For now I simply recommend you explore the ocean, and you'll eventually find these. Some power orbs are pretty well hidden though, so feel free to use the walkthrough if you can't figure out where they are!
You have to do it manually by going to AppData/Local and deleting the BE_Witches folder. Sorry about that, there will be an easy way to delete your save file in the next demo!
Oh sure! As long as you cite BE Witches in the credits, that sounds good to me! Ideally I'd like you to link the itch.io page as well, but I understand if you can't.
However I also need to ask kulor, who composed the song, to see what he thinks of it. I'll get back to you once I know ^^
All good! kulor is fine with it as well as long as he's credited as the composer. Here is his site, if you can link it too: http://kulor.arnoldascher.com/
In any case, good luck! Feel free to post your game here once it's ready to be shown ^^
gravitron orb breaks after you use it to reneable gravity, making it unable to freeze oyons for the duration of the battle. red/blu pyramids also fail to destroy any oyons that are mid link, making it very difficult to obtain a perfect clear if you have a red/blu oyon linked mid activation. another bug is that mashing the right arrow after opening the game from the save clock will permenantly make Rose and Yuu invisible. also, will there be a mechanic for swapping characters during combat?
The pyramid thing is on purpose, but these other two bugs will be fixed in the next version.
I've been thinking about some kind of mechanic that would let you swap characters mid combat yes. I'm still figuring it out so it's not implemented yet, but there's a chance that it will be a thing in the next version!
The soft armband can be dropped by fairies, and the rare scale can be found on green fish but I don't remember exactly where to find them, so you'll have to check the walkthrough for that!
There will be an easy way to delete your save file in the next demo, but for now you'll have to do it manually by going to AppData/Local and deleting the BE_Witches folder.
This game legit has one of the best soundtracks. The battle theme rocks hard. It's a shame this game is very ecchi and I can't really look it up without worrying about staining my search history. Maybe if we could download the music?
I'm not sure I can describe it a whole lot better than the walkthrough, but I can try. Here is what the walkthrough says:
Drag the cyan/arch pellet to the blue/dotted shard. Drag the red/circle pellet to the floating cyan/arch shard. Drag the newly formed cyan/arch pellet to the green/claw shard. Drag the newly formed green/claw pellet to the yellow/z shard. Lastly, drag the blue/dotted pellet to the green/claw shard to turn it cyan/arched. A secret door will open to D4.
Just to be clear, cyan = light blue. The way colors are described here is color/symbol (e.g. cyan/arch), but if that's too confusing, ignore the symbol part. Also, it should be noted that you need to first clear the yellow variant of this puzzle to be able to clear the cyan one. It should be a lot clearer when in game as well.
If you tell me which part of this you don't get, I can try to explain it further!
Just wanted to say that I'm definitely looking forward to upcoming updates! Played the game about a year ago (and as far as I'm aware there hasn't been updates since then), but if there really is a massive update coming then I'm super looking forward to it! Keep up the great work and, even if there's not much to say, I hope you'll continue to update the blog. Just a bit worried when I hop in here to see what's up and I see there hasn't been an update about the game itself (except for the Steam thing) since over 15 months ago. But seeing that there's still activity in the comments and on other platforms makes me very happy. Again, love the stuff and I'm looking forward to the continued progression of this game!
I'm not sure if the blog you're referring to is my Patreon, so I'll say this just in case: I've actually been posting devlogs monthly all this time! I basically use my Patreon as a devblog (https://www.patreon.com/nosebecc). I've been working hard on the game but there is a pretty hefty amount of work needed to get it where I want, which is why it's taking a while. The plan for now is for a huge update to come out in 2022, followed by the actual full game a few years after that, whenever it's done.
So yeah no reason to be worried! I'll keep working on the game until it's done, one step at a time ^^
I'm not too sure if that's what you're asking but the BE is very noticeable, you can check it out easily be downloading the cheat version and going to the large red crystal ^^
The visual design of this game is really top notch. Everything about the visuals all manage to stand out while perfectly fitting together like puzzle pieces. I seriously love the colors and how things move, I'm really excited to see what the next demo has. Keep up the great work!
Heya bud, figured I'd pop in & give you some info & insight. I had a killer time with this game the first time I played it, & hearing that there'll be a massive update soon is exciting, but there's a major problem with all this (for me, at least), which is that it doesn't run on Mac. As much as I'd hate to stack more work on your plate, that feeling is outweighed by my desire to play your game more. If it's simply impossible, that's fine, but I figured I'd let you know so you could follow up on it, one way or another.
It's not impossible, but after looking into it some time ago I did figure out that it was an enormous pain, to be honest... I will give it a fair shot after the next demo comes out, but I'm afraid I can't promise anything when it comes to Mac.
So yeah, "I'll see what I can do" is the best I have for now, sorry...
Thanks, man. It means a lot to know you have & will continue to work on this. I'm not sure how useful this is, but the main hangup on why I can't run it on Mac, even with an emulator, is the use of DirectX, which simply can't even unpack itself properly. You probably know this already, but to the best of my knowledge, Unity is a pretty simple solution, although switching engines can't really be called simple. Another thing you could try is to take the DirectX Library, fully parse it, & have it be a separate library within the file, but that would take a pretty decent amount of both time & RAM to do on your end.
Oh GameMaker should be able to handle it! At this point switching to another engine is not happening anyway, that would require an enormous amount of time with more cons than pros for me.
It's a bit worrying that even an emulator can't run it, but it's good to know the cause at least! It looks like I have my work cut out for me. Thank you, I'll make sure to look into that as well! ^^
It's not stupid at all ^^ You can only play as either Vuu or Rose in this demo (you can choose your character in the VS screen), but there will be many more in the next version.
i like the game but the one thing that i hate is the puzzles i really don't like the puzzles and i have to look it up to get help. I don't have a mouse so i can't do move the heart, also what about color blindness like blue is green and green is blue Etc can u have a option for blindness, other that don't have mouse and help for puzzles or anything please
There is a color guide in Vuu's house (where you begin the game) that will help with the puzzles and how they work. You will be able to access that guide from anywhere in the next demo.
If you don't have a mouse, you can still use WASD to rotate the heart (or anything you grab in the overworld) and F to right click.
As for colorblindness, that's what the symbols are for. These were added after a few colorblind people asked me for it, and I haven't had any complaints about it since then ^^
The art style and amount of polish that clearly went into this game is insane. I instantly fell in love with it. And then I find out that it's got a unique puzzle mechanic with the chains, that I kind of have a hard time wrapping my head around (that's a good thing!). There's so much going on here I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. And the first dangerous area is you just walk into the ocean, like what?! This is insanity. It's so fucking stylish and cool. The game is quirky, bizarre and wonderful.
I have to be honest with you, I wish I didn't feel weird about sharing it with friends, but the pervy BE fetish stuff makes me not want to share it with people I know... >_>
I can't blame you, I myself don't bring it up very much IRL for that very reason. I did implement a setting that forces the lowest breast size on every character when turned on in the next demo I'm working on, but even then it's still about anime girls in skimpy clothing in the end.
