Looks great. Plays fine. Gunplay feels satisfactory, gibbing has punch. The game engine seems ready to ship in my untrained eyes; just add a progression system and round up the content, I guess. I was about to speak up on the difficulty, but I soon noticed that the gameplay loop is more of a Nuclear Throne-like rather than a DOOM reskin: clear the perimeter (interestingly, you don't have to kill everyone on the floor to make the portal spawn) and the occasional boss while conserving ammo and health, look for the stage chest and then head for the exit; die a few floors down unless you've mastered the items and weapons you've happened to come across in the run (and there's a time limit to boot). What you do with what you've got is your CALL now. I'd continue playing this as a more grounded boomer shooter just for the art and the monster design, of course, but I'd be all the more hyped if the game continued in the path it seems to be following: a first-person take on the stage-based roguelite shooter as first popularized by the genre-defining The Binding of Isaac. The portal compass is excellent. The stages being small, I guess it doesn't need to point you straight to the exit with an arrow (the portal being a bright beacon visible from afar certainly helps), but maybe reconsider if you plan on adding larger killing arenas later. PLEASE consider making the hitbox to open crates and collect weapons and items larger, much larger, and also making the flavor text for pickups linger on the screen for a while. Maybe boost the damage of explosive weapons too. I preferred to play with pistols and revolvers, since these feel like the punchiest weapons in this build.
Playthrough: 40+ minutes on v1.2. Furthest I got on a single run was 5 floors down, but I didn't stop trying to go further. Might try v1.1 later; I hear it's way different.
Got around to trying v1.1 today. v1.2 is still my favorite version... yet the earlier demo is something else (heh). Each of the builds encourage a different gameplay style, highlighting different slices of the project in different proportions. The labyrinthine v1.1 maps where you can take cover from bosses who spit bullet hell patterns at you were what I imagined the game to be like at first, having only the screenshots and .webms to go by. In v1.2, the wide-open, mob-focused killing grounds where you must be quick or be dead lends itself best to the game's chaotic, Lovecraft-infused theme. Why choose only one of them, though? Unless there's something behind the scenes making this endeavor impractical, I don't see why you'd have to toss one of these two perfectly viable game feels aside. You only have to decide whether one of them needs to become a completely separate game mode (think of The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth's "Greed Mode") or if there's a way to mesh them well into a sole campaign. But please, give us the best of both worlds in v1.3.
Some other suggestions -- changing the way you show which ammo type is used by the current weapon: red text, besides being not very visible, gives the player a sense of urgency that would better be reserved for warning when the ammo count is running low. Transparency? Thicker outline? When picking normal ammo crates, giving the player a trickle of ammo for the weapons they hold other than the one currently in hand: switching weapons mid-battle just to be able to refill the correct ammo is... well, it doesn't suit a fast game such as this, in my humble opinion. This change wouldn't negatively affect players who'd want to take that risk, but would increase survivability for everyone else. Also, with an ammo trickle coming in, players wouldn't be sitting ducks if they decide to swap weapons and ammomaxx.
Playthrough: ~30 minutes. Completed a 4-map loop after some tries. Bosses fought: Behemoth, Shoggoth, Twin Pillars, Harut, Bartholomews.
This game has a lot of potential to be something really cool, the art is awesome and theres a lot of soul here
that being said, it has some problems
As it stands now, the pacing is poor; its almost impossible as a new player to tell whats going on before you get instagibbed by something. Having the player start out on a lower stakes floor would help a lot
There are perks you can collect, but because of how hectic the gameplay is, you have no time to read or think about what youre collecting. What if you slowed the game's timescale down when reading item descriptions for perks? This way you still have to be careful, but you have a little more reasonable amount of time to think about the item
The movement/physics feel at odds with the nature of the game. A game like this could really benefit from some more smooth fast paced movement IMO
Repeating what others have said, it would be nice to have a bit more time to pick your weapon. I like the idea of pausing on new weapon pickup so you can decide if you want it (Vampire Survivors-style), or having the ceiling freeze after defeating all enemies and then be presented with new weapons as a reward.
I picked 1.2 version and damn am I getting filtered hard. I've got 10 HP and one bad step gets me down to -55. Some enemies together create mix of attacks that's very challenging to dodge and work around, especially if you're equipped with subpar weapon. Indiana Jones mode is pretty fun, also loved the corpse art.
I really like the design and the style of the enemies, and overall the game looks nice even (if the environment are a bit plain). There are some really interesting ideas in there (microwave as a weapon is one of my favorite). The biggest issue at the moment for me is that there's no breathing room in the action - most of the time (or rather all of the time) I have no idea what I'm picking up since I'm constantly pressured by either enemies or the ceiling closing in and having to go to the next level.
