I played quite a lot and majority of my wins were with red symbols. I only had one successful run with blue. I never managed to make green builds work, especially with how first boss can completely counter it.
I think the last cutscene fits the theme of the game very well.
I never figured out where I put custom seed in.
I like how start is more consistent with same symbols, but it really makes me want to go red a lot. //////////Pivoting to other builds can be quite challenging.
Cost re-balance is good.
Pinball is more likely to not lose me tokens anymore (I still lose most of the time)
Space Invaders is still way too hard.
Majority of the game is spent in first level
I do not know if you changed anything in code, but it felt like I had bad map generations more than the last time I tested the game. By bad generation I mean long blocks which require me to run all the way down and around
I got some screenshots of my victory symbols for you (the game has no victory screen anymore, so I had a good feeling to take these screenshots before final battles):
This was my first run and first victoryThe Purple Red fist seems quite powerful for the first level. The only time it can be bad is when a boss fight goes for too long and I get - 15 power, which I cannot remove.
Angry Meal is still very fun and I always like it when I get the red yellow symbol.
more of the same kind of build, but just look at how much money and gear I had!
Better screenshot without obscuring the top part of the screen with symbols window
And that one was my only "blue" victory. I had many more interesting runs, but they did not make it to my "hall of fame", by the way you should totally add some sort of "Hall Of Fame", so players can check their past victory symbols and gear.
The game gives the best results when you just make the best out of what you are given, and most of the time you are not gonna get given enough or things that synergies. If a player tries to force their way with their own plan, it might end u very frustrating.
Thanks for playing and the detailed feedback again!
Yeah color balance is a bit off - I noticed after last DD that Red was just severely underrepresented as a color and probably went overboard, it's now too consistent. I will also remove Chieftain's ability to purge himself, I think his Shell is enough of a green counter
Map generation was further improved after this DD - if any two objects would require more than 20 moves to get from one to the other, a shorter path will be carved.
There will be a stat/run tracker eventually, where you can view past wins and failures. Someday
80 for a choice of random symbols and 160 for a choice of random artifact feels good, to the point where i feel like buying a random symbol isn't a bad option anymore
i like how engineer smoothly transitions into his death animation
high roller’s chip effects are cool
the new effect when gaining an extra turn looks good
only having one symbol removal per shop is interesting and probably a good change because i realize how much i relied on it to be able to control my build
but it also limits builds in a way that is ultimately uninteresting, now i will optimally never expand much further away than where i will end up at the point when i have used all my symbol removals
it would be nice if previously visited shops would tell you if you’ve used your removal already
the malfunction boss is still unfun to play against, i would even say its OP
unless you beat it in the first 1/2 turns every fight ends up the same way: mostly spinning symbols that kill you while the boss adds even more symbols to ruin your spins and deals 5x3 damage, or however much
it can avoid the bad yellow symbol it adds just by virtue of not having money and doesn’t pick up nearly as many bad symbols as the player does
it seems completely antithetical to the design of a game where, for the most part, the only control you have are the symbols you add to your reels
waitress also feels antithetical with how much she controls your reels
tourist is a strange enemy to appear early in the first zone because he cripples your run if he manages to add even one symbol, especially now that symbol removal is limited. the optimal move becomes to just restart the game
likewise, pickpocket is a strange enemy for the second zone because he makes virtually no difference at that point
enemies in the final zone (except maybe the final boss and the gangster miniboss) fall flat against a red build. they all seem to give you time for a red build to kill them/lose when hit multiple times, but seem to punish other playstyles
i’ve encountered completely unfun map designs, stuff like a corridor in the first zone that ends in a dead end and by the time i get there my way back is blocked by bouncers
i feel like i’ve seen instances where poison ivy attacks for 1 when it says it will deal 0
life insurance’s icon flickers in brightness
lollipop seemingly doesn’t activate when an enemy deals 0 base damage (as in, 0 without being lowered by player defense) to you, it seems to work when they deal less than or equal to -1 damage though
i’m convinced there’s a bug where lollipop + (whatever artifact that poisons the enemy instead of healing you) will sometimes poison you when lollipop activates on the enemy’s turn
i’m sure i’ll play more and maybe have more thoughts
the process completely froze when i tried to buy an icon from one of those bundles on the world map and i had to end the task to close it. i couldn't get a picture because after minimizing and reopening the window a couple times it cleared the screen and just drew black, but, as i recall, nothing visibly weird seems to have happened (maybe? i feel like it might have been that i was still moving as i clicked it) and no particles had spawned yet.
i almost wouldn't mention it because i have a relatively weak PC, but it might be of some use to you. on that note, i have consistent stuttering a few times after starting the game and when walking around the map before going back to normal. it was minor in the previous versions but got slightly worse in OAB DD55
I have some idea as to why it froze, probably something to do with RNG again. Certainly not a hardware issue, this game could run on a calculator
Not sure about stuttering issues either, I would understand if it lagged while generating the map, but afterwards it should be doing nothing at all. No one else reported this so I don't know what can I do. Though one guy plays through Vine on Linux and had performance issues with Extra Tooltips enabled only, so maybe that's a clue
I like the presentation, I think this game could use a three lane corridor as a first floor so that people can accustom themselves to this new combat system you have.
I don't think a three lane system would be of any help with understanding of the battle system. But I do need to add more tutorial text to highlight the importance of timing the button
Comments
I played quite a lot and majority of my wins were with red symbols. I only had one successful run with blue. I never managed to make green builds work, especially with how first boss can completely counter it.