I jump that the installer that I calculate is necessary to play is dangerous and can damage the computer also download the laptop first and I jump an error
The installer is the basic Game Maker compiled one and has always worked perfectly fine so far, as it has for many other games. If it somehow didn't for you, I would need more information to do something about it. You might want to alert the Game Maker team as well. There is also a portable version that doesn't require installation however!
More like a year and a half by now... I'm going as fast as I can.
I was hoping to release it within 2021, but given what's still left to do I don't think that's gonna happen. Then again, that's why I chose not to share a release date in the first place. It will come out once it's ready, likely during 2022! That's all I can say for now other than it will be worth the wait.
Love the game and great to hear its coming along well!
Assume you are up to your eyes in doing art work, but would be great if there could be battle damage or even just a change in expression dependant on %HP. Glad to hear there will be loss screens added.
Seem to remember you were talking about changes to the battle system, but wondered if more shape related monster abilities might be good? Like killing shapes damages player for duration etc. Seeing the imps "Bulk Up" always felt like it should make them bigger for the duration.
Other battle feedback. Some of the enemies can buff themselves, but by the time they can next cast the buffs have ended. Maybe have them last until next damaging cast and not affect damage from hits by Shapes (as they will be in effect for longer). Likewise effect of shield seems fairly underwhelming.
Keep up the great work, cant wait for the next demo!
You're assuming right, that's all I've been doing for a while now ^^ I did consider doing clothes damage when a character reaches low HP, but sadly that's just too much work, so I settled for a change of expression as you said.
I have yet to add more spells, but more shape related monster abilities sounds interesting... No promises, but I'll keep it in mind! And yeah I want to add more sprite effects, precisely like "bulk up" making them bigger while the buff is active ^^
I know about that, no worries! I thought it would be funny if Imps didn't get to profit from Bulk up, so they basically just stop fighting and flex for a sec. Shield is more of a "better than nothing" spell, there'll be better versions of it later. Still, I know the balance is far from perfect. I'll do my best to improve that in the next demo!
I can't love your game enough! I am more than grateful that I am still alive because I could see such a beautiful work in my life. It's a shame that I have some little difficulties in supporting you every month because I am in China(We can't use patreon). But I promise I will ask my overseas brother to buy one for me when your game is released.
Here's a problem. Could I rank all the monster girls up to R5 in the demo? I have beaten Saen' Liz many times(absolutely more than 5), but when I compared these girls to your pictures on Deviantart , I found these girls were R4...
By the way, I am longing for your next demo. Best wishes!
Oh, thank you so much! That makes me really happy ^^
Only Vuu and Rose can reach R5 in the demo, the rest can only reach R4. Every character will be playable in the next demo (which should be out near the end of 2021), and they will all be able to reach R5 then. There will even be a R6 in the final game, but it's going to take a few more years after the next demo.
I have enjoyed the game so far but a couple things bothered me. The way you get items is to appear in the over world is too obtuse and a unnecessary waste of time. Also in combat it seems the best way to play is to swap pieces and quickly as possible. While enjoy this it does seem to render the ability to swap multiple pieces at once pointless and at times even harmful. Multiple times my combo was ruined by accidentally swapping more than 2 pieces. From my experience I found that chaining pieces together was slow high risk low reward option and that playing quick was not only more fun but also offered a bigger payoff. In my opinion it would suit the gameplay better to focus on making bigger matches (lines of more than 3) than to make multiple using the chain. Currently matching 4 or more pieces has no benefit which is a shame since it fits the pace of the game better than the chaining system. Also visual clarity could use some work. I had no idea there was a combo meter until one of your hints told me I needed high combo to make items drop. And don't get me started on how some shapes just disappear into the background. Overall I did like the game and am looking forward to playing more!
Yeah visual clarity is something I'm working on, by reworking the UI and making the background darker notably. I'll also introduce the mechanics over time in the actual game which should make things less confusing.
As for the swapping issue, it really depends. I would argue that selecting more than 2 pieces at once makes it easier to both clear more blocks at once and line up over 3 pieces. Lining up 4 and more pieces gives you energy, which allows you to use relics if you have any equipped. Once again this is something I need to explain more clearly. That being said it could be interesting to look into some incentive to clear multiple chains at once... I'll keep it in mind!
And finally about the discarding mechanic, to get items to appear in the overworld, I can't really think of a better way to do it... I recommend using the middle mouse button for quick discard over the drag & drop, but if you were already doing that I'm not too sure what to do to improve it. If you have any suggestion, I'll gladly take it ^^
For the items I was referring to the fact that item drops take 5-15 seconds to appear when on certain screens. To me that just seems rude to make players wait around for an item that might not even show up. It kills the pacing and it is just boring to do. Also for the discard system since you mentioned it I do have an idea. Instead of dropping the item just do it like an adventure game. Go to your menu to click on the item you want to use . Then it takes you back to the game screen and you cursor changes to the item's appearance. After that you just click on what you want to use it on. If the item does not fit where you click just make a sound effect that indicates that and vice versa if it does.
For the part about matching I strongly disagree. Most players will be able to make many matches just by swapping as quickly as possible which in turns builds up combo very fast. In fact I would ask you to play your game when you get the chance and for one battle focus on speed matching while not using the multi swap mechanic. Then do another battle only making good multi swaps(almost every swap rewards mana) and I want to know what you feel is a better way to play. I would also ask that you tell how often you drop your combo when playing both ways. From my own play I was not able to get my combo high or keep it going reliably while trying swap multiple pieces at the same time. On the other hand I had no problem consistently reaching 100+ while just moving 2 pieces quickly.
I am not trying to offend you I just think it would be a good idea to settle on one way of play so you can build upon that preferred style. To me the ability to link multiple pieces together and swap them all at once is too slow a way to play while at the same time you are playing a shoot em up. Playing fast just makes more sense with how frantic this game can get.
Aah that's what you meant, I'll need to check again how long it can take at most, but since the items you get that way are not used a whole lot, you should get most of what you need just by playing the game normally. But fair enough, I'll look into it! I did consider doing it like an adventure game for the dropping mechanic, but I couldn't really see any advantage over what's already in place. But well, since that's not what you had a problem with it's all good I guess ^^
As for the matching, I'm not sure if what you mean is clicking randomly as fast as you can or only selecting 2 pieces at a time but still paying attention to what you're clicking on. In the first case this is something I don't want to encourage since I feel like it ruins the point of the puzzle part of the battles, so I've been working on ways to make it a bad strategy. Then again, this only viable in the demo because of the battles being in a starting area with only 4 colors and few special blocks. If you meant the latter then no, I disagree. Selecting only 2 blocks is certainly an option, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I think selecting as many pieces as you can is the better strategy. It's definitely harder to do, but it allows you to clear blocks and gather energy more effectively once you get the hang of it. Keeping a combo going for a whole battle that way is very doable too! What I want to encourage is the ability to keep cool and think despite the shapes' onslaughts.
So yeah no worries, I appreciate you taking the time to write all of this. You brought up some good points that I'll definitely keep in mind to improve the gameplay! Thank you ^^
There will be an easy way to delete your save file in the next demo, but for now you have to do it manually by going to AppData/Local and deleting the BE_Witches folder. Sorry about that!
