Immortal - 2D Survival Arcade Game

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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
Immortal is a survival/puzzle game where you play as an Immortal Jellyfish (this is a real animal, btw). As The Jelly, you dream of living forever. But it's hard to do in the deep blue sea, where predators of all shapes and sizes come to eat, stab, or burn you.



The objective of most levels is to survive them for 2 minutes. However, some levels have you doing different things, like breaking targets, helping sea creatures in need, or defeating bosses.


I would love anyone reading this to try the game out and give me some honest feedback.

Click on this link to try the game out: https://gabethedeadfish.itch.io/immortal

Check Immortal's social media to follow the game's progress:
https://www.facebook.com/TheImmortalProject/
https://twitter.com/ImmortalGel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY2AIzMrwDz5cBdGab2FAmg

Listen to the Immortal OST (Work-in-progress):

Please reply to this post and let me know what you think! Any replies will be considered and be used to improve the game.

UPDATES:
12/17/18 - The first few levels now have background music. Sound effects are added to some items and power-ups.
7/27/18 - Uploaded alternate version of Immortal with modified movement. In the alternate version, the Jelly starts moving slowly and speed up until it catches up with the cursor.
7/5/18 - Updated sprites for the Megashark. Sharks will now move up and down toward the Jelly when they are close to it and moving toward it.
6/19/18 - New Tutorial Mode to make it easier to learn how to play the game. Changed sprites of transform items to make them look like flasks, so players will know to pick them up.
6/2/18 - Immortal's Itch.io page now has the game as fully free download, with the option to donate. New version of game has been uploaded with up-to-date backgrounds and sprites.
5/17/18 - Removed Dropbox link, since both the demo and paid early access are now available on Itch.
 
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Danny Colclough

Guest
Agreed with the above comment.

If you want feedback:
- Presentation is the most important part of a first impression - try to create or source some more polished graphics/animations. They don't have to be amazing, but they should at least be consistent and readable.
- It's fine to ask for financial support during the development of a game, but maybe at not such an early stage (and it can give off the wrong signals to potential players/customers).

Good luck with the rest of the development!
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
Agreed with the above comment.

If you want feedback:
- Presentation is the most important part of a first impression - try to create or source some more polished graphics/animations. They don't have to be amazing, but they should at least be consistent and readable.
- It's fine to ask for financial support during the development of a game, but maybe at not such an early stage (and it can give off the wrong signals to potential players/customers).

Good luck with the rest of the development!
Okay thanks. I’m working on making new backgrounds and adding them to the game. I updated the main post to include a screenshot of the first level with the new background.
 

Niels

Member
Why do you want to make money off of the project? Did you invest money into the project that you want to earn back?
Do you need to hire team members?

I'm not trying to offend you or attack your game (you should be proud you actually made a playable game),but at the moment the game doesn't look like a commercial product, or a project that's so big in scope that it justifies a paid early acces...

My advice is to make a great game out of this project, release it for free and get some useful feedback, then release some more games and eventually you got to the point people actually want to be your play testers and buy your games early acces.
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
Why do you want to make money off of the project? Did you invest money into the project that you want to earn back?
Do you need to hire team members?

I'm not trying to offend you or attack your game (you should be proud you actually made a playable game),but at the moment the game doesn't look like a commercial product, or a project that's so big in scope that it justifies a paid early acces...

My advice is to make a great game out of this project, release it for free and get some useful feedback, then release some more games and eventually you got to the point people actually want to be your play testers and buy your games early acces.
Depends, what does investing money entail? I did pay for a booth at a local convention last year to have people come try my game out. I also have a few people doing things for the game like testing, sprite art, etc. The money would help compensate for that. As well, I would like to do indie game development as a career.

Also, there is a demo available where you can try the first few levels before paying anything. Even after the game is complete, I plan to make the first five levels free for anyone to play.

Do you think I'd be better off having the entire game be free anyway? If I did decide to sell the full version, should I avoid even mentioning payment until enough people have played it and are impressed with it?

I don't take any offense to your feedback, I appreciate it. I'm just new to indie gave development and trying to figure everything out.
 

Toque

Member
If you like making games have fun doing it.
Make lots of games and you will get better.
I had to make 15 games before I did anything respectable. It’s a skill that takes much practice.

You have a good start on this game.
 

