• Hey Guest! Ever feel like entering a Game Jam, but the time limit is always too much pressure? We get it... You lead a hectic life and dedicating 3 whole days to make a game just doesn't work for you! So, why not enter the GMC SLOW JAM? Take your time! Kick back and make your game over 4 months! Interested? Then just click here!

Demo The unknown castle - Puzzle platformer

G

Guest User

Guest
News: Game is Released!
Currently making: Marketing? - Also trying to get it to other platforms too



A mysterious puzzle platformer

This is a puzzle platformer where you control 2 characters and solve puzzles in a castle.


In this game you control 2 characters, Halli-Valli (the purple thing) and Huuma-Tuuma (the white thing). You have to solve puzzles. The game has also local multiplayer option.

The idea is to lead the two characters to their own doors to exit the room.

That sentence was so good that I wanted to highlight it. :p

Some screenshots:
ss1.png
ss2.png
ss3.png
ss4.png
ss6.png

The game is now published on itch.io!
Go to the game page:
https://pikku-a.itch.io/the-unknown-castle-demo


Controls:
Controls:

In single player mode:

Move the current character with arrow keys.

Press tab to change the controlled character.

Press space to interact.



In multiplayer mode:

Move Halli-Valli with arrow keys.
Move Huuma-Tuuma with WASD.
And press space to interact (both).

Change the mode with ctrl.



You can follow the games progress on twitter: https://twitter.com/Flyinglegends_

Itch.io: https://pikku-a.itch.io/the-unknown-castle-demo
GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/unknowncastle/326431
Indie DB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/the-unknown-castle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Flyinglegends_
 
Last edited by a moderator:
S

swonqi

Guest
Played it for a little bit. You asked for feedback so here are some thoughts:

- In general the game felt slow
- Sometimes it was confusing to control both of the characters - Have you tried using same movement controls for both of them, with a button to switch the controllable character?
- The physics seem very floaty, this could make sense since the character is a ghost.. But gameplay wise i'd try a faster falling speed : )
- There could be a tiny delay before an elevator starts moving, it feels very instant
- The stairs feel a bit awkward to walk on, i'd prefer if you'd have to hold movement keys to move on them
- The character's starting position in the level select room should be based on the level you just completed
- The zoomed-in levels are a bit annoying to play, i'm not sure what's the purpose of them
- The crystals don't reset on room restart, not sure if this is intended

- Mixed pixel sizes looks off-putting
- Also the outlines in the background are a bit too visible and it's hard on the eye to look at it. maybe change the outline color from solid black to something brighter.
- The colors are a bit boring and basic

- Dialogue texts scroll very slow
- Some of the dialogue could be fit into 1 message instead of 2
- Some grammar mistakes : )
- Font has antialiasing, and/or it's set to high quality (gms 1.4)

- The rain ambient has car sounds in the background, which feels out of place
- The death sound multiplies sometimes when taking hit (from arrows)
 
G

Guest User

Guest
swonqi said:
Played it for a little bit. You asked for feedback so here are some thoughts:

- In general the game felt slow
- Sometimes it was confusing to control both of the characters - Have you tried using same movement controls for both of them, with a button to switch the controllable character?
- The physics seem very floaty, this could make sense since the character is a ghost.. But gameplay wise i'd try a faster falling speed : )
- There could be a tiny delay before an elevator starts moving, it feels very instant
- The stairs feel a bit awkward to walk on, i'd prefer if you'd have to hold movement keys to move on them
- The character's starting position in the level select room should be based on the level you just completed
- The zoomed-in levels are a bit annoying to play, i'm not sure what's the purpose of them
- The crystals don't reset on room restart, not sure if this is intended

- Mixed pixel sizes looks off-putting
- Also the outlines in the background are a bit too visible and it's hard on the eye to look at it. maybe change the outline color from solid black to something brighter.
- The colors are a bit boring and basic

- Dialogue texts scroll very slow
- Some of the dialogue could be fit into 1 message instead of 2
- Some grammar mistakes : )
- Font has antialiasing, and/or it's set to high quality (gms 1.4)

- The rain ambient has car sounds in the background, which feels out of place
- The death sound multiplies sometimes when taking hit (from arrows)
Click to expand...
This is just the kind of feedback that I wanted. :)

swonqi said:
- Sometimes it was confusing to control both of the characters - Have you tried using same movement controls for both of them, with a button to switch the controllable character?
Click to expand...
That's a good idea. It was originally intended for 2 players, but I might make a single player mode with that kind of controls. :D

swonqi said:
- The rain ambient has car sounds in the background, which feels out of place
Click to expand...
:eek: I didn't even notice that! I should have listened it a bit more closely... :p


Thanks for this feedback, I will take a look to all of those things. ;)
 
S

swonqi

Guest
Ah right, my bad.. I didn't notice this was intended to be a 2-player game. Also I'm not 100% sure if they're cars, but they sure sound like it for me lol
 
G

Guest User

Guest
swonqi said:
- The zoomed-in levels are a bit annoying to play, i'm not sure what's the purpose of them
Click to expand...
Hey, one thing more. About these zoomed-in levels. Do you think I should remove them completely or just make less of them? I added them just to make more "mysterious atmosphere" to some levels.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
S

swonqi

Guest
I'd remove them myself, but only you know the right answer to that question. :D I didn't really get a mysterious feeling from them. You could play with the lighting system more. Maybe having dark levels could be a better way to achieve the mysterious atmosphere.

