I broadly affirm most of the feedback, but I would like to specifically denounce the complaints regarding the "bad" weapons, as it is in fact good game design to have them. Spawning with the cheap blade is indeed a near certain loss, but it is a bit fun to desperately scramble across the map evading monsters and looking for a legitimate weapon. This adds a bit of variety to the opening strategy employed.
Also, the shite weapons add to the lovecraftian sense of tension when getting a weapon box. What's in the box? Will it be some arcane viscera? The red shotgun? Oh no, it's a wrench... It really could be anything...
One thought along these lines is that there had aught to be some powerful melee weapon. Then the shoddier melee weapons might open the player up to a build focussed on melee, in so far as one has control of their build (perhaps the buff braziers could offer one of three upgrades, permitting some choice? A number of similar games have done this well.)
Good game man. Needs a banging soundtrack. I like the combat a lot and my only issue really was it just dropped me into a boss fight round 1 with a shitty gun. Hopefully the boss fights are more spaced out and you have plans for how you progress during a run.
The tech feels very nice. Ran into same small issues as other commentors, nothing to add. Fundamentally fun game, graphics are cool and I like how levels are differentiated also by physics/movement.
All the rest will come down to flowing the pickups and loadouts and powerups nicely.
Pretty good. I was surprised to see a realistic shotgun in this type of game.
Kick wasn't listed in the controls on the title screen and it's crucial (for ammo gathering). Portals should be way easier to find. As it is finding it feels like it takes like 40%+ of playtime. There isn't that much time to read item descriptions during combat, I wonder if it should have a prompt with a pause, or those should appear at the end of the level. Portals could also need a button prompt to activate, not only are they hard to find, they are also easy to walk onto accidentally. Items are also hard to see in the levels, especially when everything is littered with bodies.
Unless you are going for very long playtimes with elaborate builds, 5% penalties to stats don't feel significant enough. A small defense penalty means nothing when you can receive massive damage killing you quickly. As opposed to that there are some amazing items with good twists, like exploding enemies and falling rocks.
I like this game so far, but the RNG is so unforgiving and some weapons are really, really bad. For example there is this weapon, "V something" which shoot a weak blue laser at a slow fire rate. The cheap sword, making low damage is annoying, specially because monster will still attack you in your face while you try to cut them down. Also, I once press restart, and in the new game round I get surrounded by monster which destroy me in seconds.
The game is fun when you get a nice weapon, but when the weapon is garbage, then the game is annoying. There are good weapons which I find fun like the black hole spell book and eye ball shooting laser, the "spraycan" I like it too, and the shootgun. I also liked the upgrade system.
I think you should power up those kind of weak weapons or at least make them more interesting, because, the player when they see they begin a round with something awful, they will most likely just restart right away hoping for a better RNG, making those weapons just an annoyance to be avoided.
Anyways, that is my personal perspective on the weapons. The game have a charming artstyle and the controls feel good, I have no complains on that regard. I like how this project is looking and I will see how it will evolve in the future, nice demo.
The game is really fun to play, but my biggest gripe is the visuals. For example, in the first screenshot of the game the walls are very bright and the floor is dark. Plus the wall textures have a lot of contrast which is kind of annoying to look at. The levels should be either entirely dark or bright, and the enemies should be the opposite. That would instantly make everything look much nicer, at least in my opinion.
Now, onto the gameplay. Some of the power up things might need to be rethought. Why would anyone want multiple Anti Gravity power ups when it would just put you at a further disadvantage? Maybe it should just make the enemies slower? And the ring of flames looked like I was on fire.
Particle effects for the portal should be bigger. It is nearly impossible to see from far away. I do like the indicator that shows you when you are getting close to the portal, but I didn't realize what it was for a while.
Not sure what's up with the areas where you get shot by nothing and your view turns constantly. And the lost king filtered me. Couldn't avoid his laser.
I encountered a couple bugs:
One of the twin pillars that I fought was named "@Twin Pillar@43874."
One of the powerups that reduces ammo for each weapon causes each new weapon to start off with more loaded ammo than there should be.
