Is there anything after the initial fight in this version? Do you plan on making more content for this game?
I only ask cus I really like it so far but I haven't beatin it yet lol
Neat puzzle game, and I love the simple aesthetics. My only complaint would be that the jumping motion happens too fast to be able to pause at the right time. Also, an option bind pause to something else would be nice, since my brain is used to pressing space for jump.
Also, I don't know if this was intentional, but some of the puzzles can be solved by jumping out of the bounds and back in, like on level 6. Maybe that's an alternate solution but it feels pretty cheesy.
Edit: To clarify, it seems based on the sc that lvl 6 is meant to be completed by dropping one character down the platform and pausing, and using that char as a platform for the other. However, I solved it by slipping out of bounds to travel down a platform with both characters. I think other levels can be cheesed this way too.
I don't mean to sound too harsh, I really like this game.
This is a neat concept for a game, and I love the sprites for it (even if they are a tad inconsistent). I do wish there was a little something going on in the background, even a static tileset like the one found in Pixel Survival would have drastically improved the games aesthetics.
But, to the more important aspect of this game, I think the mechanic is really neat! There are only two things that I can think of that would improve it:
1 - Connecting lines. Instead of pasting a square at mouse positions, you should work on implementing a system that stores the mouse points on a list, and have a pen sprite render a solid line through all of those points on the list. Including breaks for bringing the mouse up, and allowing for the line to be smooth can both be challenging elements of getting this to work, but I have a project of my own that uses an image editor like this in scratch that I can show you guys if you'd like. (just dm me on discord (@Faye ⚧), i'd be happy to provide the source code and explain how it works)
2. More methods for refilling ink. Since this is a roguelike, having ink bottles spawn on the ground, or some idea similar to this, I think would improve the quality a lot. Don't get me wrong, I actually really like the idea of killing certain enemies to refill it as well, but currently this system does present a problem:
If not enough demons and projectiles spawn on the stage while the player is running out of ink, it becomes improbable that they will be able to make a comeback. Pretty much every death I had was a result of this. I think implementing a change like this could balance the two difficulty factors (managing ink, while maintaining dodges and reaction time) a lot better. As it stands, managing ink is more or less the sole factor of determining a loss, rather than part of it.
Overall, really creative concept for a cute game, and I'd love to see a full version of it someday! :3
This game is quite fun, and pretty well presented! I love most of the sprites, probably with the only exception being the map itself.
I like the idea of an endless QTE survival mechanic, it can be surprisingly addicting to keep up with it!
The one gripe I have about the game is how the player is expected to approach the order of enemies to kill. I have a couple thoughts on this:
I understand the desire to require the player to execute a specific order of buttons/enemies, rather than picking the first one they see. However, it can be frustrating at times. I think this is mostly a result of it not being completely clear which enemy to hit next. There is a window of time before each consecutive kill where I have to deduce which enemy is 'closest', and resizing the sprite is not enough on its own to communicate this intuitively.
I think making it more clear which enemy to hit next would fix this issue, but I also feel doing away with this requirement in the first place might be something to consider as well. Intuitively, with the layout of the level, I feel inclined to take out enemies as I see fit (since they are coming from the four cardinal directions).
The challenge that this contradiction in player motivation versus required action provides could be a great challenge to include but it also might be a hinderance. Ultimately, I certainly can't tell you which avenue would be better, and I'm sure your testing has already guided you to this question and a subsequent answer, but these are just my thoughts.
Overall, a fun and addictive experience with cute sprites :3
i can tell you have some interesting ai going on here, but unfortunately i just can't really tell what's actually happening in the game. I think you should focus on communicating what's happening in the simulation, what the ants are doing, and what the objectives are (if any). As it stands, the description is unhelpful and a bit confusing (as it addresses information without context or elaboration), and the program itself doesn't seek to provide explanation.
I'll definitely revisit this when the project becomes more clear, I like simulation programs like this a lot.
omg its so cool to see my game in a youtube video!!! thanks so much for playing :3
btw, i think you were having a common webpage issue in regards to first person games. web pages dont allow for automatic cursor locking, so to look around you have to first click into the game screen (sometimes a few clicks are required)
Tight movement controls, relatively forgiving hitboxes, and some great sfx! Overall a fun roguelike experience.
The only thing i would suggest is to add a power scaling element. Every survival roguelike needs one. More guns, powerups, damage boosters, anything really. The challenge of enemies scaling beyond your ability can still be present, but the player needs to grow as well.
every sprite, dialogue, interaction, and cutscene absolutely EXUDE personality! Not only is this game fun, but it manages to be stylish as hell with simple drawings. Not to mention, this game is genuinely funny. (cooka d' meal is the best mc name i have ever heard, im ngl)
This might be my favorite entry, and I'm definitely giving this a full playthrough! I'll let you know my extra thoughts when I'm done
Edit: At first i was confused how the cooking mechanics work, but after the Gordon Ransey fight it makes more sense. Honestly, not a single complaint about your game other than that it's short. I really hope you work on this more after the jam, it could be a whole game!
whenever i try to run it, it just says "failed to load". hope i can play this soon!
edit: apparently extensions arent packaging properly in gandi, but hey it's still relatively new software, these things happen. I was still able to play your game on cocrea, and here are my thoughts:
Obviously the style, music, and overall aesthetics are great. I thought the mechanics were really creative too! There's definitely a full scale game that could be made with these mechanics. My only gripe about them is that the 'puzzle' section where you match things doesn't work completely intuitively. If the blocks you matched dissapear, and cause a different set of 3 blocks to match in the process, the latter ones don't count. Typically in these matching games they do. I can see why you maybe wanted it to be difficult to get all the matches you want, but as it stands its still too easy anyways. I think this is mostly because of the sheer amount of squares that exist on the grid. I think something like a 6x6 or 8x8 arrangement would work better for this game (but maybe your testing disagrees!).
