Post by Deerstalker Games in Melkhior's Mansion comments

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Am I missing something? It seemed to me as if enemy movements were completely random, which in a game with one-hit kills and limited lives is kinda insane. Isn't entire point of any platformer, isometric or not, is ability to predict timing of your enemies and obstacles so you can plan your movement? I haven't much experience with isometric platformers, but both Batman and Head Over Heels remakes had predictable and easily read enemy patterns - it was clear how to avoid them, the difficulty was in the execution (also in traps and puzzles).

The aesthetics are amazing and so is the idea, but I genuinelly cannot grasp enemy patterns.

BitGlint Games2 years ago(+1)

Thanks for the feedback. It's based on Atic Atac on the ZX Spectrum, which had random movement patterns. Quite a lot of games back then had random movement, especially the Ultimate games. This is a run around exploration game, whereas Batman and HoH are puzzle solving games, so it's important for enemy positions to be predictable. In games like Atic Atac, it isn't, in my humble opinion. Hope it hasn't spoilt it too much for you, but if it's not your thing, that's cool, thanks for trying it out. ;o)

Deerstalker Games2 years ago(+1)(-2)

Everything inside of me as a designer yells that that's a terrible idea but I'm trying to be openminded. How do you prevent player from getting stuck in an unwinnable situation if patterns are random? It's a game with one hit kills and limited lives, and it might just downright not be your fault if you die and lose all your progress because all enemies randomly decided to surround you.

It's not what I'd personally call good game design but if your primary goal isn't to make a game that appeals to a modern audience with 'fun' but to simply make a clear homage to these games of old without concern of modern concepts of 'fairness' (which to be fair is a bit nebulous) then sure, more power to you.

I guess there's other revivals of classic isometric platform-adventures I can try, like Abbey of Crime, Naya's Quest, King Boo or Lumo.

It's probably not for me, but a lot of people in this comment section seem to love it, so good on you.

BitGlint Games2 years ago(+2)

Thanks for the feedback. If you want to discuss it further then please feel free to contact me directly. I'm not one for public debate, it never ends well. :o)

Nifft Batuff2 years ago (1 edit)

I really recognized the Atic Atac design and aesthetic. But Atic Atac hasn't one-hit kills.

BitGlint Games2 years ago

Not sure what you mean by one-hit kills?

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