The game seems to be progressing nicely, I noticed many more different weapons this time around.
Is there some kind of ending or is it just an arcade endurance game? Because if it's the latter then you should implement some kind of end screen when it says some stats. The sky was read, all enemies were champions and there were tornadoes going around but I have no idea what my score was.
You also definitely, positively need music and sound effects but an end screen is far easier to implement.
Also, Plea to the Gods is a great item and I always take it. Makes me want to yell "TEST ME" in real life.
I think it'd help the walk cycle if the weapon also bobbed up and down instead of just side to side. Really addictive game, very easy to lose a lot of time. Echoing what everyone else has said, the audio needs more attention, especially some rocking music.
Like everyone else is saying, its a lot of fun. Could definitely see myself sinking some serious hours into a game like this. The art style is charming and unique, and the weapons and abilities are are quite creative. The controls and gameplay flow nicely as well. Don't know if its a bug but one play through my character just started taking random damage (with no enemies around) until I just died.
The portal was not very obvious to me, I though it was lava and should be avoided. It wasnt till I quit and did another playthough and then stepped in it by accident that i realized it was a portal to the next area.
Also, are you planning on adding more detail to the levels? I think that you could definitely add more cartoon details to the levels, they are very boxy and generic feeling at the moment. Maybe sections of the level can have different textures/colors/details to break things up a bit.
Anyways, great work. Will try and play more this weekend and see if I have some more feedback.
Super fun, really love the weapons and enemies, great detail. Got a good laugh out of the game over screen. Only complaints would be missing some sounds and music, and bullet sponge enemies make the weapons feel less powerful (and there doesn't seem to be a ton of ammo drops). Plasma chain gun is super fun though
Pretty fun game, and I didn't run into any noticeable bugs in my time playing . Though, I do have critiques and they're mostly in the sound department. I know you said you're no sound guy but the lack of music really makes the game feel empty and not as exciting as it can be. The lack of a reload sound if also kind off-putting. When the objective changes, (ie. "KILL ENOUGH ENEMIES" -> "GO TO THE PORTAL") there should be a quick sound like a "beep" to let you know. Also, I feel like the game should be like DOOM in that you also start with at least a back up pistol when you start a run. Dying simply because the game decided to give you a bad weapon out of your control is frustrating. Or you can do what Binding of Isaac did and have a quick reset button in case you need to re-roll due to bad luck.
Very nice game overall though, and I feel like with a little more improvements and refinements, Cosmic Call could be a hit.
One major complaint - boss shouldn't be able to one shot you on full HP. Some weapons are practically useless, spawning with wrench is basically a death sentence.
Biggest complaint right out the gate: RNG is brutal!
Spawned with the flamer, couldnt get more ammo, died because fists are useless. Spawned again, had a grenade launcher. Spawned right next to an enemy, shot and almost killed myself.
The difficulty is frustrating to me, but maybe im just bad. Once i spawned with a wrench, which is WAY better than fist. But imagine fighting a boss in melee lol
Switching weapons is also annoyingly slow, which i didnt expect. I thought this was gonna be a fast paced boomer shooter, but this made me wish to only stick to one weapon.
Now the praise: The sprites are awesome! The flamer is by far the coolest weapon. Its a shame not more games use a severed head like that. The bilboard sprites work great and distinguish the interactive things from the level. The sound wasnt too loud, and it wasnt annoying. Could use some music though.
I also noticed some stutters when things happen the first time, like shooting a new weapon. Since my game has the same thing and i also use Godot, i guess its the known issue with materials/shaders loading at runtime. Let me know if you find a fix for that, i'd be interested too lol.
All in all, it looks great and shows promise, but its very frustrating for me at the moment. Please pander to noobs like me
Comments
This is an excellent game.
I broadly affirm most of the feedback, but I would like to specifically denounce the complaints regarding the "bad" weapons, as it is in fact good game design to have them. Spawning with the cheap blade is indeed a near certain loss, but it is a bit fun to desperately scramble across the map evading monsters and looking for a legitimate weapon. This adds a bit of variety to the opening strategy employed.
