I understand, and I'm sorry I couldn't get it to work. There are a couple of ways I might have been able to detect and fix these kind of version errors, so I'll make sure to implement them in our post-jam version of the game. It's a good learning experience for me, and I'm really grateful you've helped me identify a few more technical issues. Goodnight, and thanks again for persevering!
Oh, and in case you were curious, I can confirm that error is also SDL2 version related. The game uses features from SDL2_mixer 2.6.0 (the current version is 2.6.3), and missing those features will be much harder to work around than the rectangles :(
Here is a version of 'icyd' without the use of SDL's floating point rectangles. I can't promise I didn't introduce exciting new bugs by rushing my own rectangle code ;)
HasIntersectionF is only in SDL2 2.0.22, so this would definitely contribute to the game not working! To save you the hassle of upgrading ahead of your distro, I think I can quickly rework the hitbox code to use the older, more compatible SDL2 variant - I'll post soon and let you know how I went. Thanks for being so patient!
That error potentially suggests your SDL version is less than 2.0.10 - or that my program isn't finding the correct version of SDL2 on your system. Either way it's a helpful lead! It might be worth updating SDL2, and probably SDL2_image and SDL2_mixer, if you do have a lower version and this applies.
This is a stretch, but I compiled a version of the executable that skips the error checking, just in case it's the error-check itself that's causing the error... you never know. If you'd like to try it out, just replace the old 'icyd' with the one at the link here.
No trouble at all, I'd love to be able to help you get it working! It seems GLSL compilation isn't working, and my first thought is to wonder whether it's the driver: I've only tested with Mesa on ATI cards, so if there is an NVIDIA compatibility issue, I won't have caught it yet. If it's not a huge hassle, you could try swapping to Mesa and seeing if that helps. I'll also tinker around and let you know if I find anything.
Thanks for the great feedback! That damn collision, hey? I'm happy to say that I did find the cause of those evil ghost-grabbing trees, and it's fixed now in the current build - but too late, sadly, for the jam.
A config file would have been a really good solution for the missing menu and settings...I wish I'd thought of it. The tragic thing is that there *are* settings, customisable difficulty settings even, but they're locked away in the game because we cut the menu system in order to complete the (already-rushed) final boss. An editable config file would have fixed that. Fortunately the menu has made its way into the current build too, so the post-jam version will feel much more polished.
Speaking of the final boss, the lack of clearer feedback from the glyphs is a real issue. Our artist brought it up with me several times, but at that point I was busy stressing over the Windows port. Visual/auditory feedback is a good idea. By the way, equally unclear in the final fight is that the ruined circle is meant to highlight a "safe zone" just outside the reach of the tentacles, where projectiles won't ever initiate on top of you. This is why the attacks feel so sudden and unfair unless you orient yourself entirely to the middle of the arena, but that's not any fault of the player... just last-minute design errors.
Thanks also for linking to your game - you're right, I do really appreciate the ambience, and I've had fun playing it today (but you can see more about that over on your page!)
Thanks for linking me here! I should preface by saying that I didn't quite yet beat the third (final?) boss, but I wanted to make sure I rated and commented before the jam ends.
First things, the game ran fine for me under WINE, and performance was great throughout. It's a very clean feeling game, with the flashier effects understated enough not to clash with the pixel art. The patterns I encountered in wave one and two were good fun, and the enemies satisfying to beat: nothing oppressive, and I didn't find myself using the slow feature, but I'm sure the hard version of the game (and later waves) would dial this up. The third wave was a touch harder, and I took a hit or two. Ultimately it was the last boss that stopped me dead. They seemed to phase so many times that I became reckless and impatient, and tanked multiple hits assuming I was on the verge of winning. Maybe I was - who knows! - but when they reappeared yet again after another black screen fakeout, freshly-twinned and freshly-bubbled, I finally caved. At this point, I should have probably started using the slow-down feature, but I'd already forgotten what key I'd bound it to... I'm getting old. ;)
That said, I can see the appeal of the endurance-style gameplay, and the patterns never seemed unfair, just unfamiliar on first run. If I'd had more time to spare, I'm sure I could have beaten the boss if I'd done another restart. In that regard I wish it was quicker to blaze through the first waves, but I do respect that the gameplay loop requires a slower pace to make the player sweat while the walls close in. (As far as those walls go, though, I only hit them once early on - otherwise I stayed low and central and that seemed to work well for almost every pattern, although it did turn the triple-shot into a downgrade, as two of the three projectiles then reliably missed. For that reason I didn't take the triple-shot on my third and most successful attempt.)
It was good fun overall, and I'm grateful you shared this with us. I'll be sure to take another shot at that boss when I get a spare moment!
Late technical discovery: if the game flashes a black screen and fails to start for you, delete the opengl32.dll file that accompanies the download and try again. This file isn't compatible with all versions of Windows and can prevent your native drivers from working.
This might be a bit late, but I think I've solved this problem (or at least, fixed a similar case.) There's an opengl32.dll file included in the zip: just delete it. I made an oversight including this in the download, and it can prevent some Windows video drivers from working properly.
