KICKSTARTER is LIVE!! The Wizard and The Slug - Story platformer





Website: www.wizardandslug.com


Hi guys! I'm Silkworm Sweatshop developer of The Wizard and The Slug (formerly Pools of Creation).

The Wizard and The Slug is a story-rich 2D action platformer with plenty of humor. You play as a Slug who joins a mysterious Wizard on a rescue mission. The Wizard will independently support you in various ways, mainly by casting spells during boss battles. Your main weapon is your own regenerating body. Attack by ejecting parts of your body at your foes, quickly regenerate and grow with a button press and repeat. The world has its own mythology and is filled with strange creatures and characters, some of which can aid you in your adventure.

Features
  • Action platforming
  • Engaging story with a colorful cast and quirky writing
  • Story and Arcade mode: Enjoy the story or cut it out and get right into the action!
  • A.I companions: In addition to your constant wizard companion, you will meet other potential allies. Fight them, join them or ignore them.
  • Charming art style
  • Comprehensive original soundtrack: Lots of 8-16 bit inspired tunes with an orchestral flair and brimming with theming.
I'm doing a Kickstarter launching 28th of March!
Please give me feedback, suggestions and advice if you have any. Wish me luck!

STUFF TO DO!

What I've done so far (opinions?):
-UPDATED shorter trailer

Feel free to try the demo! I'm looking for feedback in any aspect.
-DEMO: https://silkworm-sweatshop.itch.io/the-wizard-and-the-slug-demo

What needs doing:
-Kickstarter page
-Think about rewards
-Press kit (DONE)
-Media and community outreach
-Website (DONE)






Follow me
@Silkworm_SwShop
Youtube
 
Last edited:
Bumping with a sneak peak of the current fire themed area I'm working on.

Basic fire-spitting turret enemy


Also made these gas cloud enemies that shoot at your position.


These flame enemies can be temporary disabled but are otherwise unkillable which means some timing and haste is required to get past them.


Also what is a fire themed level without some environmental hazards?


As always, feel free to try the demo (link in the OP) which covers the first 2 levels. Everything is subject to change and I'd really appreciate feedback to make the game better!
 
R

RayLemun

Guest
Really nice, story game :) I really like the characters (lol) The mechanics aren't bad too! Does Undertale is one of your inspired game? :D I think the graphics can be improved a little bit, but overall, it has some potential! Hope more people can give this game a go and give some more feedbacks..
 
Really nice, story game :) I really like the characters (lol) The mechanics aren't bad too! Does Undertale is one of your inspired game? :D I think the graphics can be improved a little bit, but overall, it has some potential! Hope more people can give this game a go and give some more feedbacks..
Thank you! Yes Undertale is an inspiration, not so much in regards to gameplay but rather in a bigger focus on storytelling, characters and musical theming. No pacifist (or genocide) mode though :p. Was there anything in particular you were thinking about the graphics? I'll probably go back and polish a bit when the game is getting closer to completion.

May I ask how far you got? Did you play to the end?
 
R

RayLemun

Guest
Thank you! Yes Undertale is an inspiration, not so much in regards to gameplay but rather in a bigger focus on storytelling, characters and musical theming. No pacifist (or genocide) mode though :p. Was there anything in particular you were thinking about the graphics? I'll probably go back and polish a bit when the game is getting closer to completion.

May I ask how far you got? Did you play to the end?
Yep! I have played it to the end :D The graphics.. maybe just need to look a little bit more organic and natural (More variations to the background stuff,ground,wall,etc) But, you could always do that later and focus more on the important(good) stuff first.. :) (Don't get me wrong! The style is really good! Keep it up.)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Got it! If you'd like to continue to be a playtester I could send you builds with more content as the game develops. Thanks again for the feedback!
 
I'm renaming my game.

The game is pretty story focused (in comparison to most platformers) and I want to convey that in some way. I mean it's not "Super Meat Boy". I think my current name "Pools of Creation" is too vague. If I didn't worry about the length I'd say The Wizard and The Slug is the title that best fits what I want to convey.

Here are sine titles. Please help me! Tell me what you think and feel free to give me suggestions.







