itch.io

Love the demo, wish the game would get finished, but it sounds like it's abandoned?

And sorry, I think when you removed the prior versions of  PANDORA, the game can no longer be downloaded via the itch.io app at all. I've tried repeatedly, and now I just get a message no compatible downloads were found, there's just nothing there to install. The .exe file always appeared in the upper drop down menu but now it's just empty.

I already uninstalled the older version, so now I can't seem to install it or play it at all. I'll check if it's any different via the web page equivalent.

https://imgur.com/NtJJbPK

>>>I haven't seen the "view" with the stars you show in your image, is that from the itch app?

Yes, if you start a game from the itch.app, it shows you all the prior versions/updated you've installed. Although the order seems to get a bit mixed up by different file names and stuff.

I've got the game updated, but it keeps saying v70 is the latest version, not v71, which it won't install as an update?

[Game won't update to v71 version] I've fully updated the game, but "71" is NOT one of the Launch options, per this screenshot.

Do I need to uninstall and reinstall the game demo? I've tried forcing a "manual" update check but it says the "70" version is the latest version of the game, which it doesn't appear to be.

https://imgur.com/jNopBdd

[Character BUG? Weird three numbers below character in 69 build]

In the latest build, this weird column of three numbers always displays under the player character. I can't tell if it's a bug or if it's supposed to indicate something?

Screenshot of three numbers vertically below player character:
https://imgur.com/Ew94LNO

TRAVEL ABILITY IDEAS

I think I saw this mentioned in earlier thread, but can't find it thanks to accursed itch.io not offering any comments section search function I can find. :p

Some travel ability ideas:

-Jump jets (maybe some crash damage on impact, like the jump jet pack in Alien Swarm)

-Teleportation (maybe does some damage along the teleportation "path")

-Mole Burrow (move a certain distance underground, destroying environment above your tunnel)

OK, this revamped mission is now BUGGED:

-The grenade clump NO LONGER APPEARS in the southern area west of the tree cluster; either it's no longer there or it's invisible.
-On some of my continued many fails on this mission, a couple troops show up west of where the grenade clump used to be, and the two enemies seem "stuck together, facing each other" and can't move.

I'm not having any luck on this still. Imho it counts too much on rifle accuracy and most of the time I can't hit anything. Sometimes I'll hit 2 enemies in a row and then I'll miss 20 times consecutively no matter where I place the crosshair.

The mortar firing every 2 seconds and never missing on the 2nd "triangulated" shot still strikes me as deeply uinfair.

THEN the one time I could nail the mortar guy with the rifle, another troop stepped up and took over the mortar (!). Give the player a break I say. If you can actually eliminate the mortar for crying out loud give us that much. :p

[possible VERSION BUG? itch.io thing?] 

Although I always pick the latest version # from Pandora's launcher options per this screenshot:
https://imgur.com/sZF3yQU

IN THE GAME, it always has text saying (Version 67) per this other screenshot:
https://imgur.com/mwX8rlZ

I don't know if it's a bug. I am not experiencing that movement bug anymore, so I feel like I'm probably playing latest version. So this text showing up in the upper right corner always saying VERSION 67 (even when I've launched version 68 or 69) is at the least confusing?

Sounds good, I'll play some more tonight.

More opportunities for sequels and spinoffs game names down the road - Project Seasword, Project Spacesword, Project Skysword, the mind reels! :-)

[FEEDBACK on late map with barbed wire wall, Mortar guy, MGs]
This was the map/mission I've complained is (imho) IMPOSSIBLE. I have tried more than 30 times and can't find any way to crack it. The video at end of this past has 22 of my FAILS on this brutal map.

My main criticisms/feedback:

-The mortar is way too accurate (IMHO) - and apparently has x-ray vision because it can target you even behind a tree clump which gives it no line of sight.
-The mortar fires something like every 2 seconds, even though the guy firing it doesn't have a loader or a spotter even. Every other shot is pinpoint accurate, which forces you to constantly babysit BOTH characters if they're to have any chance to survive. You also can't leave either character in one spot for more than a couple of seconds. Constantly micromanaging both characters to avoid laser-precise mortar fire disasters is no fun.

-By having the far east wall take up the entire vertical slice of the map, there is no way whatsoever to FLANK the enemies behind it. Make the wall narrower, or put some of the enemies closer to the middle so the player has some fighting chance to advance to the far north/south sides to have some sort of flanking opportunity.

