Hey, thanks for playing!
if you already have the fluids at the bottom of the screen, how about mapping keys to add an element? so instead of opening the menu, i'd press 333-444 and have a combination of 2 elements and i'll be ready to shoot in under a second, and i'd also be able to see this change since the fluids are showing at the bottom.
This was the way the game originally worked, funnily enough. Instead of the mixing menu, you had a little bar at the bottom of the screen that you would fill up by pressing number keys. I scrapped it because it was difficult to use and keep track of, you can read a more in-depth explanation in my reply to the OverCast dev's comment. I can try adding the number-key mixing as an alternative way of mixing stuff instead of replacing the existing menu.
something else that needs addressing is the enemy targetting range. if an enemy has sight of me from across the room where i can't see them, then i can't prepare for it. i think this is too much for the first 1-2 rooms where the player is still learning, so i'd see about lowering their detect radius until the player is at least familiar with the game.
Sure, I'll try toning that down a bit.
they could also use better death animations, since i often times slapped a dead enemy i thought was still alive.
Absolutely, I'll get on that once I finish remodeling the enemies.
lastly, i think the first few rooms should have mandatory indestructible cover. give the player a chance to figure out enemy attack patterns safely without having to worry about dodging things. it can be as simple as a 1x1 pillar by the first door or in the middle of the room, giving the player a bit of breathing room.
That makes sense, I'll make some indestructible props.
i'd just make destroying objects faster for the player (but keep it the same for the enemies) since it's a bit weird to need to hit a box a bunch of times to break it in the starting room with no enemies around.
If you use fire or acid on the props, they break very easily. As you mentioned in your comment, the game is about using type X against an enemy that's vulnerable to Y damage: for this reason, the player's base damage is atrociously low. You deal very little damage without exploiting weaknesses, which is meant to encourage the player to actively use effective combos. That being said, I can tweak the numbers a little more.