I will say it was confusing as to what to do? I tried walking to the top of the screen, but i just got stuck there on a half tile.
All that aside tho, you have a really cool project with some very creative mechanics. I hope to see a full scale game from you featuring this system one day!
It happens when i press space to continue the dialogue
I just replayed it and letting it sift through the dialogue automatically avoids the problem, it only happens when pressing space it seems.
Oh also, this is a small thing, but when moving across a screen transition to another scene (like when checking out the meteor), be sure to set the player's y position back to the ground in case they are already in a jump. When I played, I jumped all the way to the end of the scene, and my character got caught mid jump, 'air walking' across the screen.
Again, its a small thing, but hopefully a quick fix for polish!
This game seems really cool, it has a ton of personality!
Unfortunately, I'm hitting a bug where Putera just keeps saying "I got it now" in the opening scene with the meteor
I can't seem to prevent it from happening, either. It happened 3 times in a row for me, and I don't think I can progress.
I hope you get it fixed, and let me know if you need more details.
Overall, though, this seems like a very promising game. It honestly does have charm to it, and the jump mechanic is surprisingly well done. I personally struggle with making platformers that jump this well!
I hope to see Putera's adventure through!
25 minutes? that's hella impressive, I'll bump the rating for that
Love the sprite work btw, the apples are cute and remind me of minecraft apples with variety. I couldn't quite tell what the other fruit were, but honestly, a lot of fruit just kinda comes out like that in pixel art. It's hard to make similarly toned amorphous masses look any different from each other lol. even stardew valley has that problem sometimes!
Wow, this is all very valuable feedback!
I ought to abandon this microfont, I've used it in several projects so far, and while it certainly is condensed, it is at times illegible.
You're feedback on the tutorial section is very helpful too (I've never done a tutorial before lol!), I honestly had no idea whether or not it would even be helpful, and I can see now I definitely took a misguided approach with it.
As for that freeze moment, would you happen to remember what all you had in your inventory? That bug happened in testing, but only if the player picks up more than 6 items, which I thought I had prevented but I guess not.
Anyways, thanks for all of this feedback, its super super helpful! I'll be applying this all to the game as I turn it into a fully polished product :D
The idea is pretty neat here, but the sound itself is a bit unpleasant after a minute. Adding some different pitches, an occasional purr, hiss, or sneeze, or anything besides the same sound over and over again would be a lot less unpleasant.
Also it should be noted this doesn't seem to fit the theme at all.
This game could've used more levels and something else going on inside the maze. I really expected the witch to be following the player or something. It may sound difficult, but getting some rudimentary pathfinding to allow the witch to travel through the maze behind the player would be a great addition to make this more of a game. You could even put her on a static "track" so to speak
Plus, this could give the flashlight a mechanical purpose: maybe the witch can only be seen if the sprite is being touched by the flashlight "light" beam?
Some other ideas:
I really love the roguelike elements to this. The upgrade screen is probably where the style shines the most, and the only thing that could've improved the upgrades was simply more of them. But even the current variety is pretty good for a jam.
Over all, great style, great execution, and while the movement controls are a bit lacking, this game actually manages to be fun. I especially appreciated the enemy variety as well.
My only suggestion at the moment would be to smoothen out the movement controls (and maybe make the player a tad faster).
I had to play it a couple times, but I eventually got the concept. If you're very deliberate with which notes you absorb and when, you can actually make a pretty peaceful melody (barring the mic problems). I think the biggest thing that could be done to improve this game is to program a lot of control over when the sounds come in/out. Instead of repeating to the exact moment the player 'got' the sound, round that out onto a fixed timescale (you could even let the player adjust this manually for faster rythyms) that actually guarantees a consistent zen melody. That way, the players can still control when sounds come in, but it will naturally integrate into an actual thing, with plenty of variation still. The current build is kindof guaranteed to just create an admittedly unpleasant cacophony of noise for new players, but I think this change could improve it tenfold
Also, side note, breathing into a mic never works to achieve that 'wind' effect you were going for. often times sounds like that are replicated through other means. look up "ways to replicate x sound", and you'll find a lot of clever practical solutions to this problem. something as simple as dragging one piece of paper over a certain surface may create the sound you're looking for. (not to mention the added flair that organic sound would provide a project that is trying to be zen, after all)
I updated the game with a tutorial that should help, but if it doesn't, here's a rundown:
Moving is how you interact 90% of the time. Wanna talk to a character? just move into them. Push a box? Move into it. Ring a bell, move into it.
I also uploaded some gifs to the desc that explain this.
the sole exception to these controls is when you want to give a character an item. Simply face the character, select the item, and press Z. So if i wanted to give Frankie the Fish my Tissue, i would select the tissue, look at frankie, and press Z.
I am currently trying to develop a much more intuitive system than this, but let me know if this helps!
oh also 'undo' is X