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For your first point, I do get that. I have some ideas on what could be done to make the ideal run up distance clearer. In earlier versions, some walls and stuff would become see through if they got in the way of the camera but it didn't work very well, so it was removed. If I can find a way to get that working better, I'll consider reimplementing it. Thank you for playing, and I'm glad you like it! :)

Oh yeah, that one. It can be a bit hard but I do give more than enough space for a good run up. Probably a bit of skill issue but the low fps when you play the grass levels doesn't help.

The bounce mechanic does take some getting used to, it doesn't really work how you'd expect it to in a platformer, once you get the hang of it though it's alright. It's fun to get a nice rhythm going. I noticed that the signs tell you that you can bounce using WASD/Arrow Keys but when I do that, the bounce doesn't properly preserve your momentum so you can't bounce any higher than the default bounce like you can with the Z key.

Which jump are you exactly talking about? Do you mean that one with the shortcut where u have to take a really slow path if you miss it? That one is a bit difficult but using Laplace might make it a bit easier because of his special move. The grass definitely doesn't work well with lower end hardware, I've tried lowering the render distance a bit to see if that would help and it doesn't do much. I'll try to see if there's anything else I can do about it. That glitch on the level clear screen is also very strange, I'm certain that's also hardware related because there used to be a similar glitch on the UI's display that only happened to some players. I think I might know how to get that fixed but it's difficult for me to determine because it doesn't happen for me. Thanks so much for playing and posting footage!

Thank you for your interest in my game! This demo includes new levels, boss battles, and challenges. Please, be sure to check them out. Boss battles are locked to specific characters for story reasons, so please be aware of that. Misc. bug fixes and other changes are also included.

 I'm planning for this to be the final demo version before the full release. If you have any feedback please let me know. Your support is essential in shaping the final version of ROLLING BALL GAME DX!

Full Update Notes

Thank you!

Just sent a request, if this is still available let me know.

You can move the camera using Q/E on keyboard on the bumpers on controller. It's only 90 degree rotation, I might change that though. Transparency when behind certain walls is something that existed in previous versions but it was kinda wonky and didn't work right all the time so it was removed. I could try to add it again if I can get it working right but I find that there aren't many areas that actually need it since most of the time you can just rotate the camera and it's fine. Thanks for playing and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I've already started fixing the menu buttons. It's something I've been wanting to do, just haven't gotten around to it until now.

Yeah, the characters do each have a unique special move. I may add some sort of section explaining things like that and other game mechanics somewhere in the extras menu.

The character's slope alignment snapping like that is something I've been aware of. I tried fixing it early on but couldn't find a proper fix that looked right. It's something I'll probably go back and look into again once more important things are done.

The floating hoops give you +200 points. It's not really clear right now but I did request a batch of additional lines from the voice actors so they'll have a line attatched to that soon.

Thanks for playing! :)

Very cool! Been wanting to play this game for a while now. I would suggest adding a clearer view of the queue when assigning multiple actions to a unit. Maybe smaller icons next to the main one of the current action, that way you can more easily keep track of things and cancel actions without having to scroll everywhere. Some sort of map feature would be nice as well to keep track of certain landmarks. I find that the camera clips into mountains very easily. Good game so far. The cows are very cute.

Regarding that glitch, as I've said to others it's weird because it seems to only happen to certain people. Would you be able to tell me what specs you're using, I'm suspecting it may be hardware related right now but I don't know for sure, since it doesn't happen to me on either computer i use.

The characters all control the same, the difference is they each have different special moves. I will definitely add a button that skips the entire scene, I just didn't get around to adding that.

Thanks for playing!

Yeah difficulty is something I've kept trying to adjust. I keep making new versions of the starting level, with the current one being the easiest. I thought that one would be fine but I guess not. Not sure if I'll keep making easier ones, I'll have to think about it once I finish making the levels that are currently planned, if not I can just keep adjusting. The metallic level is gonna be changed completely, something new with a similar concept. I just kept it in there so there's another level to play after it was removed from previous demo versions.

