Hard to tell you have no elements initially. I like the visuals and animations. It's a good start and im excited for more. Will this game be a proc gen rogue like?
really dig the concept of mixing elements. took me some time to realise that i need to go after the element rune ammo thingy to unlock the spells. terrain interaction is nice, im assuming this is inspired on the game magicka, but if not, you should check it out. reading other comments i don`t think i played the full demos, since i just left the `main square` and found nothing around it so i thought that it was over
Yes, I played and liked Magicka a long time ago, around when it came out. I always wanted to do a core mechanic like this but with more encouragement for exploration. Thanks for playing!
Instead of having a blank element circle at the start, would be nice with some "this element is locked" icons
The reflected lights on the health and mana bars look kinda weird and I thought they were little bars of their own.
I can't figure out what the green element is supposed to be. Plants? Some kind of force magic?
In any case, fun little game. Fun looking art style for how basic it is.
My only real gripe is that having limited mana because of limited enemies means you could very easily waste all your mana and get stuck, unable to progress. This disincentivizes actually using magic to fight enemies in a game about combining different types of magic in fun ways to fight enemies. Giving the player a teeny bit of mana regen would fix this.
Good idea, will probably add locked icons soon, thank you.
thanks for comments on element and hud visuals - I find it important to get everything well-readable, so I will adjust the bars and touch up elemental art.
Terra just sort of represents plant-life or earth, though it can manifest in physical force. Terra spells clear up water blocks because [explanation in development] the water is used as fuel for the plant-matter :)
Glad you mention mana regen, I'm reluctant to have any systems which involve waiting to refill guages. I want the player to have agency over regenerating resources, but I also agree you should never get caught in a mana draught like that - it's not fair, and disincentivises spells.
I have a planned system in which your most previously channeled element is your Major, which determines a passive Aura, one of which involves higher mana regain (from melee). In the case of an aura, I will be more lenient on having a mechanic refill mana over time. I think it can add nuance to the spell slinging and combat.
Once again, this will depend on the context. The planned game will involve much more spatious rooms and functional enemy ai, which will change the dynamic of combat from a claustrophobic mess to something else, we'll see (next demo day? maybe?)
-Using the steam(fire+water) charge will still cause contact damage if it runs into an enemy while doing so, or so it seems. That might be fine, though I would have the player be invulnerable until it ends.
-Vertical melee having less range(range of movement?) than horizontal doesn't feel that great. It could be gameplay, but it doesn't add much of anything for me.
-Magic gameplay is alright, though mostly due to the easy enemies there isn't an incentive to change magic besides whim or to destroy an obstacle.
-When closing the magic selection, an empty box appears in the lower center of the screen. I'm pretty sure it's the same as the magic cast bar.
I didn't intend to make vertical melee shorter or different - I'll work to make it consistent.
I agree with the steam spell - it shouldn't injure the wizard by being used normally.
I feel magic will make sense in a context that isn't solely focused on combat. I agree that you're simply given too many tools and make decisions on which spell to use based on "whim" here. Good way to put it.
Got to the end of the map where the end of demo message was, quite liked the core ideas and enjoyed it. Mixing elements is a good and intuitive concept.
I think you should take this the comedy route and do a story surrounding the gameplay, some rudimentary characters and funny quests. West of Loathing and Shadows over Loathing comes to mind, but fantasy parody instead.
Would work well with the simple visual style and help make the experience interesting I think.
Cool artstyle and I think there's some potential. But not mazes.
Comments as I was playing:
At first I have no idea what the controls are, write a description.
The slime takes 4 hits and I have to back away from it through the corridors constantly because it's all so slow. Backing away sucks.
The contact with the enemy when the staff spins is too physical. It's unfun when the physical shape of the staff determines the hit and I only control the first click and the next couple seconds are lost. It needs a feeling of agency. And the precise mouse position determines the side the hit is on.
Can hit through walls.
Why's he reading a book all the time? Did I miss a mechanic?
The game exits entirely when I die.
After just a few tries I got pissed off. Keep at it these issues can be fixed.
I suppose it should be more clear that you started with no elements in this demo, would help to understand that 3 out of the 4 controls shown are irrelevant until getting an element. Channeling an element can be shown better also.
Melee and the combat in general can use some work, and everything going through walls will also likely change.