I must admit you have done an incredible job and i believe this game has quite a large potential and im extremely hyped for the full release!!! I especially like that the game is very enjoyable even without the BE and that the BE just makes it much better. Also i really enjoy the little puzzles and can only wonder what else have you got prepared for us
The itch.io demo is the same as the Patreon one. I'm working on a new demo which should be ready near the end of 2021! I'll release it 2 weeks earlier on Patreon though.
This game looks pretty fun and I want to try it out, but whenever I try to go past the first screen (the patreon/twitter links and music credit one) I get this error:
FATAL ERROR in Vertex Shader compilation
ShaderName: shdr_ItemShine
D3DXCompile failed - result
at gml_Object_obj_Title_Draw_0
Im getting this error with all three versions of the game (installer, .zip, and cheat versions)
Okay so I've played through most of the demo now, I reached the ending and got 3 out of 5 ranks unlocked. There's certainly a bit left to explore but I'll save that for the next releases sometime in the future.
All in all it's a great concept and I think that's what we're all falling in love with. The atmosphere is captivating. The only obvious improvement that could be made in this area is to add more content and making the backgrounds of the land and ocean less repetitive so it doesn't feel like you have to look for what has changed. Of course a lot of it has to do with that the background scenes are not interactable, simply adding a few more things to do, interacting with buildings for example, would make the areas feel more personal and less flat.
The characters look great, although I don't understand why the human female has her back turned to the camera. With that being said, please, don't fall down the rabbit hole of creating time consuming HD art for everything. Unless you have a budget for comissioning this to other artists I advice you to be very sparesome with the time you put into painting. The ability to interact with the small figures is worth so much more in the end and that's what brings the game experience. I honestly only looked at the HD art when lvling up. Perhaps you should make physical changes to the characters sprites as well?
The overall dialogue was stellar in the beginning of the game, but after you went into the ocean there was no further interaction with your companion which I missed a lot. I think that having a character development between these two characters is absolutely crucial for the success of this game.
There's too little erotic content. I know, it's a personal preference, but no one is going to hate on seeing a bit of nipple and booty here and there. Custom panties? Now that'd be an upgrade.
Beyond appearance and the feeling of the game, I have a word or two to say about the game mechanics.
1# It's way too easy. The combo meter is too forgiving, refreshing every time you make a click on anything in the game really. There should be some kind of health punishment for breaking a combo in my opinion, gaining items is not enough of a carrot to do well since that currently only relies on the overall balance of the game, which is nonexistent. You need the gamer to understand what kind of items they can receive from a certain boss and then actually really want that item to be dropped for this to work. Until you've introduced this kind of balance, the combos are pretty much pointless. You know guitar-hero? They made it jarring to lose a combo, that's what I think you need to implement. Along with that just up the difficulty a bit, make the characters strong and have the lvls reflect that. I should have a difficult time defeating the end boss who is lvl 14 when I am lvl 10.
Also, I was completely unable to read their next spells and observe what was triggering next because there's so much on the screen at all times. You should make the character flash in certain colors to really warn the player that something is about to happen, and not rely on them reading the text of the spell, because they won't have time to do that. I was thinking maybe you could pause the game a bit for a small character animation when they do attacks. Perhaps that'd help.
2# Like other people on here said, the low level characters are slightly annoying. I understand you're going for a bit of a pokemon style for that, and it could work, but without me feeling like "At least I am gaining some coins so i can buy that item I want sooner" you're not making it work.
3# The pacing of the game is nearly nonexistent. I get recipes all the time but I have no reason to craft anything because I keep winning everything without upgrading and there's no quests to craft, and I almost complete the game before I find the final fire shard for the first quest you're introduced to... I have a ton of fun looking items in my inventory but I'm just wondering why am I not able to do anything with them? I'm thinking maybe you just drew the items before finding a purpose for them, but I'm not sure.
I noticed that most of the items simply give you bonuses currently, like the torch giving you 15 health or something. That's boring as fuck. I thought I would be able to swing it around and light up a cavern or something to progress you know? I honestly hope it's just a placeholder with the small benefits. I don't need several low level items that increase my stats because once I gain something better all of those items become obsolete.
I hope you can continue to make improvements and I look forward to the next update. It's a lot of fun for what it currently is, but obviously there's going to be areas to improve this early on.
Oh damn that's a big review, thank you! I'll try to answer as much stuff as I can in the same order.
I'll be honest, I don't understand hat first point very well. I get that some rooms look alike, which is especially true of the ocean since it's more designed as a dungeon, but I feel like most rooms in the city are pretty identifiable overall. Of course I'd love for each room to be completely unique, but that would sadly take way too much time to do. That being said I am working on an slightly updated visual style, which should make the rooms easier to understand. What did you have in mind when you said interacting with buildings?
The art definitely takes a while, but it's also a big part of the game. I do plan on hiring other artists to help me with it eventually! And yes, I'd like the chibis to change depending on the character's rank as well, though only for rank 1, 3 and 5 in most cases, for time reasons. Also I just wanted Rose to have backboob, that's about it. She might get an alt sprite eventually, we'll see.
Thank you! I do plan to add more dialogue and character development. To be fair, this version is more of a proof of concept, this isn't the actual beginning of the game, for the most part.
That's where the character art comes into play! There will be some booty, but no nipples/genitalia. Custom panties?
I'm glad to hear you found it easy! I've actually heard the opposite most of the time. If the combo meter didn't refresh when destroying a shape / casting a spell, it would be impossible to maintain a combo when refreshing the grid. Items are one reason to reach a high combo, the second one in this version is to be able to use combo spells, which is something I need to make more clear. There are also other reasons to get a high combo in the new version I'm working on (which will also make it more of a hit to lose it), but that's for later. Also, eery fight in this demo only has 4 block colors, but there will be up to 6 in total, along with more special blocks and effects, so I think the combo system is at a pretty good place currently. I disagree with knowing in advance which items you can get from which monster however. The almanach indicates how many different items can be found on a monster and indicates which ones you've found, so it's up to the player to discover what can be obtained from which monster. As for the difficulty, the game will be easier than this demo at first, and will become harder after a point. To be honest the level I gave to each enemy was somewhat of an afterthought for this demo. Then again since skill plays a big part, it's actually possible to beat the demo at level 3 or so, the stats are only a factor. Again, you're one of the few I heard saying the demo was too easy.
Visibility is definitely a problem yeah, I've improved the UI a lot for the next demo which should make it more easily readable, flashing the enemy's sprite or deforming it in some way is good idea! I'll definitely keep that in mind ^^
There is actually a trick to avoiding random encounters, but yes, there will be a few ways to instantly dispatch them.
That's because this demo is more of a proof of concept, which is why I didn't bother too much with balancing absolutely everything. I'll do my best so that's not a problem in the next demo and final game! For now the items are mostly for alchemy purposes.
That's just how equipment works in this game, as it does in most RPGs. Some items will be required to solve certain puzzles, and sometimes these items may be equipment, but yeah I recommend selling or storing equipment you don't need anymore in general. I don't plan to change that!
And I think that about covers everything! Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this, you brought up a bunch of interesting point ^^ I'll make the next version as good as I possibly can!
Seems like a pretty good review and a pretty long reply discussing most points without the usual developer hyperdefensiveness...what did you find disappointing?