The shrinking glitch, it's so strange. Maybe it happens on lower end computers since you said you had FPS issues on the grass level? Though I have played on my laptop before that also has low FPS on that level and it still doesn't happen there. Maybe you could tell me what specs you have and I can ask the other people it happens to, maybe there's a correlation there?

Lives aren't meant to reset until you lose them all, you can gain more by collecting the yellow Sun Crystals.

The characters each have different special moves that may help you with certain areas or give you different ways to defeat enemies. None of the levels require a specific move but it can change the way you approach things.

I do intend to change the menu buttons and maybe the camera, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Thank you for playing my game! :)

I like it a lot, I had a lot of fun playing it. Nice art style, and having the option to change the color palette is a nice touch. It does a good job introducing new level gimmicks/mechanics and they're always a lot of fun as well. The victory screen and the in game text saying "Ready!" are in Spanish for some reason.

Thanks for playing! Area 2 of the first world was originally the first level and I added the current Area 1 to make it even easier. I'm not sure if I'll come up with an even easier level, but it's something I'll think about after I make the rest of the levels that are already planned. For the camera controls, that's a good idea to have an alternate key binding for those who want to play it like that.

I've seen clips of your game for a while but this is my first time playing it. I did not play the entire thing, only a little bit but I liked what I played so far. Everything seems very polished to me, and the visuals are nice as well. I'd say that the tutorial felt a little unnecessary as I probably could have figured most of it out by just looking at the controls, but you could always add a skip option for that part or something like that, unless there is one and I just missed it or something.  Cool game overall. :)

Nice game. I like the art style, the monkey statues and sliding blocks are fun mechanics. The splash screens when starting the game are a little slow so I would suggest speeding them up a bit.

Yeah, the menu stuff is something I wanna change, just haven't gotten around to it. Will probably make the highlighted buttons change colors instead or something simple like that. Thanks for playing. :)

Hey, thanks for playing again! Yeah, that bug is so strange, and it's difficult for me to know what causes it since it seems to only happen to some people. Since it consistently happens to you, maybe it's hardware related? I'm not sure why that would be but it's the only thing I can think of. There's nothing in the code that affects its size so I don't think it can be that. I've played this game on my laptop as well and it doesn't happen to me there either. It's also weird that she clips out of the ball in the display as well, that seems to be a different issue than the scale of the marble. It's very strange. I'll try to figure it out.

The game only really supports 16:9 aspect ratio, if you're playing on a different ratio the UI and Menu elements will be misaligned or cut off. I will probably make it so the game forces you into  16:9 and if you're on anything else you'll just have black bars on the sides or whatever. No plans for a mobile release. Thanks for playing.

I'm gonna change the menu buttons.

Fun concept, but for some of them it's unclear on what to do at first. I still haven't really gotten the one with the safe and the lock or whatever, I did figure out the rest of them though. Could also use some music variety.

That seems to be a very strange glitch, I have no idea what's causing it because to me it doesn't happen. I saw it happen on someone's stream earlier so it's concerning. (Was that your stream?) It doesn't happen to most players either,  it seems to be a very rare occurrence but it's been reported once or twice before. Lives aren't supposed to reset unless you lose them all, there are yellow Sun Crystals to collect and gain more. I'm not sure what you mean with the character select.

I don't have a Mac to test it out but I'm pretty sure it just has to do with Mac being weird running games. I had someone else try this and the game worked for them, let me know if it works for you as well: 

Yeah, right now the game only really supports 16:9 aspect ratio, with anything else UI/menu elements will be cut off or misaligned. I will probably make the game force 16:9 aspect ratio no matter what and if your monitor is anything else you'll just get black bars on the sides. What you mentioned with the bump inconsistency, does it happen when you get bumped multiple times in short amount of time? It may have something to do with a cooldown that exists, which I could probably disable, I'll have to check to make sure. The way bumping works, if you can technically bump them from below, and they'll be launched up, so that counts as them falling as well. The thing with the ledge it could probably be that or sometimes the detection is just weird and because they're so close to the edge it detects as if they fell or something. It's pretty common for that to happen but idk if it should be patched out entirely because it could prevent players from getting stuck in certain areas. Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad you had fun playing the game! :)

I played all of the new puzzle levels. They were pretty fun and well thought out. The star system also adds an extra layer to challenge yourself so that's nice. Maybe the stars could be used to unlock extra stuff like in the art gallery or something? It's good to see story mode continue to take shape. I also still think you should find a way for the character portraits to blink and do different facial expressions when things happen during gameplay. 

