itch.io

• What about the current world do you like/don't like?

I think it looks nice, the start screen was very clean, music was cool..... though I am not sure if this is just a mac bug, but every part of the world was this gross highlighter yellow, like the textures weren't rendering? Trees, mountains, ground, water, rocks- everything YELLOW.

Not sure if this is a known issue, but I mention it just in case you haven't had anyone say something (maybe it's just me).

• How do the controls feel? 

I think the controls feel great, very natural! Though I might suggest opening the book using some other key than b? Tab would feel more natural to me, but again- perhaps that is just me.

• Given the game is focused around magical crafting, do you have any suggestions for recipes or items that would fit the theme? 

Hmmm, maybe a love potion? A witch's brew? 
Maybe as an item, craft a well/water rod? Something that would give you a more general direction of where to find things, and help out?

• Is there anything you hope to do in the game that has not yet been implemented? 

I can't think of anything at the moment.

• Any other general C&C.

None so far. ^^

• How does movement feel?

Pretty good, might be a tad fast/sensitive but not a huge deal. The flippy animation is great on the character..... stairs you gotta mash jump to get up, which not a huge deal, but might be something to tinker with.

• How does the camera feel?

No terrible issues, just some breaking through the walls and being able to see things we probs should not see- might wanna check camera to make sure it can't phase through solid wall

• How does the level feel so far?

It looks great, lost of stuff to it- especially for such a short time! Not really sure what the objective was, but it was cool to run around

• How do the controls feel?

Were there like intractable things? I didn't find any, so this is mostly just how movement was for now (for me at least)

-Does the game provide too much or not enough assistance to the player in terms of solving puzzles?

100% couldn't even get out of the room, so I'm gonna go with some tips would be helpful.... on a second playthrough I got through, but it could do with a small 'goal of the game' screen at the start so you know you're trying to figure things out yourself with little help

-Does this room look like a spaceship room?

Yes!

-Does the walking seem intuitive?

Actually no, I mashed my keyboard a bit before realizing I had to click.... once you know it's fine, but a quick hint in the start to say 'wasd to move camera, and click to move' might be useful.... also REALLLY slow

-Does the spell usage seem intuitive?

Yes, once I figured out how to use the spells/bring the menu up

-Does the information in the text box help?

Yes, very helpful for figuring I needed to cast abracadabra before trying to open the door like 10 times

How does the pacing of the game feel, is it too fast or too slow?
-> The pacing was very nice, very stress inducing and makes the fast-paced feel of the game and the rush to fix everything in time very nice ^^

In what ways might we be able to improve the challenge and the 'hectic-ness' of the game beyond the difficulty of the modules and timing? -
> The levels at the moment are quite barren, as there are no obstacles in any of the room to hinder your way. More obstacles would be a good start, and then maybe some different fixing mini-games?

Do you like the current module?
-> yes, very satisfying click at the right time that feels very in line with this sort of game

Would you like to see Ernie have abilities/upgrades and if so what would you like to see?
-> Yes, maybe an autofix ability you can pick up in level? That'll save you playing one of the minigames and get to the goal faster

Game breaking glitches/bugs?
-> None that I noticed! Another good installment of the game, a little more well put together is a bit less full in terms of props and such. Good job!

How was sneaking?

It was fine, but I am not at all sure what the point is, because the enemies do not seem to do any damage to the player character at all. Idk if this is a bug, or if you have yet to implement this yet?

Was it intuitive?

Yes, it was a very simple idea, get through the maze, avoid/kill your enemies, and find the treasure! The controls were easy and nice too!

How was whetzel detection (ex. range, accuracy of detection)?

It was kinda iffy on the detection bit- some enemies found me quite cleverly, but others I could be standing next to and they seemed entirely unaware of my presence. 

I like the scope of light that represents the vision of the enemies/player, it's a very nice effect and adds to the dungeon diving feel- very nice ambience (the music too!)

Do you like your move speed?

It's mostly okay, but I do feel as if the up/down movement is faster than the left/right? Idk this might just be a visual effect because the floor shifts when the player moves up and down (this is a bug I assume, the tiles for the floor in the map shift along with the player movement, and open up deadfalls were there is no map rendered and you see the empty 3d space behind your 2d map).

What do you think of the map size?  

I wasn't sure I got to the whole map, some parts I was unable to pass but it seemed to go further- overall though, for a maze, pretty good!

