Hey. So you seem to really like DMC, and wants to make a DMC fan game.
I also, like DMC a lot, and want to make a DMC fan game! I also tried a DMC themed project, but for a game jam.
So would you be interested in getting some extra help with this cool project you're doing? If you think that idea it's worth discussing do tell me and we can trade DMs and such.
Anyways great work on recreating the core mechanics! Look forward to your further updates.
Speaking on the assumption that there is future development of this game or this mission, I would personally suggest a solution in terms of expansion of RPG choice elements affecting the final battle.
To make a boss fight connect with the core/base game, is essentially to show that "previous actions during the base game affects the boss fight", which can be done in various ways, testing skills and mechanics learned is one, choices having consequences is another, etc.
Simply increasing AI quality, or allow it to cheat, while taking away player abilities, could result in a sense of loss and unfairness without new gains to balance it.
In the current build there are various interactions throughout the casino that has no direct or apparent gameplay effects. Talking to most NPCs besides Moona does not provide gameplay impact, and drinking seems to only be visual flare and references as well.
So an idea is to give effects to these interactions, so that they can balance out the final fight against a smarter and possibly cheating Kronii boss AI:
- Helping Ame enter the High Stakes Poker by earning an extra 1mil as her share, allows Ame to distract Kronii from detecting cheats, or provide other kinds of cheats. A cheating competition route.
- A choice to return Moona's piggybank instead of stealing it, befriends Moona to come along into the final game and forces both sides to not cheat. A route that tests pure gambler skill/reality card game knowledge.
- Buying strong alcohol (not auto-consuming) and bring into the final fight, makes all parties drink up, which makes Kronii's AI behave irrationally. A wild card kind of route.
can expand the dynamics of the final game and tie it together with the core game.
And of course simply adding more types of games Kronii plays, and improvements on the UI like showing the end goal of that fight, would also improve the experience.
I hope the concept can serve as some inspiration for improving the final fight if your team ever decide to return to it outside the scope of the jam.
Great try on implementing time rewind abilities in the gameplay loop. There are a few bugs with odd rewind timings cause menus left open, or money in the bank not deducting accordingly. But overall a functional and solid implementation.
The downside to implementing a great feature for the main gameplay loop, is that high expectations are set, and player expects a unique scenario fighting the boss, using techniques learnt from the main game. In this case, the boss fight seems to only take away the unique feature from the game instead of adding, or testing existing ones.
So all in all the main game is a solid innovative piece, while the boss fight/final challenge would benefit from a redesign, such as other ways to fit the theme (time manipulation/cheating), or incorporate agent Ame into helping in the scenario, etc.
Good attempt at capturing the retro feel with the CRT filter and 8-bit bgm. Good humor on the endings too.
About gameplay, realistically I felt the current setting (map size + rock amount + movement speed) doesn't contian enough stimulations to retain player interest after about 5 minutes. Either that or it's my attention span these days are deteriorating into zoomer levels. Enjoyment levels fall quickly when the player starts to feel stuck on the final 1~2 keys.
Would suggest more meaningful finds in rocks. Can be power ups, or more notes to read, or radar that detects keyitems when close by, or simply a mini-map showing remaining rocks, anything to tell the player that breaking the wrong rock is still meaningful gameplay.
Also the speed difference between run and 4-leg sprint can be more apart to show the difference more clearly. A toggle press instead of hold would also be an user-friendly improvement.
Good attempt at capturing the retro feel with the CRT filter and 8-bit bgm.
About gameplay, realistically I felt the current setting (map size + rock amount + movement speed) doesn't contian enough stimulations to retain player interest after about 5 minutes. Either that or it's my attention span these days are deteriorating into zoomer levels.
Would suggest more meaningful finds in rocks. Can be power ups, or more notes to read, radar that detects keyitems when close by, or simply a mini-map showing remaining rocks, anything to tell the player that breaking the wrong rock is still meaningful gameplay.
Cute game.
Other than "I Need more content!", it would be nice to be able to see any status changes (summoned samplings, defense up/down numbers), and see the boss health.
Also I would recommend adding a simple pause menu, and more the Return to Main Menu arrow onto that. Can prevent the player from mistakenly pressing the Return/Restart arrow during the boss fight (like me).
If you plan on developing this further please let me know! Would very much like to help on get a fun project off the ground.
