The gun sounds are extremely meaty, I liked that a lot.
Besides that I'm unsure what the game is supposed to be. The bomb, small hurtbox and the sheer density of projectiles remind me a bit of danmaku games but you can also carefully kill all the turrets in the wall with the axe subweapon like in a more traditional sidescroller. Simply dodging all the enemies is also a valid strategy thanks to the aforementioned hurtbox and hover ability.
Well damn that's quite the improvement from last time.
The new graphics look great, especially the main character animations. Those slime enemies look unfitting though and the mixels annoy the shit out of me.
Gameplay feels much improved and I'm glad you seem to have dropped some of the odd mechanics like the pets or whatever they were called.
Effects like screen shake and hitstop seem a bit heavy for my taste but they don't impact the gameplay in a detrimental way as far as I'm concerned.
I never used subweapons because I found them too annoying to use compared to just shooting enemies.
As Qwott has noted I very quickly figured out you can really just skip past most things and not die. You need some kind of mechanic to make the player actually engage enemies.
Those slime enemies look unfitting though and the mixels annoy the shit out of me.
For unfitting you mean like qwott "a templar should not fight this kind of stuff"? Also, what mixel did you nitice? my pixelshit need a lot of refining
As Qwott has noted I very quickly figured out you can really just skip past most things and not die. You need some kind of mechanic to make the player actually engage enemies.
I'm trying stuff, I removed the mechanic to kill all enemies to open the exit because it was frustrating for too many players. I'll get to work and see how to deal with this problem in a good way. If everything else fails I could just add zones where you get trapped in till you kill every wave that spawns in like dmc/bayo do.
For unfitting you mean like qwott "a templar should not fight this kind of stuff"?
A bit of that, but I could see it work if done right. To me it's more the style though, they're very cutesy and they seem to be the only thing with transparency and rotation which really makes them stand out.
what mixel did you nitice?
Explosions and the big bomb are at lower resolution that most other things. The pink bullets are at higher resolution. I'm a bit of a purist myself when it comes to this but honestly, most people won't care as long as it looks good. Hell, I don't care much myself if it isn't my own game. Just look at Terraria. That shit's full of mixels and rixels and whatever else and I love it.
If everything else fails I could just add zones where you get trapped in till you kill every wave that spawns in like dmc/bayo do.
That was my initial idea. I'd definitely try other avenues first though, like more aggressive enemies that actively go for the player. The arena style approach has potential to appear like a cop-out I feel.
Nice music, endearing tileset. The tutorial is nicely paced and not cumbersome. I kinda suck at these games but I managed to get to the end. Was a good experience in general.
fun short demo, sounds good but gfx needs a bit of work. I also wish the character would look at the mouse, i dont really see the benefit of it not doing it. I think you need to select if it's a twin stick controls or keyboard/buttons only.
I also wish the character would look at the mouse, i dont really see the benefit of it not doing it
Your suggestion is valid, but the problem is the following: if robo looks where your mouse is, there is no need for strafe. And no, this is not designed to be a twinstick game like gungeon, nuclear throne etc. it's a classic mega man/castlevania, so the pad I have in mind is a snes one.
The problem comes up only for wasd players, and to remove confusion I might need to kill kb+m input for the control scheme and add a rebinding.
I like the gun feedback, feels pretty strong for a basic attack, I wish I could charge it up for more power.
The game gets very hectic and you have to juggle a lot of attacks, I am a bloody casual when it comes to bullet hell, so for me the ability to slow down time a bit would be great, maybe in a skill tree later on? could be linked to the strafe.
Skill issue on my part, kept forgetting the hotkeys for the different attacks also I was moving too recklessly, so I got surrounded a lot, I have never been good at bullethell
In 16:10, the game fills the screen vertically, leading to the sides being cut off.
I'll see what I can do about it, I've must have missed something in unity settings.
Still doesn't let you start the game with Z.
SHI- u right. I did the option but not the main menu -__-''
Cartoony slimes with smiley faces and buds on their heads aren't the first thing I'd imagine as enemies when I hear "RoboTemplar."
I hear you, but even if templars are best known for the crusades my intent was never a robocrusade vs space muslims. I'm going for something similar to ninja gaiden games aka ninjas are cool, so our hero is a ninja. Templars are cool, and protect the human race.
Still not a huge fan of the "winding paths with enemy spawners at the end" style of level design.
