itch.io

This is a completely fair critique. Originally, it was going to be a 'real' metroidvania, but IRL stuff took away time from level design, and I eventually decided to submit what I had before the deadline, if only to get more feedback.  I'm hoping to focus more on it after I get a more acquainted with the Godot Engine.

Aye, i've had some experience with rocket jumps in tf2. Though I'm terrible at those, so maybe that is why. Also, I kinda suck at those 'redirect' moves in general, so maybe that is why I had some difficulties.

Also, the idea of being able to shoot the sphere to do more damage is cool! never would have thought to do that, but I like mechanics where you can shoot a projectile, and then aim at it to do something new. or more powerful.

Fair enough! I decided not to have the 'direction' of the character directly affect the camera when rotating, because I was worried that it would disorient the player or cause motion sickness. I tried adding a small 'rectangle' to the side of the projectile for now to point to where you are about to fire, which I would probably replace with an arrow, and I also have the character model rotate around the outside of the circle so that you will fire at the tangent of the position you are at. I agree, the camera does need some work though. It isn't quite as 'smooth' in the movement as I would like, and there is a slight 'jump' when landing or moving around that I'd like to eliminate.

I'm partway through the game as is, and I'm really liking what I'm seeing. The character's movements feel very slick, although maybe a little slippery on small ledges (though, that might be on purpose). The biggest case where this comes into play is probably the time trials, just because they require you to land precise jumps on small platforms, and if you miss one, you need to run to the button to restart again. a button to 'slow down', or to make it so the character can't run off a ledge would be neat (like, if someone held down ctrl, their speed could go down, but they would be able to move more carefully.) It took me a moment to realize that before the thrust kick, you could use the kick to get a little more airtime/distance, which helped me in that room with the enemies after the save terminal.

Visuals are outstanding, especially the enemy designs. I'm not quite sure what the benefit of the ion sphere is, is it just higher aoe, or is there higher damage too?

Accidentally had my speakers off, so i haven't heard the sound effects and music yet, but I'll edit my comment when I do.

The thrust kick is something i like in theory (Pseudoregalia had something like it), but in first person, with a limited number of double jumps that I don't think reset upon wall-kicking, it is a little hard to manage, because you often have to look away from the thing that you want to land on, and it felt like the 'airtime' I was getting from it was a bit small (even though that is probably because it depends on the angle you kick from). If it reset your double jump, or didn't take your stamina later on in the game, I feel like it would be a cool way to climb up surfaces. However, that might mess with things like the time trials.

I want to state again, I am very, VERY impressed with how fun the actual movement feels, and think this project has a lot more potential if you wish to build upon it in the future! Great job!

I just finished the game with 7/11 space flesh. Here are my thoughts:
1. I like the intro to the game, and the fact that the tutorial is skippable, so if there were players trying to replay the game and get to finding more flesh, they could get into the action quicker. The visual effect of the ship speeding up was a cool touch.
2. Controls felt mostly nice. The idea that you can alternate fire is nice, although I think currently it is reloading if you try to fire without ammo, when it could start reloading after firing the shots. Some jumps were a little hard to land, although there is a jump shadow, and I do like that the dash can be used in mid air and felt responsive.

3. Enemies had an interesting balance and variety. The cramped hallways made it so that even enemies that just chased you were a high priority. I did think the 'roomba' was at first a helper, trying to lay down bombs that you could use to help destroy the blobs, before I got to the door and realized that the roomba was an enemy. Some rooms felt like they were filled with maybe too many enemies, but you could back up into hallways to make it easier to manage.

4. The bombs are cool too, in that they go off either after a small amount of time, or after shooting them again, which allows them to be used for a lot of cool puzzles.

5. It would be nice if the doors had a different texture that didn't blend in with the hallways, as sometimes it was hard to tell where the entrances/exits were.

Overall, a very neat game, and one that I could see being built upon in the future, or used as a 'basis' for other projects. Great work!

Hey, as long as you learn something from it, then it is worth it!

Ah, so the 'ground slam jump' is based on the surface/object you are slamming onto, and not the actions pressed?

