I'm your first :-) Will you be putting this game on Steam eventually? Will there eventually be a demo?
Looks really good.
GrayBardGaming
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A dark sci-fi adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world. Wishlist on STEAM!
Adventure
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Thank you so much for the feedback. So, I need to find a way to showcase that my game is a dark sci-fi adventure and not a "horror" game. I know the artwork makes it appear like it's a horror game, but combat will be a big part. I guess my idea with this game is Dark Souls. It's not "horror" per sa, but has dark/creepy elements.
I'm trying to find a way to introduce combat at the very beginning, but I also like the opening with a bit of mystery and exploration (what's going on here?) before The Lurker chase and combat opens up. However, the plan is to have combat pretty heavy once you reach that point. Combat, explore a bit, scatter in a few puzzles, etc. My idea was you just activated, so you're not "combat ready" and don't realize there's a threat. You encounter Lurker, "Oh no, I need to upgrade" and then go in to wreck stuff LOL Doesn't appear I pulled that off... and need to find a way to introduce combat earlier... but also keep that opening mystery where you need to explore a bit before things are kicked up a notch.
I actually considered showing you can have weapons at the beginning, but your sword and gun get stuck/locked because the ROBO-Unit breaks... so you need to find the Circuit Board to repair and get your weapons. Maybe that'll show players... "Oh, there will be combat in this...?"
Definitely need to find a way to clear up the fact this isn't a horror game, though LOL You're not the first to think it is. I just want it to be dark and creepy... but an adventure game :-) Kinda like a soullike or even Last of Us. Combination of dark themes, action, combat, exploring, puzzles, etc. I just need to balance it better.
Thank you so much for playing and leaving your feedback!!
Full Metal Sergeant - DEMO jam comments · Replied to CarloC in Full Metal Sergeant - DEMO jam comments
I LOVED your game and think it deserves a LOT more attention! When I first saw it, I was like... "Oh, a boot camp simulator. Fun." I figured I'd send my soldiers into war and get a quick recap of how they did... but you then actually TAKE your soldiers into the field and watch it play out. SO GOOD! I can actually see myself buying your game! Very impressive.
I played until the end of the demo... so that's saying something. I also wish listed your game and plan to buy it eventually.
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OVERALL FUN:
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What's not to love? Training soldiers for war, balancing their needs and traits, screaming drill sergeant. I really enjoyed your game. I also love how you can purchase new buildings and add-ons, assign soldiers to certain duties to help relieve stress and stamina. This was a lot of fun. I could actually see myself buying your game.
So... train recruits. Then you take them to war... which is fun because it really makes you want to focus on how you train them. I don't want any of my men to die. I also love how you can THEN promote a surviving soldier to an assistant that helps train new recruits!
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CONTROLS/UI:
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Very easy-to-understand controls and a short tutorial that lets me jump right into playing.
Everything I needed to see was on screen, and I understood what to do.
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ART:
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Cute little pixel art. The map is simple but looks good. Each soldier and the task their assigned has it's own unique training animation. I also love how their uniform changes as they advance.
The ONLY thing missing... is regardless of which training you have assigned to each area... they all look the same. I think the game would really benefit from different artwork for each zone. Strength training zone actually has weights/benches, shooting range has targets, etc.
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SOUND/MUSIC:
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No music. While I think you're going for a more ambient background sound with training, your game would benefit from some music during, at least, the end of day recap screen and during missions/combat.
However, this isn't a huge deal. I love the chants during training and the drill sergeant screaming at the recruits. The rain, birds chirping, airplanes, and wind blowing sets a great tone during training. I do prefer no music during this portion of the game.
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SUGGESTIONS:
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This isn't super important, but it would be nice if we could name our soldiers. It would be fun if I could send myself and my friends to boot camp ;-)
Again-not SUPER important, but to get us even more attached to our soldiers... maybe let us customize them (just a bit). We get to go to the barracks and choose their hair/skin color. This, also, isn't that important, though.
You should only be allowed to assign your assistant to one training area per week. Once you do... they're stuck in that zone. I was easily able to move them around with my recruits and always gained +2 if they were successful.
OK, I'm going to be honest... this one confused me. I think there's more to it, but I didn't quite get it. Walk around, click a pen, and get some very lengthy text. Then the coffee mug. Text. And then the cat... more text. The coffee mug and pen disappear, and the cat stays. Click cat again and again... same text.
Is it a puzzle? Are there more controls? Am I missing something?
In your game's description, you mention something about the Action RPG is there but short... huh?
I feel like I'm missing something here LOL Let me know, and I'll try your game again. However, this one stumped me. Unless what I played is it...
Hello! I played your game today, and what you have was a lot of fun! My feedback below may sound like I didn't enjoy it, but I see a lot of potential here. I'd play this again after a couple of updates. Here's what I got for you:
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OVERALL FUN:
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Overall... I think you do have a great game here! Only issue... balance. Combat is tough at first, and if players aren't willing to learn... you might have a lot that quit after 1-2 attempts. You should consider making the first couple of rounds easier... draw the player in, then increase the challenge as we go. Remember... if we're playing our first time, those initial rounds are also a tutorial to us.
Couple of things that feel a bit broken...
1) The random weapons and buffs are nice because it changes up runs, but earlier rounds should be guaranteed two offensive weapons, one tower, and only one buff. I started a new run once... and only got the sword as an offensive weapon, two buffs, and one tower. I didn't even survive round 1 because the sword is slow, has a short range, and there are so many enemies.
