Is the demo very short? I walked a bit to the bonfire, fighted two enemies, and the demo was over. Well, despite the length, you have made an interesting battle system. But if attacking the enemy finishes my turn, and I need to be in mele range to attack, then there will never be a reason to move? I think you need some kind of "Action Points" system, to balance the strategy out. Do I want to use all my points in a more powerfull attack? Do I move arround more? I don't know, but something to think.
Also, your walking animation is wrong. Left arm is moving foward with Left leg, and Right arm is moving forward with Right leg. The way it should be is Left leg moves with Right arm, and Right arm moves with Left leg.
The demo is indeed very short, more akin to a prototype. I'd say it's 5 minutes at the most if you talk to every NPC.
There will be more variety in the future. I already have ranged attacks, AoEs around characters, AoEs that can be moved remotely, and techniques that move/push units. Not to mention items which I'm in the process of implementing.
I don’t really understand why the attack area is decouple from what you actually hit? Shouldn’t selecting the area also select the characters that get hit? Even my enemies got confused by this.
But I think fundamentally this combat scheme can be nice.
… From the screenshots it appears I didn’t see all content? Did I hit a wrong button or was I incorrectly booted to the main menu?
About the attack area, the collisions are far from perfect at the moment. My goal at the time is to have something more or less functional, polish will come later.
About the content, the prototype is only about 5 minutes long if we are being generous. The only "hidden" content consists on talking to the 3 NPCs scattered around the area and finding the shield.
Ah.. I have always like knight in armor, the way the characters are animated is very charming, I like it a lot, but I'm not sure many people will like it. I like your start of the story, it keeps me interested. The color of the environment gave a good mystery feel, with better environment works it could be so good.
In terms of gameplay, I got softlocked twice due to the enemy permanently walking toward me >.>
When I select an attack action, I need to press the arrow key once more to actually attack; otherwise, he will swing and miss 100% of the time.
The combat is a bit slow, if your game is a game where combat will often happen, if it happens occasionally and each fight has meaning to it, then it's ok, I think.
Even tho it's not much right now, I really like it, maybe I'm biased because I like this type of story. But the combat needs quite a bit more work.
The combat does need a lot of work because I'd like to have 5 party members and a whole lot of enemies on screen all at once. For now I think I'll make it a bit faster for the time being.
the walking animation is pretty funny. once one of the enemies attacked me even though i was slightly outside of its range. i didn't have the softlock that happened to brim though this looks like an extremely ambitious game. the amount of planned skills is absolutely staggering. best of luck with the development!
The whole inventory felt overdone for something at this stage.
Animations on the main character felt very off and weird. For example, arms tend to sway to counteract your legs when walking. And holding your sword over your shoulder also felt off when the "normal" way would be to hold it in front of you. The enemies' animations were just fine, so it's a weird contrast.
The little pop-up speech bubble for the dead body faced the main character and not the camera.
The battle UI, while functional, felt out of place compared to the rest of the game. I know it'll probably change in the future but wanted to confirm that it should change.
The textbox during dialogue had some odd spacing issues where it starts to wrap the text before the edge of the box.
I indeed have a combination of assets and mechanics at different points of development going on. I've had to resist the urge to keep working on things that aren't even relevant at this stage.
I hope that in the future the experience will be more cohesive.
-Enemy pathfinding size seems a bit big, he should have been able to close the distance and attack but he was bumping to the enemy above me and couldn't get closer. See screenshot.
-I feel like the enemy turns take a little too long to play out. Slightly boring waiting for them.
-Oh the game is already over. I restarted and looked a little bit, talked with the wayward soul and mr legs. Guess that's it.
-I decided to fight once more, and when I attack the left enemy from behind on the first turn, he's now stuck in an infinite walk(waited 2+ minutes) and his turn won't end! Very bad bug, at least add a timeout for the AI.
Well not much to it now, but the framework seems fine. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for trying the game. I think that enemy really likes you.