Funny enough my first thought when I decide to make this a DMC clone is to recreate the DMC3 opening cutscene with pizza. First thing I did was to download a food asset pack with pizza slices lmao.
But after the first week it was pretty clear that's nigh impossible to even make make all 4 styles let alone cutscene.
Also didn't know where to find clean clips of shark smug so the thought of voice lines also never got anywhere... nor the Ina boss fight 2 with 2 phases of different tentacles already animated..
Great project, I can definitely feel the effort and thoughts put into the game.
So to make it better lets get in a bit about combat flow and enemy design. The devil is in the details after all.
I'll assume you have at least played one dmc games within 3/4/5 to decide to make this, so I'll use direct reference of skills from those games.
If you pay attention to Dante's rebellion combos, you'll notice that when performing Combo B's spin-around 3 hit attack, you can cancel out of it anytime with jumping, dashing and blocking, after the 1st hit lands.
My understanding is that this is to compensate for the long duration of Combo B, that you can opt out of it within reasonable speed (hard locking only the 1st hit).
Another important fact about Combo B is that it hits all around Dante as he swings rebellion from the right hand to the left. Against common enemies that guarantees hit-stun, and thus Dante's safety when performing it.
These two points are what makes Combo B work even with a long animation and not that much damage to it. It can be cancelled, and it has a 360degree reach.
This is to contrast in YMC's current version, Gura's 2nd melee press in her Combo A hits 3 times, all to the front (and does not track enemies too well), and is non-cancellable.
Especially when combined with the fact that the current enemy roaster tend to attack pretty fast (especially the shrimps), it makes Combo A very dangerous to perform, with little extra benefits, whenever there are more than 2 active enemies on the field.
So to me, improvements to the combat would either be to slow down the enemies' rate of attacks, or to equip player characters with a more versatile or responsive move set. Especially a double jump would help a lot. Even greater help would be some good long iframes when the player is being knocked back, so that they can't be stun-locked to death by a couple of Tako-spins or KFP fly-pans.
My current experience besides just spamming ranged zaps of the trident, would be to only use 1st hit of the trident ComboA, then switch to twin blade aka Agni&Rudra, or try to launch.
Naturally connecting to the topic of launching and air attacks, you may realize that in dmc3/4/5, especially 4/5 Nero/Vergil, their air combos actually has really big hitbox, way beyond where the physical reach of their already giant swords .
May not be so realistic, but it is to compensate for hitting multiple enemies, and the slight distance/height errors that often happens when both parties are falling at different speeds.
So yes, a bigger hitbox in the air would be my suggestion. Of course I do notice the existence of Payline/air stinger present in the game, but I see no reason to limit the viability of other attacks because of that.
It also would compensate for the player character easily moving backwards away from the target because he held the back button during the launch move, although I would add that a more fundamental solution would be to recreate dmc's High Times completely, where holding the back direction after high times still would not move Dante backwards by much at all.
Gura's agni&Rudra launcher also seems to have a much shorter reach than the Trident, which may be in need of some adjustments.
There are things that can be said about every move, but I hope that going in detail on just two examples can give a clear picture about the fundamental concept of it all.
So if you're still planning to improve this game for a little bit, I hope these suggestions could be of help. Nonetheless thank you once again for making a good HoloXdmc game!
It's a pretty straight forward shooter, everything works from beginning to the end, not bad.
Using all 2D sprites to recreate the original DOOM like art-style is pretty resourceful
Now from the art style and enemy types, I assume it's using the original DOOM as a reference.
In that sense, I feel like not all mechanics are well suited for that type of gameplay.
Slowing down when aiming may not be suitable for the that sub-genre of arcade shooter. At medium/close range It is near impossible to dodge during aiming. It makes movement during aim feels like a useless mechanic.
However if the player stays far away from the enemy, the slow movement during aim can completely dodge all bullets. This may have made distance too much of a factor in affecting difficulty.
In the last boss fight, simply circling around at the edge of the room, holding aim all the way, still dodges nearly all of the boss's blue fire and minion shotgun blasts.
Nonetheless, good job on making a complete game in time, that's better than I did, so that's a job well done to me.
kkkkkkkkkk I like building games kkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Besides the obvious I want more content, I think adding hotkeys to buying buildings would be a simple but immediate improvement. The building stats can also be moved onto the right with the construction menu, so that the player can immediate confirm the number change when they buy the hammer upgrade.
By the way if you to do more stuff with this project.. I can help with some hammering animations :^)