The weapon sprites also feel way to close to the center considering the angle they're drawn at.
considering how detailed the sprites for the weapons are, the sound effects are comparatively underwhelming. i expect more OOMPH from a shotgun, you know
hopefully i can find somewhere the older demo, i want to try out the previous levels as well...
The moment to moment gameplay is fun, guns feel nice to use, movement feels solid, art is great (got some of that OG CN vibes)
But I think the structure of the game is a bit wack, as others said there's not enough time to read item descriptions or to pick up items without dying. I don't see why i only have to kill SOME of the enemies in the room to proceed. What i would do is require the player to clear the whole room, this freezes the roof and spawns the item podiums near the hole. This way i don't have to be concerned with picking up items or trying to min max in the midst of the action.
I like that the first weapon you get is randomized so that runs feel different.
I would add in a sound effect to signal that the portal appeared and some kind of HUD in the bottom right that tells you about the podium upgrades you can walk into.
However picking up a weapon or worse, ammo / health needs too much precision, meaning you have to stop and look down at it, likely getting killed in the process. Maybe make it easier to pick these up on the go, if not automatic.
Similarly, reading an item's description puts you at risk, maybe you could add a popup for a few seconds once you take it, so you can read it and memorize the items little by little.
When playing with a gamepad I can't seem to select my third weapon ? Works fine with mouse keyboard. Also the options menu has no options but that's probably the same for everyone.
I miss the big and varied levels from the last demo, though these pit levels are not bad. Should be thrown in rarely in the mix in the next demo I think. Quick reset required, don't remember if that was in last time. Sound effects are nice now.
There isn’t enough time to read item descriptions. If I stop to read, I get blasted by baddies.
If I try to kill everything in the room before I read, the ceiling crushes me before I get a chance.
There are too many types of enemies, especially right at the beginning.
Comments
Here's a video from me https://mega.nz/file/zJNwmZAD#SeS9iPxmpi7IEsssP5j708_vS6bKUtzTMLVV8Uvapwo
Looks great. Plays fine. Gunplay feels satisfactory, gibbing has punch. The game engine seems ready to ship in my untrained eyes; just add a progression system and round up the content, I guess. I was about to speak up on the difficulty, but I soon noticed that the gameplay loop is more of a Nuclear Throne-like rather than a DOOM reskin: clear the perimeter (interestingly, you don't have to kill everyone on the floor to make the portal spawn) and the occasional boss while conserving ammo and health, look for the stage chest and then head for the exit; die a few floors down unless you've mastered the items and weapons you've happened to come across in the run (and there's a time limit to boot). What you do with what you've got is your CALL now. I'd continue playing this as a more grounded boomer shooter just for the art and the monster design, of course, but I'd be all the more hyped if the game continued in the path it seems to be following: a first-person take on the stage-based roguelite shooter as first popularized by the genre-defining The Binding of Isaac.
The portal compass is excellent. The stages being small, I guess it doesn't need to point you straight to the exit with an arrow (the portal being a bright beacon visible from afar certainly helps), but maybe reconsider if you plan on adding larger killing arenas later. PLEASE consider making the hitbox to open crates and collect weapons and items larger, much larger, and also making the flavor text for pickups linger on the screen for a while. Maybe boost the damage of explosive weapons too. I preferred to play with pistols and revolvers, since these feel like the punchiest weapons in this build.
Playthrough: 40+ minutes on v1.2. Furthest I got on a single run was 5 floors down, but I didn't stop trying to go further. Might try v1.1 later; I hear it's way different.
Got around to trying v1.1 today. v1.2 is still my favorite version... yet the earlier demo is something else (heh). Each of the builds encourage a different gameplay style, highlighting different slices of the project in different proportions. The labyrinthine v1.1 maps where you can take cover from bosses who spit bullet hell patterns at you were what I imagined the game to be like at first, having only the screenshots and .webms to go by. In v1.2, the wide-open, mob-focused killing grounds where you must be quick or be dead lends itself best to the game's chaotic, Lovecraft-infused theme.
Why choose only one of them, though? Unless there's something behind the scenes making this endeavor impractical, I don't see why you'd have to toss one of these two perfectly viable game feels aside. You only have to decide whether one of them needs to become a completely separate game mode (think of The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth's "Greed Mode") or if there's a way to mesh them well into a sole campaign. But please, give us the best of both worlds in v1.3.
