This is so much fun! The combat has a really unique flavor to it. The art style is simple but really charming, clear, and cohesive. I really appreciate the design symmetry: how friendly fire is a thing, how traps work on enemies, how enemies seem to use the same skills the player can use.
I only played for an hour and didn't see anything, but the mages, thieves, and goblins were all fun to fight against. The enemies without tells are a little more meh. Taking damage from stuff like rats and bats that just run into you felt a little more awkward and random, it would be cool if they had a 1 frame windup animation too.
There are some changes I'd suggest but they might be too big given that you're planning on releasing later this year. Given the robustness of the loot system, and all the abilities tied to enemies, I feel like strict classes are working against you here. It would be cool if you could mix and match stuff more. You could also generate adventurer based enemies with more variety by mixing skills around like this.
I'm also not sure if the perma-death is the best inclusion given that levels seem static. It would be cool if there was a mode where you could keep your dude but maybe have to start over from a uncommonly spaced checkpoints. It's interesting that you keep all your floors unlocked but starting from the beginning felt necessary with a fresh character anyway.
Had lots of fun, will definitely wishlist this and pick it up when it comes out!
Thank you for playing! >rats They have a few attack preparation frames (when the rat raises its tail before attacking). >batbirds Those don't have any preparation frames and are a bit random, but they are weak enemies overall, and you can get used to them, also they have a decent waking up window (~0.83 sec) when they are vulnerable, and won't dodge your attacks or bite you at all. >strict classes are working against you Yeah, I see it being a thing, but I plan to add more classes and make subclasses later. For example, Rogue - Assassin (quick kills, critical hits), and Outlaw (more evasive and elusive, more stealthy), Firestarter - Pyromancer (more about burns), and Incinerator (bursty damage). Also, subclasses will have different third skills (ultimates?) and might alter a bit other skills. >You could also generate adventurer based enemies Absolutely yes, I have this in my plans, at least you'll meet your rival clan dudes from time to time, as a pseudo PVP. >I'm also not sure if the perma-death is the best inclusion You have options to save your life and/or dropped loot, you'll even unlock an ambulance (costs with crystal currency) eventually. So you always have options to cancel permadeath, but with the cost - bet hero's life on random or pay with crystals for sure, spend gold to heal traumas. Traumas might appear when you survive after defeat, body resistance affects trauma chances. >It's interesting that you keep all your floors unlocked but starting from the beginning felt necessary with a fresh character anyway. Tower Attendant NPC (near the Tower entrance) sells you Tower Upgrades, there you can buy the right to hire more experienced dudes from your clan (higher starting level, have starter gear). >Had lots of fun, will definitely wishlist this and pick it up when it comes out! Thanks a lot! Glad you enjoyed it :D
The gamefeel is fantastic and the action really gets going once you gain a couple of level ups and better item drops.
There's something a little off about the pixel art style in terms of having different kinds of UI elements (especially text) that have a way different scaling to the actual gameplay. The art style is consistent, so this isn't as distracting after a while.
What I'd focus on before release would be to improve the writing. The steam page's top description should point out more about the gameplay and not be a story explanation (write it more like this: "Archtower is an X genre game where you Y and Z"). The in-game dialogue and quest descriptions had a weird tone (a father calling his dead son a loser out of the blue?). You probably want to get a proofreader to go through the whole script before final release.
Thank you for playing! >write it more like this: "Archtower is an X genre game where you Y and Z" I think I'll try this, thank you for the advice! >a father calling his dead son a loser out of the blue? He was lying that they were relatives to get that loot he dropped. I think, later I'll make a log book item of that grey dog dude to make it more clear.
Archtower has fun frenetic gameplay I could see myself coming back to in the future. I really like the simple art style, and once I got my bearings I had a lot of fun killing gobloids.
This is my second time playing Archtower for DD and im glad to see it back. The combat is good as ever and the new features and environment decorations are great. Fun to try different classes. Wishlisted it and look forward to release :)
This is some good shit! It feels like a melee-oriented, roguelite Gun Godz, which is something I didn't know I wanted to play until now. It's definitely a game I will consider buying when its full release arrives.