I think the last cutscene fits the theme of the game very well.
I never figured out where I put custom seed in.
I like how start is more consistent with same symbols, but it really makes me want to go red a lot. //////////Pivoting to other builds can be quite challenging.
Cost re-balance is good.
Pinball is more likely to not lose me tokens anymore (I still lose most of the time)
Space Invaders is still way too hard.
Majority of the game is spent in first level
I do not know if you changed anything in code, but it felt like I had bad map generations more than the last time I tested the game. By bad generation I mean long blocks which require me to run all the way down and around
I got some screenshots of my victory symbols for you (the game has no victory screen anymore, so I had a good feeling to take these screenshots before final battles):
Angry Meal is still very fun and I always like it when I get the red yellow symbol.
more of the same kind of build, but just look at how much money and gear I had!
And that one was my only "blue" victory. I had many more interesting runs, but they did not make it to my "hall of fame", by the way you should totally add some sort of "Hall Of Fame", so players can check their past victory symbols and gear.
The game gives the best results when you just make the best out of what you are given, and most of the time you are not gonna get given enough or things that synergies. If a player tries to force their way with their own plan, it might end u very frustrating.
Thanks for playing and the detailed feedback again!
Yeah color balance is a bit off - I noticed after last DD that Red was just severely underrepresented as a color and probably went overboard, it's now too consistent. I will also remove Chieftain's ability to purge himself, I think his Shell is enough of a green counter
Map generation was further improved after this DD - if any two objects would require more than 20 moves to get from one to the other, a shorter path will be carved.
There will be a stat/run tracker eventually, where you can view past wins and failures. Someday
By the way, yellow build pic related
is super strong. I could just keep pushing bouncers back without losing health and I don't think any enemy could counter me.
My unlocks:
It happened on this screen:
I managed to get all Unlocks, and I had two Green runs.
The 100 HP required a lot of farming. The build I used:
80 for a choice of random symbols and 160 for a choice of random artifact feels good, to the point where i feel like buying a random symbol isn't a bad option anymore
i like how engineer smoothly transitions into his death animation
high roller’s chip effects are cool
the new effect when gaining an extra turn looks good
only having one symbol removal per shop is interesting and probably a good change because i realize how much i relied on it to be able to control my build
the malfunction boss is still unfun to play against, i would even say its OP
waitress also feels antithetical with how much she controls your reels
tourist is a strange enemy to appear early in the first zone because he cripples your run if he manages to add even one symbol, especially now that symbol removal is limited. the optimal move becomes to just restart the game
enemies in the final zone (except maybe the final boss and the gangster miniboss) fall flat against a red build. they all seem to give you time for a red build to kill them/lose when hit multiple times, but seem to punish other playstyles
i’ve encountered completely unfun map designs, stuff like a corridor in the first zone that ends in a dead end and by the time i get there my way back is blocked by bouncers
i feel like i’ve seen instances where poison ivy attacks for 1 when it says it will deal 0
life insurance’s icon flickers in brightness
lollipop seemingly doesn’t activate when an enemy deals 0 base damage (as in, 0 without being lowered by player defense) to you, it seems to work when they deal less than or equal to -1 damage though
i’m convinced there’s a bug where lollipop + (whatever artifact that poisons the enemy instead of healing you) will sometimes poison you when lollipop activates on the enemy’s turn
i’m sure i’ll play more and maybe have more thoughts
Thanks for the detailed feedback!
Sponge being one-time use is very experimental, I'll let it be like that for a while, maybe I'll lower the price
I'll tune down Malfunction, I experienced some struggles against it as well
Might switch Pickpocket and Tourist around in chapter order, and nerf/buff them accordingly
I'll think about switching some enemies around between chapters if you're saying Red is too good in chapter 3. Maybe Spike belongs there
I'll look into the bugs with all the items mentioned
this is a softlock. chaos activates mirror, which activates chaos, which activates mirror...
There was an issue with copycat's rng always selecting the same things. Fixed now I think
the process completely froze when i tried to buy an icon from one of those bundles on the world map and i had to end the task to close it. i couldn't get a picture because after minimizing and reopening the window a couple times it cleared the screen and just drew black, but, as i recall, nothing visibly weird seems to have happened (maybe? i feel like it might have been that i was still moving as i clicked it) and no particles had spawned yet.
i almost wouldn't mention it because i have a relatively weak PC, but it might be of some use to you. on that note, i have consistent stuttering a few times after starting the game and when walking around the map before going back to normal. it was minor in the previous versions but got slightly worse in OAB DD55
I have some idea as to why it froze, probably something to do with RNG again. Certainly not a hardware issue, this game could run on a calculator
Not sure about stuttering issues either, I would understand if it lagged while generating the map, but afterwards it should be doing nothing at all. No one else reported this so I don't know what can I do. Though one guy plays through Vine on Linux and had performance issues with Extra Tooltips enabled only, so maybe that's a clue
sovl
when i saw your drawings in the thread they didn't really tell me much, but they actually work great in context.
great choice for music, too
Yeah, I usually don't bother recording gameplay footage for agdg, just a bit of a pain to do it.
Thanks for playing!
I like the presentation, I think this game could use a three lane corridor as a first floor so that people can accustom themselves to this new combat system you have.
I don't think a three lane system would be of any help with understanding of the battle system. But I do need to add more tutorial text to highlight the importance of timing the button
i happened to be clicking as this occurred. maybe i clicked on the spin button before it was ready