I was genuinely trying to help this aspiring developer to accomplish something greater than what they had in mind, as I believe was reflected in my thorough comment, but they completely disregarded my feedback. That's evidence of poor critical thinking and that this game wont ever become anything greater than a small itch.io game... I respect that they responded without anger but that's only one part of what a good developer needs when it comes to accepting feedback. Setting the bar so low that you're happy with a someone who doesnt get mad isn't beneficial for anyone.
I've played hundreds of ecchi games in my life and I am a programmer myself so I know what sells. Everything I said would be an increadible boost to their game, despite the humoristic twist I used to be lighthearted in my critisism.
I have a few questions. What are the purple pillars for? I found one of those blue coconut shells which seem to be inprinted on one but discarding it and placing it on there doesnt do anything nor does using the item do anything.
Also the sand castle thingie, I've found spiral sand but the same story there. I wonder, have I found the wrong items? If not, then how do I use them?
How do I craft things? ( I found an emblem and found out this is how I craft, I didnt know what alchemy was)
Most of the purple pillars are hints to figure out what goes in the empty purple pillar east of Sablee, not too far from the beach.
You got it right for the sandcastle, but the hitbox for where to drop the sand is a bit wonky, that's something I need to fix. You have to drop it precisely on a part that's already built, the middle won't work. Sorry about that...
Now that you have the emblem you'll be able to craft, you just need to talk to Eveii, one room to the right of the big red crystal in Sablee. She has "alchemy" written over her head ^^
Gaah this damn bug again, I've been trying to find its origin for a while now, but this points to a place that doesn't actually contain any code, which is the weirdest thing. I haven't been able to recreate it myself either.
It had only happened to one person so far as far as I know, so it's "good" to know it's not on his side only.
Thank you for reporting it, I'll look into it some more. If I still can't figure it out however it might have to wait until the next version...
I was clicking desparetely around the middle of the screen moving the blobs around while tons of enemies were attacking me , there was a large empty spot where I was clicking (cleared blobs) that tried to be filled, and all my senses told me that this level of animation might just make it crash (since it's a small itch.io game) but as soon as I realized that, it did. I don't know exactly which part was triggering it but I feel like it all added together to become a buggy mess. I run this on windows, fullscreen mode. I might have clicked outside of the screen during all of this since I have dual monitors (you should make the cursor forced inside of the window on fullscreen mode as well) but I am not entirely sure~ Oh and I was playing as Rose
Either way, I love the game you've made. I love clicking around on things and it surprises me how many things you've made clickable and the amount of details you've put in but at the same time I demand even more of just that. The ocean is way too silent for my liking, since you go from such a colorful place on land and then you feel alone and isolated as soon as you step into the ocean. Please add better catchier music for the ocean as well (although keep the theme), it will do a whole lot! I'll continue playing it and probably come along with a full review later on.
5/5 I'd buy the finished product.
ps - The image where you toggle the characters invisible and visible is amazing.
Huh, so that occured right in the middle of a fight... I thought it only happened at the very end, if you're about to win. Locking the cursor did give me a lot of trouble surprisingly, I had to go with unlocked cursor in fullscreen in a multi screen setup at the time. It's been fixed since then though, so you won't have to worry about that once the next version comes out ^^
I've also redone the whole fight puzzle mechanics. I haven't been able to figure out this bug since it was discovered and sadly I might not be able to for this version since it's so hard to recreate, however I'm hoping the improved puzzle machanics will get rid of it in the next version. Of course if I can find out where the bug comes from before the next version, I'll fix it right away.
The ocean is pretty silent, but I like it that way! The ocean track is also my personnal favorite. Not by much, but still ^^ I do plan to add a few NPCs however, and the tracks have also been improved a bit since then, the ocean one in particular. They'll be implemented in the next version. You can listen to the final versions here: https://soundcloud.com/commodorekulor/sets/be-witches-demo-ost
No, this demo is more of a proof of concept, to show off what the game is like and such. The next one will contain the actual beginning of the game, so that's not a possibility.
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Is there any more recent versions of the beta? the last one here is from 2020 but I don't know if there's more on patreon or something
This is it for now, I've been working on the next one since then! It should be ready in another few months.
i have a question :
how to have a power orbs?
and how to find the emblem ?
For now I simply recommend you explore the ocean, and you'll eventually find these.
Some power orbs are pretty well hidden though, so feel free to use the walkthrough if you can't figure out where they are!
ok thanks , and do you know for the emblem ?
In the ocean as well! It's hard to miss.
AH , i dont see him , i dont know where in the ocean , i'm probably dumb
It's in a chest right after defeating Nightmare, you might have picked it up without realizing ^^
i can't play the game
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in Vertex Shader compilation
ShaderName: shdr_ItemShine
D3DXCompile failed - result
at gml_Object_obj_Title_Draw_0
############################################################################################
You're probably missing a few drivers, this should fix it:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=35
How do I save
From the place with the big red crystal, just go up, up and left, and click on the clock!
thx
The song for the fight is freaking awsome! Who's responsible for that?
It is! ^^
kulor is the one who composed it. Here is his soundcloud :
https://soundcloud.com/commodorekulor/sets/be-witches-demo-ost
Hi I've been having a problem with restarting the demo because I'm trying to 100% it. Would there be anything that I can do to restart?
You have to do it manually by going to AppData/Local and deleting the BE_Witches folder.
Sorry about that, there will be an easy way to delete your save file in the next demo!
May I have permission to use Sablee Ocean's music for a minor gamejam I'm participating in?
Oh sure! As long as you cite BE Witches in the credits, that sounds good to me! Ideally I'd like you to link the itch.io page as well, but I understand if you can't.
However I also need to ask kulor, who composed the song, to see what he thinks of it. I'll get back to you once I know ^^
All good! kulor is fine with it as well as long as he's credited as the composer. Here is his site, if you can link it too: http://kulor.arnoldascher.com/
In any case, good luck! Feel free to post your game here once it's ready to be shown ^^
Oh, thank you! I'd avoid mentioning BE Witches (due to the game being pretty risque), but I will credit Kulor, if that's fine with you.
Edit: I’ve reconsidered. Maybe I’ll credit BE Witches and just be really ignorant about what I know about it.
Ah thanks, I'd rather "BE Witches" appears is in the credits yeah, even if there's no link.
I'm sure a bunch of people heard the BE Witches songs through kulor's soundcloud without ever checking out the game itself!
gravitron orb breaks after you use it to reneable gravity, making it unable to freeze oyons for the duration of the battle. red/blu pyramids also fail to destroy any oyons that are mid link, making it very difficult to obtain a perfect clear if you have a red/blu oyon linked mid activation. another bug is that mashing the right arrow after opening the game from the save clock will permenantly make Rose and Yuu invisible. also, will there be a mechanic for swapping characters during combat?
Thank you!
The pyramid thing is on purpose, but these other two bugs will be fixed in the next version.
I've been thinking about some kind of mechanic that would let you swap characters mid combat yes. I'm still figuring it out so it's not implemented yet, but there's a chance that it will be a thing in the next version!
will there be a gallery mode or something where you could see all the character portraits and stuff?