2) The earlier rounds have way too many enemies. That... or lessen the amount of HP they have. I shouldn't feel stressed or overwhelmed during Round 1 :-)
3) The gun AI had me screaming at my screen several times. They kept attacking enemies further away instead of those closer that posed a bigger threat. Especially since the goal is to survive until time ends... killing enemies closer to your "dev studio" can be the difference between life and death.
However...
I LOVE the creative side of your modules! Defending the game dev studio from viruses/bugs and strengthening it with creative upgrades, mods, and weapons! I really enjoyed reading all the descriptions! This is unique and creative!
So much variety in weapons, upgrades, and towers. I also love how certain towers affect the weapons differently. The one that gives you 50% of your money spent back to anything placed on it, 10 kills per tower increase it 1%. There's some nice strategy here, and you make your players think. I like that!
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CONTROLS/UI:
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Controls are simple and easy to understand (this is good).
The UI looks nice, but the font is pretty small. Not horrible if you play in full screen but many people might have difficulty reading this. I was fine, but you may want to consider enlarging the font for some players.
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ART:
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Not bad. The enemy artwork is nicely done and animated. I love the little flaming balls creatures.
The icons look good, and weapon artwork and animations are done well.
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SOUND/MUSIC:
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There was none. No music on the menu or in-game, and 0 sound effects. Not even ambient sounds. I kept checking if it was muted, and I saw nothing.
My personal opinion... audio in video games is SO important. Music helps set the tone, sound effects help immerse the player into the action, and even ambient sounds will help draw us in further. Perhaps a loud siren/drone that goes off as the round starts for the "impending doom" and SFX as your cannons fire, swords slash, etc. You may be adding this later, though.
Or is there audio and I somehow missed it?
Hello there! I didn't realize you had another game. I played and reviewed this entry. Here's my breakdown (it's a lot, but I hope this helps). I haven't finished, but I'm really enjoying it, so I'll definitely keep playing. I want to finish the demo.
OVERALL FUN
Most important category (IMO) and you nailed it here. I'm really enjoying this game. I love how you need to unlock various different abilities to proceed further into each map and rescue villagers. The story and simple and cute, and I love how each villager has their own unique personality. My only gripes...
Combat, while I love how the # and color are associated with each enemy... hitting them with their random movements can get a bit frustrating, but this is minor.
The zones are big, and with no map, they feel a bit daunting at times. This may discourage new players if they get too lost and confused. However, in my case, I pushed through and as I started unlocking new abilities and items... plus learned the map a bit... it got easier. Have you considered a map of some sort, though?
CONTROLS/UI
Overall not bad controls, but they were a bit uncomfortable feeling. I think they'd be better if you let us have a couple extra keys for confirm and cancel/escape. Not a fan of Enter being the only interact/confirm button and Z being the only cancel/escape button. Maybe...
-Confirm/Interact could be ENTER & SPACE
-Cancel/Escape can be Z & ESC
-Love how ARROW keys and WASD can be used to move
Also... controller didn't work for me, but I use a PS5 controller... so it may only be compatible with Xbox. This may be my fault since I don't have an Xbox controller to test it on. I need a new one. I broke it over the weekend.
Full screen didn't appear to do anything. It enlarges the screen, but the game stays the same size with a large black border around it. It would be nice if the game, itself, went full-screen.
You have good tutorials, and you explain how to play very well.
It would be nice if there was a quick key to view all your stats on screen quicly. Going into the menu, cycling down, and then hitting confirm twice can get a bit repetitive after a while. It looks like you want to keep the game screen clear of HUD info, but maybe pressing a button causes a quick popup that displays HP, MP, Strength, Luck, etc. Pressing it again gets rid of it. Then players can choose to leave it up... or play without.
ART
5 Stars! A+! Rotten Tomato scores you 100% here! Artwork is fantastic and very unique looking. I love each character's look, the animations are very well done, and the style is amazing. I love your animated speech bubbles, as well.
SOUND/MUSIC
Music and sound was very well done and fitting for the theme of the game. Love the music and it didn't feel like it got old or repetitive at any point (which is a good thing).
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
For all the locked doors... you should only have that message populate once or twice. Or, maybe a faster animation without a dialogue box: knock, question mark bubble, done. Not a huge deal, but I think players would get the idea without waiting on that text box.
I love, love, love that you have to learn everything: swimming, farming, dashing. However, I will say this... and I only do because old-school RPG players are obsessed with dash. If your character moves too slowly, and you can't dash... they get upset. My game is the same. You need to learn dash, so while I respect this and have no issue with it myself... you may get some complaints because walking is just way too slow for some people, especially with the size of your maps ;-) I get this complaint with my games, as well.
You should add a visual indicator on each building when you rescue a villager. Perhaps the shop sign has a crosshair over the icon until you rescue them? After they're saved, and the shop is open for business, and the new sign shows up without a crosshair?
The light green monsters with the white # is hard on the eyes and difficult to read. All other colors looked great, though!
Watched you play this earlier and commented on your video. Enjoyed it and great feedback. I just so happen to be putting another demo up in a day or two that addresses everything you mentioned. No more split modes. Combat will take place right after exploration, and you can use all the items you found while exploring.