Aye, the camera is something I was messing around with a lot during the jam. originally, it just followed the character, but then while playing Pseudoregalia, I noticed that at certain areas, it would instead stay at certain heights in PR. I think I'll need to mess around a bit more with my camreato make it feel 'natural'. Its main use, from my understanding, is letting the player see over 'ledges' if they are grabbing them.

The way it works now is that there are 'areas' that the player can enter to change the camera's target height. Then, if there are multiple, they are added to a stack or queue. If the player leaves one, it is popped, and from the remaining 'areas' that the player is touching, a height is selected. But there are some moments when it does feel very hard to adjust the boundaries, so I've been considering alternatives.

Thanks for the feedback, and I'm glad that the character feels good to control! Aerial movement was the hardest part, especially when the player needed to switch directions.

Rewriting here from discord:

So, I tried the start of this today, and got to the first 'attack' upgrade and key, and to the second 'save' idol, before getting lost. Here are my thoughts: I gradually got used to it, but the movement does feel very slow to start and strict. I understand this was probably to give the game a heavy feel, but it often felt like I was fighting against the game, ESPECIALLY on jumps. Maybe this is due to the animation making it seem like the player should be going much faster, because of the character's height and size. The dash, as others have said on the itch.io page, is somewhat finnicky, and I never really felt like I was in control of if it would or would not go off, so I would resort to mashing shift and praying that it worked, especially in the levels with spikes. I don't know if I was missing a mechanic, or if the input for the dash is somehow being blocked by unreal's engine, but it felt very punishing to jump, try dashing and have it activate late, and then fall towards the ground, potentially on spikes that would do a decent amount of damage. Maybe a 'dash ready' meter, or some sort of temporary debugging tool that tells the player that it has read the button to dash would help with problem solving.

I really like the visuals, and the sound effects! The main character really looks unique, and I appreciate how getting the weapon changed their look. I liked the way the dog in the 'cage' at the start would bark at you, like the only thing saving you is the gaol, even if it was a little excessive when going on non-stop. Maybe every once in a while, every 3 or 4 barks, it could stop barking and try headbutting the bars with a clang, so that there is a bit of change and rhythm to the sounds. 

I also liked the idea of vine cutting, to open shortcuts, but it was somewhat annoying to not know what vines could or could not be cut. Like some others have said, maybe some different colors or a glowing effect would help.

 As I said, I got stuck at the second idol/pyramid. I didn't really know where else to go from there, and when I got close enough to the wall with a crack, some music would begin playing. But I could still leave the room (although, if I left the gate after entering the room with the pyramid, it would lock up and I could not get back in). 

Lots of potential, and amazing artwork, but the gamefeel itself could use a lot of work, imo. Still, great job creating a bunch of levels, I can see a lot of work went into generating their layouts.

Really liked the character design, and the concept of a 'skateboarding' protagonist could lead to a lot of cool movement design and stage layouts. Maybe the character could get a drift that lets them be 'closer' to the ground, getting under low gaps, or to keep speed while going around corners. Maybe they could have a 'drill' or 'tornado'-like attack, where they spin their board like a rotor blade and hit enemies with it. Maybe this could instead be used as a 'glide'. However, as it is, there isn't really a lot of direction given to the player. I also noticed that the music doesn't seem to loop, at least in my experience, which I think an audiosource can be set to do. The trippy visuals are neat though!

I played A Short Hike last month, and was thinking the other day that this was just like it (well...as close as a game about a one-legged robo-cat-maid can get to A Short Hike)

Interesting idea for a game (having it so that each npc has two upgrades they could provide, and so that upgrade combinations can allow the player to enter different areas) It took me a while to realize that you could hold the button to send out multiple projectiles, which made the wall projectiles a lot more useful.

Music is a little loud at the moment, but I'm impressed by anyone who can make their own art and sound assets. The sprites were kinda cute in how they would fly into the air or float to the bottom of the screen, with little speech text.

Clickteam Fusion...wasn't that the engine that the FNAF games used?

Overall, great job on the game, even if it is more of a prototype.

