First time making a game (GIFs, DEMO, ARPG)

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niro359

Guest
Hello! This is my first time making a game, I've been working on this for close to a week now. I would really appreciate some feedback on how the gameplay looks, and maybe even some advice on where to take it.

This was when I finished making basic movement and combat...no health or any stats just yet. I was thinking of going for a dark souls-ish pixel game.
First Gameplay

At this point I finally added health, a "special" ability bar that fills up as you attack monsters, and of course the said special ability. I also added a bit of a powerup pickup item that could increase attack speed.Some problems that continued to bug me at this stage was that the monsters could attack one another...Oh! and basic teleportation system.
Second Gameplay

Really starting to think I found my "style" for this game. Changed special bar into monk beads, added a new enemy, a new shrine to heal after losing health, and a currency system to purchase said healing services...and maybe powerups...Also changed the special attack effects to feel more impactful.

Should I change the red health bar into some other images like Hearts or something to represent the health? Idk if I'm feeling the red bar.
Third Gameplay

Added a boss...I've actually lost this fight about 20 times and beaten her about 3...OH! By this point I've fixed the issue with monsters attack one another.
Fourth Gameplay


Any and all feedback/Advice/ criticism is welcomed. Thanks!


EDIT: Here is the demo file for Wndows users!! It's very short and has sounds now, but they are very rough. Any feedback will be appreciated! Thank you!

DEMO File

CONTROLS:
A = Left
D = Right
E = Action
R = Special (Left click to use when crosshair is green) - Aim at the ground enemy is on
Left Click = Attack
Shift = Roll

If you're fond of this art style and want to see how someone very good at it approaches the process, I actually watched the time lapse video by this game's artist first when coming up with how I wanted my game to look! I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn this sort of style.

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=13909
 
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Morendral

Member
I love the art style, but the background looks a bit boring right now. Great looking characters.

It's hard to give more feedback without a demo
 
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Nexusrex

Guest
Looks good, about the health bar. You would use a stretched 1 pixel sprite. Using draw_sprite_stretched. It may help.
 
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niro359

Guest
Thanks so much for the feedback guys!

I love the art style, but the background looks a bit boring right now. Great looking characters.

It's hard to give more feedback without a demo
I'm not sure if it's ready for demo just yet, these are literally all that's in the game... Maybe I'll try to get something ready soon, with a complete level and some sort of goals to achieve for a demo. Thanks for the feedback on art!

Saw in one of the gifs that you aimed an attack with the mouse, what are the controls looking like right now?
So far the controls are WASD, shift to roll, E for "action", and Left Click to attack. The basic WASD set-up I suppose. That aimed attack you saw is a "special" attack that the player is able to do as they build up beads. It puts the player in a sort of "special" state where they aim a crosshair to fire the crushing blow on the ground. Thanks!

Looks good, about the health bar. You would use a stretched 1 pixel sprite. Using draw_sprite_stretched. It may help.
Hmmm....I'll have to think about what sort of sprites I want in place of the bar. I tried out some hearts, but didn't quite like how they looked. Trying to come up with something more fitting with the theme for now..


To make sense of all this "bead" and "theme" talk, the main character is a sort of monk. I think the goal I'll set for this game will be to reach enlightenment, maybe. Thanks again everyone for your comments!
 
Thanks for clearing that up, this looks pretty good at the moment, I'd be eager to get my hands on a demo.

Also, how often do you expect to use that special attack(or similar ones) where you use the mouse to aim? I'm just concerned because I prefer control schemes not use the mouse unless they absolutely have to. Not to say you should change it on my account, it's just a personal concern.
 
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niro359

Guest
Thanks for clearing that up, this looks pretty good at the moment, I'd be eager to get my hands on a demo.

Also, how often do you expect to use that special attack(or similar ones) where you use the mouse to aim? I'm just concerned because I prefer control schemes not use the mouse unless they absolutely have to. Not to say you should change it on my account, it's just a personal concern.
Honestly, I haven't really focused on proper implementation of the special attack yet. It will more than likely be the very next thing I work into the game permanently. As of right now, it's just a cool little additional move that's pretty satisfying to use. I've considered taking away the mouse as a part of the control scheme, but have yet to seriously think about it. Mouse click to attack has just been so common place in my gaming. ;P

Update: It's actually a very small update. I've added a chest loot type object now that will give the player some powerups upon opening and a display to show what type of poweups you have. Of course there's only the attack speed power up for now, thinking about adding increase damage, run speed, etc.

I'm also going to edit the first post to include a demo file!!! Yay!