Yes! That will be a thing in the full game ^^
How do i join the discord server?
You need to be a patron to join the server. If you already are, you should be able to join by going to the "my membership" section.
I'd rather talk about Patreon related stuff on Patreon though, so feel free to send me a DM there if you need more help ^^
im loking for two materials rare scale and and the soft armband anyone know how to get em
The soft armband can be dropped by fairies, and the rare scale can be found on green fish but I don't remember exactly where to find them, so you'll have to check the walkthrough for that!
so I'm trying to reset the game but whenever i delete it and reinstall it, it boots me back to where i was. do you have any ideas on what to do
There will be an easy way to delete your save file in the next demo, but for now you'll have to do it manually by going to AppData/Local and deleting the BE_Witches folder.
This game legit has one of the best soundtracks. The battle theme rocks hard. It's a shame this game is very ecchi and I can't really look it up without worrying about staining my search history. Maybe if we could download the music?
Good game, good soundtrack. Keep it up
Thank you!
The soundtrack was composed by kulor, you can find it here:
https://soundcloud.com/commodorekulor/sets/be-witches-demo-ost
can anyone help me get the cyan puzzle to get the power orb behind the secret door i cant make sense of the walkthroughs description
I'm not sure I can describe it a whole lot better than the walkthrough, but I can try. Here is what the walkthrough says:
Drag the cyan/arch pellet to the blue/dotted shard.
Drag the red/circle pellet to the floating cyan/arch shard.
Drag the newly formed cyan/arch pellet to the green/claw shard.
Drag the newly formed green/claw pellet to the yellow/z shard.
Lastly, drag the blue/dotted pellet to the green/claw shard to turn it cyan/arched. A secret door will open to D4.
Just to be clear, cyan = light blue. The way colors are described here is color/symbol (e.g. cyan/arch), but if that's too confusing, ignore the symbol part. Also, it should be noted that you need to first clear the yellow variant of this puzzle to be able to clear the cyan one. It should be a lot clearer when in game as well.
If you tell me which part of this you don't get, I can try to explain it further!
the only thing im having trouble with is the fact i couldnt see the cyan pellet
That's weird... This is where the pellet is supposed to be. Does it not appear for you?
the boulder isnt lifted yet thats why
Ah I see, lifting that boulder is what solving this puzzle with yellow shards does ^^
i did the yellow part puzzle
Just wanted to say that I'm definitely looking forward to upcoming updates! Played the game about a year ago (and as far as I'm aware there hasn't been updates since then), but if there really is a massive update coming then I'm super looking forward to it! Keep up the great work and, even if there's not much to say, I hope you'll continue to update the blog. Just a bit worried when I hop in here to see what's up and I see there hasn't been an update about the game itself (except for the Steam thing) since over 15 months ago. But seeing that there's still activity in the comments and on other platforms makes me very happy. Again, love the stuff and I'm looking forward to the continued progression of this game!
Thank you very much!
I'm not sure if the blog you're referring to is my Patreon, so I'll say this just in case: I've actually been posting devlogs monthly all this time! I basically use my Patreon as a devblog (https://www.patreon.com/nosebecc).
I've been working hard on the game but there is a pretty hefty amount of work needed to get it where I want, which is why it's taking a while. The plan for now is for a huge update to come out in 2022, followed by the actual full game a few years after that, whenever it's done.
So yeah no reason to be worried! I'll keep working on the game until it's done, one step at a time ^^
This is a NSFW or SFW?
Somewhere in between, kind of like Senran Kagura. There are big boobs, but no sex or nudity.
Good also what short of BE?
I'm not too sure if that's what you're asking but the BE is very noticeable, you can check it out easily be downloading the cheat version and going to the large red crystal ^^
Do you mean Breast Expansion?
Oh lol yeah of course! That's what I mean ^^
The visual design of this game is really top notch. Everything about the visuals all manage to stand out while perfectly fitting together like puzzle pieces. I seriously love the colors and how things move, I'm really excited to see what the next demo has. Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much!
I'll do my best ^^
Heya bud, figured I'd pop in & give you some info & insight. I had a killer time with this game the first time I played it, & hearing that there'll be a massive update soon is exciting, but there's a major problem with all this (for me, at least), which is that it doesn't run on Mac. As much as I'd hate to stack more work on your plate, that feeling is outweighed by my desire to play your game more. If it's simply impossible, that's fine, but I figured I'd let you know so you could follow up on it, one way or another.
Thank you!
It's not impossible, but after looking into it some time ago I did figure out that it was an enormous pain, to be honest... I will give it a fair shot after the next demo comes out, but I'm afraid I can't promise anything when it comes to Mac.
So yeah, "I'll see what I can do" is the best I have for now, sorry...
Thanks, man. It means a lot to know you have & will continue to work on this. I'm not sure how useful this is, but the main hangup on why I can't run it on Mac, even with an emulator, is the use of DirectX, which simply can't even unpack itself properly. You probably know this already, but to the best of my knowledge, Unity is a pretty simple solution, although switching engines can't really be called simple. Another thing you could try is to take the DirectX Library, fully parse it, & have it be a separate library within the file, but that would take a pretty decent amount of both time & RAM to do on your end.
Oh GameMaker should be able to handle it! At this point switching to another engine is not happening anyway, that would require an enormous amount of time with more cons than pros for me.
It's a bit worrying that even an emulator can't run it, but it's good to know the cause at least! It looks like I have my work cut out for me. Thank you, I'll make sure to look into that as well! ^^
how do i get power orbs to ascend? through leveling up or bosses?
One of them is found at the very end of the ocean dungeon, and the rest is hidden all over the place ^^
If you don't feel like looking for them, there is a walkthrough available here : https://www.patreon.com/posts/walkthrough-by-33962675
I have a maybe stupid question but can you play with other characters?
It's not stupid at all ^^
You can only play as either Vuu or Rose in this demo (you can choose your character in the VS screen), but there will be many more in the next version.
Thanks for the reply. i hope it doesnt take too long. ^^
i like the game but the one thing that i hate is the puzzles i really don't like the puzzles and i have to look it up to get help. I don't have a mouse so i can't do move the heart, also what about color blindness like blue is green and green is blue Etc can u have a option for blindness, other that don't have mouse and help for puzzles or anything please
There is a color guide in Vuu's house (where you begin the game) that will help with the puzzles and how they work. You will be able to access that guide from anywhere in the next demo.
If you don't have a mouse, you can still use WASD to rotate the heart (or anything you grab in the overworld) and F to right click.
As for colorblindness, that's what the symbols are for. These were added after a few colorblind people asked me for it, and I haven't had any complaints about it since then ^^
thanks for answering questions, now i know how to move the heart and how to deal with the evil puzzles, have a great day
The art style and amount of polish that clearly went into this game is insane. I instantly fell in love with it. And then I find out that it's got a unique puzzle mechanic with the chains, that I kind of have a hard time wrapping my head around (that's a good thing!). There's so much going on here I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. And the first dangerous area is you just walk into the ocean, like what?! This is insanity. It's so fucking stylish and cool. The game is quirky, bizarre and wonderful.