 
D

DaleTron

Guest
"The Wizard and The Slug" if you're gonna change it, probably because it reminds me of "the fox and the hound" one of my fav animations..

I really like "Pools of Creation", Idk, I've always felt if you're going to name your game off the main characters it should be a specific name and maybe an adjective...like "Dynamite Headdy" is much better then "Puppettale, Puppetstory, Puppet and the Evil King, ect". I feel like those sorts of games bring attention to you using a trope and deter players. As much as players say they want something new, they don't, but they pay and play upon the idea of something new. (I believe what they really want is specific mechanics from multiple games that stand out to them all in the same game, but debating what players want is a completely opinionated can of worms). I bought the game as a child based off the name. If I knew Headdy was a puppet I probably would have missed out on a dope game with some paramount 2d attack mechanics. Cause puppets and clowns arn't my thing.

Another game I bought solely off the name was "legend of mana". What is the legend of mana I thought, or whats this guys idea of whatever a legend of mana is? It stated what the game was about, and at the same time had me asking questions. If It was called "your legend of mana" or "You're story" or anything indicating that there was no central storyline and a non linear plot I probably would have missed out on one of the best(imo) real time action rpg mechanics.

Before I go off on a completely opinionated rant that's just my opinion:

I believe you should stick with "Pools of Creation", seeing your main character be a slug makes me think you're foreshadowing our character turning out to be some sort of fundamental building block of life(because he does resemble some sort of microbe or small bacteria) in your canon and thus allowing a much more room for character development(being as you're story driven) - That's intriguing. "Pools of Creation" is a very strong title.

I dont want a Tale, I dont want a Story, I want an EPIC FUN INTERACTIVE OPERA - I believe many feel the same. EDIT I dont care much about the species of the main characters, and stating what the main characters are will intrigue people who are into wizards and slugs but deter people who aren't into them.

My advice, is to stay the F* away from words like "story", "tale" and "adventure" in your titles, we know its a story/tale/adventure. Including it in the name is last years trend and It feels like another one from last year, remember how i said players pay and play based off of the idea they're getting something completely new?

EDIT what I'm saying is its good that its vague. It's not vague like "EVERQUEST" or "MANHUNT". and its clearly a lore/canon themed name. Since lore/canon is what you're going for, it states something but has the audience ask questions- it sparks interest. IDK, i believe "the wizard and the slug" is more vauge then "pools of creation".

now theres a can of worms, opinionated defining of what 'vauge' even is.

getting existential on a forum- ill stop here. Game looks good, really like your intro animation!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Wizard and The Slug is what I would choose
Thanks, this is pretty much what I've been hearing. With a reworked layout it even looks good.



"The Wizard and The Slug" if you're gonna change it, probably because it reminds me of "the fox and the hound" one of my fav animations..

I really like "Pools of Creation", Idk, I've always felt if you're going to name your game off the main characters it should be a specific name and maybe an adjective...like "Dynamite Headdy" is much better then "Puppettale, Puppetstory, Puppet and the Evil King, ect". I feel like those sorts of games bring attention to you using a trope and deter players. As much as players say they want something new, they don't, but they pay and play upon the idea of something new. (I believe what they really want is specific mechanics from multiple games that stand out to them all in the same game, but debating what players want is a completely opinionated can of worms). I bought the game as a child based off the name. If I knew Headdy was a puppet I probably would have missed out on a dope game with some paramount 2d attack mechanics. Cause puppets and clowns arn't my thing.

Another game I bought solely off the name was "legend of mana". What is the legend of mana I thought, or whats this guys idea of whatever a legend of mana is? It stated what the game was about, and at the same time had me asking questions. If It was called "your legend of mana" or "You're story" or anything indicating that there was no central storyline and a non linear plot I probably would have missed out on one of the best(imo) real time action rpg mechanics.

Before I go off on a completely opinionated rant that's just my opinion:

I believe you should stick with "Pools of Creation", seeing your main character be a slug makes me think you're foreshadowing our character turning out to be some sort of fundamental building block of life(because he does resemble some sort of microbe or small bacteria) in your canon and thus allowing a much more room for character development(being as you're story driven) - That's intriguing. "Pools of Creation" is a very strong title.

