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Thanks for the feedback Daza.  I'll definitely fix the two screen mouse pointer error, I generally work with just one so it's never come up for me.

While I do want the game to be more accessible and forgiving, I still think challenge is essential component for Biomass to be what it is. However, there are definitely some parts that are somewhat unfair and a few areas that could use more shortcuts or checkpoints, I will definitely consider that. 

I was actually considering an idea where you could restart once from where you died at the cost of all your BM, but your post is making me consider making it perhaps a half of your BM penalty.

Implementing difficulty modes is very difficult. Balancing is hard enough without a choice of difficulty, especially as a one man developer. And in general I am not a big fan of difficulty modes. I prefer to integrate things like that into gameplay like wearing the red uniform in the east tower, and the way most bosses have an easier, sometimes hidden, way to defeat them. 

But yeah, I appreciate you took the time to share your thoughts and will consider them in future updates.

Thanks so much :) 

Thanks for the kind words :)

Hey, sorry for the late reply, hadnt noticed it before today! I've uploaded the actual steam library cover that I did when I initially created the steam page, please excuse the quality it was more of a placeholder before I get around to doing the actual thing (probably should do that soon)! Anyway, you can get it here: https://imgur.com/a/c24n2bn

Maybe one day! Initially started development on my old macbook pro (running on bootcamp, but nevertheless!). Once I have everything done and dusted with the game might dig it out from the abyss that is my storage area at home, and see if I can get it running there.

Thanks Jaden :)

Thanks SabiGames, hopefully the full release will be 10/10 worth ;)

Hey Alex, thanks for reporting the bug! The reset world man is a demo exclusive thing but I'll have a look at the code for interacting with interfaces to see if theres a potential bug that could affect the final game.

Thanks Andrew! I am considering implementing a map, a few people have requested it, but I am trying to design the world to not really need it... I think it will make more sense in the final game.

Sorry, I think I didnt give you the right info last time! To reset the controls, run the registry editor (you can find it by tapping the  window key and typing registry editor). Once there, open HKEY_CURRENT_USER and then SOFTWARE. Delete the folder FinalScene, and the controls should be back to default!

Well done on totally breaking the game haha it took me a while to figure out how to fix it, will definitely need to think of a better game for the games release. 

But for now, run the registry editor (you can find it by tapping the  window key and typing registry editor). Once there, open HKEY_CURRENT_USER and then SOFTWARE. Within there, find the folder 'FinalScene' and delete it. That should reset the input to defaults! 

Thanks for letting me know about this issue :)

Hey, sorry to hear about that. I think the arrow keys and the enter button on the keyboard should always operate the same way despite bindings - if you manage to get into the gameplay, open the menu up, go to controls, and on the bottom click on reset to default and you should be ok.

If that somehow doesn't work, you can find the save data in the following path "C:\Users\{YourComputerUserName}\AppData\LocalLow\FinalScene" (Replacing {YourComputerUserName} with the profile name you logon to windows with).  Delete the BiomassDemo folder and that will clear out all your saved data.

Thanks bdon! The bullets should be dodgeable in terms of if it doesnt hit your collision mask it wont hit you, its just that the invincibility frames dont apply for them during a roll. A crouch should definitely avoid it, as should a roll if it doesn't physically hit you. I will review the collision masks to try to make it more accurate.

Gracias, avisame como te va! :)

In terms of the gameplay I'd say Bloodborne was definitely the biggest inspiration,  though at the same time I am trying to make it more unique than just a 2D rehash of it. Visually Hyper Light Drifter is definitely the biggest inspiration - seeing how something could look so good and yet be relatively low res was very motivating to me. 

I use aseprite, it's been by far the most intuitive pixel art software I've ever used. 

Hey SuperRadiumGames, happy to hear you're enjoying the game! Yeah sorry the tutorial kinda sucks, but you cant dodge yellow bullets, you can only deflect them with a weapon (you can even punch them away if you're so inclined!). I think the lazy officer who talks to you will tell you about it if you exhaust his dialogue, but yeah that was a terrible way to communicate it. The tutorial for the full game will be much better.

Still working hard on it! Hoping to release in late april though it seems like I might not make it at this stage, but theres a slim possibility I might make it. Have plans for a couple of free DLCs post release too!