-The middle of the map doesn't have enough hard cover to survive more than a few seconds. The far east wall is too far away to use a rifle or toss a grenade at it from any location that isn't in mortar or MG killing zones.

 -The grenade clump to the south is for suckers because it's too far away from the far east wall, and from the grenade spot you have no way to get a grenade on enemies at the wall.

-AFIK the map has NO medkits on it. If they are, once against they're hidden behind trees or invisible on the ground.

The closest I came to accomplishing anything on this map as far as its right/eastern half was taking out one enemy on the far north side, but then the character that did it was splattered on the northern side. I've poked around the circular tree clump to the south, but the southern MG fries any character attempting to get around it into grenade range. 

[SUGGESTION: Let melee more reliably destroy barbed wire/crate walls]

In combing my gameplay videos, often I simply can't "destroy" barbed wire or simple crates to quickly access an area., or break through a wall at the far side of a map.

It would be helpful either if melee more consistently broke barbed wire and crate walls or if simply shooting them broke them, although I assume the weapons are going to try to fire at enemies, not obstructions.

Barring that, maybe add a 3rd slot/separate hotkey for a "deconstruction tool" that lets us quickly cut through barbed wire or bash open crates/boxes that we need to get past.

Maybe save the idea for a spinoff or sequel! :)

[FEEDBACK - Medkits, Grenades being HIDDEN]

imho, WAY too often, a medkit or grenade is "hidden" in the game behind some trees, or in one case on a late mission it's on the ground in an area regularly littered with dropped weapons and blood and corpses. You can't even SEE there's a medkit there unltess you blindly stumble into it. And during combat there simply isn't enough time to point at tiny circles with your cursor and try to read what they are.

The demo is SO stingy about medkits and grenades, and it doesn't need to make it a "pixel hunt" to find them or some Hyper Light Drifter "find the secret area with a medkit or grenade in it" situation.

Maybe maps could have larger, discernible graphics instead of microscopic circles, at least for the medkit and grenade. There's no need to make them "to scale," this is a game afterall, maybe go for more obvious visibility for something so critical to surviving and completing mission objectives. :)

[Map FEEDBACK; late map that's like an "L" shape on left side leading to an "O" around a "tree circle" on the right side.]

Here's a video of my various fails before finally getting some successful rifle-snipes to reach the southern grenade stash safely and then use it to clear the upper right area to complete the mission.

NOTE: This mission I think used to have a regulary firing mortar but now seems disabled, which I am most certainly NOT complaining about. :) But you can see the mortar guy in the right/middle of screen no longer firing.
GENERAL FEEDBACK:

I know the idea is to do flanking and what not, but when the pathways are this narrow and under fire by machine gunners, there's very little opportunity do do any flanking to get a side-bead on an enemy (no room to maneuver). What actually helped cracked this was resorting to Revolver to clear some enemies in the upper middle because the SMG or MG just wasn't hitting enemies in cover.

IDEA [Radio Object to Call in one air strike (bomb or rockets) or one fighter strafing run]

Since the enemy's mortar is more like a laser-satellite-guided howitzer, why not even things up by giving us at least one "support call-in" on later, tougher missions?

Maybe place a radio in a difficult to reach situation on the map. If we reach the radio, then we get to call in ONE type of air strike on the map by a U.S. fighter plane. Rockets, a bomb or a strafing run.

To make things fair, maybe they have to do an east-west targeting run which means it's unlikely to clear out an entire "vertical" wall of enemies, but it could help with a breakthrough on one side or the other.

I'm assuming the game's taking place behind enemy lines, so an artillery barrage maybe isn't reasonable. :)

[Weapon GRAPHICS BUG] Player's MP-5 periodiodically changes to this WHITE RECTANGLE while firing.
SEE screenshot at IMGUR below:

https://imgur.com/H48T8J8

*This SEEMS specific to the main player character using MP-5. I don't think I've seen this white rectangle when he uses other weapons.

[Machine Gun FEEDBACK] MG sounds great but feels essentially worthless in-game. Why?