I dont want a Tale, I dont want a Story, I want an EPIC FUN INTERACTIVE OPERA - I believe many feel the same. EDIT I dont care much about the species of the main characters, and stating what the main characters are will intrigue people who are into wizards and slugs but deter people who aren't into them.

My advice, is to stay the F* away from words like "story", "tale" and "adventure" in your titles, we know its a story/tale/adventure. Including it in the name is last years trend and It feels like another one from last year, remember how i said players pay and play based off of the idea they're getting something completely new?

EDIT what I'm saying is its good that its vague. It's not vague like "EVERQUEST" or "MANHUNT". and its clearly a lore/canon themed name. Since lore/canon is what you're going for, it states something but has the audience ask questions- it sparks interest. IDK, i believe "the wizard and the slug" is more vauge then "pools of creation".

now theres a can of worms, opinionated defining of what 'vauge' even is.

getting existential on a forum- ill stop here. Game looks good, really like your intro animation!
Wow, never expected to get such a passionate reply, cheers :D. I'm happy you like the title although you might read into it more than most people. To be honest, the pools themselves are not really that important. They are a lore/plot device created for one very specific reason. But I don't feel they're central enough to name the entire game after them.

You also state that it's "clearly a lore/canon themed name." and here is where I have to disagree. One of the reasons I don't like the name is because it may sound like a mechanics-based name. Like it's a game where you have "pools" and you "create" stuff which is not what the game is about at all.

I hear what you say about "Story"/"Tale" - names. They are definitely trendy, safe names that kinda works, but they're not very original. It almost feels a bit dirty to use them :p. I've pretty much dropped them at this point but mostly for another reason. The reason being, it's not a "Slug Story" or "Slug Tale", it's really a story centered around the WIZARD and the slug is just a means for the player to take part in it. Still you can't really call it "A Wizards Tale" either because it would imply you play as the wizard.

So we've arrived at The Wizard and The Slug. I think it's got a nice ring to it, it sounds like a fairy tale without forcing the word "tale" in there. I do think the odd couple pairing is pretty intriguing. I mean is there really anyone out there that's neither into wizards nor slugs?

Jokes aside, thank you for taking the time giving me your well thought out opinion. I haven't decided fully decided yet so we'll see.
 
T

toshivyas

Guest
I am a software developer and designs one app for the rummy game. I personally love to play mobile games especially rummy. I learned some amazing tricks of a rummy game from a rummycircle review.
 
F

FROGANUS

Guest
when putting exe files online I suggest you put them in a zip first.
 

CloseRange

Member
just have to say the trailer got me at a penguin mafia. Please tell me the squeal will involve being able to play as a penguin or having one as a pet.
 
A

Ampersand

Guest
Out of curiosity, how much were you planning on asking for for your upcoming Kickstarter?
I too am curious. I have read a lot about this and it sounds hard to find a balance between the game's scope, the cost of production, and the realistic expectations of donations.

Game looks great though, was lurking it in WIP. Best of luck! :)
 
Trying to make a project image.



I think it looks alright, I just need to make the title pop more I think.



What do you guys think? I just added some light/darkness behind it. Would it work or does it look terrible?
 

RangerX

Member
I think the third one is the best pic.
I would say its on the "does the job" category while not blowing my mind. :)
I wouldn't make better myself either lol.
 
It's hard to judge the darker color scheme without seeing the entire picture.
The outline looks best out of the bunch, I think. I would maybe make it a pixel or two thicker, since the thumbnail will be small.
I might also try giving a darker outline to your two characters, since they feel more like they're part of the logo, rather than a part of the background scene. Maybe expand the outline on the words, and then use the thin outline you have on the words now for the characters?

The darker color scheme might work well too, though. Makes the characters and logos pop, since they're all made up of bright colors.
 
