Not really! Just my twitter account that I don't update very often:
mino_dev
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It's definitely possible that there's a bug! I'll be sure to look into it.
Key rebinds are definitely a thing I'm trying to do, I just haven't gotten around to it. (Actually, you can kind of rebind them if you mess with the config files; there's just not a menu in the game for it yet)
Thanks a lot for playing!
Thanks for playing!
2- The game IS made in Gamemaker 1.4, so it might be a bit slow on low-end laptops and the like (Gamemaker has made development a lot easier, but it isn't exactly known for its speed). I've tried to make it as efficient as I can, and I'll continue trying to make improvements so that hopefully the launch version will be a bit lighter.
3- I might still tune the "regular" fights to make them a bit faster before the final release, based on feedback and such. But I'll probably wait until I finish making the rest of the characters before doing any drastic game-wide adjustments. As for the Magnus Attacks, the demo only goes up to stage 3! So look forward to some more difficult ones in the full release.
Thanks for playing!
Hard Mode is tuned to be a difficulty that I personally find challenging, even after making all the attacks/mechanics myself. So it's pretty hard! There are people who are a lot better at bullet hell than I am though, so maybe if someone out there really is a god of bullet hell they'd find it kind of easy!
Thanks so much for playing! And thanks to nomorestories for the shoutout!
1) It does improve "accuracy", ever so slightly. Your attacks aren't perfectly auto aimed, but rather, are aimed in the direction of the arrow your character has around them. But that arrow isn't perfectly snapping to your opponent's position; rather, it's sort of lazily following them. So, if they continue to move, especially when they're close to you, the arrow won't be very accurate. "Focus" makes the arrow snap more closely to the opponent's actual position, and will even slightly "lead" your attacks to where your opponent is moving if held down.
The effect is sort of subtle, so you don't have to worry about it all too much; especially if you're just playing against CPUs. If you're interested, I made a post about it a while back on the devblog: https://maidenspellgame.tumblr.com/post/174673366866/maiden-spell-movement-aimin...
2) Nope! The circles around each character are more of a guide to help you see your opponent out of the corner of your eye, rather than having to look over.
3) Thanks! It's planned for sometime in 2019, but I can't say for certain exactly when quite yet.
4) I've gotten quite a few comments about Hero of Frost's moves, so I'll be changing them a bit in an update. It's supposed to be a trade off between the high power of the Basic Attack versus the improved mobility of the Wide Attack, but I think just about everyone who's sent me feedback so far has mentioned her in one way or another. So that'll be changed.
5) I'll be making "Easy" mode easier in an update, but right now I'm not entirely sure whether I should make "Normal" any easier. A lot of comments have said they feel the game is too hard, but I did a twitter poll and most people who answered thought the game was fairly balanced, so. I might just adjust a few attacks specifically without making it too much easier. I have a feeling the Hero of Frost adjustments will also make the difficulty a bit more manageable.
6) Sure! I think I'll make larger bullets in general stand out a bit more.
Thanks again for playing, and for leaving feedback!
In Easy Mode, all attacks do 1.4x times the "normal" damage to Magnus Barriers, so that might be part of why it seems so fast. You can kill anything in Easy Mode REALLY quickly if you know how to do a lot of damage.
Also, I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but your comment lead me find a bug (or more like unintentional behavior) with the Royal Arcanist's defensive spell, so thanks! :)
The "intended" way to use the spell against Magnus Barriers is for you to cast 3 debuffs, then reapply them right when they wear off. The "Death Toll" debuff is the most powerful one, and doesn't do any damage until it wears off, which means it's negated if it's overwritten. But, it looks like the "Pain" and "Toxic" debuffs are actually "ticking" too soon after they're reapplied, dealing extra damage... which makes spamming the move just as effective as using it carefully, which isn't what I wanted. So, I'll fix that too.
Thanks! And thanks for playing!
If you're having trouble, maybe check back next week or so! I'm not sure quite yet if I'll do any Story Mode "nerfing", but I definitely plan on making Hero of Frost a bit easier to play at least.
In the meantime, you could also try switching up control schemes; a friend of mine said he was having trouble until he switched from keyboard to controller, so that might help (I'm personally much better using keyboard though).
I'll definitely make adjustments to Easy Mode at least! It's meant to be a fairly casual difficulty, so people not being able to clear it is bad; it probably needs to be easier.
One quick tip that I could maybe offer to help you overcome the difficulty, is to remember your Defensive Special! (V key on the keyboard) A lot of Bullet Hell games have a limited amount of "Bombs" that you have to use carefully, but in Maiden & Spell your "Bomb" is on a short cooldown! There isn't any penalty to using it (in fact, sometimes it can even do more damage), so you can use it whenever you're in danger.
(Also, small clarification, the "squares don't recover in Hard Mode" is only between rounds within a stage. They still recover from stage to stage. I'm not THAT sadistic :) )
I'll try to take Easy difficulty down a notch in an update! And thanks for playing!
Thanks so much! And thank you for playing!
1) Would you believe that this is actually already extremely toned down from what I had not too long ago (...lol). I guess I'll have to make it even easier, at least for Easy and maybe Normal mode, or maybe make the current "Easy" into "Normal" and bump up the current "Hard" to "Impossible" or something. Difficulty was definitely one thing that I was really trying to get right before I put the demo out, but maybe it's still too difficult.
2) I assume you're talking about "Hero of Frost"; with her very strong Basic Attack and very weak Wide Attack. My goal was to create a character that could put out a very strong attack, but only when she could stand in one place, and then give her extra defensive options to help make that possible (and she'd have to fall back to her weak Wide Attack if she couldn't stand still). I've actually gotten quite a bit of comments about her current playstyle so far though, so maybe I wasn't entirely successful (though it might be a bit disproportionate, since players are likely to try her Story Mode first). I'll likely make a few adjustments to her moves in an update to maker her easier to use.
3) Noted! :) I admit I'm not the best animator, but hopefully I'm getting better with time!
Maiden & Spell
One on One Bullet Hell Fighting
Maiden & Spell is a unique blend of Bullet Hell and one on one fighters. It features a cast of colorful characters fighting with dazzling danmaku, in a mysterious fantasy world styled like a Japanese Doujin game.
The demo is available here! https://mino-dev.itch.io/maidenandspelldemo
The demo features 4 out of 8 planned playable characters playable in local multiplayer battles, as well as a small taste of the brutally difficult single-player Story Mode.