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Project Heir - WIP's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Sound/Audio | #1 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Visuals(Graphics) | #2 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Overall | #2 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| User Interface (UI/UX) | #4 | 3.600 | 3.600 |
| Fun | #6 | 3.200 | 3.200 |
Ranked from 5 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
DevLog Link
https://theonemoldovan.itch.io/project-heir/devlog/362896/first-demo-release
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Comments
This is a cool platformer! Graphics and audio are great. I enjoy the sounds the characters make while talking, reminds me of something like animal crossing. The whole "platformer without jumping" idea and the art remind me of Lisa the Painful.
I did run into a bug (I think) when I got to the area where you use the launch pads. I think I accidentally launched the helper character (I forget his name) to the left and then I launched myself right. After that he spawned in closer, but hovering in the air. Also some of the doors didn't seem to work after that point of the game, but I may have just missed something because I didn't have time to finish the game.
Great job!
As someone who isn't overly fond of platformers I still have to admit this is pretty damn cool.
First of all I love how selecting buttons in the menus produce different musical notes, it almost reminds me of the main menu screen in Sly 2: Band of Thieves. Just generally the sound and music was good.
The scripted opening level is something I haven't really seen in any other platformer I've played on itch. It does a nice job of introducing the movement and basic interaction mechanics in the game, and I like how you allow the player to speak to the NPC again for more clarification. I admit I got stuck at one point where I didn't realize I could flip the direction the cargo launchers would face, and ended up launching the NPC backwards, along with myself. This actually had the weird bug of there being two NPC sprites, one floating in the air after being launched, and another hovering in the death pit next to the launcher. Both of them were stuck in their running animation loop.
I did eventually get past that part, but another issue I encountered was if I kept launch a crate up with me then on the third ledge I would land on top of the launch crate. The NPC would be standing immediately to the left of the crate. And if I tried to move left even slightly to try and drop down to push the crate further, I would end up gliding over the NPC and fall to my death. I'm not sure if the acceleration is so high where its impossible to drop down that short a distance, or if the NPC's collider gets in the way. In any case it happened 3 times before I managed to skip moving a crate up with me.
Another small bug is near the end of that map, the door to exit out of the area just didn't appear for some reason. I was able to progress and make it to the end of the chapter, the text bubble "To: The Rooftops" or something like that popped up and I was able to move through it. But I never saw a door at the end there.
From reading the devlog and having had no shortage of AI headaches myself I can only imagine how many hours were spent trying to get the NPC to correctly wait for the player and follow paths. But aside from the issues I mentioned above I didn't encounter anything really weird.
I liked the artstyle, and the colour palette gives it a nice cool dystopia feel. And the orange sky with the silhouette of the skyline looks phenomenal!
I also really like some of the mechanics you're going for the in the demo level. The smashing glass, the guns and enemy types, and the little particle effects looked good too. In fact I actually saw one in a freeze frame when the game crashed. I was shooting at an enemy and killed him, and it seems like when another enemy approached me from the left at the same time I shot a door the game froze, and then I had to kill it with Alt+F4. From reading the devlog though it seems like once you give your code another refactoring pass you should be able to find that one problem while loop.
Sadly I didn't get to try out everything, but I liked what I saw and from what I read in the devlog it seems like it'll become even better! My entry this jam is also planned to be a multi-year project, so you have my admiration for sticking with the project for 5 years. Hopefully I'll see an updated version of this game in a future jam. Its a shame this hasn't gotten more rating so far.
Awesome work!
Thank you so much for a detailed review of my game!!! The sound effects right now randomize pitch when they are played! Later on this will only be used for certain sound effects but I'm happy you noticed and appreciated it in the menu! I know that allowing the player to flip directions on the launcher was just asking to break that sequence :b but I am glad you mentioned that it happened to you! Also, the double NPC sprite find is v valuable, I'll look into that. The third launch platform is DEFINITELY unfairly small lol. I plan to extend that as well as tweak the airborne movement to make that less of a problem. You've given me much to consider, it's hard to find such detailed feedback as a dev. I really appreciate it friend!
The pitch shifting gives a nice little bit of variance, but yeah it especially works great in the menu.
And yeah the launcher flipping can break the game, but it could be cool in a further platforming section where its required. As soon as I saw the double NPC sprite I immediately thought "Wow, this looks like a rare bug" lol.
I always try to give as much detailed feedback as I can, partially because I think its far more useful than just a score, and partially because I like receiving detailed feedback so it only makes sense I should provide it. I know there's been several times where what a player considers to be a bug or simply unfair, can be explained either by a certain detail being missed by the player, a mistake in the games design, or frankly just poor design.
I wish you the best of luck in your continued work on this project, I can imagine its come a long way in 5 years. Having strangers play your game is really where the rubber hits the road, so hopefully you'll be able to get several rounds more of playtesting in the future!
Fun game, though it felt like the main mission was way too easy. No enemies to get in your way or tricky platform challenges. I could imagine this game being really cool though. The test room was a fun side-scrolling beat-'em-up, and I do hope the main game will incorporate some enemies, because beating up enemies with your pal sounds like a grand time!
Hello! Thanks for the feedback! I wanted to release the entire beginning of the game, but the first mission was just designed to teach the player the platforming mechanics. I'm so glad you liked the test room! That is my idea for how most of the game will be; very combat oriented!
Awesome! I can't wait to see some of the epic combat encounters you have planned! I'd recommend starting the player off with combat, though. It will help set player expectations, and get them invested early on.
This game looks pretty good NGL.
Thanks dude! I've put a lot of effort into it and would love for it to be a game that many people enjoy!