Also, the shite weapons add to the lovecraftian sense of tension when getting a weapon box. What's in the box? Will it be some arcane viscera? The red shotgun? Oh no, it's a wrench... It really could be anything...
One thought along these lines is that there had aught to be some powerful melee weapon. Then the shoddier melee weapons might open the player up to a build focussed on melee, in so far as one has control of their build (perhaps the buff braziers could offer one of three upgrades, permitting some choice? A number of similar games have done this well.)
Looking forward to seeing your continued success!
Good game man. Needs a banging soundtrack. I like the combat a lot and my only issue really was it just dropped me into a boss fight round 1 with a shitty gun. Hopefully the boss fights are more spaced out and you have plans for how you progress during a run.
The tech feels very nice. Ran into same small issues as other commentors, nothing to add. Fundamentally fun game, graphics are cool and I like how levels are differentiated also by physics/movement.
All the rest will come down to flowing the pickups and loadouts and powerups nicely.
Footage: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2027221098
Pretty good. I was surprised to see a realistic shotgun in this type of game.
Kick wasn't listed in the controls on the title screen and it's crucial (for ammo gathering). Portals should be way easier to find. As it is finding it feels like it takes like 40%+ of playtime. There isn't that much time to read item descriptions during combat, I wonder if it should have a prompt with a pause, or those should appear at the end of the level. Portals could also need a button prompt to activate, not only are they hard to find, they are also easy to walk onto accidentally. Items are also hard to see in the levels, especially when everything is littered with bodies.
Unless you are going for very long playtimes with elaborate builds, 5% penalties to stats don't feel significant enough. A small defense penalty means nothing when you can receive massive damage killing you quickly. As opposed to that there are some amazing items with good twists, like exploding enemies and falling rocks.
I like this game so far, but the RNG is so unforgiving and some weapons are really, really bad. For example there is this weapon, "V something" which shoot a weak blue laser at a slow fire rate. The cheap sword, making low damage is annoying, specially because monster will still attack you in your face while you try to cut them down. Also, I once press restart, and in the new game round I get surrounded by monster which destroy me in seconds.
The game is fun when you get a nice weapon, but when the weapon is garbage, then the game is annoying. There are good weapons which I find fun like the black hole spell book and eye ball shooting laser, the "spraycan" I like it too, and the shootgun. I also liked the upgrade system.
I think you should power up those kind of weak weapons or at least make them more interesting, because, the player when they see they begin a round with something awful, they will most likely just restart right away hoping for a better RNG, making those weapons just an annoyance to be avoided.
Anyways, that is my personal perspective on the weapons. The game have a charming artstyle and the controls feel good, I have no complains on that regard. I like how this project is looking and I will see how it will evolve in the future, nice demo.
The game is really fun to play, but my biggest gripe is the visuals. For example, in the first screenshot of the game the walls are very bright and the floor is dark. Plus the wall textures have a lot of contrast which is kind of annoying to look at. The levels should be either entirely dark or bright, and the enemies should be the opposite. That would instantly make everything look much nicer, at least in my opinion.
Now, onto the gameplay. Some of the power up things might need to be rethought. Why would anyone want multiple Anti Gravity power ups when it would just put you at a further disadvantage? Maybe it should just make the enemies slower? And the ring of flames looked like I was on fire.
Particle effects for the portal should be bigger. It is nearly impossible to see from far away. I do like the indicator that shows you when you are getting close to the portal, but I didn't realize what it was for a while.
Not sure what's up with the areas where you get shot by nothing and your view turns constantly. And the lost king filtered me. Couldn't avoid his laser.
I encountered a couple bugs:
The game seems to be progressing nicely, I noticed many more different weapons this time around.
Is there some kind of ending or is it just an arcade endurance game? Because if it's the latter then you should implement some kind of end screen when it says some stats. The sky was read, all enemies were champions and there were tornadoes going around but I have no idea what my score was.