King of Deadlands (Early Demo Update 1.5) jam comments · Replied to Przemyslaw Jelonek in King of Deadlands (Early Demo Update 1.5) jam comments
Been wanting to try your game and just now got around to it. Another fellow RPG Maker :-) Love to see a game doing so well using this engine. This was designed very well! Congrats! Here's my feedback:
OVERALL FUN:
1. I enjoyed your game. I'm a huge fan of Greek mythology, and the 8-bit look, retro music, and theme took me back to the NES game Battle of Olympus. Though that was a 2D platformer... your game still reminded me of it. Which is a good thing. :-)
2. I really enjoyed your game. Combat was fun, exploring great, and the story was interesting.
ART/GRAPHICS:
1. This isn't your fault. The older RPG Maker engines were horrible with this, but I don't think many players will take steps to install the recommended font. I mean... I started the game and was like... nah, I want to play. I'll use the default font. I wish earlier RPG Maker engines didn't make us do this.
2. I love, love, love the artwork! The sprites are nice, tileset is great, monster artwork fantastic, and I love the green aesthetic of the game. Everything looks excellent and meshes well together.
CONTROLS/UI:
1. Easy to understand controls, but players new to these games might need help. Especially since non-RPG Maker players won't realize arrow keys move, space interacts, etc. I get the same feedback... people want WASD movements, etc. So maybe just a quick controls pop-up for them at the beginning?
2. I'm not too fond of front-view combat... but it works in your game, and you had some nice animations; monsters look good, and the easy-to-read damage that floated up was a nice addition. Bravo for making me enjoy forward-facing combat LOL
3. Fantastic window skin, menu screen and the bestiary looks great!
SOUND/MUSIC:
1. Great 8-bit-sounding music. Combat music is really nice.
A FEW GRIPES:
1. Sneak shot says it costs life but doesn't say how much. Then there's a 0 next to the skill, which makes me believe it costs 0 life, but then I lose 2 when I use it. Knowing the engine... it's showing it costs 0 MP... so maybe put in the skill description that it costs 2 life? This is slightly confusing and misleading to players.
2. Also... I didn't understand the difference between Sneak Shot (costs 2 life) and dealt 2 damage and my Basic Attack, which dealt 2 damage but cost no life. I felt Sneak Shot should do more damage or apply a state to the enemy. It didn't seem worth using.
3. This is partly my fault because I forgot to save, but when I started the game... I went through Delphi, left the town, fought a few monsters, got a slime, and then you did the infamous "Another slime appears." How dare you! LOL I died, though. I was annoyed because I had to start completely over. You should consider an autosave... or a forced save at the beginning. That way, players are reminded to save once they get through that intro. If they die, they don't have to repeat that opening story, dialogue, and all those choices. Again... my fault for not manually saving, but I could see this being an annoyance for many starting players. Especially if they don't know they must manually save through the menu screen.
King of Deadlands (Early Demo Update 1.5) jam comments · Posted in King of Deadlands (Early Demo Update 1.5) jam comments
OVERALL FUN:
1. I had a great time playing your game. I'm not a huge fan of puzzles, but you made Tetris fun for me. I love how you tied in combat to solving these puzzles... plus the annoying (but in a good way) spells the enemy would cast. Blackout was a pain, but I loved it LOL
ART/GRAPHICS:
1. This is the best part. Unique artwork, nice tile animations, and maps are decorated nicely. There's never too much going on. They look great!
2. Character artwork, portraits, and sprites look fantastic.
3. Item and card artwork is nicely done!
CONTROLS/UI:
1. Great tutorial. Easy to follow and understand.
2. Controls during exploration and puzzles were fluid.
3. I Love the UI for box maps and puzzle battles!
SOUND/MUSIC:
1. Great music and sound effects during puzzles and exploration. Well done.
2. There were never moments when the audio felt too high/low. It was well-balanced.
Here I am! I finally played your game :-) Sorry for taking so long. Got wrapped up in my game's update but I planned to play before the event ended. And I loved this! You know I got into it when it started, I got in the cabin, turned on my flashlight and then ran around my own house, turning off all the lights, I really wanted to get immersed in your game! Here's my feedback:
OVERALL FUN:
1. That opening scene was well put together. Including the voice acting (see further down).
2. Love the initial gameplay with the fog and fireflies! Great start for the setting of your game!
3. Looking for the toys was creepy AF. Some really well placed jump scares, and the audio/music here was creepy.
4. I really enjoyed your game. The story was interesting, had funny moments, and I loved the ending! :-) Really great game!!!
ART/GRAPHICS:
1. Great artwork, character design, and environments.
2. Love the small objects you can find and pick up. However, when you pick them up in the dark with the flashlight, they are just black silhouettes. Seeing them lit up and in full color would be nice.
3. Is the fog supposed to be inside the house? Also... some of the fireflies outside are bleeding through the door. Not sure if you want that. Not a huge deal, though. Just minor details.
CONTROLS/UI:
1. Great tutorial. Easy to read and follow. You explained the basic controls, and I understood what I was doing. Kept it simple, which is a good thing.
2. Crouch (C) appears to be a bit glitchy right now. When you crouch, you bounce down, up and then down... same with getting up—just a jarring animation.
3. The rest of the controls were great and easy to understand.
SOUND/MUSIC:
1. Oh, the opening voice acting was really good! BRAVO HERE!
2. Nice outdoor audio, music, and sound design. Really well put together!
3. The background audio has an odd break in the loop. It just stops, quiet, and then picks up again. Not a huge deal but noticeable.