The game has nice music and a charm in it's simple graphics. It's a fun mechanic and an interesting premise, but my concern is once you've figured out the projectile and ghost speeds, you miss less, while it also becomes too easy to predict the reflected shot. This could lead the game's fun to diminish as you improve at it. To mitigate that you could give the player a reason to use the haunted mirror, maybe reflected shots can be aimed at power ups, or maybe you need to aim the reflected projectile it at the ghosts in different stages - well there's lots of ways you could go! It would be so nice to see it expanded a bit more. Thank you for sharing :)) -wrnyfyr
The game looks vibrant, the music is cute, and the dialogue and character design is a lot of fun! It took me a moment to realise that it's essentially a rapid-fire memorisation game, but once I figured that out, I was able to get through the majority of screens without too much hassle: there's a commendable variety of enemies and the dialogue adds real charm to the experience.
I have to admit, though, I gave up on the final boss and found several other boards very frustrating (and I say this as a diehard Crypt of the Necrodancer player!) There was one toward the end I even skipped, after dying right at the last enemy one-too-many times. The combination of staggered, tile-based movement with lightning pace made it tricky to "read the board"... what I instinctively wanted to do was confront those crazy combinations of projectile patterns, get a feel for where the attacks intersected, and strike a clean path. When that all worked out, it was a real pleasure. But because the projectiles operate with the same rapid tempo and shares the same set of limited spaces, tiles alternate very quickly between safe + dangerous in a way that makes it hard to associate those threats with the individual enemies.
Thinking ambitiously, players tend to adjust more easily to fast+frenzied experiences if there are some grace mechanics (like death replays or practice rooms.) But such mechanics are obviously way too ambitious for a game jam project, so maybe the easier alternative here would either be to slow it down a touch, or to expand those enemy-packed later boards to have safe intermediate spaces, so that a player can break up the challenge of defeating that board by "getting here first, then getting there." Just throwing around ideas anyway, because I really do love the intent and creativity here.
Best of luck with future development, and thanks for sharing your game! - mothgram
I got a hint that lowering my resolution would help - and it did indeed so I got to play it! I appreciate all the work you did on the visuals and the story. It's a fun, engaging premise, the gun takes a little bit to warm up to, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I haven't yet made it through to the end, but the try again button doesn't work for me so I have to reload it every time! I do hope you will get to polish it :)) -wrnyfyr
Stylish game and great use of the theme. Breaking blocks is really fun, cleverly balanced by the skill needed to control the ball. The added pressure from the rolling keg was great. I agree that some power ups (like a big kinetic bomb you can detonate) would add extra risk/reward. The game has a lot of potential. Well done! -wrnyfyr
Update: I've added an error-testing .exe to the project page. If you run it from the same folder as the game (alongside the data files), it'll check for the most obvious issues and hopefully give us some clear messages :)
Thank you for playing. I think I know the screen you mean! Speaking as one half of the team, I also had to facetank some of the last waves, though mothgram, who made the levels, found ways to clear them without being hit. We tried to strike a balance where players would get enough chances to at least survive, even if they took a hit or two, but probably we would tone it down if we could do it again. -wrnyfyr
I'm really sorry to hear that! My guess would be something related to intialising OpenGL or audio. The game prints its error and debug messages to the console, so if you're comfortable in the Windows command terminal, you could try running the executable from inside the terminal: it should show more information. I'll also look into coding a quick compatibility-test tool and uploading it, so we can figure out for sure.
This looks and feels so good! A wonderfully crunchy 8-bit aesthetic combined with contemporary fluid gameplay. What's not to love? Wonderful music too.
As someone who enjoys MSX-era shmups, I had a fun time and felt the difficulty was about-right. My score when I won was 44554, and I'd be curious to try again later and see how much I can improve. The patterns were clear and smooth to navigate, and returning fire was satisfying. The bombs are very cool, though I struggled to spot the best time to use one. I popped one in the middle of the game, but otherwise found them not necessary, and ended up just burning them on the boss. I also appreciated that the game rewarded me for firing accurately (with the charge) instead of holding the button, though I wonder if such steep damage scaling isn't a potential trap for inexperienced players.
Speaking of which, my partner wrynfyr really wanted to play as well, but she found herself constantly dying a few seconds in. The damage ramps up fast and so punishes small mistakes instantly: an exciting feature for me, but a stressful one for her. Maybe a gentler initial curve would help players warm up to the challenge. She still thinks the game looks and sounds fantastic, though. ;)
thank you so much, we wish we'd had more time to put in difficulty settings! btw, you can press 9 to become invulnerable if you just wanna see the levels ;))
Thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback. I'm very happy you found it fun! Collision was one of the things we really wished we had more time to work on- it was definitely a packed 10 days! -wrnyfyr
The grappling hook mechanic is real fun, and I enjoy the humor in the writing. If you develop the game further, I think it would be really nice to see some more elaborate level design based around that mechanic! -wrnyfyr
Thank you for your feedback, and glad to hear you liked that spray :)) Some in-game instruction will come in a future version but good to know you worked out how to slice em! -wrnyfyr
I wish I could have seen more of this game, but on my old surfacebook the frame rate is so terrible it wasn't really playable. I use Firefox too btw. I'll try it on a better computer later, but I just thought I'd let you know this feedback too!
This is adorable! Lovely consistent aesthetic. A little feedback from a neurodiverse perspective - the line boiling on the text was a lot and made the controls harder to comprehend. But there is a lot to enjoy here, it is a unique take on the theme for sure!
