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How long was your dev time?
around 4-5 hours
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How long was your dev time?
around 4-5 hours
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Comments
I tried for a while but never seemed to deal more damage than I took. It seems like the enemy's damage is always "on" while mine does not work as described - it feels like it's only active for a frame so I have to be *very* precise with my timing to dealt any damage at all without getting hit (i.e. flying right beside the enemy and pressing spacebar exactly when next to them). The sounds and particle effects etc are nice, and the enemy behavior is pretty compelling, it just feels impossible to play the game as intended.
EDIT: replayed after re-reading the instructions (and the other comment). I was able to win, but yeah it was mostly by spamming while the circles intersected. I had thought it was the transparent damage zones that mattered, but it seems your circle has to intersect theirs so that was the major misunderstanding I had.
Thanks a lot for playing the game. Yeah, the damage system is designed so that when you press space, a damage area appears around you, and this area needs to overlap with the enemy’s body in order to deal damage.
When making a game, it’s easy to become “blind” to how unintuitive or difficult something might feel for a new player, since you’ve tested it so many times yourself and know exactly how everything works under the hood.
I need to be more clear about how I communicate what is happening.
Thanks again for the clear and constructive feedback, it’s a big help, and something I can learn from to make my mechanics more understandable next time. Also I really appreciate you giving it another try and managing to beat the game in the end :)
I'm generally a big fan of your games, but have to admit I didn't really get this one (sorry). I first tried playing it according to the instructions, waiting for the enemy's damage circle to go down and then pass through it, pressing space to damage it and in doing so always seemed to take more damage than I was dealing. In the end I beat it by going straight towards it and spamming the space bar, which is kind of the opposite of what you seemed to be going for when you say, "something you deal with over time rather than instantly."
Love the particle effects with square particles and the subtle graphical effects you put in though, taking some simple shapes and making them more interesting.
Hey, thanks a lot for the thoughtful feedback (and for playing my games in general, really appreciate that).
This one was me trying something a bit different. My main focus was experimenting with making the enemy feel more “alive” rather than just building a super polished mechanic around it, so there are definitely still some clear shortcomings.
You’re absolutely right though, playing it the “intended” careful way is actually pretty challenging right now. One thing that can help (though it’s not explained well at all) is not going straight through the center, but slightly off to the side, since there’s still a small damage area in the middle even when the circle shrinks.
Also yeah, this wasn’t really in my comfort zone as a developer, and I think that shows in the end result.
Really glad you liked the visuals and effects though :)