BUGS/ISSUES:
1. I think I found a bug by accident. It only happens if you do it in this order LOL You're welcome for breaking your game :-D Start the game, and you're on the main menu. I click "Options," which then takes me to the options screen. If you hit the ESC key... it then takes you to a screen that only shows... "Resume Game," "Options," "Controls," "Exit to Main Menu," & "Quit Game." There's no new game, and if I hit resume game... it just takes me to a black screen that goes nowhere. Hitting ESC takes me back to the title screen with those same options, but New Game isn't there still. The only way out of this is to click "Exit to Main Menu" and then start a "New Game." Nothing crashed or froze, and I was easily able to just go back to the original main menu, but I figured I'd let you know.
OVERALL FUN:
1. This is my personal preference, but I do not like random encounters. Have you considered putting inkblot enemies on the map? You're in narrow corridors, so you can't avoid them, but then if you need to backtrack, you can do so freely without fighting a ton. Just a thought. Not a huge deal, of course. And then they respawn if you leave and re-enter the map for those who want to grind a bit.
2. I think your game would benefit from a starting ability—just one.
3. I like how you have different inkblot artwork, but they all do the same thing. A basic attack. Have you considered giving some a special ability to switch up encounters and make them all feel less repetitive? Right now, it's pretty grindy basic attack-mashing combat. Hit, heal, hit, heal... repeat.
4. Even boss fights only have a basic attack with no special abilities... :-(
ART/GRAPHICS:
1. I think many people will dislike the artwork, but I loved it. It's different and very unique looking. Strangely, it reminds me of Little Big Planet and the stickers we find—very stylish artwork.
2. You used the same animation for Basic Attack & your first ability. Each new ability should have a different animation to make combat more flashy and exciting.
3. You should do animations for items and recovery, as well.
CONTROLS/UI:
1. I think a Victory Aftermath screen would be an excellent addition. You can find some free-to-use online.
2. Controls were easy to understand.
3. Your menu has a formation category... but you only control one person (Blueberry). I will say... I didn't beat Strawberry and quit after that... unless you eventually get companions. If not, you can turn that off.
SOUND/MUSIC:
1. The music was mildly unsettling, which I liked. All the strange SE added and creepy ambient audio mixed in. However, you should get a second track for the right side of the map. After a while, that same song loop got a bit repetitive.
2. A different song for each boss battle would be nice. Same map music, and then the same combat music. A few more songs could help quite a bit.
OVERALL FEEDBACK:
So, please don't take this wrong, but the game is a bit repetitive right now. You venture through maps, search chests, and find the same two items. Enemies have no variety or abilities; even the bosses are normal enemies with more HP and larger artwork. I think combat needs some work. It would be nice if we got some additional items from the chests... and we have an equipment option in the menu... yet we don't find any new weapons, armor, or accessories.
Also... maybe add in some lore/letters you can find along the way to Strawberry. Maybe torn-out diary pages written by Strawberry, etc. You can start to piece the story together before you encounter her. Explain this whole "Jam Girl" thing a bit more.
Have you considered puzzles, locked doors, switches you have to find, etc? Right now, it's a pretty straightforward game... walk, fight, chest walk, fight, chest, repeat.
I will say it's fun at first! And I think this game has potential. I just think you need to add in more variety to combat, maybe some puzzles, locked doors, and additional story/content along the way. I'm interested to see where this game goes, though!
Was this a demo or full game?
Robbie Wagner's Snow Spectre jam comments · Replied to Robbie Wagner in Robbie Wagner's Snow Spectre jam comments
I gave your game a try tonight and thought it was interesting. Feedback below:
OVERALL FUN:
1. Great ambiance and atmosphere.
2. Resting at the fire, while a fun mechanic, did take too long, IMO. It's a single-player experience, so maybe you warm up faster... that way, we can get back to exploring sooner. I like how we need to find a fire, and I think this mechanic should stay. Waiting for that bar to fill was slow and tedious, though.
3. Back to the fires. I get this is a survival game, and you're just trying to make it to morning, but adding more campfires or maybe small visual indicators you're close to one (like splotches of dirt, a small trail, etc.) would add to the overall experience for the player. Right now, they're really difficult to find.
3. The game did feel a bit drawn out. We're trying to survive until morning, but it was just a lot of walking/running around. Maybe add in some dead bodies or objects to interact with. Give us a story, lore, or background to that area. That would add to the gameplay and make the experience more interesting. Like... are you dead? Maybe add some creepy ghosts to talk to? Or maybe the corpse of a dead animal/traveler? The only thing I found was a locked cabin, and I'm sure there's more to that... but I think introducing more interactive mechanics would add a LOT to this game. Good potential here!
4. I found a strange statue... and all it did was give me points toward my score. You should do some lore... or tell a story during the player's time in this world. What is that stone monument? Is there a purpose for it? Maybe it unlocks another area/monument.
ART/GRAPHICS:
1. Light looked great! I love how the flashlight interacts with trees and other obstacles. Well done.
2. Cute pixel artwork, and I love the small effects of the snow.
3. A few more tree variations, maybe some bushes/shrugs, more rocks... what you have is nice, but the overall map decor gets repetitive. Maybe some paths, more types of grass and plants... that'll help bring your map to life a bit more.
CONTROLS/UI:
1. No tutorial but I kind of like that. Not an overly complicated game to learn, so figuring it out as I went was a lot of fun. I wasn't aware the blue bar on the left was a bar to avoid freezing. I thought that was stamina at first, and I was watching how often I sprinted. Maybe a quick tutorial explaining what that bar is, though.