I was near-instantly hooked with the combat, items and upgrade system. It was simple enough for me to understand, but seemed to have greater depth which I haven't fully tapped into yet.
I've only played one run for about 20 minutes, dying somewhere at floor 2, so I don't have much in-depth feedback to give at the moment. If there's anything I did notice, it was that the enemy variety felt shallow for the first two floors, but since this just is a demo submission, I'm not going to hold that against you.
I like the Idea with the Water and Swampy more outdoorsy feel, I don't like the Enemies ( just because I don't like Bugs in General), the Mosquitos are really getting under my Skin with that Soundeffect, so good Job on those I guess? The Collision on the Swamp Trees feels off, I'd like it to be a little smaller, got Stuck on them quite often. Level 10 seems to be the maximum? I got stuck on needing 1exp for levelup, but never reached level 11. I like the new Blue drops, even tho I got only 1 and that was useless for what I was running, but it made me excited for whats to come in Future Floors. Barrel Destroyed might be too powerful, once activated at Stage start, I could just run around in circles passively dodging most attacks and having it take care of the Floor for me, but maybe it was just thanks to wearing full caster/crystal buff stuff. Twice I got attacked right when I was starting to talk with the Elfguy, I'd prefer it if enemies wouldn't trigger right at the beginning of a floor, so I could have some Time talking to the guy right in front of me first. I didn't test it, but what would happen if I killed the whole Floor first and then accepted the Quest to kill 24 Mosquitoes? Would that just not be complete-able until I exited and re-entered the floor or would it autocomplete?
Overall still a very nice Game, and I still wish it had random floor layouts ( or maybe just in an extra mode) for more replayability.
Hey, thank you for playing! >the Mosquitos are really getting under my Skin with that Soundeffect, so good Job on those I guess? Yep, this is an effect I wanted to get, though those swamp locations with mosquitoes become optional after you finish it once. >Level 10 seems to be the maximum? Yes, you increase the maximum level after boss fights, so when there will be a second boss, the max level will increase to 14~15. >Twice I got attacked right when I was starting to talk with the Elfguy It was intentional, as a feature of this unpleasant place. Normally I don't do that in other places. >Would that just not be complete-able until I exited and re-entered the floor this >I still wish it had random floor layouts ( or maybe just in an extra mode) for more replayability. Yeah, I'll definitely try to make such a mode with random floors to make it more variative.
• First book, a Manual (the Advisor in the camp gives you it if asked) • New floor 6 • Water on the new floor, interactions with it • 5 new traits • Factions system • Hearth system for drying up • Ambulance (costs crystal currency) • New enemy type: Rats (added for the first levels, for enemies variety) • New enemy type: Mosquitoes • New enemy type: Slime Monsters • New equipment with item level 8, which may drop with rare (blue) quality • New questlines for two new factions
CHANGES
• Max clan level 15 -> 25 • Vandal class won't get battleaxes (heavy axes) expertise by default (but still can get it with perks) • Removed color filters • Chromatic aberration settings option changed from on/off to off/rare/always (rare - only for some effects, like toxins) • More detailed difficulty levels description • Poisoner's Toxin Vial upgrade "Damage x2" nerfed to "Damage +40%" • Fighter's Charge has no more auto-attacking on touching an enemy (it caused some player confusion, and it worked less effective if not used manually) • Multi Strike power crystal skill has a more clear description • Used weapon racks change their weapon display texture to distinguish from unused ones • Barrels drop equipment and ammo items more often
FIXES
• bug is fixed, quest key in lost land quest dropped incorrectly sometimes • bug is fixed, lamps could work incorrectly at some angles of view • fixed incorrect hitboxes for decorative alchemical retorts and bottles • bug is fixed, incorrect headshot hitboxes for elves
Comments
This is so much fun! The combat has a really unique flavor to it. The art style is simple but really charming, clear, and cohesive. I really appreciate the design symmetry: how friendly fire is a thing, how traps work on enemies, how enemies seem to use the same skills the player can use.