Edit: If you manage to beat the boss on the first try, you have my admiration. I've finally come up with a proper way to fight it. Good luck!

 
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juanchacon99

Guest
Pretty cool man, The pixelart style is neat, unique, the boss is simple but also challenging, good enemy combat system(so far), beads system too, and I'd like to see future updates and it would be good if you added a demo
 
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niro359

Guest
Pretty cool man, The pixelart style is neat, unique, the boss is simple but also challenging, good enemy combat system(so far), beads system too, and I'd like to see future updates and it would be good if you added a demo
I'm so happy the feedback for the art is positive, I actually started this project primarily to learn pixel art! I actually just added a demo of what I have so far, I'll try to update it as I go. Thanks, I appreciate your input.
 

Gamerev147

Member
This game deserves WAY more feedback than what it's receiving! I played your DEMO, read all I could about the game, and here's what I think:
  • First off, AMAZING job! This is your first game and it blows my mind! When I first started I was doing simple strings and basic movement. Amazing work!
  • Second, when attacking, why does the player stop moving so suddenly? It was very hard for me to fight the enemies with this occurring.
  • Amazing graphics, I love your animations!
  • Personally, I think the boss is a bit too overpowered. I tried multiple times and I still couldn't get em!
  • Good control layout, very easy to grasp.
I know your game is very underdeveloped at the moment, and I know you'll be adding much more, but here are some things I think should be added:
  • Kick-ass menu (I know you can make one due to how good you are at pixel art)
  • Kick-ass pause screen
  • Automatic progress load on start
  • Weapon upgrades
  • Online score sharing system (it seems like it would fit the game)
Your DEMO was short but powerful! Nevertheless, you have an amazing game in development here. This is the type of game I can see on the Steam Powered store. Keep up the good work, I'll be waiting to buy a copy!

Best of luck,
Gamerev
 
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niro359

Guest
This game deserves WAY more feedback than what it's receiving! I played your DEMO, read all I could about the game, and here's what I think:
  • First off, AMAZING job! This is your first game and it blows my mind! When I first started I was doing simple strings and basic movement. Amazing work!
  • Second, when attacking, why does the player stop moving so suddenly? It was very hard for me to fight the enemies with this occurring.
  • Amazing graphics, I love your animations!
  • Personally, I think the boss is a bit too overpowered. I tried multiple times and I still couldn't get em!
  • Good control layout, very easy to grasp.
I know your game is very underdeveloped at the moment, and I know you'll be adding much more, but here are some things I think should be added:
  • Kick-ass menu (I know you can make one due to how good you are at pixel art)
  • Kick-ass pause screen
  • Automatic progress load on start
  • Weapon upgrades
  • Online score sharing system (it seems like it would fit the game)
Your DEMO was short but powerful! Nevertheless, you have an amazing game in development here. This is the type of game I can see on the Steam Powered store. Keep up the good work, I'll be waiting to buy a copy!

Best of luck,
Gamerev
Wow, I honestly didn't know how to respond at first. I'm so grateful for the feedback! You're very generous with the encouragement, and I really appreciate that. The positive reviews on my art/animation makes me happy, it was sort of the point of this project at first, so thank you! The reason I haven't gone and changed the way attacking stops the player is because attacking also stop the enemies, so I wanted to open room for players to develop skills in timing and positioning with the mobility limitation. You can roll during an attack though, sort of like the animation cancel techniques people use in many action fighting games. As for the boss, it was made so tough because I wanted to test for myself whether or not I could actually get "better" at my own game. Turns out I can, I can effectively beat it about 80% of the time now. I do consider either toning the boss down or introducing it a bit later.

As for your suggestions!

  • Kick-ass menus - As soon as I read that I actually got to making the death screen with menu functions, I feel like it could use a bit more. I'll probably make a main menu and pause screen tomorrow. Please let me know what you think of the death menu!
  • Automatic progress load on start - Mmmm That's definitely something I feel the game should have, but I'm still learning to program in GM, and I'll have to learn what it takes to make this happen.
  • Weapon upgrades - I love this idea, I think it can be done by making a couple new states, animations for those states, and sort of parenting the different weapon types to the player during respective states.
  • Online score sharing system - I've thought about what I could use as scoring values (kills, levels, boss kills, etc.) I'm really not sure, so this will be pending.
I can't express how grateful I am for your ideas. Thank you again!

UPDATE: This one, I'm pretty excited about, I've added sounds to the game! It really adds a different dynamic, the silence was a bit lonely. The death menu has also been implemented. I've updated the link in the first post with the updated "DEMO".
 