2. Controls are easy to learn/understand. Responded well.
3. At first, the controls on the keyboard didn't work for me, but I had my controller plugged in, and I could move with that... but no other buttons on the controller worked (sprint, flashlight, interact), and the controller seems to turn off keyboard controls, as well. I had to unplug my controller and restart your game for the keyboard to work—just an FYI.
SOUND/MUSIC:
1. I Love the sound of the snow crunching as I walk. Really added to the tension. Plus, the different footstep sound as you crossed the wooden bridge. Nice detail.
2. I didn't hear any music, and I turned it up. Is there music? That would really add to the tension of this game. Something light and creepy while you walk around, more intense music kicks in when a ghost is chasing you, and then even a quick little mystery tune when you discover an important landmark/object. Aside from the footsteps... there really isn't any other sound effects...
FEEDBACK/SUGGESTIONS:
1. I feel like you could really add some additional mechanics to up the difficulty here:
a. Flashlight battery power: you can run out/need to find batteries to recharge.
b. Stamina bar: you can only run so far/so long.
c. As I stated above... make this a survival game WITH a story. Let us discover more.
I gave your game a try tonight and thought it was interesting. Feedback below:
OVERALL FUN:
1. Great ambiance and atmosphere.
2. Resting at the fire, while a fun mechanic, did take too long, IMO. It's a single-player experience, so maybe you warm up faster... that way, we can get back to exploring sooner. I like how we need to find a fire, and I think this mechanic should stay. Waiting for that bar to fill was slow and tedious, though.
3. Back to the fires. I get this is a survival game, and you're just trying to make it to morning, but adding more campfires or maybe small visual indicators you're close to one (like splotches of dirt, a small trail, etc.) would add to the overall experience for the player. Right now, they're really difficult to find.
3. The game did feel a bit drawn out. We're trying to survive until morning, but it was just a lot of walking/running around. Maybe add in some dead bodies or objects to interact with. Give us a story, lore, or background to that area. That would add to the gameplay and make the experience more interesting. Like... are you dead? Maybe add some creepy ghosts to talk to? Or maybe the corpse of a dead animal/traveler? The only thing I found was a locked cabin, and I'm sure there's more to that... but I think introducing more interactive mechanics would add a LOT to this game. Good potential here!
4. I found a strange statue... and all it did was give me points toward my score. You should do some lore... or tell a story during the player's time in this world. What is that stone monument? Is there a purpose for it? Maybe it unlocks another area/monument.
ART/GRAPHICS:
1. Light looked great! I love how the flashlight interacts with trees and other obstacles. Well done.
2. Cute pixel artwork, and I love the small effects of the snow.
3. A few more tree variations, maybe some bushes/shrugs, more rocks... what you have is nice, but the overall map decor gets repetitive. Maybe some paths, more types of grass and plants... that'll help bring your map to life a bit more.
CONTROLS/UI:
1. No tutorial but I kind of like that. Not an overly complicated game to learn, so figuring it out as I went was a lot of fun. I wasn't aware the blue bar on the left was a bar to avoid freezing. I thought that was stamina at first, and I was watching how often I sprinted. Maybe a quick tutorial explaining what that bar is, though.
2. Controls are easy to learn/understand. Responded well.
3. At first, the controls on the keyboard didn't work for me, but I had my controller plugged in, and I could move with that... but no other buttons on the controller worked (sprint, flashlight, interact), and the controller seems to turn off keyboard controls, as well. I had to unplug my controller and restart your game for the keyboard to work—just an FYI.
SOUND/MUSIC:
1. I Love the sound of the snow crunching as I walk. Really added to the tension. Plus, the different footstep sound as you crossed the wooden bridge. Nice detail.
2. I didn't hear any music, and I turned it up. Is there music? That would really add to the tension of this game. Something light and creepy while you walk around, more intense music kicks in when a ghost is chasing you, and then even a quick little mystery tune when you discover an important landmark/object. Aside from the footsteps... there really isn't any other sound effects...
FEEDBACK/SUGGESTIONS:
1. I feel like you could really add some additional mechanics to up the difficulty here:
a. Flashlight battery power: you can run out/need to find batteries to recharge.
b. Stamina bar: you can only run so far/so long.
c. As I stated above... make this a survival game WITH a story. Let us discover more.
Feedback Quest 4 Old and New Games Welcome community · Replied to SALT_ in Developer's Development Checklist
Feedback Quest 4 Old and New Games Welcome community · Replied to SALT_ in Developer's Development Checklist
I'm honored to have you try my game. Gulch Guardian's is a gem of a game, so thank you for trying out my demo. To address a few things below...
1. I really focused on atmosphere: sound design, lighting, timing of animations, etc. Glad I accomplished this.
2. Combat is definitely something I want in my game, and once you unlock it... it'll be more common. I think my opening just throws people off, so I need to work on introducing combat sooner but not take away that opening "mystery/atmosphere"... I plan to go back and forth with combat, exploration, atmosphere, etc. My motivation behind this is games like Last of Us. You have those moments of exploration and peace... but then you battle/fight some. I just need to find a way to really balance that... or have it make sense. I'm working on this part, though.
3. I actually plan to get a script made where you can press left/right OR up/down... plus a setting to reverse these, as well. Hopefully that'll give players more options and make enemy selection easier. As for documents. Not sure if I have to way to go back... or that would require more scripting. I could always add it. However, you can review all documents again by visiting the Database via the Ring Menu. I can look into going back pages for certain documents, though.
Thanks again for playing! Good luck with your game, as well! Really enjoyed it!