G

gn.fur

Guest
Not bad, but too weak for Kickstarter. Bad graphics (some bits are pretty good, some are straight crap, the rest is just bad), forgettable music, some level design mistakes (putting checkpoint behind the rocks is a very clever idea .-. ), awful controls (KLIO - weren't you drunk while chosing these?), not very good gameplay mechanics (well, maybe this slime shrink/growth thingy could work great, but now it's unnessesarily complex and unconvenient. You can't even keep your gameplay in one piece yourself, this is shown in triplejump. You are artificially restricting growth to not break your game. This is very good sign that you're doing something wrong).
Story is... ok, I guess? I played until underwater levels and since then not many things happened, so I can't judge the plot yet (but that banana thingy when I refused to help fairy was good, yeah).

Game has some potencial, but now it doesn't look professional at all. My guess, you're just not experienced enough. So maybe, get some EXP and put Kickstarter away for some time? I highly doubt your crowdfunding campaing will succeed.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for the honest feedback! Can't say much about the art/music, it might get polished a bit but I think it's just not to your taste, which is fine. I get what you're saying about the growth restriction but it's kinda how fuel for a jetpack is a restriction. At first I was thinking you would only be able to grow while grounded. It might be more consistent but it's an even harsher restriction and there are points where I want you to be able to grow even in the air (or water) so for now it's on a timer. I can agree that it's definitely not perfect and I'll continue to tweek and try to find a perfect solution.

"some level design mistakes (putting checkpoint behind the rocks is a very clever idea"
Haha you're right, this is actually really dumb, why did I do that? I hardly think about dying in those early areas of the game but if you do that's just annoying having to break them. I'm mean it's nothing terrible but it's an easy fix and I'll change it.

"awful controls"
Shovel Knight used J and K for the keyboard controls so I went for a similar position (KL) and then (IO) for switching weapons. If you have any suggestions for an alternative setup, feel free to tell me.

"I highly doubt your crowdfunding campaing will succeed."
I'd lie if I said I was completely confident it will. But I dunno, I've got nothing to lose really, even if it does fail.. I think you learn a lot from running a campaign either way. I've seen worse stuff get funded and I've seen funded projects that fail to even deliver a game. But if there's one thing I am confident in it's that I'll definitely finish this game one way or another.

Thanks again! Honest, harsh feedback as almost always the best. :)
 
Being honest with you, just looking at the screenshots, I don't think this has a huge chance on Kickstarter, either. Not because the graphics are bad (they're okay!), but because competition on Kickstarter is REALLY tough right now, unlike a few years ago, where I think this would've had a better shot. I've seen some professional looking games with modest goals not reach their KS goals. It's sad, but true. You need to really wow people now to separate them from their money.

That said, I tried the game, because I was interested by how bad the controls were, and I think it'd be a shame if you didn't make money with this game *somehow.* It's obvious that a lot of effort went into it. Everything feels very polished. You got a few laughs out of me (when I actually got a crappy venn diagram for asking, I had to chuckle), and the characters are likeable overall. The music, while mostly just out of the way but not offensive, had a few pieces that were nice and sweet sounding. I think you did good there overall, especially if you're a one-person dev team. This is definitely a game that demos better than it trailers, I think. I honestly thought it was going to be pretty "meh" judging by the screenshots, but after playing it, I can see how much charm doesn't shine through until you actually get into it. I think you could have a really cool game on your hands with a bit more time spent on it.

The two biggest things right now are the graphics and controls/gameplay. The graphics, while definitely charming, are definitely amateurish looking and not super appealing (to me, at least!). These kinds of games should wow you with their environments to make you want to keep exploring, but I never got any joy out of the backgrounds in this game. I was playing just to meet new characters and because the core gameplay loop was decent. The controls were okay, but needlessly awkward. Why are we moving with WADS? What platformer does that? 99% of the games I've ever played use the arrow keys, so why not stick with that? Use the arrow keys and a row of four buttons. Or just let people assign keys. Fixed! =)

The gameplay was mostly fun, but never got me especially excited. That's a tougher thing to fix, since music, sound design, controls, etc etc all come together to create a good feeling game. The most obvious place to start is the graphics.
Another thing that might be a problem (which is going to be tough to hear) is that 99% of the games out there feature a humanoid character as the lead. I think that's for a reason. Somehow jumping around as a slime just doesn't feel as good as running around as someone who stands on two legs? I dunno.

