make it so you can't simply walk into them anymore. I'll be sure to include it in the next demo, as well as making the level more intuitive.
I liked it even though I'm not a big fan of 2d platformers or castlevanialike games. I really like the art style and the music is really good, I'd say both are on point. My only criticism would be the game being too dark and it's hard sometimes to tell the platforms apart, I even raised my tv brightness up a lot but it didn't fix it.
One thing I think the game is missing is the ability to jump down platforms by pressing down and then jumping to drop down. I tried that but I don't know if you can do that in the game yet but I think that would be a nice feature to have.
I climbed up the tower(?) where you have a breakable wall and got stuck there, it took me a while to realize you had to jump over the ceiling on the platforms. Maybe it's just me not paying enough attention or maybe you could make it a little bit more obvious that you have to go up there because I legit thought that was the ceiling and that's it. I haven't finished the demo yet now that I found my way up the tower so I'll play it more later. Either way I'm looking foward to your game.
I'll add that ability when I make Stage 2. It's planned, but currently a bit too buggy. I'll remake some of the art to make it a bit brighter.
Thanks a lot for the feedback, it puts things on the right track!
Thoughts:
Overall it feels like an improvement over earlier versions, good work.
I'll work on the transitions and level design issues. Thanks for the review!