I only played for an hour and didn't see anything, but the mages, thieves, and goblins were all fun to fight against. The enemies without tells are a little more meh. Taking damage from stuff like rats and bats that just run into you felt a little more awkward and random, it would be cool if they had a 1 frame windup animation too.
There are some changes I'd suggest but they might be too big given that you're planning on releasing later this year. Given the robustness of the loot system, and all the abilities tied to enemies, I feel like strict classes are working against you here. It would be cool if you could mix and match stuff more. You could also generate adventurer based enemies with more variety by mixing skills around like this.
I'm also not sure if the perma-death is the best inclusion given that levels seem static. It would be cool if there was a mode where you could keep your dude but maybe have to start over from a uncommonly spaced checkpoints. It's interesting that you keep all your floors unlocked but starting from the beginning felt necessary with a fresh character anyway.
Had lots of fun, will definitely wishlist this and pick it up when it comes out!
Thank you for playing!
>rats
They have a few attack preparation frames (when the rat raises its tail before attacking).
>batbirds
Those don't have any preparation frames and are a bit random, but they are weak enemies overall, and you can get used to them, also they have a decent waking up window (~0.83 sec) when they are vulnerable, and won't dodge your attacks or bite you at all.
>strict classes are working against you
Yeah, I see it being a thing, but I plan to add more classes and make subclasses later. For example, Rogue - Assassin (quick kills, critical hits), and Outlaw (more evasive and elusive, more stealthy), Firestarter - Pyromancer (more about burns), and Incinerator (bursty damage). Also, subclasses will have different third skills (ultimates?) and might alter a bit other skills.
>You could also generate adventurer based enemies
Absolutely yes, I have this in my plans, at least you'll meet your rival clan dudes from time to time, as a pseudo PVP.
>I'm also not sure if the perma-death is the best inclusion
You have options to save your life and/or dropped loot, you'll even unlock an ambulance (costs with crystal currency) eventually. So you always have options to cancel permadeath, but with the cost - bet hero's life on random or pay with crystals for sure, spend gold to heal traumas. Traumas might appear when you survive after defeat, body resistance affects trauma chances.
>It's interesting that you keep all your floors unlocked but starting from the beginning felt necessary with a fresh character anyway.
Tower Attendant NPC (near the Tower entrance) sells you Tower Upgrades, there you can buy the right to hire more experienced dudes from your clan (higher starting level, have starter gear).
>Had lots of fun, will definitely wishlist this and pick it up when it comes out!
Thanks a lot! Glad you enjoyed it :D
The gamefeel is fantastic and the action really gets going once you gain a couple of level ups and better item drops.
There's something a little off about the pixel art style in terms of having different kinds of UI elements (especially text) that have a way different scaling to the actual gameplay. The art style is consistent, so this isn't as distracting after a while.
What I'd focus on before release would be to improve the writing. The steam page's top description should point out more about the gameplay and not be a story explanation (write it more like this: "Archtower is an X genre game where you Y and Z"). The in-game dialogue and quest descriptions had a weird tone (a father calling his dead son a loser out of the blue?). You probably want to get a proofreader to go through the whole script before final release.
Thank you for playing!
>write it more like this: "Archtower is an X genre game where you Y and Z"
I think I'll try this, thank you for the advice!
>a father calling his dead son a loser out of the blue?
He was lying that they were relatives to get that loot he dropped. I think, later I'll make a log book item of that grey dog dude to make it more clear.
Archtower has fun frenetic gameplay I could see myself coming back to in the future. I really like the simple art style, and once I got my bearings I had a lot of fun killing gobloids.
This is my second time playing Archtower for DD and im glad to see it back. The combat is good as ever and the new features and environment decorations are great. Fun to try different classes. Wishlisted it and look forward to release :)
Thank you! :)
Can't wait to get my hands on making some new classes after creating the 7th floor with an elf boss.
This is some good shit! It feels like a melee-oriented, roguelite Gun Godz, which is something I didn't know I wanted to play until now. It's definitely a game I will consider buying when its full release arrives.
