Way to try your hand at building a Metroidvania without most of the things that traditionally make it that way. Always fun to experiment. This Z-stacked design is a fascinating approach to an interlocking world. I do find it challenging to remember gates only by color. Perhaps you can use shape or texture to help my mental mapping. I get so lost. Lovely lo-fi flow vibes. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you! I've heard similar feedback about difficulties wayfinding from others — to that end, there _is_ an in-game map of the current layer on the pause screen, and I've explored some level design options for differentiation in "Into the Hive". Did you get a chance to explore anything beyond the introductory stage?
Thanks again!
Into the Hive / 08F76307
Ah! This is going to sound dumb, but I didn't even think to try pausing the game because the map wasn't mentioned on your controls description. xD
Tried again! I don't think I got there. The map helps a little, but it's the Z interlocking that's tripping me up. I wonder if being able to tab between the layers on the map screen with some sort of visual cue that indicates which depth I'm on would help more.
No worries! I’m sorry to hear that it was still a bit much. I’d considered providing the ability to browse multiple map layers from the pause screen, but the implementation was cut for simplicity and time…
I appreciate that you were willing to come back and give it another look; if you’re willing to give it one more shot, “Into the Hive” might be a little simpler (somewhat clearer zone themes, more wayfinding hints), and it might be helpful to know that the canonical key order for “A Good Start” is YBVIOR. On the other hand, if you’re content that you’ve given my game its fair shake, I understand completely, and thank you for the feedback. 😁
Oh, yeah, no worries! I totally get scope constraints. More musing in case you want to take it further or as something to consider on future projects.
Is Into the Hive the second area? If so, let me know! I’ll give it a whirl and let you know any additional thoughts now that I’ve got your walkthrough.