This was just the last level (slimes) or it's still your overall impression?
Never felt the need to use bombs since the enemy/bullet density never got high enough that it was worth it. You can just fly past all the enemies and the health pickups are common enough that getting hit once or twice doesn't matter.
Eh what I can tell you... I agree the game is super easy now but most players align with this difficulty. It's up to me to ramp up the difficulty little by little and train the player. It's also my duty to learn what is a good level for my game. I'm still exploring here!
I really think you need a boss fight before the mechanics can be judged properly.
>This was just the last level (slimes) or it's still your overall impression?
It's fine if it's limited to a few levels. Just don't make it the bread and butter of the game.
Also, I just realized that there's no difference between getting hit and using a bomb, except for the (not so useful with the low density and long I-frames) bullet clearing. They both cost the same amount of health and give you the same I-frames.
I just realized that there's no difference between getting hit and using a bomb, except for the (not so useful with the low density and long I-frames) bullet clearing. They both cost the same amount of health and give you the same I-frames.
This was intentional. If you know you are about to get hit you better bomb to have a bullet clear and some free kills. I could add this philosophy to the tutorial, but I dunno about that. Moreover, at later stages I plan to have some enemies/bullets deal more than 1hp, so you better learn to bomb
Sorry for the late reply, I hope to play an update of your demo soon.
Balance seemed fine to me, at least assuming that this is the tutorial. I died a couple times in the last area, but have no experience with shmups. Although random full-HP drops (probably not intended, since they also gave me overheal) seem to be too powerful.
Looks good visually, all UI also seemed clear to me. Templarman also controlled correctly.
The game seems in a strange place with the strafing, gravity seems to only matter for some enemies since you can just move as if its top-down. But I guess that's intended and the main way this game is supposed to be different from its competitors.
I don't see the use of the bomba (except in overheal mode). Taking damage to remove bullets/enemies just doesn't seem worth it.
A bit too short to give more feedback. The main difficulty in these making these games is level design, so without more content it's hard to know how good it will be.
Thanks for playing and congrats on your game success!
Balance seemed fine to me, at least assuming that this is the tutorial. I died a couple times in the last area, but have no experience with shmups. Looks good visually, all UI also seemed clear to me. Templarman also controlled correctly.
that's nice.
Although random full-HP drops (probably not intended, since they also gave me overheal) seem to be too powerful.
I filled the final area with medkits because I feared was too jarring too soon, since you are being introduced at once 5 new enemy types.
The game seems in a strange place with the strafing, gravity seems to only matter for some enemies since you can just move as if its top-down. But I guess that's intended and the main way this game is supposed to be different from its competitors.
Bingo. Strafe itself serves both as an easy mode for aiming/spacing and dodging a lot of bullet. The main thing that's missing for now are enemies /hazards faster than you in strafe, so after a certain point you need to take the weels off and go fast.
I don't see the use of the bomba (except in overheal mode). Taking damage to remove bullets/enemies just doesn't seem worth it.
A bit too short to give more feedback. The main difficulty in these making these games is level design, so without more content it's hard to know how good it will be.
Good design is the answer here. I hope for next demo to give more advanced levels(and bosses) where using a bomba seems worth, like a "fuck it" button.
obviously its just a tutorial but i found it too easy and uncompelling. i have to wonder what the main game would be like since i feel the mechanics are too shmup-like for a shooting action game but too slow and simple for a shmup
i didnt like the slowdown on hit and felt like it made me take more damage. i also think the shield was overhealing me no matter if i had full health or not
obviously its just a tutorial but i found it too easy and uncompelling. i have to wonder what the main game would be like since i feel the mechanics are too shmup-like for a shooting action game but too slow and simple for a shmup
Dunno if you ever played my game before but it was way harder and unforgiving, so my objective in this demo was to make it playable for the common player.
You are right on point about my game not being neither fish or meat. I am tuning to make it as enjoyable and fun as possible without going too deep into stg.
i didnt like the slowdown on hit and felt like it made me take more damage.
there are multiple slowdowns:
When you get hit the game slows for 0.5s, but you are invincible for 2(real) seconds.
when slimes die their explosion slows you down on hit one second. I didn't added a graphic to that debuff so maybe it was too hard to notice, and maybe this was the slow you didn't like.
i also think the shield was overhealing me no matter if i had full health or not
It's intended that way, I didn't want to write too much in the tutorial. Medkit heals 3, so you can get in overHeal from 3hp onward. But thanks anyways for the headsup.