I got as far as the cho kakkoii Japan cat, plus a little extra. I'm posting because I think this game is much much better than it first seems. Which is good for the game, but bad for your Kickstarter. I think you should make the demo a very prominent feature of your KS campaign, and I'd use as much charm/humor/guilt tripping as you can muster to steer people into trying your game. If you haven't done a Greenlight yet, I'd run that at the same time as the KS, so you get some cross-promotion going on with that. Good luck to you, hope your game is a success.

If your game isn't a success, then don't take it too hard. From what I can see, if your game fails, it's going to be because of things that you can work on like graphics and music. There are plenty of people out there who are obviously hopeless at making games. You're definitely not one of them. I could see charm and polish oozing out of your game, despite the relatively low production values. Again, good luck!
 
"Why are we moving with WADS? What platformer does that? 99% of the games I've ever played use the arrow keys, so why not stick with that?"

Really? I feel WASD controls are way more standard nowadays.. hmm. I don't know, I pretty much looked at Shovel Knight for the control setup (granted, it let's you can change the keys but the default ones are WASD and JK). It's also so you can use space for jumping. I was thinking of implementing remappable keys at some point but maybe I should get it done sooner. Anyway, just a question, do you guys have gamepads? and if so did you miss that you could use them? Maybe that isn't clear enough on the title screen but you can press F8 or click the left analogue stick to change.

"The gameplay was mostly fun, but never got me especially excited"

I think one thing is that the demo isn't very challenging. It's a difficult thing to balance. Make it too hard and people will get frustrated. For the demo I've nerfed it quite a bit because I want people to get through it. The game will definitely get more challenging later on.

"If you haven't done a Greenlight yet, I'd run that at the same time as the KS, so you get some cross-promotion going on with that."

I've definitely considered it, especially since they're shutting it down soon.

"If your game isn't a success, then don't take it too hard."

Haha I won't. I honestly think Kickstarter success has more to do with marketing and the audience you already have. But it can also be a tool to grow an audience. Even if it fails, hopefully it'll reach some people. I honestly hate marketing, I just wanna work on the game, but with that mindset nobody will even know about it, much less play it. Running a campaign really forces me to learn and think about marketing. Even if it's a success, I'll probably not make a profit from this game considering the time I've already spent working on it for free. If it fails, I'll just get a job and finish it later. It's not so much about the money, I feel the worst thing as a developer is the idea of finishing a game which just fades away without ever being played.

"I'm posting because I think this game is much much better than it first seems"
Thanks for the kind words :).

"I tried the game, because I was interested by how bad the controls were"
Well, if that's what got you playing, maybe I should market that feature more: "Worst controls ever" :D
 
G

gn.fur

Guest
Why are we moving with WADS? What platformer does that? 99% of the games I've ever played use the arrow keys, so why not stick with that? Use the arrow keys and a row of four buttons. Or just let people assign keys. Fixed! =)
WASD are perfectly fine and most gamepad-like layout. But yes, game needs feature to assign keys.

Shovel Knight used J and K for the keyboard controls so I went for a similar position (KL) and then (IO) for switching weapons. If you have any suggestions for an alternative setup, feel free to tell me.
I personally like WASD + Space + BNM layout. Some people also like arrows + Space + ZXC. You can also map IO for QE, or remove those fire types completely. I don't like game's focusing on combat. It doesn't feel in right place. Just squeeze all the ideas from existing gameplay elements, until then don't add more and more new elements.
Also, remember -- the less keys you use, the better. Ideally, D-pad + AB. But yea, this layout isn't always possible.

Also, you can try to make that K/L mashing more smooth. I had many times when I pressed the shrink/grow button and slime doesn't do anything because it was still in cooldown. I discovered one cool trick -- you can remember key press for about 3-5 steps if action you want to perform is unavailable, and if within next 3-5 steps you will be able to perform it, then... perform it (Shish, I really can't make good-looking sentences in English). I did such thing in my runner. When player was almost on the ground and pressed jump button right before landing, normally jump won't happen. But with key remembering it will. This gave much better feel to controls.
 
But yes, game needs feature to assign keys
I think it was always going to be, but maybe I should really make it a priority.