Some other suggestions -- changing the way you show which ammo type is used by the current weapon: red text, besides being not very visible, gives the player a sense of urgency that would better be reserved for warning when the ammo count is running low. Transparency? Thicker outline? When picking normal ammo crates, giving the player a trickle of ammo for the weapons they hold other than the one currently in hand: switching weapons mid-battle just to be able to refill the correct ammo is... well, it doesn't suit a fast game such as this, in my humble opinion. This change wouldn't negatively affect players who'd want to take that risk, but would increase survivability for everyone else. Also, with an ammo trickle coming in, players wouldn't be sitting ducks if they decide to swap weapons and ammomaxx.
Playthrough: ~30 minutes. Completed a 4-map loop after some tries. Bosses fought: Behemoth, Shoggoth, Twin Pillars, Harut, Bartholomews.
This game has a lot of potential to be something really cool, the art is awesome and theres a lot of soul here
that being said, it has some problems
As it stands now, the pacing is poor; its almost impossible as a new player to tell whats going on before you get instagibbed by something. Having the player start out on a lower stakes floor would help a lot
There are perks you can collect, but because of how hectic the gameplay is, you have no time to read or think about what youre collecting. What if you slowed the game's timescale down when reading item descriptions for perks? This way you still have to be careful, but you have a little more reasonable amount of time to think about the item
The movement/physics feel at odds with the nature of the game. A game like this could really benefit from some more smooth fast paced movement IMO
Repeating what others have said, it would be nice to have a bit more time to pick your weapon. I like the idea of pausing on new weapon pickup so you can decide if you want it (Vampire Survivors-style), or having the ceiling freeze after defeating all enemies and then be presented with new weapons as a reward.
I picked 1.2 version and damn am I getting filtered hard. I've got 10 HP and one bad step gets me down to -55. Some enemies together create mix of attacks that's very challenging to dodge and work around, especially if you're equipped with subpar weapon.
Indiana Jones mode is pretty fun, also loved the corpse art.
I really like the design and the style of the enemies, and overall the game looks nice even (if the environment are a bit plain). There are some really interesting ideas in there (microwave as a weapon is one of my favorite). The biggest issue at the moment for me is that there's no breathing room in the action - most of the time (or rather all of the time) I have no idea what I'm picking up since I'm constantly pressured by either enemies or the ceiling closing in and having to go to the next level.
The weapon sprites also feel way to close to the center considering the angle they're drawn at.
Also, ya need music my man. Pumped out something quickly, just use this for now if you want. https://vocaroo.com/19D7cBCP3Z6L
Gonna work on this song a little more...
https://voca.ro/1k8JKqgA4JMU
Will probably not work more on it if you don't want it, you wanna use it, its yours.
damn, that sounds really good, def gonna use it. thanks alot horbro, really needed some music. <3
cool, will probably work more on it then at some other point. Ill send you an update
Like everyone else is saying, I can't read the item descriptions.
considering how detailed the sprites for the weapons are, the sound effects are comparatively underwhelming.
i expect more OOMPH from a shotgun, you know
hopefully i can find somewhere the older demo, i want to try out the previous levels as well...
thanks for the feedback, i made the old demo public too now
The moment to moment gameplay is fun, guns feel nice to use, movement feels solid, art is great (got some of that OG CN vibes)
But I think the structure of the game is a bit wack, as others said there's not enough time to read item descriptions or to pick up items without dying. I don't see why i only have to kill SOME of the enemies in the room to proceed. What i would do is require the player to clear the whole room, this freezes the roof and spawns the item podiums near the hole. This way i don't have to be concerned with picking up items or trying to min max in the midst of the action.
I like that the first weapon you get is randomized so that runs feel different.
I would add in a sound effect to signal that the portal appeared and some kind of HUD in the bottom right that tells you about the podium upgrades you can walk into.
The game is fun.
However picking up a weapon or worse, ammo / health needs too much precision, meaning you have to stop and look down at it, likely getting killed in the process. Maybe make it easier to pick these up on the go, if not automatic.
Similarly, reading an item's description puts you at risk, maybe you could add a popup for a few seconds once you take it, so you can read it and memorize the items little by little.
When playing with a gamepad I can't seem to select my third weapon ? Works fine with mouse keyboard. Also the options menu has no options but that's probably the same for everyone.
Looking forward to the full game.
I miss the big and varied levels from the last demo, though these pit levels are not bad. Should be thrown in rarely in the mix in the next demo I think. Quick reset required, don't remember if that was in last time. Sound effects are nice now.
lol
The visual design is really cool though.
I like the movements, maybe pause the game when I can pick up an item so I can think about it and read the text?