Nitpick: "Button South" in the starting room refers to "Ctrl", right?
I like the tutorial, it drip feeds you information and lets you try out the controls and mechanics in practice.
What does "Button West" mean?
For some reason, I sometimes can have multiple barrel grenades, without them detonating when I right-click. Is that intended, or a bug? I am confused a bit on that part.
Surprisingly good and surprisingly hard, I like the level design, it is challenging and makes you think.
The demo was very, very short, but great. Charging into the final room at low health, seeing a huge amount of enemies, and using the last shield I had to destroy them, was great. It was difficult, but I liked that.
I did not find the secret area the first time around, replaying now. I only found one small secret area with a shield.
Adding by editing: I cannot click the options buttons with the mouse.
So, button + (cardinal direction) are generics for pad buttons. Instead of saying "X" for ps, "A" for xbox etc, I use my engine nomenclature. in this case button south.
I like the tutorial, it drip feeds you information and lets you try out the controls and mechanics in practice.
thanks 2
For some reason, I sometimes can have multiple barrel grenades, without them detonating when I right-click. Is that intended, or a bug? I am confused a bit on that part.
That's a bug. You should have only one grenade active, I'll check on that
Adding by editing: I cannot click the options buttons with the mouse.
I didn't add yet that option. I'll put it on the list.
Surprisingly good and surprisingly hard, I like the level design, it is challenging and makes you think.
The demo was very, very short, but great. Charging into the final room at low health, seeing a huge amount of enemies, and using the last shield I had to destroy them, was great. It was difficult, but I liked that.
I did not find the secret area the first time around, replaying now. I only found one small secret area with a shield.
Thanks 3. A question for you, do you usually play 2d shooters (like mega man) or retro inspired action games like shovel knight, medroidvanias, roguelikes etc? I ask because so far you are the only one who find it hard, but reading your comment it was the right kind of hard.
I would say that I sometimes play them, but this was my first time playing the game, which might have made it more difficult for me. Also, I think I chose a poor strategy at the final part, where the enemies kept stacking up, and I tried a slow and methodical approach to defeating the enemies. Though, I eventually decided to charge through and use a shield when I discovered the large number of enemies in the final room. The second go around was much easier, since I knew to go on the offensive and just charge through.
A lot easier to digest this time around. Maybe just a tad too easy given the amount of HP drops, though I guess that's good for a tutorial area. I liked the design of the explosives area, I found a secret area and it organically taught the player that their explosives would also pass through grates, allowing for some fun killing shortcuts. Bombs seem a bit OP, given how often HP drops. The slow down on hit may also be a bit too forgiving, but I imagine it's more applicable with a lot more threats later on. I do wish I could see the Templar's hitbox, because right now getting hit by projectiles feels really vague, and it took me a minute to realize just how small the hitbox is.
I'm glad to ear it, that was the scope of this demo.
Bombs seem a bit OP, given how often HP drops. The slow down on hit may also be a bit too forgiving, but I imagine it's more applicable with a lot more threats later on.
I stuffed the slime area with medkit because all the enemies are new and I didn't know how hard/easy they are to deal with
I do wish I could see the Templar's hitbox, because right now getting hit by projectiles feels really vague, and it took me a minute to realize just how small the hitbox is.
It's on the list for the next demo, it's indeed a staple of stg in general so ofc needs to be there.
Comments
Hey, great improvements
https://mega.nz/file/7ANGUR4a#P4XngYj0H3VNeWlm-aBKiDANuybYiwtew-PajLiEm_E
I am definitely going to record a longer video in future when you add more content.
The gun sounds are extremely meaty, I liked that a lot.
Besides that I'm unsure what the game is supposed to be. The bomb, small hurtbox and the sheer density of projectiles remind me a bit of danmaku games but you can also carefully kill all the turrets in the wall with the axe subweapon like in a more traditional sidescroller. Simply dodging all the enemies is also a valid strategy thanks to the aforementioned hurtbox and hover ability.
Well damn that's quite the improvement from last time.
The new graphics look great, especially the main character animations. Those slime enemies look unfitting though and the mixels annoy the shit out of me.
Gameplay feels much improved and I'm glad you seem to have dropped some of the odd mechanics like the pets or whatever they were called.
Effects like screen shake and hitstop seem a bit heavy for my taste but they don't impact the gameplay in a detrimental way as far as I'm concerned.