Jokes aside, a turn timeout is a good idea that I'll be sure to consider. I'm afraid that the enemy AI is not even halfway done all things considered.
As for combat speed, it is always tricky to balance in RPGs because if it's too fast then people don't know what's going on and if it's too slow then they get bored instead. I believe the best solution would be a speed setting but it'll be some time until I get around to implementing that.
I like the vibe so far. Good to just jump into controlling the character.
*Personally* I hate metal in games. It just turns me off completely, and takes me out of immersion.
it’s kind of a banger tho
Combat is a tad slow,
Dead of first ncounter. Kind of sucks in the tutorial, especially because it seems easy to mis-use attacks and lose
Ok I see. I can start an action with no character selected, which leads to a wasted turn because I attack nothing.. Just start on the first select-able enemy, and the turn mis-use would be 90% fixed
Damn it’s over already? I was just getting started :( This seems very promising.
Overall thoughts
Just as a starter it seems cool, but need to see more. I worry this type of game might have to compete with BG3 in levels of game-play. By that, I mean things like vertical, amount of choice for encounters, and scope. I don’t think that’s a complete problem though, I’ve enjoyed games adjacent to BG3 (Solasta, BG1) but just keep in mind there is a wide pool of competition.
That said, I do think this game style lends itself to the high points of Afterlife guardians. And (IMO of course) those were the characters and thinky gameplay. This genre has tons of space for both of those, so it seems like a perfect fit. Excited to see what you develop this into.
Really cool demo, will definitely play next DD to see the progress!
Thanks for playing. I'm not married to the battle music myself but I haven't found a suitable replacement yet.
The tutorial is indeed almost impossible unless the player figures out that they start with a technique, the secret shield or the wait initiative buff. Then again, that's kind of the point. Being able to fight back against nightmare creatures is already a power fantasy in my opinion.
As for the length, I made the prologue as concise as possible but I haven't decided on how long the demo should be as a whole. Either way I've got a lot of work ahead of me so I appreciate the interest.
Going of this small slice I already think there's big improvement in how it feels and looks compared to Afterlife Gladiator. Switch to 3D and new combat so far look good.
Based on buglady and cactus guy we're back to AG world, but world of the living this time? Looking forward to how this will go.
I'm glad you think it's an improvement. I made the jump to 3D mainly because the thought of drawing sprites in different perspectives was giving me nightmares.
The character designs are lovely, the map music is nice. There was a waifu who turned into a lid. Lore seems interesting. Like the crusty 3D combined with the 2D spritework, very intriguing start. Killed the dreammobs, looking forward to political antics.
This game gave me flashbacks to Afterlife Gladiator. I hope there will be a caring, healer waifu later on too.
Anyhow, here are my observations:
Controls are a bit hard to get used to. The music was pretty loud at the start so i tried to get to the settings, which didn't work. At first i thought i was hitting the wrong buttons, but at some point i realized the settings must simply be missing.
The visuals and audio is great as always. Love the 2d art as well as the retro looking 3d. Combat music is a banger too, just like in AG. However, the combat music didn't stop when i died and the game put me back in the main menu. Starting a game again fixed it however (i guess there's only two triggers to change tracks, the menu not being one of them).
After finding the stick i went to equip it, which worked fine. Checking out the rest of the screen lead to a crash though: I accidentally unequipped the helmet and tried to go to the chest slot. At that point the crash happened.
Later i will try to beat those (well designed) monsters and see what happens afterwards. For a first look this is promising and carries over all the good Afterlife Gladiator DNA. Maybe the walking animation of Alexander is a bit dorky, but thats okay.
Thanks for trying out the game. I indeed haven't added settings, a game over screen and other basic amenities like that yet. All the player is expected to do at this point is equip weapons and check their one technique so see what it does.
Nevertheless, you are going to need that armor so don't take it off!
If you need any more then I suggest you explore a little bit before picking the stick.
