Post by Pēteris Masļenčenko in HEADSHOT TYPECAST comments

Viewing post in HEADSHOT TYPECAST comments

oh wow, funny, i also made a text parser FPS for the jam. you've done beautifully with actually trying to wrangle it into something playable (whereas i just played up the obtuseness). the three lanes, cocking and reloading your gun are inspired design decisions, they work really well. great sound and juice as well, and the graphics are very charming.

you could probably incentivize the player to go on the attack more - currently it's easier to avoid enemies and be very selective about when to attack.

DancingEngie1 year ago

Thanks! Figured I won’t be the first to make a first person parser, but at least I can try going for style over substance.

It’s true, you can cheese out the game. I did try to implement a constantly depleting HP meter you fill by killing stuff or by moving. It solved the issue, theoretically at least, but it felt like cheesing the player right back. I wanted a tight game with no wasted commands or superfluous elements.

Eventually I opted for a simple combo system and a few enemies that block your path and change lanes. Is it enough? Not really, and had I had more time I would have enhanced the spawn algorithm and added more enemy variety to truly create a more dynamic experience. But I’m happy with what I got.

Pēteris Masļenčenko1 year ago(+1)

My first thought was simply taking damage any time you let an enemy pass, like in a tower defense or something. But I get wanting to keep the game clean. It's a fantastic result for the timeframe and the experimental idea.

DancingEngie1 year ago (1 edit)

Which was also something I threw around in my head! But opted to not use it just to keep it tight - one hit and you’re dead.

Y’know, in hindsight I think that had movement been a 2-character command instead of 4 or 5 players would instinctively move more just by virtue of how easy it would have been. Thanks for the kind words though, appreciate it.

itch.io

Viewing post in HEADSHOT TYPECAST comments