I have to be honest with you, I wish I didn't feel weird about sharing it with friends, but the pervy BE fetish stuff makes me not want to share it with people I know... >_>
Hah thank you very much! ^^
I can't blame you, I myself don't bring it up very much IRL for that very reason. I did implement a setting that forces the lowest breast size on every character when turned on in the next demo I'm working on, but even then it's still about anime girls in skimpy clothing in the end.
But still, I'm glad you like it!
someone helps me with the puzzles I can not solve several an example the two that are in the first zone
This walkthrough has all the answers you might need:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/walkthrough-by-33962675
I jump that the installer that I calculate is necessary to play is dangerous and can damage the computer also download the laptop first and I jump an error
The installer is the basic Game Maker compiled one and has always worked perfectly fine so far, as it has for many other games. If it somehow didn't for you, I would need more information to do something about it. You might want to alert the Game Maker team as well.
There is also a portable version that doesn't require installation however!
if you meant that the game crashes past the first screen, that's in all likeliness because you are missing drivers:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=35
Mi culpa no avia descargado el instalador y luego hacer toda la 'prosa que sigue y luego hacer el juego el mismo gracias por responder
A whole year has passed since the release of the last build of the game. I hope we will see a new version of BE Witches soon?
More like a year and a half by now... I'm going as fast as I can.
I was hoping to release it within 2021, but given what's still left to do I don't think that's gonna happen. Then again, that's why I chose not to share a release date in the first place. It will come out once it's ready, likely during 2022! That's all I can say for now other than it will be worth the wait.
any plans for a mac version?
Maybe eventually, but I don't currently have a way or the time to make it happen, so it's low on my priority list...
Linux might happen after the next demo comes out for what it's worth.
Love the game and great to hear its coming along well!
Assume you are up to your eyes in doing art work, but would be great if there could be battle damage or even just a change in expression dependant on %HP. Glad to hear there will be loss screens added.
Seem to remember you were talking about changes to the battle system, but wondered if more shape related monster abilities might be good? Like killing shapes damages player for duration etc. Seeing the imps "Bulk Up" always felt like it should make them bigger for the duration.
Other battle feedback. Some of the enemies can buff themselves, but by the time they can next cast the buffs have ended. Maybe have them last until next damaging cast and not affect damage from hits by Shapes (as they will be in effect for longer). Likewise effect of shield seems fairly underwhelming.
Keep up the great work, cant wait for the next demo!
Thank you!
You're assuming right, that's all I've been doing for a while now ^^
I did consider doing clothes damage when a character reaches low HP, but sadly that's just too much work, so I settled for a change of expression as you said.
I have yet to add more spells, but more shape related monster abilities sounds interesting... No promises, but I'll keep it in mind! And yeah I want to add more sprite effects, precisely like "bulk up" making them bigger while the buff is active ^^
I know about that, no worries! I thought it would be funny if Imps didn't get to profit from Bulk up, so they basically just stop fighting and flex for a sec. Shield is more of a "better than nothing" spell, there'll be better versions of it later. Still, I know the balance is far from perfect. I'll do my best to improve that in the next demo!
Dear creator,
I can't love your game enough! I am more than grateful that I am still alive because I could see such a beautiful work in my life. It's a shame that I have some little difficulties in supporting you every month because I am in China(We can't use patreon). But I promise I will ask my overseas brother to buy one for me when your game is released.
Here's a problem. Could I rank all the monster girls up to R5 in the demo? I have beaten Saen' Liz many times(absolutely more than 5), but when I compared these girls to your pictures on Deviantart , I found these girls were R4...
By the way, I am longing for your next demo. Best wishes!
Oh, thank you so much! That makes me really happy ^^
Only Vuu and Rose can reach R5 in the demo, the rest can only reach R4. Every character will be playable in the next demo (which should be out near the end of 2021), and they will all be able to reach R5 then. There will even be a R6 in the final game, but it's going to take a few more years after the next demo.
Thank you again! I'll do my best ^^
will you add more rank or people that joins your party?
i love origanilty that you put in this game, sorry if i mispelled something im italian
Thank you!
And yes, in the final game the highest rank for every character will be 6, and there will be a lot more playable characters as well ^^
I have enjoyed the game so far but a couple things bothered me. The way you get items is to appear in the over world is too obtuse and a unnecessary waste of time. Also in combat it seems the best way to play is to swap pieces and quickly as possible. While enjoy this it does seem to render the ability to swap multiple pieces at once pointless and at times even harmful. Multiple times my combo was ruined by accidentally swapping more than 2 pieces. From my experience I found that chaining pieces together was slow high risk low reward option and that playing quick was not only more fun but also offered a bigger payoff. In my opinion it would suit the gameplay better to focus on making bigger matches (lines of more than 3) than to make multiple using the chain. Currently matching 4 or more pieces has no benefit which is a shame since it fits the pace of the game better than the chaining system. Also visual clarity could use some work. I had no idea there was a combo meter until one of your hints told me I needed high combo to make items drop. And don't get me started on how some shapes just disappear into the background. Overall I did like the game and am looking forward to playing more!
Thank you!
Yeah visual clarity is something I'm working on, by reworking the UI and making the background darker notably. I'll also introduce the mechanics over time in the actual game which should make things less confusing.
As for the swapping issue, it really depends. I would argue that selecting more than 2 pieces at once makes it easier to both clear more blocks at once and line up over 3 pieces. Lining up 4 and more pieces gives you energy, which allows you to use relics if you have any equipped. Once again this is something I need to explain more clearly. That being said it could be interesting to look into some incentive to clear multiple chains at once... I'll keep it in mind!
And finally about the discarding mechanic, to get items to appear in the overworld, I can't really think of a better way to do it... I recommend using the middle mouse button for quick discard over the drag & drop, but if you were already doing that I'm not too sure what to do to improve it. If you have any suggestion, I'll gladly take it ^^
For the items I was referring to the fact that item drops take 5-15 seconds to appear when on certain screens. To me that just seems rude to make players wait around for an item that might not even show up. It kills the pacing and it is just boring to do. Also for the discard system since you mentioned it I do have an idea. Instead of dropping the item just do it like an adventure game. Go to your menu to click on the item you want to use . Then it takes you back to the game screen and you cursor changes to the item's appearance. After that you just click on what you want to use it on. If the item does not fit where you click just make a sound effect that indicates that and vice versa if it does.
For the part about matching I strongly disagree. Most players will be able to make many matches just by swapping as quickly as possible which in turns builds up combo very fast. In fact I would ask you to play your game when you get the chance and for one battle focus on speed matching while not using the multi swap mechanic. Then do another battle only making good multi swaps(almost every swap rewards mana) and I want to know what you feel is a better way to play. I would also ask that you tell how often you drop your combo when playing both ways. From my own play I was not able to get my combo high or keep it going reliably while trying swap multiple pieces at the same time. On the other hand I had no problem consistently reaching 100+ while just moving 2 pieces quickly.
I am not trying to offend you I just think it would be a good idea to settle on one way of play so you can build upon that preferred style. To me the ability to link multiple pieces together and swap them all at once is too slow a way to play while at the same time you are playing a shoot em up. Playing fast just makes more sense with how frantic this game can get.