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The controls didn't bother me as much as I thought they would, looks like you're off to a good start.
I feel like there's a little delay before you start attacking though, and that boss wasn't fun at all.
The art(and even gameplay to some degree) has a very Risk of Rain vibe to it, which is neat, that was a really good game. Also, I'd suggest maybe toning down the idle animation a bit, he stretches way too much, but apart from that everything was looking good.
 

Gamerev147

Member
Wow, I honestly didn't know how to respond at first. I'm so grateful for the feedback! You're very generous with the encouragement, and I really appreciate that. The positive reviews on my art/animation makes me happy, it was sort of the point of this project at first, so thank you! The reason I haven't gone and changed the way attacking stops the player is because attacking also stop the enemies, so I wanted to open room for players to develop skills in timing and positioning with the mobility limitation. You can roll during an attack though, sort of like the animation cancel techniques people use in many action fighting games. As for the boss, it was made so tough because I wanted to test for myself whether or not I could actually get "better" at my own game. Turns out I can, I can effectively beat it about 80% of the time now. I do consider either toning the boss down or introducing it a bit later.

As for your suggestions!

  • Kick-ass menus - As soon as I read that I actually got to making the death screen with menu functions, I feel like it could use a bit more. I'll probably make a main menu and pause screen tomorrow. Please let me know what you think of the death menu!
  • Automatic progress load on start - Mmmm That's definitely something I feel the game should have, but I'm still learning to program in GM, and I'll have to learn what it takes to make this happen.
  • Weapon upgrades - I love this idea, I think it can be done by making a couple new states, animations for those states, and sort of parenting the different weapon types to the player during respective states.
  • Online score sharing system - I've thought about what I could use as scoring values (kills, levels, boss kills, etc.) I'm really not sure, so this will be pending.
I can't express how grateful I am for your ideas. Thank you again!

UPDATE: This one, I'm pretty excited about, I've added sounds to the game! It really adds a different dynamic, the silence was a bit lonely. The death menu has also been implemented. I've updated the link in the first post with the updated "DEMO".
Awesome! I'll have to play an updated DEMO. I love the menu, great job! I love the scenery for the game, it gives it kind of an older - time vibe. If you ever need any help with the saving or loading I'll be glad to help, if you find me no use there are a plethora of videos on professional saving and loading out there. Great job and good luck! :)
 
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niro359

Guest
You've got no other experience in game development or programming in general before this?!?!?! WTH man?
Thanks! I had general programming knowledge with C++, C#, and Python, but never thought to try my hand at making a game. YouTube has an incredible amount of videos that I think could teach anyone to make a game using Game Maker. I know it was a lot of help to me!

i see that you took your sprites from here http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=13909
idk could credit him atleast, but still n1.
I actually thought it was taken from there, but I didn't know the name of that ludum dare game anymore so I couldn't prove it :)
Thanks for the comments. I actually didn't take any sprites from this artist. I did however watch his/her time lapse video of how they created the game when I first started this project, and was very fond of the way they drew the mountain. I definitely took inspiration from this artist while making my own placeholder objects/ background. If you take a closer look, you'll notice many differences in the art that reflect my lack of skill in pixel art. I assumed taking inspiration from and learning from another's technique was similar to learning how to program functions from YouTube videos so didn't think to credit anyone. But you're absolutely right, they deserve the acknowledgement for their talent.

My rat men, were the first enemies in the game. They're sort of a mix between the enemies in that game and Risk of Rain's lizard men. Taught me a lot about basic motions and their effect on the feel of the enemies.

Good eye!

EDIT: I've updated the first post with the link you shared, thanks!
 
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juanchacon99

Guest
Thanks! I had general programming knowledge with C++, C#, and Python, but never thought to try my hand at making a game. YouTube has an incredible amount of videos that I think could teach anyone to make a game using Game Maker. I know it was a lot of help to me!
LOL that's how I learned too :DDD
 

lolslayer

Member
Thanks for the comments. I actually didn't take any sprites from this artist. I did however watch his/her time lapse video of how they created the game when I first started this project, and was very fond of the way they drew the mountain. I definitely took inspiration from this artist while making my own placeholder objects/ background. If you take a closer look, you'll notice many differences in the art that reflect my lack of skill in pixel art. I assumed taking inspiration from and learning from another's technique was similar to learning how to program functions from YouTube videos so didn't think to credit anyone. But you're absolutely right, they deserve the acknowledgement for their talent.
Okay, that explains :)

You're forgiven :p
 
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niro359

Guest
UPDATE: Thank you again everyone for your feedback! I finally think I've come up with a decent concept for the game. It will be an RTS/RPG mix type of game. I want the player to have a lot of involvement in fighting off enemy hordes, but also be able to use the currency they collect to spend on minion types who will help them fight. I think I'll make a 1 - 5 star scoring system for level completion depending on how long it took the player to complete the level. This makes the minions viable since with their help you will defeat enemies much faster.