Joe Ellis

Member
I don't think anyone will buy it if this is what the game looks like. Graphics look very very rough.
aww thats such a bad first reply to get lol, but its true, you'll have to improve the graphics a ton before you release it, but it's early days..
the actual game is a nice idea, like really good,
and I agree with financial support if you need it, like say if you can only program and need artists,. but to be honest a better way thats completely possible is just to hook up with someone that will do it for free, that wants to be a part of it, I'm doing that at the moment with 2 different games, I'm the programmer and they're the artists
 

Niels

Member
I see a lot of new Gamedevs that are making games with their newly learned Gamedev skills and the first thing they do is trying to monetize their game...

I see mobile games that are 90% copies of a YouTube tutorial that are filled with micro transactions, or people's first platformers (basically Shaun Spaldings or heartbeasts tutorials with a new skin), that have links to patreon....

Edmund Mcmillen (super meat boy, binding of Isaac), once said In a article that you can best make a free demo of anything, see if it gains traction, if that happens you can hire additions artists/coders and make a paid version of it. I think thats the best approach.

But I'm getting off topic.
Gl with your game!
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
If you like making games have fun doing it.
Make lots of games and you will get better.
I had to make 15 games before I did anything respectable. It’s a skill that takes much practice.

You have a good start on this game.
Thanks! That's very encouraging to read. This is only my first game, so I'll probably have to make several more before I hit it big, but if anything, this gives me motivation not to give up.
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
aww thats such a bad first reply to get lol, but its true, you'll have to improve the graphics a ton before you release it, but it's early days..
the actual game is a nice idea, like really good,
and I agree with financial support if you need it, like say if you can only program and need artists,. but to be honest a better way thats completely possible is just to hook up with someone that will do it for free, that wants to be a part of it, I'm doing that at the moment with 2 different games, I'm the programmer and they're the artists
Fair enough. To be fair, I think all the people I'm working with are willing to do it for free. I just didn't want them to feel like I'm using them without compensating them properly. I did list them in my game's credits, though.
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
I see a lot of new Gamedevs that are making games with their newly learned Gamedev skills and the first thing they do is trying to monetize their game...

I see mobile games that are 90% copies of a YouTube tutorial that are filled with micro transactions, or people's first platformers (basically Shaun Spaldings or heartbeasts tutorials with a new skin), that have links to patreon....

Edmund Mcmillen (super meat boy, binding of Isaac), once said In a article that you can best make a free demo of anything, see if it gains traction, if that happens you can hire additions artists/coders and make a paid version of it. I think thats the best approach.

But I'm getting off topic.
Gl with your game!
Okay, I think I'll try EM's approach for now. I would love to build a fandom around my game. Glad you told me those beginner pitfalls I need to avoid.
 
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teamrocketboyz

Guest
any chance of a version of this as a zip file with a exe instead of an installer? i dont like installing small games like this and as a tip neither do a lot of people on here.

i would love to try this out.
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
any chance of a version of this as a zip file with a exe instead of an installer? i dont like installing small games like this and as a tip neither do a lot of people on here.

i would love to try this out.
Yes, there is a zip file available with the game as an exe available to run immediately. I updated the game page, so you should be able to download the zip file now.

Note that the game in the zip file is an outdated build. I will upload a more up-to-date version of the game tonight.

Let me know if you're having issues running the game.
 
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teamrocketboyz

Guest
i played your game and i will be honest, i like the idea of it, but i feel the mouse movement is too fast, the jellyfish follows the mouse exactly and i dont get that delayed feeling of being underwater.

the first game i created using GMS was a game where you had to avoid asteroids in space, i worked hard on getting the thrusters to work in such a way it felt like you was in space. maybe a similar movement system may benefit your game? you can check it out here.

https://scrapboxgames.itch.io/asteroid-belt
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
i played your game and i will be honest, i like the idea of it, but i feel the mouse movement is too fast, the jellyfish follows the mouse exactly and i dont get that delayed feeling of being underwater.

the first game i created using GMS was a game where you had to avoid asteroids in space, i worked hard on getting the thrusters to work in such a way it felt like you was in space. maybe a similar movement system may benefit your game? you can check it out here.

https://scrapboxgames.itch.io/asteroid-belt
Okay, I will check your game out ASAP. Not yet sure if I'll make the jellyfish's movement slower, but it's an interesting suggestion. I think I'll try testing slower movement with other players and see what they think. Thank you for the suggestions.
 