I don't even know how would you even play the zoomed in levels in multiplayer? :b
 
G

Guest User

Guest
New version of the demo is released!
Things that have been fixed:
- Changed the room speed from 30 to 60, so the game doesn't feel too slow anymore.
- Now it's easier to play alone, because the controls have been changed. (Different controls in single player and multiplayer).
Controls:

In single player mode:

Move the current character with arrow keys.

Press tab to change the controlled character.

Press space to interact.



In multiplayer mode:

Move Halli-Valli with arrow keys.
Move Huuma-Tuuma with WASD.
And press space to interact (both).

Change the mode with ctrl.
- Aumented gravity.
- Now the elevators wait a little bit before starting to move.
- Moving in stairs is now better.
- After completing a level the player appears in front of the level and not in the start of the room.
- Text scrolls now faster in the dialogue.
- Fixed some grammar mistakes.
- Changed the rain sound to another rain sound (The current is much better I think).

Also now it can be downloaded from gamejolt too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
G

Guest User

Guest
I have done now 18 levels in total to The Unknown Castle. Still need to do many more...

 
S

swonqi

Guest
Nice changes, feels much better for me now.

I quickly played some of the starting levels. There should be some feedback when you change the character imo. Also Tab was a little hard to use for me. :b
 
G

Guest User

Guest
swonqi said:
Nice changes, feels much better for me now.

I quickly played some of the starting levels. There should be some feedback when you change the character imo. Also Tab was a little hard to use for me. :b
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm going to make some kind of lightning effect when changing the character. I noticed that tab is not very good too. I will probably change it in the next updates.
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Updated the demo! Things that have changed:

- Improved the dialogue system. Now it looks much better.
- Changed two odd levels to normal levels. (Found some weird bugs after doing this, they will be fixed later).
- An arrow shows what character is controlled.
- Some other small improvements.
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Updated the first post:
- Added a trailer! Tell your thoughts about it and if you like it, push the like button on youtube. And if you don't like it, tell me how I can improve it. (Because I will be doing many versions).
- Added new screenshots!
- Modified the text a little bit.

Also the demo has been updated:
- Modified the colors and some sprites.
- Other small fixes.
 
G

Guest User

Guest
The progress of the look of my game. The first image is from 2015 and the second is from now. I think my art skills have improved...
:cool:Level up! :cool:

before2.png after2.png
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Updated the demo! New things:
  • Mouse control in the menu. (It has some cons, so I'm not sure if I'll fix it or remove it).
  • Added backgrounds for the menu, settings and credits.
  • Updated the credits.
  • Other small improvements.
 
S

sitebender

Member
Flyinglegends_Studio said:
More traps!

Click to expand...
I like this screenshot as indicated by my like, but I enjoy the movement. Makes it all seem more alive than other similar games. You're on the right track. Here's a question... can you hop on top of the spike traps and ride them up? With the shaking walls its obvious they're breakable or something. What about making it more subtle like when the player is near them, then they shake or they shake every once a second?
 
B

Better Nature

Guest
I just played the demo. I like the concept. switching between characters is quick and seamless, and I had no complaints about the controls while I was playing.

One thing that I noticed is that the difficulty curve is almost completely flat. The puzzles start simple (which is good), but never ramp up in difficulty. Yes, the number of steps you have to take to finish a room increases, but I never got stumped even for a moment. I was kind of bored after the first few rooms. I'd suggest focusing more on ensuring that each room presents a novel challenge. Add more mechanics that require the two characters to work together. You've got a good concept, but you'll lose the player very quickly if the puzzles aren't challenging and engaging.

One more thing. On the first level that has the projectiles that shoot out of the wall, I think it's a bad idea to have the player characters spawn in the line of fire. I'd change that. As a general rule the player should never start a level in immediate jeopardy, before they have a chance to process what's going on.

I look forward to seeing how this develops.

(Edit: fixed a typo)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
G

Guest User

Guest
sitebender said:
I like this screenshot as indicated by my like, but I enjoy the movement. Makes it all seem more alive than other similar games. You're on the right track.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Glad to hear that. :)
sitebender said:
Here's a question... can you hop on top of the spike traps and ride them up?
Click to expand...
No. But that sounds like something that I could add to the game.
sitebender said:
With the shaking walls its obvious they're breakable or something. What about making it more subtle like when the player is near them, then they shake or they shake every once a second?
Click to expand...
Good idea! I will make that.