Interesting idea for a game (having it so that each npc has two upgrades they could provide, and so that upgrade combinations can allow the player to enter different areas)

It took me a while to realize that you could hold the button to send out multiple projectiles, which made the wall projectiles a lot more useful.

Music is a little loud at the moment, but I'm impressed by anyone who can make their own art and sound assets. The sprites were kinda cute in how they would fly into the air or float to the bottom of the screen, with little speech text.

Clickteam Fusion...wasn't that the engine that the FNAF games used?

Overall, great job on the game, even if it is more of a prototype.

Just tried this out! Lots of cool stuff here (dialogue boxes, wall sliding, an upgrade system). The pixel art was nice! I did notice that the 'options' menu seemed to open automatically when starting the game, when maybe it should be hidden at first. like others have said, some of the enemies have a bit too much health, or are a little too similar in their approach (All three bosses could be beaten with the approach of 'shoot in their direction, and jump over if they get too close), but I do appreciate things like the third boss getting a fireball attack that will 'soak' a gunshot, and that there were some changes to the arena for it. Great job!

Posted these comments on Discord, but I'm reposting here in case those are taken down. Apologies for the long text bubbles.

Nice short experience, from what i played. The 'initial' camera sensitivity feels a tiny bit small for my liking, but there is a setting for that, so that isn't really a problem. I like that the combo system rewards using different moves, and things such as the projectiles being deflectable with a block. Making health being regenerated as you deal damage to encourage aggressive gameplay was a nice touch. I think I hear a small sound to telegraph enemy sword swings, but I would prefer if it was louder, so that that way it is easier to tell when to block. This is especially nice if you can block while 'surrounded' (I haven't experimented enough to determine if this is the case or not). Making the fellas that shoot fireballs taunt you afterwards is also a nice and charming touch.

The wall climb is also a nice touch. Pretty easy/intuitive to trigger, since you just need to adjust where you are looking, yet also constrained to keep the player from climbing up entire skyscrapers (I'm about 90% sure it is time based. could see a lot of combat potential in this, especially based on the challenge rooms)

The only part of the game that is a bit buggy to me, is the text boxes. The actual text inside them is pretty nice, and using capitalization or alternate styles to emphasize words and emotions is cool. But I had a few times where the dialogue box would freeze/wouldn't let me continue, which required me to restart the game, including the first time I got the axe. My guess is that this is due to a value or state switching at the wrong time, or the same input being read twice, leading to the textboxes getting stuck. It might or might not be related to the ability to make the text show up if you press the button again, while it is still writing (which is a nice feature). (edited)

I think there might also be at least one set of doors where if you enter it, you are left facing the door you just came from, which can lead to confusion or loops where you enter a room, forget to let go of forward, and then run back into the room you just left.

Still, very cool game, and the challenge room idea is pretty great. Adds some reward for exploration without making players that just want to unlock more movement upgrades or the next ability wait.

Reposting here from Discord:
I just played this today. I kinda like the 'troll' move of making it so that the cards to open the 'force fields' also removes the bridges over those small pits. I also like that there IS an upgrade to allow you to deactivate the drones (the shiv), and that the shiv has a tiny glimmer to it. However, I did miss that it existed the first few times, and there is a softlock that can happen on the second screen. If you kill the security drone too early, it can block the hallway, meaning you can't get to the ladder or the yellow forcefield to end the game. Jumps also feel a little tight, but I do appreciate the idea of having shields and lives.

I got through, up to getting the ground pound, before accidentally softlocking myself, so here are my thoughts:
1. I like the character's design! The idea that the 'top-half' is disconnected from the bottom, with a whispy tail almost connecting the two is nice! Similarly, I like a lot of the texturing and the visuals. The skeletal pedestals for upgrades were nice too.
2. I had a little trouble with the ground pound jump, and the 'jump higher using it' mechanic. I don't know if i was misusing it, but I had a hard time getting it to consistently trigger (or not trigger). sometimes i would be pressing nothing when i landed, and still 'high-jump'. sometimes I would be pressing jump right before or after landing, and then nothing would happen.