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teamrocketboyz

Guest
I'm not saying make it slower what I'm saying is you need to get the feel of being underwater so while the speed now may be 10, it can still be 10 but as a max speed and give the character an acceleration. For instance if you have a boat reversing on the water and then it starts to move forward. The boat won't instantly go forward it would still reverse but getting slower until it eventually goes forward....... Maybe this isn't how you want your game to act but I personally think it would feel great and add the extra challenge when it comes to avoiding objects.
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
I'm not saying make it slower what I'm saying is you need to get the feel of being underwater so while the speed now may be 10, it can still be 10 but as a max speed and give the character an acceleration. For instance if you have a boat reversing on the water and then it starts to move forward. The boat won't instantly go forward it would still reverse but getting slower until it eventually goes forward....... Maybe this isn't how you want your game to act but I personally think it would feel great and add the extra challenge when it comes to avoiding objects.
Okay, I understand now. I'll try making the motion like that; hopefully that improves the gameplay.
 

Toque

Member
Fair enough. To be fair, I think all the people I'm working with are willing to do it for free. I just didn't want them to feel like I'm using them without compensating them properly. I did list them in my game's credits, though.
Just talk to the artists and see what they want. Get everything on the table from the start. They must realize you won’t get rich of this game. Credit might be enough. Maybe you might have to pay them something.

Good luck on it.
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
Just talk to the artists and see what they want. Get everything on the table from the start. They must realize you won’t get rich of this game. Credit might be enough. Maybe you might have to pay them something.

Good luck on it.
Thank you.
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
Try the game I created you only avoid asteroids and the controls use the arrow keys instead of mouse but you get the idea.
Okay, I'll check it out ASAP.

Also, I just uploaded a more up-to-date version of my game, with some better backgrounds and sprites. Controls haven't been changed yet, but I'll keep you posted when I change them.
 
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teamrocketboyz

Guest
Okay, I'll check it out ASAP.

Also, I just uploaded a more up-to-date version of my game, with some better backgrounds and sprites. Controls haven't been changed yet, but I'll keep you posted when I change them.
Im not saying you "NEED" to change them im just saying try it out personally yourself and see what you think. after all it is "your" creation, your the artist. let it be how you want it to be.

EDIT: I have just created a very rough idea of how i think a jelly fish would move in a game, it only took 20 minutes and ignore the art its just to demonstrate movement, it was created using the built in variables, but its a rough idea. hope this helps.

 
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Niels

Member
Im not saying you "NEED" to change them im just saying try it out personally yourself and see what you think. after all it is "your" creation, your the artist. let it be how you want it to be.

EDIT: I have just created a very rough idea of how i think a jelly fish would move in a game, it only took 20 minutes and ignore the art its just to demonstrate movement, it was created using the built in variables, but its a rough idea. hope this helps.

Yeah that slow sink and floaty movement seem right. Would improve the game feel
 

Toque

Member
Im not saying you "NEED" to change them im just saying try it out personally yourself and see what you think. after all it is "your" creation, your the artist. let it be how you want it to be.

EDIT: I have just created a very rough idea of how i think a jelly fish would move in a game, it only took 20 minutes and ignore the art its just to demonstrate movement, it was created using the built in variables, but its a rough idea. hope this helps.

And animate the tenticles to go with the movement.
 
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teamrocketboyz

Guest
And animate the tenticles to go with the movement.
Obviously if it was my game I would have animated them but this was just a quick mock up for the sake of movement
,although I did add a little xscale shrinkage "for looks sake"
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
I added a Tutorial Mode to Immortal. I uploaded the new version of the game to Itch.io. Would anyone be willing to try it out and let me know what they think?
 
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Gabe the Dead Fish

Guest
Im not saying you "NEED" to change them im just saying try it out personally yourself and see what you think. after all it is "your" creation, your the artist. let it be how you want it to be.

EDIT: I have just created a very rough idea of how i think a jelly fish would move in a game, it only took 20 minutes and ignore the art its just to demonstrate movement, it was created using the built in variables, but its a rough idea. hope this helps.

Okay, sorry it took so long, but I uploaded another version of the game. It doesn't replace the game; it just shows up as a different .zip file. I named it immortal_new_movement.zip. This way, people can play both versions side by side, compare them, and hopefully let me know which they like better.
 
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