-It can't hit ANYTHING most of the time. It can't EVER hit an enemy that's in any kind of cover near, far or in between; and most of the time it misses enemies who aren't in cover. This is contrast to the enemy MG-users who basically Spray Lead Death in a certain radius and if either of your characters steps in it that enemy MG killing field, they are INSTANTLY dead. This is just patently unfair imho - a weapon should work the same way for BOTH our characters and the German soldiers. It shoudln't be 100%-accuracy lead death for the Germans and "unable to hit the broadside of a barn at point blank range" for our characters.

It's even in contrast to our characters using puny pistols or the SMG, which actually both will hit enemies IN COVER.

-MG doesn't "suppress" enemies at all, as you might expect an MG to. I can't equip a character with the MG and then at least have him "suppress" enemies that are in cover so they're too afraid to fire from cover (something often modeled in turn-based tactics military or sci-fi strategy games). The MG just doesn't impact them at all.

-And MG makes you slow, and you can't fire while you're moving. I understand the idea of a powerful weapon having "balancing drawbacks," but if it can't hit anyone and can't suppress anyone, then what exactly is the point of having the MG available to our characters at all? It doesn't serve any purpose as it currently works imho.

[Characters CONTROL BUG] Sometimes when you switch control (X key) between the two characters, you lose the ability to give a movement direction to the other character.

So instead of seeing a movement "line" on screen, it just shows an "arrow animation" where you clicked, but the other character doesn't move.

[V68] [German SMG name's WRONG] MP-5 is a modern SMG made by a German company since the mid 1960s.
In Pandora, it is probably intended to be Germany's famous WW2 submachine gun, the MP 40:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP_40

I'm a WW2 history buff, so this stood out to me. :)

[possible Weapon BUG] If character picks up Revolver, it not only replaces the Luger (expected), it also makes the MP5 SMG *vanish* so that the character no longer has a primary ranged weapon.

[environment SUGGESTION] Maybe "go prone" in explosion craters as a type of cover?
Example screenshot at imgur:
https://imgur.com/JuwhCR4

Since many maps later on have these craters left by explosions, perhaps our character could auto-go-prone when in these craters?

it would help in some areas where there simply is no cover at all or just very thin cover (branchless trees).

SUGGESTION
It would help for bug-reporting/feedback if each mission had its own "title," and maybe "mission #" in-game; otherwise, I have a hard time tracking down and remembering what missions I had the most trouble with or how to describe them. Well, I guess "Mortar Hell" would be the unofficial name of the mission I can't so far find a way to complete.

My next run through I'll try to type out a list and see if I can add a description to each mission.

Thanks; no I just edit some gameplay videos as a hobby.

A few years ago I invested in a film editing software program called Wondershare Filmora because Windows Movie Maker was way too unstable/crash-prone.

I use an older version of Filmora that didn't require a subscription plan. I think the newer versions have switched to a "monthly or annual subscription" format and heavy use of AI, which I'm not really interested in for my mild gaming video clip purposes. 

[ENVIRONMENT BUG - 'HOLE' in Northern Tree Line] I am not sure if this "hole" in the nothern tree line that lets a character move north up into the sky is unique to this late, brutal mission's map or is on all maps, just reporting it. This video clip is unlisted on YouTube because I'm only sharing it for a bug report.  Although you can move the character east, he almost instantly explodes, as if stepping on a mine.

[Weapon Feedback] Enemy Machine Guns NEVER miss, not ever; our machine guns can't hit any enemy in cover, and regularly can't hit anything at all.

I'd suggest either tune DOWN the accuracy of enemy MGs so we aren't insteadly DEAD the moment we're in the firing radius of one; OR at least make it so our MGS can actually hit ANYONE at all. It's useless against enemies in cover, and it regularly misses enemies out of cover. 
If it's so bad/worthless, then just don't include the MG in loot drops so players aren't stuck with a nearly useless weapon that slows movement speed to a turtle when equipped for the worst of both worlds.

I quit for now. This demo is just making me cranky pants and frustrated.

OK, I had no idea what the colors meant. Maybe the early tutorial can explain this? I don't remember the tutorial saying anything beyond how to throw the grenades, not how to interpret the different colors when targeting a throw. Most of the time, it doesn't seem like my character can throw a grenade far enough to get it over environmental objects, or the enemies just move away from the explosion/flame radius.

It could, although that would really clutter the screen a lot. :)

OK I uploaded a video of YouTube of my various fails on the "mortar mission."