I personally like WASD + Space + BNM layout.
BNM feels awkward to me. Hands too close together and at different levels. I'm thinking JKL at the moment. I do trust that the shovel knight team knew what they were doing when they picked that row. Yeah ZXC are good I think, if you're using arrows. I think what I'll do is at the very least add that as an alternative as soon as possible.

Also, remember -- the less keys you use, the better.
I've had weapon change set to two keys, one for cycling forward and one for backward. In the demo however you only ever get 2 different attacks which makes it pointless so I'm definitely changing it to a single button. Actually when I think about it, even when I'm playing with more weapons, I usually just spam one button to cycle through to the one I want. Perhaps I should just keep a one button setup either way? I'm thinking 3 keys in a row now: shoot/grow/change weapon.

I discovered one cool trick
This sounds great! Was this something you custom coded yourself or does GM have anything specific for remembering keys? I do get the general idea and will definitely look into it.

Great feedback! :) I know you don't like the combat focus but that's not going away. I'm committed to it and it's what I want to do so I'll just try to make it as good as possible.
 
Went through my controls code, man haven't touched them for quite a while. Noticed some kinda dumb stuff in there and made some tweaks I think is for the better. New control scheme, single row. Also added the key remembering thing and arrow key support. Assignable keys will have to wait a while but I think this was definitely an overall improvement! :)
 

RangerX

Member
Just tried your game, I see that the project is far along. I like it but I stopped playing in the grotto level despise liking the game because there's one aspect I don't like. The "K+L" thing. Let me elaborate.
At its basis this mechanic is to limit the shot right? I don't there's a weight aspect coming after but just talking about the shot for now, its not limited since I can regrow. To me it just makes a game where I need to press 2 keys to shoot instead of one. Therefore its only more tiring and error prone. Creates more frustration and fatigue than really bringing something to the game.
Another thing about the controls. I interact with W but I continue/accept with K. Why 2 different keys there? Why not the interact key for starting the text boxes or interacting and the same key to get rid of the box once read? Right now it felt a bit unintuitive to me. Last thing about the controls now (lol). Double jumping is tiring to me. I understand what you're trying to do but this makes jumping SPACE + S + K (+L if you recharge). This is too much keys to me without bringing enough to the gameplay.


Now its one thing complaining about controls but I'll go further and share with you how I imagine the "non-tiring version" of your game right now.
L = Size button
K = Shoot button

- Size button would be to pass from at least 2 sizes. Big blob, small blob. See it as "states" you can leave your character in. Then playing the game with one size or the other brings different advantages/disadvantages therefore you need to change sizes during gameplay.
- Shooting would still use you own blob matter. Small blob state would simply have less shots than Big blob state. Per example, the big one can shoot 5, small blob can shoot 2 or 3.
- Regrowing would be automatic and overtime (short time of course). But this would limit your shots, as it should.
- Double jumping would automatically use your blob matter. The fact you need to regrow would limit the jumping here again.
- Big blob state weights more than Small Blob state.

In recap, here's what would happen to the game with that slight change in mechanics:

- Shooting would still be limited but no tiring "K+L", regrow is automatic (1 second or 2, whatever makes the game feeling balanced). Added value: Big blob state would let the player shoot more projectiles before regrowing.
- Double jumping would be standard, easier to pull off but still limited as intended since you can't indefinitely use your blob matter without regrowing. I would make so that since Big Blob state weights more, it also uses more blob matter to double jump. Therefore both states would have the same double jump. Or whatever you can play with the idea that each state can have a different double jumping aspect.
- Your weight gameplay would be intact, with the player shifting states with the size button.

Anyhow, just my 2 cents! :)
 
S

SyntheticStorm9

Guest
Wow that was a really good game, I am so gonna get the full version.
For some reason right before the banana cave, the screen was black, for like five minutes and I had to restart it.
I liked the boss fights, each fight was unique, and they were hard in there own way, The storyline was great, I liked the beginning intro to, and the soundtrack, great game.



I didn't refuse the banana!!
 
