Once I figured out the mechanics, I started to have fun with your game! The visuals, audio and story-telling were on point! What I found difficult were the dying/frenzy/healing thing, shooting direction being based on my movement as opposed to mouse location and my horde seeming to only surround me and not attack enemies (unless you just intended for them to be bodyguards). I love survivorlikes and I think there might be potential here. I streamed it if you want to see my experience. Good job!
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Blood Countess (Jam)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Visual/Audio Design | #10 | 3.917 | 3.917 |
| Theme Interpretation | #14 | 3.500 | 3.500 |
| Overall | #25 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Polish | #30 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Innovation | #37 | 2.417 | 2.417 |
| Fun | #42 | 2.167 | 2.167 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What new engine or tool(s) did you use?
Godot
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I would love to!!
Also, I'm uploading a new version right now, so be sure to check it out in a few minutes. I've corrected most of what you said here.
Having to face your enemies to cast and being unable to walk while casting is intentional. This game won't ever use mouse. Maybe you would have an easier time with a gamepad.
1 year ago(+1)
Thank you, it means a lot!!
Yeah there's much we didn't have time to finish, and we didn't balance it at all. The Jam ends today so we're releasing an update in a few hours that solves many things, so follow me if you'd like to see more!
But not being able to move while you cast is intentional.
Thank you, it means a lot!
Yeah, unfortunately we didn't have time to balance it out before the time was up. We sent it at the last minute. But we have an update ready to go as soon as the jam is over, so if you liked please follow! There's much coming soon.
I'm happy you enjoyed it overall. If you need help overcoming the steep learning curve for now, be sure to check out the tips and the gameplay we've put out on the game's page.
1 year ago (+1)
Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the vibe. If you enjoyed it please follow the game and send more suggestions on how to improve it, we have some updates ready for when the jam is over!
We're aware that the game is not balanced at the start, yes. Our objective was to submit something that felt a bit more complete, with intro, tutorial, game over screen, responsive UI for both desktop and mobile...to that took away much of the time we could've spent on that.
But It's also part of the game design to be challenging and repetitive, because it's an arcade game in the true sense. The gameplay is to just stay alive and cause destruction for as long as you manage, until you die and get your score. Arcades were designed to be difficult up front so they would eat your coins while you get good at it.
It's possible to achieve really high scores nevertheless.
I was doing a test stream and explaining some stuff yesterday. It's in portuguese though, but you can see me playing.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1953187669
After the jam is done, I'll upload a new version and stream :)
1 year ago (+1)
Hey! Thank you so much for taking your time to write this thorough feedback, we need it. I'm glad you like it, so please follow the game, we have updates ready for when the jam is over!
Let me quickly explain what we have improved around those points you've made:
- We've added a tint to your minions so your can distinguish them
- We've improved the camera so it zooms out a bit while you're moving
- We didn't build a bigger arena yet, but we plan on adding more arenas with more space and obstacles
- We're adding more variety and scaling to the enemies
- As far as progression goes, we plan to have a progress in the challenge, but that's it for the story. It's supposed to be an infinite arena where you stay alive for as long as you're able to. Story-wise, the Countess was executed, then turned into a vengeful spirit and did to her accusers everything they've accused her of, and in the end burned the whole place to the ground as you can see happening when you die.
Thank you!!
I agree that it's difficult to learn at first, we should tone it down a bit at the start. We actually didn't have time to balance the start before the jam was due.
But anyway, it's an arcade game about surviving for as long as you're able to, so it's intentional that it's difficult and short.
A few key things to succeed:
- You're supposed to rely heavily on your minions(strength in numbers!). They don't cost you any health, and in fact they give you health when created. The enemies stick around to be revived for like 12 seconds so you have plenty of time to maneuver around.
- Creating minions gives you a lot of health, and much more if you're in Frenzy.
- You can't be afraid of taking damage. In fact, if your life gets to zero, you go into Frenzy get a huge buff for everything including healing. As long as your health is positive at the end of a Frenzy, you're still in the game.
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