The invasion allows you to unlock the flintlock if you haven't killed the Red Mother and you help her clean out the settlement. I can't remember if there's anything else exclusive to it aside from fighting more enemies,  though getting to Wilbur is easy as the blue guys near his entrance will disappear. 

Maybe you've done all there is to do in the demo? There's three bosses in all. If you want to reset the game and keep your items, use the rope wheel to leave the settlement.

Ah you're not stuck at all my friend, that door is locked out in the demo! I still haven't implemented what's behind it...but it is very important to the game's plot. Basically, at some point in the game you may find a way to get those broken doors fixed...

No worries, ask away!

Thanks Iowangwei :) I've tightened a lot of things for the final release, I hope it can exceed this version!

Thanks tabi :)

Thanks Puppet Studio, that means a lot, I wouldnt consider myself much of a visual artist, this is the first time I've done my own pixel art for a game.

Thanks Ice-creansandiwch, I really appreciate the feedback, I want to make the game as good as it can be :) 

Congratulations on being one of the few people who got the battering ram, not many people realized you have to keep talking to that guard to get it (im going to add an icon to characters whom have more dialogue to exhaust). I did want to make the battering ram disappear after you get it but I haven't implemented the functionality into the dialogue scripting engine yet, but I definitely will for the final game.

The wilbur room and the guys around it where a last minute addition I added to the demo, a lot of the mapping especially around that area is going to be a lot different in the final game.

The backstab cancel is something I have struggled for a while... initially I had it so the main character would always succeed with the backstab but it sometimes looked unnatural and it could create gamebreaking bugs...its something I'll have to tweak some more for sure.

Cheers Ice-creamsandwich, really appreciate it :) Will launch a demo with the final game with a save game that will be usable with the full version if you choose to get it.

You hold the alternate button and then press either one of your attack buttons - however the fists dont have a special attack per se, so that wont do much. With the beamsabre equip you do an attack that you can parry with. Will have a better tutorial in the final game / next demo. 

Hey dontnormally,

That npc is meant to be friendly but you aggrod him! You're not the first to do it accidentally though, I will make it more obvious in the final game. 

Hey Ice-creamsandwich, to use it, you hold the 'alternate' button (you can check what you have it mapped too in the menu, by default it's mapped to left shift for the keyboard, and the left triggers or shoulder buttons for the controllers), and press one of the attack buttons. 

The special attack is typically used to parry, though not all weapons can parry and some just have alternate attacks for it. 

Cheers Marxxiez, thanks for playing the game : ) I really enjoyed your video, I was really hoping youd take out those elites at the end haha I thought you had them, you were so close! 

Thanks Quazimofo, really enjoyed watching your playthrough! Your commentary was really funny, and your gameplay gave me lots of good feedback in terms of things I need to work on. Cheers :)

Hey noodlesatitch,

The game shouldnt be too demanding, it runs on unity, I can run it pretty well on an integrated card on a 5 year old windows 7 laptop.

Thanks for the heads up supremenutoverlord, the actual link in this page was pointing to the old url even though the display text was the correct invite. In any case, it should be fixed now!

Thanks Dadragon6, that means a lot :) I was pretty happy with the red mother track as well, it's definitely one of my favourites though there's a couple more in the full game that are up there as well. 

But yeah I dug up my old soundcloud account and uploaded the red mother battle theme and the background track for the south tower peak area. You can find them here: https://soundcloud.com/user-554742669

I am happy you enjoyed the game  :) 

While the final game will have more metroidvania elements than the demo, it will be executed in a manner thats different to most other games of the genre...I don't want to spoil too much but yeah there's definitely gating that can be overcome but you aren't going to be an overpowered force of death by the endgame! As for your questions:

1. I want to release it on the Switch and PS4, but if this were to happen it would probably still be a whiles away as I want to release some free DLC on the pc version first as well. I have no idea what the porting job will involve either, but since I am using Unity I hope it isn't too much of a headache. 

2. The launch price will be 14.99 USD

3. No multiplayer...it's one of those things I have always thought of adding down the line but it definitely won't be a straight forward task as there's a lot of code which takes the assumption that there's only one player. If the game gets popular enough to justify it though I will add it as free dlc at some point.

Yeah its always been there but I never advertised it, I should add it to the repair tutorial. I considered making it the only way to heal but I feel like it might confuse some people and might be cumbersome in the middle of a battle!