I was near-instantly hooked with the combat, items and upgrade system. It was simple enough for me to understand, but seemed to have greater depth which I haven't fully tapped into yet.
I've only played one run for about 20 minutes, dying somewhere at floor 2, so I don't have much in-depth feedback to give at the moment. If there's anything I did notice, it was that the enemy variety felt shallow for the first two floors, but since this just is a demo submission, I'm not going to hold that against you.
Thank you for playing!
>enemy variety felt shallow for the first two floors
Yeah, that bothers me a bit, I added rats, but it seems not really enough.
I like the Idea with the Water and Swampy more outdoorsy feel, I don't like the Enemies ( just because I don't like Bugs in General), the Mosquitos are really getting under my Skin with that Soundeffect, so good Job on those I guess? The Collision on the Swamp Trees feels off, I'd like it to be a little smaller, got Stuck on them quite often. Level 10 seems to be the maximum? I got stuck on needing 1exp for levelup, but never reached level 11. I like the new Blue drops, even tho I got only 1 and that was useless for what I was running, but it made me excited for whats to come in Future Floors. Barrel Destroyed might be too powerful, once activated at Stage start, I could just run around in circles passively dodging most attacks and having it take care of the Floor for me, but maybe it was just thanks to wearing full caster/crystal buff stuff. Twice I got attacked right when I was starting to talk with the Elfguy, I'd prefer it if enemies wouldn't trigger right at the beginning of a floor, so I could have some Time talking to the guy right in front of me first. I didn't test it, but what would happen if I killed the whole Floor first and then accepted the Quest to kill 24 Mosquitoes? Would that just not be complete-able until I exited and re-entered the floor or would it autocomplete?
Overall still a very nice Game, and I still wish it had random floor layouts ( or maybe just in an extra mode) for more replayability.
Hey, thank you for playing!
>the Mosquitos are really getting under my Skin with that Soundeffect, so good Job on those I guess?
Yep, this is an effect I wanted to get, though those swamp locations with mosquitoes become optional after you finish it once.
>Level 10 seems to be the maximum?
Yes, you increase the maximum level after boss fights, so when there will be a second boss, the max level will increase to 14~15.
>Twice I got attacked right when I was starting to talk with the Elfguy
It was intentional, as a feature of this unpleasant place. Normally I don't do that in other places.
>Would that just not be complete-able until I exited and re-entered the floor
this
>I still wish it had random floor layouts ( or maybe just in an extra mode) for more replayability.
Yeah, I'll definitely try to make such a mode with random floors to make it more variative.
The most important changes since the last DD:
WHAT'S NEW
• First book, a Manual (the Advisor in the camp gives you it if asked)
• New floor 6
• Water on the new floor, interactions with it
• 5 new traits
• Factions system
• Hearth system for drying up
• Ambulance (costs crystal currency)
• New enemy type: Rats (added for the first levels, for enemies variety)
• New enemy type: Mosquitoes
• New enemy type: Slime Monsters
• New equipment with item level 8, which may drop with rare (blue) quality
• New questlines for two new factions
CHANGES
• Max clan level 15 -> 25
• Vandal class won't get battleaxes (heavy axes) expertise by default (but still can get it with perks)
• Removed color filters
• Chromatic aberration settings option changed from on/off to off/rare/always (rare - only for some effects, like toxins)
• More detailed difficulty levels description
• Poisoner's Toxin Vial upgrade "Damage x2" nerfed to "Damage +40%"
• Fighter's Charge has no more auto-attacking on touching an enemy (it caused some player confusion, and it worked less effective if not used manually)
• Multi Strike power crystal skill has a more clear description
• Used weapon racks change their weapon display texture to distinguish from unused ones
• Barrels drop equipment and ammo items more often
FIXES
• bug is fixed, quest key in lost land quest dropped incorrectly sometimes
• bug is fixed, lamps could work incorrectly at some angles of view
• fixed incorrect hitboxes for decorative alchemical retorts and bottles
• bug is fixed, incorrect headshot hitboxes for elves