Alright i fired up the demo again and found the winter girl. I managed to beat the two baddies without the shield though and when i looped back to the beginning and found the shield again, i had two, nice!
Also looked around more in the character menu/details and the skill thing looks pretty big. I wonder how that will fill up, and if characters can level up so many different things like its Morrowind. Cant wait for next DD.
Comments
Is the demo very short? I walked a bit to the bonfire, fighted two enemies, and the demo was over. Well, despite the length, you have made an interesting battle system. But if attacking the enemy finishes my turn, and I need to be in mele range to attack, then there will never be a reason to move? I think you need some kind of "Action Points" system, to balance the strategy out. Do I want to use all my points in a more powerfull attack? Do I move arround more? I don't know, but something to think.
Also, your walking animation is wrong. Left arm is moving foward with Left leg, and Right arm is moving forward with Right leg. The way it should be is Left leg moves with Right arm, and Right arm moves with Left leg.
Interested in seeing where this goes. Keep it up!
Thanks for the feedback.
The demo is indeed very short, more akin to a prototype. I'd say it's 5 minutes at the most if you talk to every NPC.
There will be more variety in the future. I already have ranged attacks, AoEs around characters, AoEs that can be moved remotely, and techniques that move/push units. Not to mention items which I'm in the process of implementing.
Great visuals. Really, really good, I dig them a lot. Though main character walking animation is a bit goofy, very carefree.
Nice little story intro. Very intriguing.
Had an enemy get stuck while trying to move - had to restart the game because of that.
Who calls "Enter" button "Return"? And why is zoom in "Pg Up/Pg Down"? Come on man, it's not 1985.
Good stuff, looking forward to more!
Thanks for the feedback.
The controls are intended to be gamepad compatible at some point which is why the mouse is useless. Also, I refuse to believe it's not 1985.
Awesome game, interested to see where this goes. I'm sure the others have pointed all the issues and more.
Thanks for the kind words. Progress will be made.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2506065948
I don’t really understand why the attack area is decouple from what you actually hit? Shouldn’t selecting the area also select the characters that get hit? Even my enemies got confused by this.
But I think fundamentally this combat scheme can be nice.
… From the screenshots it appears I didn’t see all content? Did I hit a wrong button or was I incorrectly booted to the main menu?
thank you for trying the game.
About the attack area, the collisions are far from perfect at the moment. My goal at the time is to have something more or less functional, polish will come later.
About the content, the prototype is only about 5 minutes long if we are being generous. The only "hidden" content consists on talking to the 3 NPCs scattered around the area and finding the shield.
Ah.. I have always like knight in armor, the way the characters are animated is very charming, I like it a lot, but I'm not sure many people will like it. I like your start of the story, it keeps me interested. The color of the environment gave a good mystery feel, with better environment works it could be so good.
In terms of gameplay, I got softlocked twice due to the enemy permanently walking toward me >.>
When I select an attack action, I need to press the arrow key once more to actually attack; otherwise, he will swing and miss 100% of the time.
The combat is a bit slow, if your game is a game where combat will often happen, if it happens occasionally and each fight has meaning to it, then it's ok, I think.
Even tho it's not much right now, I really like it, maybe I'm biased because I like this type of story. But the combat needs quite a bit more work.
Thanks for trying out the game.
The combat does need a lot of work because I'd like to have 5 party members and a whole lot of enemies on screen all at once. For now I think I'll make it a bit faster for the time being.
the walking animation is pretty funny.
once one of the enemies attacked me even though i was slightly outside of its range.
i didn't have the softlock that happened to brim though
this looks like an extremely ambitious game. the amount of planned skills is absolutely staggering.
best of luck with the development!
Thank you for playing the game.
I will keep adding skills until morale improves.
Cool slice. Just some unarranged thoughts:
Thanks for trying out the game.
I indeed have a combination of assets and mechanics at different points of development going on. I've had to resist the urge to keep working on things that aren't even relevant at this stage.
I hope that in the future the experience will be more cohesive.