Comments
Hard to tell you have no elements initially. I like the visuals and animations. It's a good start and im excited for more. Will this game be a proc gen rogue like?
yes! it will be.
world gen is all I've been working on after this demo, but it's just been a learning process and tough to make decisions on how it should end up.
really dig the concept of mixing elements. took me some time to realise that i need to go after the element rune ammo thingy to unlock the spells. terrain interaction is nice, im assuming this is inspired on the game magicka, but if not, you should check it out. reading other comments i don`t think i played the full demos, since i just left the `main square` and found nothing around it so i thought that it was over
Yes, I played and liked Magicka a long time ago, around when it came out. I always wanted to do a core mechanic like this but with more encouragement for exploration. Thanks for playing!
Instead of having a blank element circle at the start, would be nice with some "this element is locked" icons
The reflected lights on the health and mana bars look kinda weird and I thought they were little bars of their own.
I can't figure out what the green element is supposed to be. Plants? Some kind of force magic?
In any case, fun little game. Fun looking art style for how basic it is.
My only real gripe is that having limited mana because of limited enemies means you could very easily waste all your mana and get stuck, unable to progress. This disincentivizes actually using magic to fight enemies in a game about combining different types of magic in fun ways to fight enemies. Giving the player a teeny bit of mana regen would fix this.
Good idea, will probably add locked icons soon, thank you.
thanks for comments on element and hud visuals - I find it important to get everything well-readable, so I will adjust the bars and touch up elemental art.
Terra just sort of represents plant-life or earth, though it can manifest in physical force. Terra spells clear up water blocks because [explanation in development] the water is used as fuel for the plant-matter :)
Glad you mention mana regen, I'm reluctant to have any systems which involve waiting to refill guages. I want the player to have agency over regenerating resources, but I also agree you should never get caught in a mana draught like that - it's not fair, and disincentivises spells.
I have a planned system in which your most previously channeled element is your Major, which determines a passive Aura, one of which involves higher mana regain (from melee). In the case of an aura, I will be more lenient on having a mechanic refill mana over time. I think it can add nuance to the spell slinging and combat.
Once again, this will depend on the context. The planned game will involve much more spatious rooms and functional enemy ai, which will change the dynamic of combat from a claustrophobic mess to something else, we'll see (next demo day? maybe?)
I appreciate the feedback, thanks for playing!
-Visuals are well put together.
-Can attack enemies through walls.
-Using the steam(fire+water) charge will still cause contact damage if it runs into an enemy while doing so, or so it seems. That might be fine, though I would have the player be invulnerable until it ends.
-Vertical melee having less range(range of movement?) than horizontal doesn't feel that great. It could be gameplay, but it doesn't add much of anything for me.
-Magic gameplay is alright, though mostly due to the easy enemies there isn't an incentive to change magic besides whim or to destroy an obstacle.
-When closing the magic selection, an empty box appears in the lower center of the screen. I'm pretty sure it's the same as the magic cast bar.
Seems good, keep it up.
I didn't intend to make vertical melee shorter or different - I'll work to make it consistent.
I agree with the steam spell - it shouldn't injure the wizard by being used normally.
I feel magic will make sense in a context that isn't solely focused on combat. I agree that you're simply given too many tools and make decisions on which spell to use based on "whim" here. Good way to put it.
Thanks for feedback and playing
i dunno man, it hasn't really clicked with me yet
i will wait for a more fleshed out build before giving a proper judgment
i do agree that being able to hit enemies through walls feels very cheap
Got to the end of the map where the end of demo message was, quite liked the core ideas and enjoyed it. Mixing elements is a good and intuitive concept.
I think you should take this the comedy route and do a story surrounding the gameplay, some rudimentary characters and funny quests. West of Loathing and Shadows over Loathing comes to mind, but fantasy parody instead.
Would work well with the simple visual style and help make the experience interesting I think.
I'm glad that the core concept is working for you.
I appreciate the feedback and suggestions on expanding from this. thanks for playing
Cool artstyle and I think there's some potential. But not mazes.
Comments as I was playing:
After just a few tries I got pissed off. Keep at it these issues can be fixed.
Thanks and I appreciate every point.
I suppose it should be more clear that you started with no elements in this demo, would help to understand that 3 out of the 4 controls shown are irrelevant until getting an element. Channeling an element can be shown better also.
Melee and the combat in general can use some work, and everything going through walls will also likely change.
Thanks for playing