Thanks for playing, and for the very detailed thoughts! The most recent web version has some altered movement mechanics where the focus is more on bouncing repeatedly to build up speed, but I'm not spending much time on it right now because I don't think improving my "platforming physics" skills will really have any benefit.
"Are there too many notes, or do they move too fast, or what?" Both! Also it should start out easier, so you can get the timing down before it goes ham.
Thanks for playing! I'm really happy to hear you found it soulful. I agree with all the things you mentioned, most of them should be complete for Blorb: Definitive EditionTM.
I think I see what happened, you immediately go into level 1 after the cutscene, so after completing level 1, you might think that level 1 is a different level. That could be made clearer somehow. Also yep, that's the one I thought, it's definitely very bad with the camera towards the end.
Thanks for blorblieving! The moving platforms were a true conundrum because the game is pixel perfect, and it's hard to make them slow enough to feel good without having them be very obviously jittery when they move. Thankfully it seems nobody really commented on the background jittering (phew), but the jitter overall is one of my biggest concerns graphics-wise.
Thanks for the very in-depth feedback! What do you mean by "Level 1 and 2 are the same"? Also by level 2 in the dark lands I'm assuming you mean the level with the clouds and ocean in the background, since the camera at the end there is pretty dicey.
Thanks for blorblieving, and thanks for the gameplay video, those are always very helpful! You are probably the person with the most skill at the demo; I'm impressed you completed all the secret levels, especially the snow one.
It seems like pretty much everyone wants more bouncing. The problem I ran into with it was that if bouncing is based off of whether velocity is above an arbitrary threshold (that's how it works right now), it's unclear whether you are going to bounce or not so it feels imprecise. For the next version I think I'm going to add a dedicated bounce button, so blorb can bounce to his little heart's content.
Artstyle is some real schizocore, not sure if that's what you are going for, or if it's just because it's early / you're trying to settle on an art style.
Volume bar being a unit is VERY soulful (... too soulful?)
Rally points from circles should be clearer, I don't know if there is a special button you have to click, but IMO if you right click from a circle it should give you a super clear flag on the ground or a line going to where the units will rally.
I appreciate seeing an RTS on demo day, but I would also caution that even the most normal, "by-the-book" RTS is probably an uphill battle to get people to understand and enjoy, so the weirder you get the higher the filtering potential. We live in a society, RTS gamers.
Honestly, surprisingly fun considering the presentation. It's hard to give feedback since this is obviously a very early version, but I'll try.
Wizard dance is very cute, but way too hard. WAY too hard.
Shooting gallery is nice, sfx would go a long way of course. Intro text made me laff.
The letter editing... honestly, I really liked it. I think it's an interesting puzzle, and it's not one that I've ever seen before. Well done, although the timer seems a bit too short
I know it's WIP, but the font on the main menu is REALLY bad, I just have to say.
Oh I see, yeah! I feel I might need to add some thinner platforms to make that happen, but it could be an interesting feature, and a way to add some more complexity to the levels.
Thanks for playing! I'm glad you like the arabian riff, it was actually just a kind of gag as a placeholder but I gradually decided to keep it in, and I'm happy I did.
You're right about the blue orbs, on the night ocean level there is one that is TECHNICALLY possible to grab without dying, but which is way, way too hard (I can get it 1/15 times). What do you mean jumping down from a ledge, like make it easier to slip off the corner of a platform?
I made a quick patch that should HOPEFULLY cap the fps, if you could skip to that level and tell me if it's fixed for you that would be great (no obligation of course, thanks for playing!)
Thanks for playing, and thanks for the great feedback!
Checkpoints are supposed to spawn you at the last one you reached (as in furthest along in the level), but they definitely aren't supposed to carry over after restarting the level. What do you mean by restarting, pausing and exiting to map and then reentering
A very good point about the saws and enemies, I've thought about that and uhhh I have no idea how to fix it :(
Oof, I assume your FPS is higher than 60, I think what happens is that godot caps fps at 60 if that's all your monitor can handle, so I just assumed that it would be capped at 60 for everyone. The speed on bigguy's vod is the intended speed, I'll try to get that fixed.
Future plans for blorb, I'm probably going to do a "definitive edition" for next DD with some fixes and hopefully improvements, but overall I'm going to move onto something else to practice Godot some more. Blorb was actually an abject FAILURE... in terms of learning godot, since I got sidetracked by making all the animations and backgrounds. Oops.