-Enemy pathfinding size seems a bit big, he should have been able to close the distance and attack but he was bumping to the enemy above me and couldn't get closer. See screenshot.
-I feel like the enemy turns take a little too long to play out. Slightly boring waiting for them.
-Oh the game is already over. I restarted and looked a little bit, talked with the wayward soul and mr legs. Guess that's it.
-I decided to fight once more, and when I attack the left enemy from behind on the first turn, he's now stuck in an infinite walk(waited 2+ minutes) and his turn won't end! Very bad bug, at least add a timeout for the AI.
Well not much to it now, but the framework seems fine. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for trying the game. I think that enemy really likes you.
Jokes aside, a turn timeout is a good idea that I'll be sure to consider. I'm afraid that the enemy AI is not even halfway done all things considered.
As for combat speed, it is always tricky to balance in RPGs because if it's too fast then people don't know what's going on and if it's too slow then they get bored instead. I believe the best solution would be a speed setting but it'll be some time until I get around to implementing that.
I'll have more game next time.
In - Game Notes
Overall thoughts
Really cool demo, will definitely play next DD to see the progress!
Gameplay recording:
Thanks for playing. I'm not married to the battle music myself but I haven't found a suitable replacement yet.
The tutorial is indeed almost impossible unless the player figures out that they start with a technique, the secret shield or the wait initiative buff. Then again, that's kind of the point. Being able to fight back against nightmare creatures is already a power fantasy in my opinion.
As for the length, I made the prologue as concise as possible but I haven't decided on how long the demo should be as a whole. Either way I've got a lot of work ahead of me so I appreciate the interest.
Going of this small slice I already think there's big improvement in how it feels and looks compared to Afterlife Gladiator. Switch to 3D and new combat so far look good.
Based on buglady and cactus guy we're back to AG world, but world of the living this time? Looking forward to how this will go.
Thanks for trying the game.
I'm glad you think it's an improvement. I made the jump to 3D mainly because the thought of drawing sprites in different perspectives was giving me nightmares.
The character designs are lovely, the map music is nice. There was a waifu who turned into a lid. Lore seems interesting. Like the crusty 3D combined with the 2D spritework, very intriguing start. Killed the dreammobs, looking forward to political antics.
Thanks for playing.
I think this is the first time someone calls my work "crusty" lel.
This game gave me flashbacks to Afterlife Gladiator. I hope there will be a caring, healer waifu later on too.
Anyhow, here are my observations:
Controls are a bit hard to get used to. The music was pretty loud at the start so i tried to get to the settings, which didn't work. At first i thought i was hitting the wrong buttons, but at some point i realized the settings must simply be missing.
The visuals and audio is great as always. Love the 2d art as well as the retro looking 3d. Combat music is a banger too, just like in AG. However, the combat music didn't stop when i died and the game put me back in the main menu. Starting a game again fixed it however (i guess there's only two triggers to change tracks, the menu not being one of them).
After finding the stick i went to equip it, which worked fine. Checking out the rest of the screen lead to a crash though: I accidentally unequipped the helmet and tried to go to the chest slot. At that point the crash happened.
Later i will try to beat those (well designed) monsters and see what happens afterwards. For a first look this is promising and carries over all the good Afterlife Gladiator DNA. Maybe the walking animation of Alexander is a bit dorky, but thats okay.
Thanks for trying out the game. I indeed haven't added settings, a game over screen and other basic amenities like that yet. All the player is expected to do at this point is equip weapons and check their one technique so see what it does.
Nevertheless, you are going to need that armor so don't take it off!
If you need any more then I suggest you explore a little bit before picking the stick.
Alright i fired up the demo again and found the winter girl. I managed to beat the two baddies without the shield though and when i looped back to the beginning and found the shield again, i had two, nice!
Also looked around more in the character menu/details and the skill thing looks pretty big. I wonder how that will fill up, and if characters can level up so many different things like its Morrowind. Cant wait for next DD.