So, I decided to try this, and it took me so long because I'm not a huge fan of FPS games. I'm going to consider that when I rate the overall fun/difficulty LOL I suck at aiming and hitting my targets, but I acknowledge that's my fault (not the games) haha OK... moving on...
OVERALL FUN:
1. I think you have a great game here. A lot of fun, and I like the tight hallways and hordes of monsters that come at you. Throwing a flaming grenade at them was very satisfying.
2. I found the opening a bit confusing. I like your little robot companion, but some tutorials appear so fast on screen, sometimes offscreen, they're easy to miss. While the way you do messages and tutorials is creative, I feel important tutorials would be better to actually pop up on the screen as a window.
ART/GRAPHICS:
1. Very well done. Good artwork, animations, and effects. The textures look great with a lot of details. The lighting was done very well.
CONTROLS/UI:
1. Some sort of mini-map or radar on screen would help. Or at least an indicator that something is approaching you from behind. It was kind of challenging to keep scanning around to see which direction enemies were coming from.
2. There were moments when my flying robot companion was trying to tell me something with a dialogue box, but I was looking around and didn't notice it. I think some sort of audio queue would help here. Maybe a specific beeping sound effect alerting players your companion has something to tell you?
3. I can't tell if this was me... or your game's hitboxes. Like I said above... I'm really bad at shooters, so I already struggle with aiming in these games, but there were moments I felt like I was hitting the enemy and nothing was happening. I'm not sure if you just don't have an animation/health indicator, or if I was missing. This part did feel a bit off (hitboxes, etc). BUT... again... this also could have been me.
4. When you obtain new items... it would be nice if the item list (top left) went a bit slower. Sometimes they popped up really fast, and I couldn't tell what I actually picked up.
SOUND/MUSIC:
1. While I love rock music, it feels out of place in your game. You build such a great dark atmosphere at the beginning. I'm like, "Oh, this is going to be creepy." Then you go down the elevator and BOOM... Metallica is blasting in my ear. I feel you should really keep the scare factor going... more nightmarish music. Maybe some chase music. Save the intense rock music for a boss battle or a big, intense scene.
2. The rest of the sound design was good. Great background noises, the glass breaking while I was exploring gave me a couple scares, and the pickup/interaction audio was great.
I did enjoy this considering I don't really like these types of games. Well done and keep up the great work! Good luck with the development of this and future updates!
Thank you so much for trying out my game, rating, and leaving feedback. I really need to start playing games again, and yours is one of them. I got behind working on my game's update, so I'll put yours at the top of my list since you took the time to play mine. Thank you! :-)
Thanks for reporting that bug. I know what's causing it, and that's an oversight on my end. I can easily fix it, too.
I'm actually going to request a script to make targeting enemies in combat better. It does feel like it's in reverse order. I'm going to have it flip. That or give a "target select" option under settings.
Good suggestion on EXP. So, you think it would look better in the upper left side?
Thank you for the kind words on my game, feedback and for taking the time to play it. I'll talk to you more on the server! :-)
Thanks for trying out my new demo! I need to find a way to introduce combat sooner without removing that initial opening ambiance. Once combat is introduced, it does stay pretty consistent... so... I am currently trying to come up with some ideas because I don't want players to think my game is only an atmospheric puzzle game.
I'm glad you still had a great time playing, though! I'm really happy with the voice acting and got lucky finding who I did. Thanks again. Appreciate you playing and the great feedback!
Feedback Quest 4 Old and New Games Welcome community · Replied to Dire Prism in Developer's Development Checklist
Haru: The Armada of the Astral Void (Alpha Demo) jam comments · Replied to Studio Boreli in Haru: The Armada of the Astral Void (Alpha Demo) jam comments
OK, first off... you had me at CUSTOMIZATION! I absolutely love changing up my main character's physical appearance. Love this already!
OVERALL FUN: This was a blast. I loved the different encounters: battles, boss fights, rescuing villages, puzzles, and scenarios... it helped switch up gameplay, and fighting was a good time. However, I didn't find the encounters too challenging. I was breezing through most of them. Perhaps you include more elite or colossal battles sooner... I'd even reach certain level selections that were all "normal" fights. Maybe more variety per line?
ART/GRAPHICS: Great pixel art from the main character, companions, and enemies. Everything went well together, animations were fluid, and the backgrounds looked amazing. Very immersive game!
CONTROLS/UI: Controls were easy to understand and great tutorial, plus you spread out the tutorial as you play, instead of making us learn it all in one go. Helped break up the monotony. The only thing... sometimes the abilities with all the hovering your mouse over the bottom icon, then drag it up to hover over the target... I feel it would be better if you just had this all pop up when you hover over the icon at the bottom while selecting each skill.
SOUND/MUSIC: Really good. The opening music, combat... it all fit the theme and sounded great. Other sound effects were well done and the ability to adjust each one through the settings menu was a nice addition as well.
FEEDBACK:
1. Love that you have voice acting, but sometimes the voice audio is really low and difficult to hear over the music. This can be fixed by adjusting the audio (which I did) but maybe have default dialogue audio a bit higher so we can hear the opening voice acting better, cause it's really good :-)
2. I was a bit confused why enemies changed positions when you could still attack them regardless of where they were. This would make more sense if enemies in the back or middle could only be targeted by certain skills... or do they move around so they can use specific abilities. I wasn't sure why they shifted around. That part wasn't clear to me.