Better Nature said:
One thing that I noticed is that the difficulty curve is almost completely flat. The puzzles start simple (which is good), but never ramp up in difficulty. Yes, the number of steps you have to take to finish a room increases, but I never got stumped even for a moment. I was kind of board after the first few rooms. I'd suggest focusing more on ensuring that each room presents a novel challenge. Add more mechanics that require the two characters to work together. You've got a good concept, but you'll lose the player very quickly if the puzzles aren't challenging and engaging.
Click to expand...
That's what I have feared... I have struggled with that problem. For me it's difficult to design the levels.
Better Nature said:
One more thing. On the first level that has the projectiles that shoot out of the wall, I think it's a bad idea to have the player characters spawn in the line of fire. I'd change that. As a general rule the player should never start a level in immediate jeopardy, before they have a chance to process what's going on.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'll do something to this.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
B

Better Nature

Guest
There's a lot of great content on YouTube about puzzle/level design. One example that you could check out is Mark Brown's "Game Maker's Toolkit." I recommend you start with the episode titled "What Makes a Good Puzzle?" His work and others has really helped me wrap my head around game design in general (not to imply that I'm an expert or anything, just pointing out things that I've found helpful).
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Better Nature said:
There's a lot of great content on YouTube about puzzle/level design. One example that you could check out is Mark Brown's "Game Maker's Toolkit." I recommend you start with the episode titled "What Makes a Good Puzzle?" His work and others has really helped me wrap my head around game design in general (not to imply that I'm an expert or anything, just pointing out things that I've found helpful).
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion, I will check it out.
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Now the destroyable walls shake only when the player is near them. I will update the demo when I have improved some of the first puzzles.

 
G

Guest User

Guest
I updated some of the first puzzles of the game, especially levels 6 and 8. They were too easy, so I tried to make them harder. Did I succeed? Try the demo and tell your opinion!

Also fixed this:
Better Nature said:
One more thing. On the first level that has the projectiles that shoot out of the wall, I think it's a bad idea to have the player characters spawn in the line of fire. I'd change that. As a general rule the player should never start a level in immediate jeopardy, before they have a chance to process what's going on.
Click to expand...
 
B

Better Nature

Guest
I think the level design has improved. The puzzles still feel a little too procedural. There's never any point where the solution isn't obvious, or where it doesn't becomes obvious simply by flipping all the switches in the room. As a result, I still feel like I'm just going through the motions to get to the next level.

A couple of things that might help:
- Keep the two player characters separated more often so that there are parts of the level that only one or the other can reach.
- Give each character unique abilities so that each one can't do everything that the other can.
- Add more elements that require both characters to work together to overcome. For example: maybe a door requires two switches in two different locations to be pressed at the same time. Or maybe there's a switch that will raise a platform, but if the player walks away from the switch, the platform lowers.
- Make flipping the switches do positive and negative things at the same time. What I mean by this is that maybe the switch will open a door that will allow the player to get something they need, but at the same time it also blocks the player off from something else. The puzzle then becomes figuring out how to position the characters so that they can get both things.

So that's just a bit of a brain storm. Keep it up!
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Better Nature said:
I think the level design has improved. The puzzles still feel a little too procedural. There's never any point where the solution isn't obvious, or where it doesn't becomes obvious simply by flipping all the switches in the room. As a result, I still feel like I'm just going through the motions to get to the next level.

A couple of things that might help:
- Keep the two player characters separated more often so that there are parts of the level that only one or the other can reach.
- Give each character unique abilities so that each one can't do everything that the other can.
- Add more elements that require both characters to work together to overcome. For example: maybe a door requires two switches in two different locations to be pressed at the same time. Or maybe there's a switch that will raise a platform, but if the player walks away from the switch, the platform lowers.
- Make flipping the switches do positive and negative things at the same time. What I mean by this is that maybe the switch will open a door that will allow the player to get something they need, but at the same time it also blocks the player off from something else. The puzzle then becomes figuring out how to position the characters so that they can get both things.

So that's just a bit of a brain storm. Keep it up!
Click to expand...
Thanks. Those are some really good tips. ;) I'll try to redesign some puzzles with the help of those. If I still can't make them good, I'll just ask someone other to do the level design for me.
 
G

Guest User

Guest
I think I made some levels much better. I will update the demo on monday (probably).
 
B

Better Nature

Guest
This was a big improvement. I look forward to seeing more.

I noticed a bug. If you take an elevator up to a door that is blocking your path, you'll teleport up to the top of the door, meaning you can bypass that element of the puzzle.
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Demo has received an update.

There was this bug: "If you take an elevator up to a door that is blocking your path, you'll teleport up to the top of the door, meaning you can bypass that element of the puzzle."

It's now fixed. And it was easier to fix than I thought.
 
G

Guest User

Guest
It's been a long time since I updated this. The game has been ready for a long time, I just haven't published it. I had problems deciding how and where to publish it. But now I decided I will just publish it on itch.io and gamejolt for now... and then think about other possibilities. I'll publish it... let's say... next week... on friday? Ok.

Also, updated the itch.io game page. I think that was a big improvement: https://pikku-a.itch.io/the-unknown-castle-demo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top