Yeah, I find that when it comes to stuff like the physics, the feedback on it is always varied. I have a lot of people tell me they like it the way it is now, but others want it tighter similar to a more standard marble game. This game is also quite different from traditional marble games than it looks on the surface, the enemies and longer platformer-style levels really do change things a lot. Your suggestions are always insightful though, so I appreciate it.

I did think of that, but I decided that the special moves should be the only thing different between them, with the movement staying the same to keep things simple. It wouldn't be difficult for me to adjust other stats, but it's definitely something I'd have to think about further before making such a change. 

Not sure how much player physics can be changed at this point, if I were to change it, that would require pretty much every level to be adjusted to accommodate. The player physics have already been significantly changed compared to earlier versions of the game.  I do plan to make further changes to UI/menu related things, particularly when highlighting buttons and stuff, just haven't gotten around to it.  Thanks for playing. 

As usual I have posted update notes if you're interested in seeing exactly what's new! This demo contains three brand new levels, as well as a restored version of Metallic Mirage - Area 1 from older demo versions. Please check them out! I can also confirm that there will be a new demo of ROLLING BALL GAME DX at the upcoming SAGE 2025, once the event begins on September 19th. Any feedback from Demo V3 will be very helpful as I prepare for that event. Please look forward to it and thank you for your support! :)

Edit: If you were one of the first to download, please note that I accidentally left a mistake on Metallic Mirage - Area 1. I quickly replaced the build with a fixed version so please redownload it for that. Thanks!

Everything you mentioned has been pointed out to me by others so I'm definitely gonna look into adjustng those things. Thanks for playing and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

That size bug is really strange and it's only been reported to me like one other time. Hasn't happened on my end at all either. I suspect it may be hardware related or something. I have no idea what's causing that. Same with the other one you mentioned.  Thank you for playing.

Pretty good overall, it was a bit difficult to control at first but once you get used to it, it's pretty smooth.

Having a section in the extras menu for controls/tutorial is exactly what I've been thinking of, though I'm not sure if that's obvious enough. A lot of people might not check there before starting. Each character has a different special move, the one you were using has low AOE but higher strength and it gives you a burst of speed. Also, yeah the buttons are kinda wonky right now and I've been knowing about that. I have to go back and change them.

I played this for a little bit. I don't know much about craps so I don't really have much to say on that aspect. Game is fine. I don't mind the wojaks, gives it a silly vibe to it. If you do plan on changing them though, I'd suggest using ms paint or something to make yourself with a similar vibe.

I definitely want to find a better way of teaching the player some things so they don't get confused starting out. There's been various different versions of level 0 already so I guess I'll have to keep figuring it out. Thanks for playing.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to keep adjusting difficulty based on feedback, everyone always says it's hard so that's something I'm aware of. World 0 has had multiple iterations already because of that. Gaining lives by collecting a certain amount of crystals is already something in consideration as well, and that would probably help a bit. The full game will still be free, and controller is already supported so you can try that out if you'd like. Glad you enjoyed it!

I played through the entire demo, I liked it a lot. Really solid art style and nice music, the gameplay is pretty good. Simple but a nice variety of combat options. It's not the biggest deal but there was this one section where the platforms blended in with the background a little too much. In the boss where it was telling me to button mash, it wasn't exactly clear which button it wanted me to press while playing on keyboard. Keep up the good work! :)

I've been wanting to play this since you first posted the concept art/mockups, glad you finally put up a demo. Really solid visual style. The actual combat is mostly fine though it could use some improvements in displaying certain stats like enemy health, etc. I don't know if it's just me but I ran out of MP fairly quickly and it wasn't very clear at first that the stats carry over through the other scenes.

Thanks!