Aah that's what you meant, I'll need to check again how long it can take at most, but since the items you get that way are not used a whole lot, you should get most of what you need just by playing the game normally. But fair enough, I'll look into it!
I did consider doing it like an adventure game for the dropping mechanic, but I couldn't really see any advantage over what's already in place. But well, since that's not what you had a problem with it's all good I guess ^^
As for the matching, I'm not sure if what you mean is clicking randomly as fast as you can or only selecting 2 pieces at a time but still paying attention to what you're clicking on. In the first case this is something I don't want to encourage since I feel like it ruins the point of the puzzle part of the battles, so I've been working on ways to make it a bad strategy. Then again, this only viable in the demo because of the battles being in a starting area with only 4 colors and few special blocks. If you meant the latter then no, I disagree. Selecting only 2 blocks is certainly an option, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I think selecting as many pieces as you can is the better strategy. It's definitely harder to do, but it allows you to clear blocks and gather energy more effectively once you get the hang of it. Keeping a combo going for a whole battle that way is very doable too! What I want to encourage is the ability to keep cool and think despite the shapes' onslaughts.
So yeah no worries, I appreciate you taking the time to write all of this. You brought up some good points that I'll definitely keep in mind to improve the gameplay! Thank you ^^
I was wondering, how to remove all the progress to start a new game?
There will be an easy way to delete your save file in the next demo, but for now you have to do it manually by going to AppData/Local and deleting the BE_Witches folder. Sorry about that!
I must admit you have done an incredible job and i believe this game has quite a large potential and im extremely hyped for the full release!!! I especially like that the game is very enjoyable even without the BE and that the BE just makes it much better. Also i really enjoy the little puzzles and can only wonder what else have you got prepared for us
Thank you! I'm trying my hardest to make it a good game that can stand on its own even without the BE elements, so that makes me really happy ^^
I do have a lot of new puzzles and surprises in preparation for the next version, I hope you'll like them :B
Such a charming, cute little game so far! I love it!
Thank you! ^^
Have you updated the public release game this year or just for patreon?
The itch.io demo is the same as the Patreon one. I'm working on a new demo which should be ready near the end of 2021! I'll release it 2 weeks earlier on Patreon though.
Do you thinking about remake the walkthrough?
Probably not, the current one has everything you need I think ^^
This game looks pretty fun and I want to try it out, but whenever I try to go past the first screen (the patreon/twitter links and music credit one) I get this error:
FATAL ERROR in Vertex Shader compilation
ShaderName: shdr_ItemShine
D3DXCompile failed - result
at gml_Object_obj_Title_Draw_0
Im getting this error with all three versions of the game (installer, .zip, and cheat versions)
Chances are you're missing a few drivers, this should fix it:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=35
Okay so I've played through most of the demo now, I reached the ending and got 3 out of 5 ranks unlocked. There's certainly a bit left to explore but I'll save that for the next releases sometime in the future.
All in all it's a great concept and I think that's what we're all falling in love with. The atmosphere is captivating. The only obvious improvement that could be made in this area is to add more content and making the backgrounds of the land and ocean less repetitive so it doesn't feel like you have to look for what has changed. Of course a lot of it has to do with that the background scenes are not interactable, simply adding a few more things to do, interacting with buildings for example, would make the areas feel more personal and less flat.
The characters look great, although I don't understand why the human female has her back turned to the camera. With that being said, please, don't fall down the rabbit hole of creating time consuming HD art for everything. Unless you have a budget for comissioning this to other artists I advice you to be very sparesome with the time you put into painting. The ability to interact with the small figures is worth so much more in the end and that's what brings the game experience. I honestly only looked at the HD art when lvling up. Perhaps you should make physical changes to the characters sprites as well?
The overall dialogue was stellar in the beginning of the game, but after you went into the ocean there was no further interaction with your companion which I missed a lot. I think that having a character development between these two characters is absolutely crucial for the success of this game.
There's too little erotic content. I know, it's a personal preference, but no one is going to hate on seeing a bit of nipple and booty here and there. Custom panties? Now that'd be an upgrade.
Beyond appearance and the feeling of the game, I have a word or two to say about the game mechanics.
1# It's way too easy. The combo meter is too forgiving, refreshing every time you make a click on anything in the game really. There should be some kind of health punishment for breaking a combo in my opinion, gaining items is not enough of a carrot to do well since that currently only relies on the overall balance of the game, which is nonexistent. You need the gamer to understand what kind of items they can receive from a certain boss and then actually really want that item to be dropped for this to work. Until you've introduced this kind of balance, the combos are pretty much pointless. You know guitar-hero? They made it jarring to lose a combo, that's what I think you need to implement. Along with that just up the difficulty a bit, make the characters strong and have the lvls reflect that. I should have a difficult time defeating the end boss who is lvl 14 when I am lvl 10.
Also, I was completely unable to read their next spells and observe what was triggering next because there's so much on the screen at all times. You should make the character flash in certain colors to really warn the player that something is about to happen, and not rely on them reading the text of the spell, because they won't have time to do that. I was thinking maybe you could pause the game a bit for a small character animation when they do attacks. Perhaps that'd help.
2# Like other people on here said, the low level characters are slightly annoying. I understand you're going for a bit of a pokemon style for that, and it could work, but without me feeling like "At least I am gaining some coins so i can buy that item I want sooner" you're not making it work.
3# The pacing of the game is nearly nonexistent. I get recipes all the time but I have no reason to craft anything because I keep winning everything without upgrading and there's no quests to craft, and I almost complete the game before I find the final fire shard for the first quest you're introduced to... I have a ton of fun looking items in my inventory but I'm just wondering why am I not able to do anything with them? I'm thinking maybe you just drew the items before finding a purpose for them, but I'm not sure.
I noticed that most of the items simply give you bonuses currently, like the torch giving you 15 health or something. That's boring as fuck. I thought I would be able to swing it around and light up a cavern or something to progress you know? I honestly hope it's just a placeholder with the small benefits. I don't need several low level items that increase my stats because once I gain something better all of those items become obsolete.
I hope you can continue to make improvements and I look forward to the next update. It's a lot of fun for what it currently is, but obviously there's going to be areas to improve this early on.
Oh damn that's a big review, thank you! I'll try to answer as much stuff as I can in the same order.
I'll be honest, I don't understand hat first point very well. I get that some rooms look alike, which is especially true of the ocean since it's more designed as a dungeon, but I feel like most rooms in the city are pretty identifiable overall. Of course I'd love for each room to be completely unique, but that would sadly take way too much time to do. That being said I am working on an slightly updated visual style, which should make the rooms easier to understand. What did you have in mind when you said interacting with buildings?
The art definitely takes a while, but it's also a big part of the game. I do plan on hiring other artists to help me with it eventually! And yes, I'd like the chibis to change depending on the character's rank as well, though only for rank 1, 3 and 5 in most cases, for time reasons. Also I just wanted Rose to have backboob, that's about it. She might get an alt sprite eventually, we'll see.
Thank you! I do plan to add more dialogue and character development. To be fair, this version is more of a proof of concept, this isn't the actual beginning of the game, for the most part.
That's where the character art comes into play! There will be some booty, but no nipples/genitalia. Custom panties?