3. I like the idea of the enemies demonstrating variations of the skills the player gets, like the pale ghosts that dash at you. The main enemy I didn't like was the green ghosts, because I always seemed to take damage when dealing with them, and that combined with some difficult platforming led to several respawns

4. I appreciate that 'death' does not force you to start from the very beginning, and that you can select your spawnpoints by visiting them again.

5. Some of the level design feels very hard to differentiate, room to room, which meant if I got turned around, I had a hard idea telling where to go next. Some unique setpieces that are 'facing' a specific way, like a statue or something would probably help with that. Or placing something on the path that makes the player want to go towards it. There was a part of the game after getting the double jump where I didn't quite know where to go, although in retrospect the place to use it was in front of me, to the left, because textures on both the walls and platforms were browns and grays.

6. I have to agree with some of the other members that a dropshadow would really help with positioning, as there were many times where I thought I was above the platforms, only to fall and drop into acid. Additionally, jumps and gravity felt somewhat heavy, which added to the difficulty of positioning and made it harder to tell if I was going to land on pillars that needed it. I did like that the dash let you use it in mid-air, though.

7. Just mentioning it here, because it was end of game and time was probably split as is, but I had a situation where I used the ground pound while dashing, and somehow landed on the ground upside down and 'stuck' in the ground-pounding mode. I could not jump from that point on, and trying to respawn caused me to fall through the geometry of the level and land 'on top' of an arena. This probably is because the respawn does not reset either the state, or the position of the character, so it continued trying to slam towards the ground and slipped through the floor.

Lots of nice stuff here, you all did nice work!

Thanks for the feedback! For some reason, I somehow missed this comment. I thought I had keyboard controls put in (although, the mouse doesn't rotate the camera, which is something I might want to add later if I want to avoid the 'requires controller' warning). Maybe the keyboard controls were put into the update that I wasn't able to push before this jam's second deadline ended, due to IRL things.

Hey, I saw this the other day, and I appreciate you checking it out. I'm not sure what the chances are of me having a real playable level before the normal metroidvania jam ends as there are a lot of refinements I want to do and some irl stuff has come up, but I'm glad that the spinning mechanic was fun, and I'm planning to work on this more during the Super Metroidvania Month Jam

I just played through this, and I liked it a lot. The character is cute, and the game gets a lot out of the 'needle climbing' mechanic. There are a couple moments where it felt a little hard to tell where I was going, and I think I accidentally sequence broke at one point. Hard to tell though, the game seems to have many ways to 'progress', which is nice.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I was confused for quite a while with regards to one of the puzzles, the one with a clock, because it allows users to 'punch' it into the negatives, and because (although i might have missed it), the animation of it chiming was blocked by the clock itself, so I couldn't draw an immediate one-to-one on what i was doing wrong. It would be nice if the 'values' were capped in some way (like if you go above '22:00', it wraps around back to 10:00)

I noticed that it seems like no screws were included yet, but the game felt nice to control even without the upgrades

When I say I 'sequence broke', I mean that I actually traveled to the room with soap and 'tubs' before I had the hover upgrade, and managed to get the ribbon, after much trial and error.

One thing that might be neat (albeit potentially pace-breaking), is if at the end of a 'day', there was something similar to what is in Pikmin 1, where the mc reflects on their day, what obstacles are left, and where they might be able to go. It could help with the situation of getting lost in the big, open areas.

Overall, a very pretty and cool game. I can tell a lot of work went into the level design, and making the obstacles/terrain feel like they belonged in a household/apartment.

I really like the concept of this one! If you were going to build upon it, maybe there could be 'moving' obstacles, so you need to swap out quickly? Balancing it so that the obstacles aren't too fast for the player to switch would make this a bit hard though.

1180!

Just tried this out. I like it a lot, although I rage-quit one of the later levels that starts with four 'rows' of spikes. I really like how the death mechanics are handled, but one thing that I think would help is if there was some way to tell when I'm actually above the 'platform' i'm standing on. Like, maybe a shadow sprite that is just a light, transparent black or gray circle or static image, but appears under my character on the 'highest' point that i'm currently above. it might look a little clunky, but it would allow the player to see where they are going to land so they know when to stop moving left or right.