You also definitely, positively need music and sound effects but an end screen is far easier to implement.
Also, Plea to the Gods is a great item and I always take it. Makes me want to yell "TEST ME" in real life.
cool
I think it'd help the walk cycle if the weapon also bobbed up and down instead of just side to side. Really addictive game, very easy to lose a lot of time. Echoing what everyone else has said, the audio needs more attention, especially some rocking music.
EDIT: Linux version works fine
Don't have much else to add, have some fanart:
Like everyone else is saying, its a lot of fun. Could definitely see myself sinking some serious hours into a game like this. The art style is charming and unique, and the weapons and abilities are are quite creative. The controls and gameplay flow nicely as well. Don't know if its a bug but one play through my character just started taking random damage (with no enemies around) until I just died.
The portal was not very obvious to me, I though it was lava and should be avoided. It wasnt till I quit and did another playthough and then stepped in it by accident that i realized it was a portal to the next area.
Also, are you planning on adding more detail to the levels? I think that you could definitely add more cartoon details to the levels, they are very boxy and generic feeling at the moment. Maybe sections of the level can have different textures/colors/details to break things up a bit.
Anyways, great work. Will try and play more this weekend and see if I have some more feedback.
Super fun, really love the weapons and enemies, great detail. Got a good laugh out of the game over screen. Only complaints would be missing some sounds and music, and bullet sponge enemies make the weapons feel less powerful (and there doesn't seem to be a ton of ammo drops). Plasma chain gun is super fun though
Pretty fun game, and I didn't run into any noticeable bugs in my time playing . Though, I do have critiques and they're mostly in the sound department. I know you said you're no sound guy but the lack of music really makes the game feel empty and not as exciting as it can be. The lack of a reload sound if also kind off-putting. When the objective changes, (ie. "KILL ENOUGH ENEMIES" -> "GO TO THE PORTAL") there should be a quick sound like a "beep" to let you know. Also, I feel like the game should be like DOOM in that you also start with at least a back up pistol when you start a run. Dying simply because the game decided to give you a bad weapon out of your control is frustrating. Or you can do what Binding of Isaac did and have a quick reset button in case you need to re-roll due to bad luck.
Very nice game overall though, and I feel like with a little more improvements and refinements, Cosmic Call could be a hit.
* Was dying with melee only until the third level where I got revolvers and then maybe the 2 shotguns or tri shotgun.
* The eye laser weapon is cool.
* Love how some enemies act in terms of gameplay, like the diamond enemy reflecting rockets.
* Love the piano Bartholomeu guy.
* Neat upgrades like the health regen and mine placement.
* I could've played a bit more, but a lot of environments seem to be this blue/purple/pink cave place.
Overall, pretty good.Just as fun as last time, but appreciate the added sounds. Keep it up!
One major complaint - boss shouldn't be able to one shot you on full HP.
Some weapons are practically useless, spawning with wrench is basically a death sentence.
Aside of that it's a lot of fun
Biggest complaint right out the gate: RNG is brutal!
Spawned with the flamer, couldnt get more ammo, died because fists are useless. Spawned again, had a grenade launcher. Spawned right next to an enemy, shot and almost killed myself.
The difficulty is frustrating to me, but maybe im just bad. Once i spawned with a wrench, which is WAY better than fist. But imagine fighting a boss in melee lol
Switching weapons is also annoyingly slow, which i didnt expect. I thought this was gonna be a fast paced boomer shooter, but this made me wish to only stick to one weapon.
Now the praise: The sprites are awesome! The flamer is by far the coolest weapon. Its a shame not more games use a severed head like that. The bilboard sprites work great and distinguish the interactive things from the level. The sound wasnt too loud, and it wasnt annoying. Could use some music though.
I also noticed some stutters when things happen the first time, like shooting a new weapon. Since my game has the same thing and i also use Godot, i guess its the known issue with materials/shaders loading at runtime. Let me know if you find a fix for that, i'd be interested too lol.
All in all, it looks great and shows promise, but its very frustrating for me at the moment. Please pander to noobs like me