3. I wasn't sure if there was a pro or con to choosing Firedin or Lightis battles. Was there one?
4. I finally got to a merchant, click on them, and nothing happened...
OK, first off... you had me at CUSTOMIZATION! I absolutely love changing up my main character's physical appearance. Love this already!
OVERALL FUN: This was a blast. I loved the different encounters: battles, boss fights, rescuing villages, puzzles, and scenarios... it helped switch up gameplay, and fighting was a good time. However, I didn't find the encounters too challenging. I was breezing through most of them. Perhaps you include more elite or colossal battles sooner... I'd even reach certain level selections that were all "normal" fights. Maybe more variety per line?
ART/GRAPHICS: Great pixel art from the main character, companions, and enemies. Everything went well together, animations were fluid, and the backgrounds looked amazing. Very immersive game!
CONTROLS/UI: Controls were easy to understand and great tutorial, plus you spread out the tutorial as you play, instead of making us learn it all in one go. Helped break up the monotony. The only thing... sometimes the abilities with all the hovering your mouse over the bottom icon, then drag it up to hover over the target... I feel it would be better if you just had this all pop up when you hover over the icon at the bottom while selecting each skill.
SOUND/MUSIC: Really good. The opening music, combat... it all fit the theme and sounded great. Other sound effects were well done and the ability to adjust each one through the settings menu was a nice addition as well.
FEEDBACK:
1. Love that you have voice acting, but sometimes the voice audio is really low and difficult to hear over the music. This can be fixed by adjusting the audio (which I did) but maybe have default dialogue audio a bit higher so we can hear the opening voice acting better, cause it's really good :-)
2. I was a bit confused why enemies changed positions when you could still attack them regardless of where they were. This would make more sense if enemies in the back or middle could only be targeted by certain skills... or do they move around so they can use specific abilities. I wasn't sure why they shifted around. That part wasn't clear to me.
3. I wasn't sure if there was a pro or con to choosing Firedin or Lightis battles. Was there one?
4. I finally got to a merchant, click on them, and nothing happened...
Thank you so much for playing my game and the great feedback! I actually have a big update coming for my demo in the next week or two that address a lot below:
1. Settings Menu that allows you to control brightness, individual audio (music, sound) plus some additional options.
2. The demo is getting cut back a LOT. So... it will now have 2 modes: Exploration & Combat. Exploration will now end after the Lurker chase, and combat is a small section of the factory where you fight some battles, level up skills, can get the ARENA-bot and ends after you defeat the Armored Brute. I got a lot of feedback that my demo is too long... so I want to ensure people play it LOL
3. But now players who want to experience combat first, or sooner, can :-) It is a slow burn, but once you upgrade to the battle version... combat will be pretty consistent. I'm thinking of having the opening path from activating to Lurker be much faster, too. Maybe lock some of the doors... and you can't unlock them until later. That way players don't spend 30-60 minutes before combat.
4. You can't upgrade your basic attack (light/heavy) but you will be able to learn and upgrade all F.D.M. skills, plus you'll be able to get new guns with additional abilities in the full game. Maybe I will add some additional mech-blades, though... still up in the air on that one.
5. You will be able to pet the cat eventually, too hehe
6. Do you remember the error the populated when your game crashed? Or did it just crash with no error?
Thanks again for playing. I have a discord if you'd be interested in joining. Just hit me up on Discord (Gray Bard Gaming) on the server, and I can send you an invite. Don't want to post that in here, though haha I can join yours if you have one, too.
I enjoyed this quite a bit! Didn't think I would, either haha
FEEDBACK:
1. It would be nice if, when selecting crab upgrades, a picture of the crab you're upgrading appeared on/near the box. This got a bit confusing at first.
2. Is there a place we can see what certain icons mean? The portals would populate, and I'm guessing certain icons led to different zones: treasure? more exp? I wasn't 100% sure, though. Maybe a small tutorial for this?
OVERALL FUN: I had a blast! Really enjoyed how simple and small the levels were, but they gave just the right amount of challenge. Also... the battles leading up to the boss (giant crab) were relatively easy, but that boss is tough... which is a good thing. Overall... great game!
ART/GRAPHICS: Crabs and enemies are cute. Levels are bright and vibrant. Animations look fluid and amazing. I have no complaints here.
CONTROLS/UI: At first I hate the controls, because I thought we had to click on each crab and drag to move. It wasn't until my second playthrough I saw you can select crabs with 1, 2, and 3 and then just move them. It got a LOT better once I realized that. So, controls were great and easy to understand.
SOUND/MUSIC: I do feel there could be a bit more intense music playing during battles... especially the boss battle. However, the rest of the sound effects were great. The healing totem, the explosions and hits. All sounded great.
So, I'm not a huge fan of "bullet hell" games. They just get a bit too chaotic for my liking, but from what I played... I can tell this is going to do well. The artwork is so cute and well-done, the music is fitting, animations look great, there are a lot of upgrades to acquire, plus permanent upgrades from the title screen... I can see this being a very good roguelike bullet hell game!
OVERALL FUN: I won't rate this on whether I had fun or not... because this isn't my type of game, but I do feel people who enjoy this genre won't be disappointed... I will say considering I don't enjoy these games... I did have fun playing yours!
ART/GRAPHICS: Cute, cartoony, chicken/cat/dog, little rabid foxes... what's not to love here?! Also... really bright and vibrant levels. Love the artwork!
CONTROLS/UI: Easy to control and understand.
SOUND/MUSIC: Good music. Check. Animal sounds. Check. Bravo here :-)
I actually don't stream, so no video, though I have thought about doing that eventually.
