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A jam submission

Uliel's QuestView game page

a first-person dungeon crawler, for DCJam2024
Submitted by Tokkitron — 1 day, 8 minutes before the deadline
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Uliel's Quest's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Overall fun and playability#952.7142.714

Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Theme incorporation
I incorporated all 4 themes (although some got weaker after I cut some features at the last minute). In particular, the entire game is about exploring some Ancient Ruins. Meanwhile, the primary characters are immortal beings called The Endless. These beings exist in solitude, watching the world. Finally, the monsters you fight are Cosmic Horrors from another universe (although this theme became pretty vague when I cut the dimensional portal they come through).

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

This was a nice, simple, mostly solid entry. I say mostly because while the RNG certainly shakes things up and makes playthroughs unique, I think my 3 runs were a bit too unique. In my first two attempts I never found a single upgrade item so I could die in a couple hits. And then in my third I found so many upgrades I was one hitting enemies even by the third section. Overall I think the procgen is mostly good, it just needs a balancing pass.

Other than that, I think the lack of sound is a bit disappointing because I could easily see this having some nice sound effects for the combat and enemies.

On the positive side, the visuals are great! All the monsters look unique and interesting and stand out from the environment. The level exits are obvious, and the maps aren't too labyrinthine. I also appreciate being able to move continuously!

Good work!

Submitted

I liked the procgen and the graphics and the simplistic approach to everything. I don't feel I have anything extra to add, since the feedback has been touched on by everyone else already. Good job!

Submitted

Nice. simple, controls and movement could have been a bit quicker, but not to shabby.

Where this shines is the monster graphics - stunning !

Submitted(+1)

Really solid!

I agree with everyone else; the randomness is tough to deal with sometimes but addictive, lol.

Good work!

Submitted

Interesting game which makes you try it again several times trying your luck. I got lucky first time, but then three times in a row I got almost zero upgrades and was defeated very fast. On my last playthrough I got overwhelmed by monsters on 3rd level, which were just eating through my HP faster than I can find potions. Some balancing (maybe even dynamic balancing) will benefit it, as there’re no rogue-lite mechanics, so you don’t get stronger after a playthrough.

Other than that RNG is very important in this game it’s a solid entry with a lot of potential after a bit of polishing, good job!

Developer

glad you liked it! I've already implemented some post-jam changes to mitigate the randomness, and I'm considering more...

Submitted(+1)

It was a great game with an appeal that made me want to play it over and over again.

It was important to know when to open chests so as not to waste potions, and I felt it was very much a matter of luck as to how many upgrades I could get. On the third try, with the help of the RNG, we were able to complete the game successfully. I liked the variety of creature designs. Good work!

Developer

woo, glad you made it to the end! btw the "not opening chests to not waste potions" thing is something I noticed myself doing, and why I changed how potions work in the post-jam update. I noticed myself avoiding chests until I got hurt and I didn't like that behavior (I wanted players to always go straight for chests) so now potions are collectibles that you choose when to use.

Submitted

Oh, That's a good update. I'm looking forward to it.

Developer

in other comments I posted the restricted URL for the post-jam update (obviously your rating should still be the jam version)

Submitted(+1)

Always nice to see proc gen!

I think my main points have also been stated by others already: lack of sounds, and too RNG heavy. I think it was on the third level where I was barely hanging in there trying to dodge monsters just to get to a chest and then turn around quickly to try and kill it. Worked a few times until it didn't :')

I think that's the biggest weakness of the game. You're either ahead of the curve and manage to find an upgrade or two, or you fall behind and die. At least, that's how it feels like to me. But if you're always ahead of the curve, then the game isn't challenging. I think it needs another gameplay/combat feature to give it a little more depth, or at least a way to mitigate RNG challenges without it turning into a free win.

Still, pretty solid game, good job :D

Developer

To help reduce the impact of RNG, I have already made two updates for post-jam: the first chest will always contain an orb, and potions are now collectibles to use when you want (instead of always immediate). Given your feedback, I may also modify the chance of orbs based on your current stats, to help even out your stat growth...

Developer (1 edit)

Mind trying the current state to playtest? (obviously your rating should still be the jam version) I've made the first two updates already, and I'm wondering if that tempers the randomness enough or if I need to do the third update too. The post-jam version is https://tokkitron.itch.io/uliels-post-jam-update (password dcjam)

Submitted

Clean crisp pixel art meets procedual dungeon generation == promising entry.

The lack of any audio is holding this one back and if I could make another wish, it would be support for strafing.