Thanks for the detailed description, I did make some changes to the biomass excess code somewhat recently and havent tested pit falling since then, maybe that resulted in this happening. I will check it out.

A few people have accidentally fallen over what they thought was solid ground, I will try to make it clearer! It's kinda harder for the darker areas, but more than anything I will try to make solid ground much clearer.

Haha yeah you pretty much sequenced broke, which I do encourage! The final game especially will have lots of opportunities to do so - though I am definitely going to be guiding the player through a specified path and ideally they will take it the first time through! Ah so the wheel came in to play. Yeah watching Cryptic Hybrid's made me modify the the camera boundaries for that section since it was less clear that you could go left before. From version 1.01 the camera pans left as soon as you get up there. I am hoping this is enough to show people that the section to the right is not intended, maybe at most theyll take a shotgun shot to the face and then rethink their attempt haha.

Yeah, it's not a creature exactly, that beak thing is more of a mask! I think you will have acquired it if you kill him so you can put it on. Yeah if you don't kill him and unlock the gate the world changes somewhat...

Ok that's a relief, those save bugs are the scariest to deal with! The new game+ should be fixed now as I was just made aware of it recently.

Also, thanks to your help I've fixed the ps4 item trigger bug and made the red mother aggroable independent of what you're wearing! I think I will modify her dialogue somewhat as well, kinda to invite you to attack her to make it more obvious...

Thanks for taking the time to give so much feedback, its a lot of help :)

I totally agree with the interact and heal being mapped to the same button. I implemented a method to kinda help with it, if you hold down the alternate button (the one you use to do the special attack/walk with) and then press interact it will override any interactable objects and will force a heal.
Initially it was mapped to the secondary weapon button, but when I implemented the weapon mixing system (you can swap weapons mid combo), I kinda ran out of buttons so I decided to go with what we have now. Not 100% sure if I'll keep it as such though, I am not sure if people are using the weapon mixing system too much.

Wow that was a very specific bug, I am surprised I never ran into it before as my main gamepad is also a ps4 controller. I've managed to fix it, uploading the patch now, unfortunately with my slow australian internet it might take a while ><

You're not the first to ask for a map! I am in two minds about it. I think it does seem needed in the demo, but in the final game the way the journey will flow will make it somewhat not needed...its kinda hard to describe without getting into spoilers! I think it might be one of those things where I will add it after the initial full release if I turn out to be wrong and people get really pissed off without a map...we'll see...

I definitely need to put some explanations of the stats somewhere. I was going to implement it as dialogue for some characters but I never got around to it. For what its worth, tech skill is melee strength and mech knowledge is for guns.

Hmm thats odd, it should spawn it where you fell, and if it cant find a usable spot it should spawn it right next to the biomass workstation you spawn from. Where did you fall that you didnt get it?

Yeah the way I designed it I was expecting the player to fail the dialogue, fight her, later on find the red garments in the storage pit, and maybe get the hints from some officers as to how to answer the dialogue for the new game plus.I did want to add some custom dialogue if you're wearing a red uniform where she would inform you that she can see through the disguise and she knows youre not of her underlings, yeah I think ill definitely need to add something like that, and maybe make her aggroable even if you are wearing the red uniform. Can I ask though, how did you manage to get the red captains uniform without getting the plain red officers one in the warehouse? Ive heard it might be cheesable but yeah thats not how I intended it to happen haha

Ah I see you killed the blue guy in the storage! If you spoke to him, a different chain of events would have happened...I won't spoilt it for you! But yeah, I wouldnt worry that much about getting through the floors right now, theres another boss you can fight... you need to pass all the blues near the beginning in the tunnels. If you wear the blue uniform you should be able to get past them. If you hadnt killed the blue guy in the warehouse and you open the ladder gate they would have been gone as well. 

The saving sounds weird, did you trigger a new game+? There was a bug earlier that would disable the continue option when you started a new game+, however it should be fixed in the latest version (I uploaded it like 12 hours ago, its 1.03). If not, that is a bit concerning, did you quit and save before that? If you havent triggered a new game plus yet, you can do it from the settlement, taking the rope on the right after getting the commanders authorization.

Thank you!

Really enjoying watching you play the game, its been a lot of help figuring out bugs I hadn't noticed! Your commentary is very entertaining too!