I never used subweapons because I found them too annoying to use compared to just shooting enemies.
As Qwott has noted I very quickly figured out you can really just skip past most things and not die. You need some kind of mechanic to make the player actually engage enemies.
Thank you for playing once more dud!
For unfitting you mean like qwott "a templar should not fight this kind of stuff"? Also, what mixel did you nitice? my pixelshit need a lot of refining
I'm trying stuff, I removed the mechanic to kill all enemies to open the exit because it was frustrating for too many players. I'll get to work and see how to deal with this problem in a good way. If everything else fails I could just add zones where you get trapped in till you kill every wave that spawns in like dmc/bayo do.
I hope to see chasm at DD50, GL.
A bit of that, but I could see it work if done right. To me it's more the style though, they're very cutesy and they seem to be the only thing with transparency and rotation which really makes them stand out.
Explosions and the big bomb are at lower resolution that most other things. The pink bullets are at higher resolution. I'm a bit of a purist myself when it comes to this but honestly, most people won't care as long as it looks good. Hell, I don't care much myself if it isn't my own game. Just look at Terraria. That shit's full of mixels and rixels and whatever else and I love it.
That was my initial idea. I'd definitely try other avenues first though, like more aggressive enemies that actively go for the player. The arena style approach has potential to appear like a cop-out I feel.
So do I lol.
Nice music, endearing tileset. The tutorial is nicely paced and not cumbersome. I kinda suck at these games but I managed to get to the end. Was a good experience in general.
Thank you for playing, I'm glad the tutorial was well received and helped players like you. Where did you have problems?
Mostly the very end where the wallcrawler and the shooter enemies get combined into one. Which is a nice design move by the way.
I love the way that shooting feels. The sound and visual effects make it feel really powerful. The aesthetic is nice. Keyboard controls aren’t great.
Thank you for playing, can you please expand on why the controls aren't great? Did you play with wasd or arrows?
My only issue is the gun feels too laggy and the range is short so it's hard to kill enemies with it. Hope there are weapon upgrades.
fun short demo, sounds good but gfx needs a bit of work. I also wish the character would look at the mouse, i dont really see the benefit of it not doing it. I think you need to select if it's a twin stick controls or keyboard/buttons only.
Thank you for playing.
Your suggestion is valid, but the problem is the following: if robo looks where your mouse is, there is no need for strafe. And no, this is not designed to be a twinstick game like gungeon, nuclear throne etc. it's a classic mega man/castlevania, so the pad I have in mind is a snes one.
The problem comes up only for wasd players, and to remove confusion I might need to kill kb+m input for the control scheme and add a rebinding.
Yeah if thats the design you want to go with i would kill the mouse, it doesnt mesh right now. Looking forward to future iterations!
I like the gun feedback, feels pretty strong for a basic attack, I wish I could charge it up for more power.
The game gets very hectic and you have to juggle a lot of attacks, I am a bloody casual when it comes to bullet hell, so for me the ability to slow down time a bit would be great, maybe in a skill tree later on? could be linked to the strafe.
Thanks for playin!
I'll take note of charge atk and slowtime. They are common power ups after all.
More on being a casual, what was the problem?
Skill issue on my part, kept forgetting the hotkeys for the different attacks also I was moving too recklessly, so I got surrounded a lot, I have never been good at bullethell
I really think you need a boss fight before the mechanics can be judged properly.
Text errors:
Thanks for playing again dud.
I'll see what I can do about it, I've must have missed something in unity settings.
SHI- u right. I did the option but not the main menu -__-''
I hear you, but even if templars are best known for the crusades my intent was never a robocrusade vs space muslims. I'm going for something similar to ninja gaiden games aka ninjas are cool, so our hero is a ninja. Templars are cool, and protect the human race.
This was just the last level (slimes) or it's still your overall impression?
Eh what I can tell you... I agree the game is super easy now but most players align with this difficulty. It's up to me to ramp up the difficulty little by little and train the player. It's also my duty to learn what is a good level for my game. I'm still exploring here!
Exactly. We'll see next demo.
Thanks -______-''
>This was just the last level (slimes) or it's still your overall impression?
It's fine if it's limited to a few levels. Just don't make it the bread and butter of the game.
Also, I just realized that there's no difference between getting hit and using a bomb, except for the (not so useful with the low density and long I-frames) bullet clearing. They both cost the same amount of health and give you the same I-frames.
