I have a pretty powerful gaming PC/Rig. It runs my game very fast for the most part (can lag in some very intensive moments.)
But every boss fight in your game ran slowly for me. It's weird because you separate your rooms with scene transitions and I don't imagine you have very many processes running during a boss fight. Do boss fights run slowly when you test your own game? If not, it must be something with my PC, although I have no idea what it could be. If it does run slower for you, I'd suggest you optimize whatever the cause of that is.
Take this next part with a grain of salt since this can be subjective but I did first try your game last summer and you had a different OST for it. Obviously you wanted something custom made for your game, which isn't a bad decision, but I didn't feel the new music fit as well as the previous tracks you had. It just didn't have the right energy. I think the music can be improved to better enhance your game feel and experience.
Some of the enemies felt placed just to waste your time because they weren't very threatening. Like the shield goblin that throws axes. Also on your title screen's menu and in a couple of other spots your font is getting cut off from the top of the characters a little bit. You should fix that wherever it happens.
Overall I'd echo Firespike's thoughts. Your game could benefit from more fine tuning in general. I know you're already making improvements in response to feedback. I can see the passion you have for this project. Keep working at it, Jay!
As a side note: I think Magi needs to be able to shoot faster. It feels slower than Mega Man's when I'm close to something and mashing a button. That little exploit is a necessary part of your game feel.
Great job about the pixel scale there, just one or two games here respected the same pixel scale for any element (eccept for the sword slash ahead who have it x 2 but u can fix it easly) just with that u put a lot more professional feeling on the gameplay!! the poster is endearing and u understand fast about what kind of game it's could be. The story is simple and easy to learn, really a good step ahead about complicate and too much text story with fixed cutscene or more difficult to understand. The character are good animated respect of a lot of game of the contest and they are not so rigid feeling, I see u put a lot of effort on that for some cutscene etc.. really nice. Just take a good luck about your background- some of them don't have some good palette/ contrast and the background layer is very near to the foreground layer. try to separate it more visually (expecially inside the temple) anyway good job! Ps another important things- add the slow in and out at the top of the jump - it's very mechanic now, he falling down in 0 time.
This is the most nostalgic game in the whole contest . It is reminiscent of the first megaman games , and pays tribute to them wonderfully ! Before i start with my comments on the game , i have to point out that the poster they have is certainly the best one here , and represents the feel of the game great ! The gameplay is really smooth , with movement being greatly responsive , with just minor input lag during shooting in the air . Also , i do not know if it intentional , but staying still during shooting on the ground makes the overall game more risky to play , and thus makes you more reserved about the moves you do .The graphics are 8-bit goodness, music as well , even though seeing the same tiles as a wall with little change or minor minor additions can become exhausting to the eyes , and that's why i prefer the outside areas of the game which are really neatly done as well . The story is really well crafted and awards you for staying for it ! Overall, it is in my opinion one of the greatest contenders in the whole competition . Good luck !
Hyblitz here, you know already what i'm gonna say, keep up the good work ! (even i do hate that Canyon Stage but that's because i'm bad at platformers ^^")
Finished!!! canyon stage, i thought i was gonna die literally lol, but its a breeze when you jump at the edge, its all about timing....man the stage select music is dope!!
The canyon stage really hurts. One of the boulder sections forces you to either abuse the boulders' broken hitboxes or glitch them out of existence with the camera. The second instance of the miniboss is practically unkillable without the sword or the strength upgrade, so I was initially forced to just "climb" over him while taking damage and then run to the other side. Hitting the edge of the rail in the second minecart section sometimes dropped me into a pit despite making the collision sound. To top it all off, the harpy boss at the end became invincible after her health bar was drained. (The cutscene was funny though.)
The game could benefit from more tuning in general. Player error allowance is often lower (or occasionally much higher, as in the case of the completely nonthreatening axe-throwing goblins) than it should be. The game gets hard very quickly and seems to expect you to buy stuff from the shop, which essentially requires grinding and replaying stages. Magi's jump arc is a bit off from the Mega Man-styled physics I know you were attempting, as she just sinks like a rock the instant you let go of the jump button.