Thanks for playing, and a big thanks for your contribution to the blorb mythos with blorbina! I'll see if there's some way to add some more Bounce Action without having to totally change the gameplay (maybe a bounce key, or maybe you hold jump to bounce, idk). Backgrounds were the bane of my existence, spent so much time on them and they went through so many different permutations, in particular the colors were hard, I'll take another look at that one and see if I can make it better.
Thanks for playing, and agreed. It was supposed to be more of a core mechanic, but then it was difficult for the player to know when they would bounce versus hit the ground normally. Maybe there's a way to add some more bounce action.
Thanks for playing! If I might ask, what do you mean by the floating platform + trampoline level? Is it the oasis background one, because if so, that's one of the secret levels.
It seems there's a consensus that there should be some kind of jump buffer, never realized it when testing but it makes a whole lot of sense now.
Hey, I'll gladly take competent and that you had fun, because I definitely agree that blorb doesn't stand out as a platformer. I genuinely believe pixel platformers are one of, if not the, WORST genres to try to make a game in. Nobody wants to play them, because why play a marioclone when you could play mario?
I hear you about the level design, that's KINDA the point, I guess. Going for a middle ground between mario and one of those "hardcore" platformers--but making a platformer a good level of challenge and fun is beyond me. Quite simply, I would not be interested in playing blorb if I didn't make it, heh.
Definitely improved from the last time I played it.
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but animations are really important in a game like this. The running animation is really funny (maybe that would actually be a good direction to take it, imagine a goofy ragdoll physics game with big booby ladies fighting)
O R B
Biggest small thing that could improve it: improved hit feedback. Give me a nice meaty THWACK when you hit an enemy, you know? And hitsstun/hitstop. Right now it's like fighting a bunch of ghosts.
The kick feels like it charges up way too fast (it gets to the part where it pauses way too fast, that is), and then it releases way too fast, too. Overall I think a slower charging kick without a pause would work better (could be released before full charge for reduced damage).
Punch feels too fast, which also adds to the feeling of weightlessness.
I didn't manage to hit one of the jumping attacks, even though I tried like 30 times (seriously). Skill issue perhaps, also I'm playing on M+KB which could be why. I MIGHT have actually hit it and not realized it though.
Pleasantly surprised with how good the gameplay feels.
The baked lighting (if that's what it is) on the table is too much, it's distracting. I see what it's going for, I think, but it's too extreme. Same story, but less so, with the tables off to the sides.
Counting takes too long, I would like it if they all were counted at the same time, if they have to be counted at all.
IMO the shot power bar should be one of those thingys where it automatically goes up and you press the button to stop it at the time you want, you know? Would make the game harder but would make it feel better.
Even though it's super janky, the game is FUN in its current state, which I think is a very good sign.
The controls screen just lets you rebind up left down and right, I assume for the menu controls. I know it's WIP, but it's still confusing since there is another control screen in the tutorial.
What's the DEAL with the picture that is there for a second when you start the game, a placeholder I assume?
I don't really like the weapons you start off with in arcade mode, if you started with a gatling gun and some kind of weak blaster that would be a far smoother start, because I kept wondering whether I was running out of ammo or doing something wrong, but the weapons (afaik) just had really slow firing rate. Imagine if you started off in Halo with a sniper rifle and rocket launcher, you know?
The fuel bar is confusing, maybe add an E and F and little notches as a quick fix, because right now it looks more like a health bar than the health bar. Also the fortress mode text just makes things even more confusing, pushing the overall UI into "fingerless glove meter" territory.
My condolences for the stutters, hopefully you find a way to counteract that devil Juan's handiwork. I know how frustrating it is for that to be the first thing everyone complains about when it's something hard to fix.
I assume the woman in the bottom right is the pilot, and she will be animated / react to events?
Thanks for playing, and you make some very good points. I've thought the same thing about the gravity, but I've been scared to change it when I already have all the levels made for the existing gravity. Trampolines are a MESS. A big, fat, MISTAKE.
Not sure what you mean about the jump frame thing, do you mean coyote time, or letting the player tell blorb to jump slightly before hitting the ground?
It actually REALLY bothers me that you don't keep speed if you let go of the direction key while midair, unlike in mario. It may be a small thing but it really stands out.
I do not care for lives / game overs in a demo like this. I know, that's how mario works, but for demo day it feels unnecessarily frustrating having to replay levels to get back to where you were (yes, I got a game over in level 3, yes I'm NOT COPING).
I went to SMB to check, and I do feel that the moving platforms in 1-3 are way too hard compared to mario's 1-3. Gob doesn't jump high enough for how far / how fast they move IMO.