I do like the combat, yes its simplistic but this also means, it very easy to understand and fast, bump into things == problem solved.

Good job!

Developer(+1)

Glad you appreciated the simplicity, because that is definitely what I was going for!

Cutting audio was definitely my biggest regret when I was rushing to finish. Strafing is interesting, because I don't personally ever strafe in these sorts of games, but I guess I'll add it to the post-jam update because a lot of other people expect it.

Submitted

I think strafing would be useful in your game. I often ran into the situation where the mobs would come towards me on a differnt row. To intercept (and bump into them) I had to turn, move, turn back. At this point the mob would already be next to me. With strafing I could just switch the row without loosing sight. Since strafing is very easy to implement its a low hanging fruit, waiting to be picked.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

man I gotta say, strafing feels so good in this game! I was going for a more active gamestyle than is usually associated with turn-based games, so giving players this additional freedom of movement is soo satisfying.

Mind trying the current state to playtest? (obviously your rating should still be the jam version) The post-jam version is https://tokkitron.itch.io/uliels-post-jam-update (password dcjam)

Submitted

This feels so much better! While I prefer A/ D for strafing, I can adapt to Q/E after a while. Maybe switch between the two as an optional feature? 

But strafing really improved the movement by quiet a lot. Also storing potions instead of applying them instanitly is a huge plus.


Good job, Im gonna play a post jam version for sure!

Submitted

Nice little no-frills dungeon crawler. The movement is quick, the combat is simple. I liked the enemy sprites too and the random dungeon generation + tile variety kept things fresh. 

Some of the RNG can be rough for example more enemies than potions, leading to an early death. I wish there was some inventory management as well, opening a chest to get a potion at full health can lead to extra difficulties. I didn't hear any music or sound (not sure if bug) but even if you used just some cc0 music or sound fx too can make a big difference, at least for me.

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! yeah the lack of sound effects was my biggest regret, and I'm already working on collectible potions for a post-jam update

Submitted

The movement is good and is looks nice too. It even have procedural generation. It is a pity that it doesn't have sound. Combat could  be a little more engaging.

Good work!

Submitted(+1)

Simple and easy mechanics to work with, a bit to random to get a solid run though. There is a lot of restart just to get a good start to get anywhere. Like the fast movement and simplicity in attacks, no extra buttons. I would however want to decide when to use potions so they might be in inventory.

Anyhow Good work!

Developer(+1)

totally agree on those points, in another comment I'm planning to address both those issues in a post-jam update: "However I'm thinking of making the start a *little* less random (eg. your first chest is always an energy orb) plus making the potions collectible to use at a time of your choosing."

But thanks for the additional verification that yeah these are totally needed improvements!

Developer

Mind trying the current state to playtest? (obviously your rating should still be the jam version) I've made the first two updates already, and I'm wondering if that tempers the randomness enough or if I need to do more. The post-jam version is https://tokkitron.itch.io/uliels-post-jam-update (password dcjam)

Submitted

I tried several times but it was impossible. It is too hard for me. It was fun and terrifying at same time when I turn and I saw a creepy creature next to me.

(+1)

The game is nice, sometimes I had to avoid enemies and go directly to the chests, so it created some fun tense moments.
The lack of sound is probably the biggest downside, even thou, the game is fun!

Developer

cutting all sounds are my biggest regret from the final dash to submit

Submitted(+1)

I like its simplicity. I would love to hear some sounds though.

Developer

right? cutting all sounds are my biggest regret from the final dash to submit

Submitted(+1)

Nice job! great presentation and atmosphere!

Submitted(+1)

Movement was good and procedural generation in such a jam is quite risky, but well enough implemented here. The graphics, while a bit basic, are nice and I really liked the sprites. I wish there was some sounds in combat, as bump combat needs some nice feedback.

Developer

yeah one of my biggest regrets was not putting in any sounds. When I realized I didn't have enough time I cut sound effects, but I really should've just done like one chop for hits and one swish for misses and cut the rest.

Submitted(+1)

"Thank you for freeing me" It took me a few retries but I eventually did it.

More than anything the game is fun to play. The difficulty is right on point and I'm not certain every setup is winnable but you definitely have some control to play better or worse which is the most important. 

Thanks for sharing.

Developer

Hey, glad you stuck it out to the end! yeah I'm pretty sure not every setup is winnable, which isn't a problem overall since y'know you just start over after a quick death (just like any roguelike). However I'm thinking of making the start a *little* less random (eg. your first chest is always an energy orb) plus making the potions collectible to use at a time of your choosing. Just additions/improvements that I didn't have time for during the jam.