So, the thing about the "tutorial" with all that reading is that it's at the beginning, and there's so much of it. Most players determine if they're going to like a game their first 30 minutes, so it may be best if you just scatter those tutorial blocks throughout the first level, maybe? Instead of having them all in one spot. It might feel a bit overwhelming for newer players. I could be wrong, but even I got to the point I was done reading and was just like... "I'll figure it out." LOL I wanted to see what combat was like.
I don't think combat is bad. I did enjoy it and am interested to see where it goes and how it evolves. I did take a break after that first encounter with the merchant, but I do plan on playing again. I want to beat her. She bested me. How dare her LOL
As for the story... in my opinion... I guess that depends on the direction of your game. Do you plan to have a lot of story/dialogue? If so... maybe add a bit more in the opening to tell why we're there, what's going on in that land, etc. If story isn't super important... then it should be OK with how it is. I was just curious cause typically games like this have an opening story and explain what I'm doing, why I'm where I am, my overall objective, etc. Am I looking for someone? There to save the land? A traveling mercenary? I was just curious on my character's backstory, I guess.
Of course... my feedback doesn't mean it's bad. I did enjoy the game. Love the cartoonish characters and colorful maps. I'm interested in where this game goes!
Gave your game a try today:
THE GOOD:
1. Artwork looked great. Love the colorful environment, character models and monsters.
2. Level design and layout was easy to understand, and the mapping was simple to read. I liked this. I never felt lost.
3. Combat has potential. I think it'll get better once you learn new abilities or gain additional weapons... maybe?
4. Heal ability from the start is nice. You definitely need it. Some of those enemies hit hard.
5. Music is good and fitting for the theme of the game.
FEEDBACK:
1. There are some mapping issues where I tried to climb up a hill, and you get stuck. I could only keep climbing if I jumped. Also... there were a couple of spots my character bled through the ground, and I couldn't move. Jumping got me out, though.
2. Tutorial didn't feel like a tutorial. It was just reading. Maybe add in some content throughout the tutorial that lets me test out or play everything you're teaching me. Or break up the tutorial throughout the game. That's a lot of reading at the start, and most players don't want to read that much at once. Teach us slowly as we play.
3. Combat needs a bit of work. Maybe a charge attack, or more abilities, a block... right now, you're just mashing the attack button and healing, plus the one little cyclone ability.
4. My clothing disappeared. I'm guessing that's a durability issue, but I don't see where we equip weapons and armor. Is there a character menu that shows our character and what they're wearing?
5. Will there be an opening story? I wasn't quite sure what I was doing or why I was in that area. I meet a woman; she asks me to come talk with her... I bought something... then she wants to fight me... because she's bored? Huh?
6. I'm not a fan of doing everything with a mouse. I wish movement was WASD and then mouse attacked, etc. Do you plan to add other control options eventually?
Overall-not bad. Keep up the great work and looking forward to seeing more as you continue to develop this game.
Haru: The Armada of the Astral Void (Alpha Demo) jam comments · Posted in Haru: The Armada of the Astral Void (Alpha Demo) jam comments
Played your game tonight and enjoyed it!
MY ONLY COMPLAINT: Not a fan of how finding the base to upgrade is so challenging. Does it move around, as well? I tried killing enemies at the base and left a trail of coins... and when I followed them back... the base was gone. It would be nice if there was a small mini-map or even some sort of navigation that pointed you toward the base. Especially since you need to upgrade pretty quickly.
OVERALL FUN: It was a good time (with the exception of my complaint above), but I overall enjoyed it. The hoard does appear to expand quickly and get faster... so finding that base and upgrading seems important early on. Maybe it was just me, but I had a difficult time finding it to upgrade and keep up with the growing hoard. I may have been playing it wrong, too.
ART/GRAPHICS: Very well done here! Love the artwork of the ship, enemies and background images of space, plus the planets passing by, was all done nicely. Weapon fire and explosion animations looked great, as well.
CONTROLS/UI: The controls and movement, when I first read them, scared me. Some space/flying games with forward and reverse thrusters are challenging to control... but you pulled this off. They weren't challenging at all (which is good). Movement felt nice and fluid, and I love the reverse thrusters so I can still move and fire at the oncoming horde.
SOUND/MUSIC: Music was fitting and gave me that sense of dread. Kill this stuff quickly. Audio of the gun fire and explosions were nicely done, as well.
Hello, hello! I think this game has potential, but I do have a few small gripes:
Overall Fun: So... the level design and platform layout was done really well. I just feel there needs to be a bit... more. Maybe more pits you have to jump across/navigate, some hidden areas, more challenging collectibles (think the giant coins in Mario - 3 per stage), and more enemy variety.
Art/Graphics: The artwork was cute. I love the main guy with the different-shaped eyes, plus the enemies were well done. The little green guys with their big noses (maybe pigs?) were cute, and I hated stomping on them haha
Controls/UI: Jumping felt... wobbly and unpredictable. Almost like I was jumping on the surface of Mars. Maybe have jumping the same height, but you get heavier on the way down. I just felt it needed a bit more weight to it. Other than that... the springs were fun, and I had no issues going from platform to platform.
Sound/Music: The music was cute and fitting for the theme of the game. I think you need to balance some of the audio, though. The music was softer, so I had that turned to a volume I was comfortable with, and then collecting fruit and the player's death audio was deafening. Especially the player's death. Turn that down a bit so you don't give some players tinnitus LOL