This is the first minion type that will be available for purchase, and the minion spawner(still not sure how I should make it look). I called it a peasant. He's weak, and slow, but will definitely be fun to watch fight.

I had to make his AI a bit smarter than the basic enemies in that he has a roaming around state, and that he targets the closest enemy. This meant I had to also ramp up the enemy AI to make room for them to choose between attacking the player or minion depending on distance. I hope to implement the ability to give the minions commands and so on in the near future.
 

RangerX

Member
Ok I tried your game tonight and I must say its pretty good. Doesn't look like a first game for sure! You must have some programming experience and the graphics indicate you clearly have artistic talents.
Here's some comments on my experience:

- Can't kill the boss so far. Be easier on me at first ;)
- Excellent graphics, keep up.
- Give me a jump. Seriously. Feels wierd without it.

I will definetely keep a eye on your project. I am curious to see how it will look and feel with more progression, different mobs, "kick ass menus" (lol) and all those other things you will think up.
Keep up the good work and don't hesitate to ask the forum if you stuck in a GML matter. Lastly, if you like Metroidvania games. I invite you to try my project. (thread linked in my sig!)
:)
 
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niro359

Guest
Ok I tried your game tonight and I must say its pretty good. Doesn't look like a first game for sure! You must have some programming experience and the graphics indicate you clearly have artistic talents.
Here's some comments on my experience:

- Can't kill the boss so far. Be easier on me at first ;)
- Excellent graphics, keep up.
- Give me a jump. Seriously. Feels wierd without it.

I will definetely keep a eye on your project. I am curious to see how it will look and feel with more progression, different mobs, "kick ass menus" (lol) and all those other things you will think up.
Keep up the good work and don't hesitate to ask the forum if you stuck in a GML matter. Lastly, if you like Metroidvania games. I invite you to try my project. (thread linked in my sig!)
:)
Thank you for the kind reply. I took a look at your project and so far love the art! The stylistic nature of it is very nostalgic. I'm still not sure whether or not I'll add a jump yet, since I think it will have an impact on the dynamics of the combat.

UPDATE: I've been a bit neglectful of the project lately due to exams, but I've updated the AI for the minion quite a bit. As a side note, I hope everyone had the opportunity to play Google's Halloween game which was very fun. So fun in fact, I thought I'd try my hand at recreating some of the mechanics of what that game had. This here is what I made as a placeholder test of the game. If anyone missed the Google version and are interested in trying this game for themselves, let me know in your reply and I'll upload a link to the game file.
I really like the "drawing" aspect of the game and really considering implementing it into my original project in some way. Not sure if it's the best idea :/
 
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RangerX

Member
To me this brings nothing, not the best idea indeed. The attack the character is doing are slashes that are possible with a button press. So having to "draw" a slash just add lag, it brings nothing positive to the game.
 

Cpaz

Member
Good lord. I didn't have anything playable in the first two weeks of using GM. Good lord man, nice work!
 
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niro359

Guest
To me this brings nothing, not the best idea indeed. The attack the character is doing are slashes that are possible with a button press. So having to "draw" a slash just add lag, it brings nothing positive to the game.
You're right, RangerX, I think I was just excited by how interactive it felt. I tried putting it in as a way to cast spells and it didn't feel very intuitive. I have to work on my impulsiveness for the stranger ideas.

Good lord. I didn't have anything playable in the first two weeks of using GM. Good lord man, nice work!
Thank you so much for your comment! I think the best part about using GM is the documentation. It's incredibly detailed! Also took a look at your games, and I'd say you're doing great for yourself.

Not too much of an update, only that I've been working on my animating skills, and really starting to understand what makes animations "feel" better.

This is a small lightning animation I made today as a way to understand how quick, impact animations work.

 
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niro359

Guest
UPDATE: Again, I've been working a lot on learning how to animate in pixel and other general pixel art aspects. I'm thinking of changing the art style for the characters in the game, and making the animations more fluid. These are some animations I've been working on to learn how to better animate in pixel. Just some impact, I might even end up using some of these in spells and skills to be implemented in the future!

 
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Cavender_Games

Guest
Your work really is masterful! I am at work so I haven't played your game but from the Gif's I can tell that you have a natural talent for making games due to you making your first one. I am in the middle and trying to get my first game finalized for people to play and I think it is good for what I can do!
 
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