Thank you muchly for your input Firespike! I'm a little concerned about the Harpy Queen becoming invincible when her health is drained. If you could be a bit specific on when, like when you kill her/half HP, etc. That'd help narrow it down for me! As for the boulders, I have been having a hard time with the hit detection. So I will definitely doing a more thorough look on how I can fix it and not make it as stressful when going through the boulder sections of the mountain level. As for Magi's jumping, specifically when letting go of the jumping button, would it preferred if the fall was lighter? (Later MM games implemented this.) It has been a while since I looked at some of Magi's control physics, so your input will definitely help give a little more insight on how her movement and reaction should handle.
Regardless, this will be good criticism to receive so it will help Arcanion become not as stressful to play through! ^_^
After her health bar was completely drained, it disappeared and she just kept tanking hits like nothing happened. I only hit her with the basic projectile attack while using the power amulet.
Regarding jumping: In the classic series, Mega Man's upward velocity wouldn't instantly be reversed if you released the button mid-jump. His jump would immediately peak before he accelerated downwards, said acceleration being faster than that of a full jump but not instantaneous. In Mega Man 1 and 2 he would take a brief moment to decelerate and reach the apex of his jump after you released the button, but those games hadn't yet nailed the proper Mega Man feel.
OHHHkay! I see what you mean, so releasing the jump button shouldn't immediately send her down, but more stop her ascent for a brief second before descending! Alrighty! I'll see what I can do about that!
I don't think even equipping the Power Ring should have any effect with the damage calculations when killing enemies and bosses, but this still does concern me, so I'll definitely look into that.
Oh, and that mine cart falling into a pit thing, do you mean when you touch the rails you still fell through? Or do you mean when you fall into the pit you hear the landing sound and still die?
Comments
I have a pretty powerful gaming PC/Rig. It runs my game very fast for the most part (can lag in some very intensive moments.)
But every boss fight in your game ran slowly for me. It's weird because you separate your rooms with scene transitions and I don't imagine you have very many processes running during a boss fight. Do boss fights run slowly when you test your own game? If not, it must be something with my PC, although I have no idea what it could be. If it does run slower for you, I'd suggest you optimize whatever the cause of that is.
Take this next part with a grain of salt since this can be subjective but I did first try your game last summer and you had a different OST for it. Obviously you wanted something custom made for your game, which isn't a bad decision, but I didn't feel the new music fit as well as the previous tracks you had. It just didn't have the right energy. I think the music can be improved to better enhance your game feel and experience.
Some of the enemies felt placed just to waste your time because they weren't very threatening. Like the shield goblin that throws axes. Also on your title screen's menu and in a couple of other spots your font is getting cut off from the top of the characters a little bit. You should fix that wherever it happens.
Overall I'd echo Firespike's thoughts. Your game could benefit from more fine tuning in general. I know you're already making improvements in response to feedback. I can see the passion you have for this project. Keep working at it, Jay!
As a side note:
I think Magi needs to be able to shoot faster. It feels slower than Mega Man's when I'm close to something and mashing a button. That little exploit is a necessary part of your game feel.
Great job about the pixel scale there, just one or two games here respected the same pixel scale for any element (eccept for the sword slash ahead who have it x 2 but u can fix it easly) just with that u put a lot more professional feeling on the gameplay!! the poster is endearing and u understand fast about what kind of game it's could be. The story is simple and easy to learn, really a good step ahead about complicate and too much text story with fixed cutscene or more difficult to understand. The character are good animated respect of a lot of game of the contest and they are not so rigid feeling, I see u put a lot of effort on that for some cutscene etc.. really nice. Just take a good luck about your background- some of them don't have some good palette/ contrast and the background layer is very near to the foreground layer. try to separate it more visually (expecially inside the temple) anyway good job! Ps another important things- add the slow in and out at the top of the jump - it's very mechanic now, he falling down in 0 time.