This was intentional. If you know you are about to get hit you better bomb to have a bullet clear and some free kills. I could add this philosophy to the tutorial, but I dunno about that. Moreover, at later stages I plan to have some enemies/bullets deal more than 1hp, so you better learn to bomb
Sorry for the late reply, I hope to play an update of your demo soon.
Played through it once, on keyboard:
that's nice.
I filled the final area with medkits because I feared was too jarring too soon, since you are being introduced at once 5 new enemy types.
Bingo. Strafe itself serves both as an easy mode for aiming/spacing and dodging a lot of bullet. The main thing that's missing for now are enemies /hazards faster than you in strafe, so after a certain point you need to take the weels off and go fast.
Good design is the answer here. I hope for next demo to give more advanced levels(and bosses) where using a bomba seems worth, like a "fuck it" button.
obviously its just a tutorial but i found it too easy and uncompelling. i have to wonder what the main game would be like since i feel the mechanics are too shmup-like for a shooting action game but too slow and simple for a shmup
i didnt like the slowdown on hit and felt like it made me take more damage. i also think the shield was overhealing me no matter if i had full health or not
Thanks for playing and nice avatar.
Dunno if you ever played my game before but it was way harder and unforgiving, so my objective in this demo was to make it playable for the common player.
You are right on point about my game not being neither fish or meat. I am tuning to make it as enjoyable and fun as possible without going too deep into stg.
there are multiple slowdowns:
When you get hit the game slows for 0.5s, but you are invincible for 2(real) seconds.
when slimes die their explosion slows you down on hit one second. I didn't added a graphic to that debuff so maybe it was too hard to notice, and maybe this was the slow you didn't like.
It's intended that way, I didn't want to write too much in the tutorial. Medkit heals 3, so you can get in overHeal from 3hp onward. But thanks anyways for the headsup.
This is the first time I am trying out this game.
Nitpick: "Button South" in the starting room refers to "Ctrl", right?
I like the tutorial, it drip feeds you information and lets you try out the controls and mechanics in practice.
What does "Button West" mean?
For some reason, I sometimes can have multiple barrel grenades, without them detonating when I right-click. Is that intended, or a bug? I am confused a bit on that part.
Surprisingly good and surprisingly hard, I like the level design, it is challenging and makes you think.
The demo was very, very short, but great. Charging into the final room at low health, seeing a huge amount of enemies, and using the last shield I had to destroy them, was great. It was difficult, but I liked that.
I did not find the secret area the first time around, replaying now. I only found one small secret area with a shield.
Adding by editing: I cannot click the options buttons with the mouse.
Thank you fro playing!
So, button + (cardinal direction) are generics for pad buttons. Instead of saying "X" for ps, "A" for xbox etc, I use my engine nomenclature. in this case button south.
thanks 2
That's a bug. You should have only one grenade active, I'll check on that
I didn't add yet that option. I'll put it on the list.
Thanks 3. A question for you, do you usually play 2d shooters (like mega man) or retro inspired action games like shovel knight, medroidvanias, roguelikes etc? I ask because so far you are the only one who find it hard, but reading your comment it was the right kind of hard.
I would say that I sometimes play them, but this was my first time playing the game, which might have made it more difficult for me. Also, I think I chose a poor strategy at the final part, where the enemies kept stacking up, and I tried a slow and methodical approach to defeating the enemies. Though, I eventually decided to charge through and use a shield when I discovered the large number of enemies in the final room. The second go around was much easier, since I knew to go on the offensive and just charge through.
A lot easier to digest this time around. Maybe just a tad too easy given the amount of HP drops, though I guess that's good for a tutorial area. I liked the design of the explosives area, I found a secret area and it organically taught the player that their explosives would also pass through grates, allowing for some fun killing shortcuts. Bombs seem a bit OP, given how often HP drops. The slow down on hit may also be a bit too forgiving, but I imagine it's more applicable with a lot more threats later on. I do wish I could see the Templar's hitbox, because right now getting hit by projectiles feels really vague, and it took me a minute to realize just how small the hitbox is.
Thank you for playing!
I'm glad to ear it, that was the scope of this demo.
I stuffed the slime area with medkit because all the enemies are new and I didn't know how hard/easy they are to deal with
It's on the list for the next demo, it's indeed a staple of stg in general so ofc needs to be there.