What skills would make it more fun?  More challenging?

Health system and damage done by the enemies would be my first thing to add to make it more challenging.

Maybe add decoy collectibles? Like they are disguised to look like the endgame, but maybe they damage the player, or teleport them back to the start of the map to begin again?

Did you like the music and volume level?

I think the music is a little bit too loud, but this can vary from computer to computer- maybe just add a pause menu where ppl can adjust it as need. 

The track choice and rhythm was good though, very enjoyable- totally felt like a retro sci-fi dungeon diving game XD

-The biggest bug was the floor moving where it really shouldn't, and there were too many enemies in terms if they actually did damage. With the sneak enabled this levels out, but something to think about. 

Also the light marker for the enemies cut out the picture sometimes, just a little clipping issue 

Overall great start! <3

General: 

Look and feel:

• Does the character feel sluggish? Is it fine for the character to feel slow if upgrades will eventually make the character feel better?

He is super slow, even if you upgrade him eventually, just starting feels like the over-encumbered state from Oblivion and it's a little maddening, lol

Enemies:

• Can you see the game becoming too difficult? If so how do you think we should balance it?

Well considering the enemies do not seem to attack you, and I am not all that sure what they are doing exactly(?), it doesn't seem to hard right now. I am not sure what the enemies do, or if you have really implemented that part yet- once it's a little more clear, maybe?

• Are there too many enemies? How many unique enemies do you think there should be?

I think as a start there should be at least 3 unique enemies, with unique looks and unique amounts of damage they can do/abilities (damage and the speed they move works just fine)

Tower defence side:

Enemies:

• Is the pathing good for the Enemies?

It feels they are very one-tracked and only follow the a certain path directly toward where they are supposed to be getting. I think more randomized movement would be good, or many different set paths if that is easier? They kinda feel like they are running laps on a track field at the moment.

• What kind of improvements should the Enemies have?

Attack the player would be my first addition, to add a bit more of higher stakes to the player.

Cat side:

Cat:

• Is this cat chonky enough?

Yus!

• When shooting with the main cat do you see any improvements? If so, what are they?

Shooting was fine, super simple, don't see any need for improvement other than maybe a targeting arrow/sight cursor would be nice? 

• Is the movement of the cat coherent?

He looks like he is glitching, I think the animation on the sprite needs to be slowed.

• How are the cats movement? 

We are planning to add these in the future how do you think they would impact the game?

I think collecting items and gold would be a nice addition, especially in terms of upgrading the character and the towers, maybe getting some aesthetic changes to the sprites as you go too?

-Overall I wasn't really sure of what I was doing or what I could do. The towers did not seem to do much, I wasn't sure what the counter was for either?

Placing the towers anywhere I want is nice, but because the enemies only ever walk to in a certain place on the map, it kinda felt useless to have the towers in the places where the enemy never actually walks. 

I also didn't see any turret operations? There was nothing shooting besides the player character, I don't if this was a bug or no.

Also as more enemies were spawned, my computer was having a hard time running all of them, so maybe have a cap on how many enemies are allowed to be created at one time. 

I like your concept, and your pitch, and I look forward to the end result and further improvements. ^^

•    How does the pacing of the game feel, is it too fast or too slow?
It felt a little fast, especially given I wasn’t all that sure of what I was doing at first. It does have that sort of high-stakes feeling which is what I think you were going for, so you totally hit the mark on that end.

    •    In what ways might we be able to improve the challenge and the 'hectic-ness' of the game beyond the difficulty of the modules and timing?
    Perhaps you might add things to the scenes that seem as if they were what needs to be repaired but they are really just ‘red herrings’ meant to trip up the player as they dash to repair everything in time.

    •    Would you like to see Ernie have abilities/upgrades and if so what would you like to see?    

Be able to pick things scattered in the scene like stopwatches to boost your time, or shoes with wings to make ernie move faster for some amount of time, perhaps?

    •    Game breaking glitches/bugs?
    What appears to be walls within the scene do not seem to register collisions, and they can be walked though. No other huge bugs were noticed.    

•    General QoL improvements
    Just a nit picky thing, but the movement on ernie was super sensitive/he’s a little fast, and sort of missed the place I tried to put him in by sliding past it a bit.

-Overall this looked very well polished and well put together so far, great job! <3