This is the most nostalgic game in the whole contest . It is reminiscent of the first megaman games , and pays tribute to them wonderfully ! Before i start with my comments on the game , i have to point out that the poster they have is certainly the best one here , and represents the feel of the game great ! The gameplay is really smooth , with movement being greatly responsive , with just minor input lag during shooting in the air . Also , i do not know if it intentional , but staying still during shooting on the ground makes the overall game more risky to play , and thus makes you more reserved about the moves you do .The graphics are 8-bit goodness, music as well , even though seeing the same tiles as a wall with little change or minor minor additions can become exhausting to the eyes , and that's why i prefer the outside areas of the game which are really neatly done as well . The story is really well crafted and awards you for staying for it ! Overall, it is in my opinion one of the greatest contenders in the whole competition . Good luck !
this deserves a higher rating of course
Hyblitz here, you know already what i'm gonna say, keep up the good work ! (even i do hate that Canyon Stage but that's because i'm bad at platformers ^^")
I need more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
Finished!!! canyon stage, i thought i was gonna die literally lol, but its a breeze when you jump at the edge, its all about timing....man the stage select music is dope!!
The canyon stage really hurts. One of the boulder sections forces you to either abuse the boulders' broken hitboxes or glitch them out of existence with the camera. The second instance of the miniboss is practically unkillable without the sword or the strength upgrade, so I was initially forced to just "climb" over him while taking damage and then run to the other side. Hitting the edge of the rail in the second minecart section sometimes dropped me into a pit despite making the collision sound. To top it all off, the harpy boss at the end became invincible after her health bar was drained. (The cutscene was funny though.)
The game could benefit from more tuning in general. Player error allowance is often lower (or occasionally much higher, as in the case of the completely nonthreatening axe-throwing goblins) than it should be. The game gets hard very quickly and seems to expect you to buy stuff from the shop, which essentially requires grinding and replaying stages. Magi's jump arc is a bit off from the Mega Man-styled physics I know you were attempting, as she just sinks like a rock the instant you let go of the jump button.
Thank you muchly for your input Firespike! I'm a little concerned about the Harpy Queen becoming invincible when her health is drained. If you could be a bit specific on when, like when you kill her/half HP, etc. That'd help narrow it down for me! As for the boulders, I have been having a hard time with the hit detection. So I will definitely doing a more thorough look on how I can fix it and not make it as stressful when going through the boulder sections of the mountain level. As for Magi's jumping, specifically when letting go of the jumping button, would it preferred if the fall was lighter? (Later MM games implemented this.) It has been a while since I looked at some of Magi's control physics, so your input will definitely help give a little more insight on how her movement and reaction should handle.
Regardless, this will be good criticism to receive so it will help Arcanion become not as stressful to play through! ^_^
After her health bar was completely drained, it disappeared and she just kept tanking hits like nothing happened. I only hit her with the basic projectile attack while using the power amulet.
Regarding jumping: In the classic series, Mega Man's upward velocity wouldn't instantly be reversed if you released the button mid-jump. His jump would immediately peak before he accelerated downwards, said acceleration being faster than that of a full jump but not instantaneous. In Mega Man 1 and 2 he would take a brief moment to decelerate and reach the apex of his jump after you released the button, but those games hadn't yet nailed the proper Mega Man feel.
OHHHkay! I see what you mean, so releasing the jump button shouldn't immediately send her down, but more stop her ascent for a brief second before descending! Alrighty! I'll see what I can do about that!
I don't think even equipping the Power Ring should have any effect with the damage calculations when killing enemies and bosses, but this still does concern me, so I'll definitely look into that.
Oh, and that mine cart falling into a pit thing, do you mean when you touch the rails you still fell through? Or do you mean when you fall into the pit you hear the landing sound and still die?
I touched the very edge of the rail and heard the landing sound, but still fell through it.
that happened to me as well firespike33
Great work Jay! The music, art, and story is on point.
I especially liked the intro (as far as story/writing goes), it was engaging, short, and perfect way to begin the story (no huge lore dump).
Really cool! I like the megaman-like controls and the story as well.
I love that cover art. We did a good job drawing it for you ^_^
I really like this game will give it a thumbs up!
Yes! You so did! ^_^ I appreciate the artwork everyday! :D
I just hope people will like the game! ^_^
Hyblitz here : Your game is top tier so far, you did a great job !!