I'm glad to hear you found it easy! I've actually heard the opposite most of the time. If the combo meter didn't refresh when destroying a shape / casting a spell, it would be impossible to maintain a combo when refreshing the grid. Items are one reason to reach a high combo, the second one in this version is to be able to use combo spells, which is something I need to make more clear. There are also other reasons to get a high combo in the new version I'm working on (which will also make it more of a hit to lose it), but that's for later. Also, eery fight in this demo only has 4 block colors, but there will be up to 6 in total, along with more special blocks and effects, so I think the combo system is at a pretty good place currently. I disagree with knowing in advance which items you can get from which monster however. The almanach indicates how many different items can be found on a monster and indicates which ones you've found, so it's up to the player to discover what can be obtained from which monster. As for the difficulty, the game will be easier than this demo at first, and will become harder after a point. To be honest the level I gave to each enemy was somewhat of an afterthought for this demo. Then again since skill plays a big part, it's actually possible to beat the demo at level 3 or so, the stats are only a factor. Again, you're one of the few I heard saying the demo was too easy.
Visibility is definitely a problem yeah, I've improved the UI a lot for the next demo which should make it more easily readable, flashing the enemy's sprite or deforming it in some way is good idea! I'll definitely keep that in mind ^^
There is actually a trick to avoiding random encounters, but yes, there will be a few ways to instantly dispatch them.
That's because this demo is more of a proof of concept, which is why I didn't bother too much with balancing absolutely everything. I'll do my best so that's not a problem in the next demo and final game! For now the items are mostly for alchemy purposes.
That's just how equipment works in this game, as it does in most RPGs. Some items will be required to solve certain puzzles, and sometimes these items may be equipment, but yeah I recommend selling or storing equipment you don't need anymore in general. I don't plan to change that!
And I think that about covers everything! Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this, you brought up a bunch of interesting point ^^ I'll make the next version as good as I possibly can!
That's a most disappointing reply. But thanks for responding.
Seems like a pretty good review and a pretty long reply discussing most points without the usual developer hyperdefensiveness...what did you find disappointing?
I was genuinely trying to help this aspiring developer to accomplish something greater than what they had in mind, as I believe was reflected in my thorough comment, but they completely disregarded my feedback. That's evidence of poor critical thinking and that this game wont ever become anything greater than a small itch.io game... I respect that they responded without anger but that's only one part of what a good developer needs when it comes to accepting feedback. Setting the bar so low that you're happy with a someone who doesnt get mad isn't beneficial for anyone.
I've played hundreds of ecchi games in my life and I am a programmer myself so I know what sells. Everything I said would be an increadible boost to their game, despite the humoristic twist I used to be lighthearted in my critisism.
Bless you for appreciating backboob.
:B
I have a few questions. What are the purple pillars for? I found one of those blue coconut shells which seem to be inprinted on one but discarding it and placing it on there doesnt do anything nor does using the item do anything.
Also the sand castle thingie, I've found spiral sand but the same story there. I wonder, have I found the wrong items? If not, then how do I use them?
How do I craft things? ( I found an emblem and found out this is how I craft, I didnt know what alchemy was)
Most of the purple pillars are hints to figure out what goes in the empty purple pillar east of Sablee, not too far from the beach.
You got it right for the sandcastle, but the hitbox for where to drop the sand is a bit wonky, that's something I need to fix. You have to drop it precisely on a part that's already built, the middle won't work. Sorry about that...
Now that you have the emblem you'll be able to craft, you just need to talk to Eveii, one room to the right of the big red crystal in Sablee. She has "alchemy" written over her head ^^
There's also a walkthrough here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/walkthrough-by-33962675
It should have everything you need ^^
Woooow I could rank up all along...??? LOL thanks
lol yeah, a lot of stuff will be explained better in the next demo and introduced over time as well.
Playing against a zombie/mummy
___________________________________________
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FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event1
for object obj_PuzzleCursor:
Unable to find any instance for object index '135746' name '<undefined>'
at gml_Object_obj_PuzzleCursor_Step_1
############################################################################################
Gaah this damn bug again, I've been trying to find its origin for a while now, but this points to a place that doesn't actually contain any code, which is the weirdest thing. I haven't been able to recreate it myself either.
It had only happened to one person so far as far as I know, so it's "good" to know it's not on his side only.
Thank you for reporting it, I'll look into it some more. If I still can't figure it out however it might have to wait until the next version...
I was clicking desparetely around the middle of the screen moving the blobs around while tons of enemies were attacking me , there was a large empty spot where I was clicking (cleared blobs) that tried to be filled, and all my senses told me that this level of animation might just make it crash (since it's a small itch.io game) but as soon as I realized that, it did. I don't know exactly which part was triggering it but I feel like it all added together to become a buggy mess. I run this on windows, fullscreen mode. I might have clicked outside of the screen during all of this since I have dual monitors (you should make the cursor forced inside of the window on fullscreen mode as well) but I am not entirely sure~ Oh and I was playing as Rose
Either way, I love the game you've made. I love clicking around on things and it surprises me how many things you've made clickable and the amount of details you've put in but at the same time I demand even more of just that. The ocean is way too silent for my liking, since you go from such a colorful place on land and then you feel alone and isolated as soon as you step into the ocean. Please add better catchier music for the ocean as well (although keep the theme), it will do a whole lot! I'll continue playing it and probably come along with a full review later on.
5/5 I'd buy the finished product.
ps - The image where you toggle the characters invisible and visible is amazing.
Oh thank you very much ^^
Huh, so that occured right in the middle of a fight... I thought it only happened at the very end, if you're about to win. Locking the cursor did give me a lot of trouble surprisingly, I had to go with unlocked cursor in fullscreen in a multi screen setup at the time. It's been fixed since then though, so you won't have to worry about that once the next version comes out ^^
I've also redone the whole fight puzzle mechanics. I haven't been able to figure out this bug since it was discovered and sadly I might not be able to for this version since it's so hard to recreate, however I'm hoping the improved puzzle machanics will get rid of it in the next version. Of course if I can find out where the bug comes from before the next version, I'll fix it right away.
The ocean is pretty silent, but I like it that way! The ocean track is also my personnal favorite. Not by much, but still ^^ I do plan to add a few NPCs however, and the tracks have also been improved a bit since then, the ocean one in particular. They'll be implemented in the next version. You can listen to the final versions here: https://soundcloud.com/commodorekulor/sets/be-witches-demo-ost
So yeah, thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed it ^^
Will we be able to update our version without restarting from scratch once it releases?
No, this demo is more of a proof of concept, to show off what the game is like and such. The next one will contain the actual beginning of the game, so that's not a possibility.
Vuu is a ghost.
Oh! Weird, not sure how that happened.
Did she eventually reappear? Do you know when it occured?
I think why.
The revive button may make the character invisible.
I used this button again and Vuu visible again, but later both of them become invisible.
Interesting.
By revive button, do you mean the one between the arrows and the map?
The button that revive both bosses and send back the start.
Aah that one! I'm dumb.
But that's good to know, thank you very much! I'll look into it!
I probably won't fix it in this version since it's not a game crashing bug, but I'll make sure it doesn't happen in the next one. ^^