thank you so much for playing & donating!! the seed of hope is not meant to be planted, but to be kept with you (emotionally anyway) when you leave the game. i hope that makes sense! as for new games, i will be releasing cavern of dreams soon and it has many similarities to forest's secret despite the different genre (helping out funny characters, solving little puzzles, filling the world with nature, etc.) so i hope people will enjoy it too!
that makes sense about verticality - i hadn't considered the ramifications code-wise. you might be able to achieve a similar effect with some tall shapes scattered about...? about your questions:
game was completely performant! no issues. levels took a short time, maybe 2 or 3 seconds, to generate
the controls felt solid. i didn't have any missed inputs and the character is responsive. the slide move could use some tweaking though. i really like how it feels to use in air, but considering how tiny all of the platforms are i basically never wanted to actually slide forward on landing. a few ideas:
have some larger sloped platforms with large amounts of empty space between them. then the slide can be used to build speed and launch yourself like a skill-based long jump. this would also add some variety to the gameplay. might be harder to code, though!
just make the move work like the dive in mario odyssey, where instead of flopping on the ground and skidding forward, you immediately return to standing position.
this was fun! super tricky but fun. the level design is tight & precise (spoiled only slightly by enemy respawning sometimes making their movement patterns almost impossible) and i appreciate the little details like enemies getting multiple palettes. i would love to try this out on my controller, but it's a jam game so i get it lol. anyway good work!
hello! i tried the game out and wanted to give my thoughts, here in no particular order. i hope they are of some use!
aesthetics:
the game makes a good first impression! the main menu animation is charming and the graphics and music are pleasant and relaxing. i also appreciate the dynamic quality to the music.
the dialog sounds for the characters don't line up well with the actual dialog (it often keeps going when a line of dialog finishes), and the constant repetition makes it a bit annoying.
the circle beneath the player to help with platforming is good but should be darker as it's hard to see
character control:
the controls are responsive, which is very important
however, her movement is slow and static, with no sense of momentum. this makes getting around not fun, and although the dash helps, it also makes navigation the opposite of fluid, since you're constantly speeding up and slowing down. it would be very nice if, for example, dashing into the ground could let you run for a time. if the core of this game is 3d platforming, make sure to focus on making that platforming feel as good as possible.
combat also feels weak. the attack animations are slow and limp, and not being able to attack in the air is frustrating. it is nice to be able to attack while moving though! if you could attack during the dash, combat would suddenly be a lot more fun, and you could make the enemies more difficult to compensate as they're very easy right now. in general i think the ability to chain together moves would be great.
i don't like the feeling of the camera rotating around based on my movement while i'm trying to navigate a jump. this may be subjective, though - a menu option to disable it would be good.
player should be able to aim in first person with the left or right control stick, not just the right one
it wasn't intuitive at first that the orbs your partner creates need to be activated manually. i thought just touching them would be enough
misc
the collectibles should stand out more. since the totems are affected by the lighting system, in dark places they're practically invisible. the staff to collect for the elder also didn't stand out at all, i actually grabbed it by accident. also, make the totems more fun to collect! if you want the player to want to grab them, they should make a pleasant sound, maybe create some particles on collection, etc
in the second level, it's weird that the trees are covered in ladders that the player can't climb
great job on this so far - despite my criticisms it's a solid start. looking forward to seeing progress on this and best of luck to you and your team
as long as you have the most recent version of java, it should run fine! if it doesn't, email me at byninegiga AT gmail DOT com and we can diagnose further
hello! it can be hidden pretty well - it's a white, fluffy seed. check near the bridges in the autumnal section - it might be partly obscured by a tree
thanks so much! i am working on another game, and while it's not really the same genre it has a lot of similar elements. i hope you will enjoy it too. ill be sure to check out wuppo!!