I marked with a caption late in the video where I think this movement occurs (about the 6  MINUTES 26 SECS mark)- again, my guy is stuck in this looping "crouching" animation - like he's hopping - and he just can't hardly move at all. So I couldn't reach the northern tree line to try to finish off the mortar guy.

[GRENADE feedback] Throwing Range TOO SHORT; and game falsely makes you think you can throw it as far as you want to.

Our grenade tossing range seems awfully short. It doesn't seem like there's any way to "charge" the grenade and throw it further. This seems especially unfair later when the perfect-accuracy enemy mortar can obliterate either of your guys nearly anywhere on an entire map. Meanwhile you have to reach near point blank range to get a grenade toss on them, nearly impossible to do when its adjacent MG eviscerates us on sight.

If the grenade tossing range is going to be this short, then maybe the game can limit the targeting cursor to the maximum throwing range distance? Most of the time my tosses fall way way short of where I placed the throwing cursor. 

[Zoom option SUGGESTION] Let us Toggle Zooming OFF altogether.

Every other game I play uses Mouse Wheel to switch weapons, so it's hard to turn off that "finger muscle memory," and I find I'm constantly zooming in Pandora when I don't want to. Most of the time zooming doesn't help, it just makes the screen narrow and hurts your situational awareness on the map.

So if we had some option to either disable zooming altogether or just Toggle zooming off altogether , might be useful. :)

[Possible MOVEMENT bug] Latest build seems to introduce this periodic "movement bug."

Where my character, instead of moving smoothly in one direction, it's like the game's making him micro-pause and micro-crouch and he can only move about 1 centimeter on screen when holding D or A keys down. Or maybe it's some weird lag, but given it's not an online game that doesn't make sense. I have some video of this happening.

Some sort of error/debugging code appears in upper left corner of screen while this is happening.
Aside from that, imho, the Mortar on the mission shouldn't have what seems like laser-guided or satellite-guided accuracy. It tracks my two soldiers in what seems ludicriously perfect accuracy for a WW2 game. :D

I've tried some other top down shooters in Steam to ensure it's not a keyboard hardware problem and the keys work fine in other games.

[Mission end suggestion] Instead of FORCING us to move or exit or whatever when we complete an objective, instead stop blinking the Next/Redo/Exit pop up screen so we can peruse all the fallen weapons on the battlefield to see if we want something.

Maybe just let us hit the ESC key when we're ready to move to the next mission /re-do it /exit -- a message on screen could explain this. :)

Otherwise, the pop up screen keeps popping up every like 1.2 seconds if you want to try to look over the weapons on the ground, and it's annoying :)

[RELATED Weapons FILTERING suggestion] Since the battlefield is often littered with dozens of weapons, maybe steal an idea from APRGS by letting us hold down alt, ctrl or some other key to filter the weapons in some ways so that we only see certain types of weapons. Like only show us weapons we don't already have equipped. 

Thanks. I did notice that skipping too many rooms puts your character in a position of having NO ranged weapons whatsoever.

Maybe we could already have a pistol in the 1st mission so that skipping several doesn't force you to melee most of the map. :)

[New Build Feedback] I don't know why the new build inserted this unskippable, INSANELY difficult mission with an army of machine gunners, flamethrowers and seemingly unending numbers of troops going after your own flag - the spigot of incoming enemies never, ever ends  no matter how many you off - but this mission does NOT belong this early in the game imho, and it's killed the game for me for now because it's impossible to progress past.

It's an impossible meat grinder that maybe belongs at the very end of the mission list. It has two white tents behind walls on the far east side that seem to be set to spawn enemies forever. :D
It might be reasonable if we had our own army, but not two. :p

UM, OK this new build seems to have added some massive new simultaneous "Defend your flag while Attacking their flag" mission Way Too Early in the missions list, and it's just brutal because you don't by then have powerful enough weapons to cope with what the game's throwing at you on this one.
I failed about 20 times in a row before giving up on it.
It is more stable in Windows 10 fwiw.

Cool, I'll try the new build and see if it lets me do a full run for a change. :)

OK, I got confused because I thought I started with a Revolver and not a Luger, doh.

OK, I think my problem is the big wide initial crosshair has no "center dot" in it. It's just wide brackets that eventually narrow, so it's hard to know where to precisely target.