At its basis this mechanic is to limit the shot right?
It's not so much about limiting shots as if you're fast with the presses you can actually fire pretty fast. One aspect is that shooting makes you vulnerable so you need to be aware of what you're doing. I think my goal later in the game is more about precision than just spamming shoot-grow over and over. I want the player to jump, arch a bullet to the left, switch weapon, double jump to dodge, turn, shoot to the left, grow. While the learning curve for controls like that are slightly higher I feel it's ultimately more engaging in the end. I dunno, I personally like to press buttons, and a lot of different buttons because once you get it down you feel like a damn god :p. Don't worry though, I won't go completely crazy, I do realize not everyone is like me and I hear your concerns about fatigue.

Here is kinda an example of the "feel" of combat I'm after, where every button press has a purpose. Of course, you can't start out your game like this, you've got to ease into it.


I interact with W but I continue/accept with K. Why 2 different keys there?
Again, it's pretty much modeled after shovel knight and many other games. I think the reason it's usually set to two different buttons is that so if you keep spamming to advance the text you won't accidentally interact again once it's over. I think it's pretty standard. Advancing the text with a directional key would be weird especially on a controller, and using an action button (jump/shoot) to start interacting might accidentally make you interact when you meant to do the action instead.

Anyhow, just my 2 cents!
Thanks for your suggestions :). Those are some major changes to the mechanics though. I think for now I'll focus on polishing the mechanics I got. I might experiment with making it an alternative to double press the jump button to make a double jump though and see how it feels.

Anyway the demo has been updated once more. Here are some changes!
Some much-needed audio/visual feedback to the grow mechanic. You will now flash while you're unable to grow and hear a *blip* and see a little particle effect when you can grow.



Some level design changes and design changes to the crab boss. The attacks are much more telegraphed now.



Various bug fixes. It really shouldn't be possible to get stuck in a wall anymore.



For some reason right before the banana cave, the screen was black, for like five minutes and I had to restart it.
This has also been fixed!

Yeah i enjoyed what i played as well. I will be looking forward to your Kickstarter and will be backing your project. I am very interested in seeing how far this project goes and what the end result will be! Hope you have great rewards planned for the Kickstarter!
Thanks! I'm putting together the kickstarter page this weekend.

Wow that was a really good game, I am so gonna get the full version.
I liked the boss fights, each fight was unique, and they were hard in there own way, The storyline was great, I liked the beginning intro to, and the soundtrack, great game.
Thank you so much you guys, it really means a lot!

I didn't refuse the banana!!
;)
 
Last edited:
First day rapport! 7% funded! Not bad, but the hard part is keeping the momentum going. There hasn't been a huge amount of backers but a couple of big ones. Around half the backers are also people I know (which is a good place to start) but I want to focus on getting more "strangers" to back. Feel free to give advice! I'm posting a final batch of press releases today and have been making threads on a couple of forums as well as trying to keep active on twitter. Man it's a lot of work.

I'm pretty happy I got a pledge for this joke reward on day 1 though.


 
Up to 15% now, so doing okay. Keep in mind that you want 25%-30% after your first three days or so to be safe, though. That'll keep you on KS' front page and keep the money coming in. Campaigns that don't do this have a very hard time making their goal. Make as much noise as you can! Good luck. I hope this gets funded!
 
I

iluvfuz

Guest
FYI, the Kickstarter banner links to your Steam Greenlight page.

Played through the demo and it definitely grew on me as it went on. I'll echo other criticisms above, such as with the current controls and inconsistent art, but these are things that can be improved or polished since the overall direction is good!

The game's appeal hinged on the characters: companions in combat, appealing colors and design, and general levity. Having a had a taste of NPCs following and helping out with combat, I definitely want more! I would suggest, beyond granting new abilities to the player, further pursuing the companion gameplay. Even limited to zones, it could involve adding multiple companions and having them take damage as well.

My only major criticism is with the writing. The dialog is written well but at times is almost too irreverent and frequent, interrupting the flow. The multiple jokes about religion also started to come off as a thinly-veiled slant; not that all dialog needs to be a joke (and would recommend against it anyways to avoid redlining lighthearted humor), but I would just keep an eye on the writing going forward. It would also be refreshing and interesting to have the conversations not be one-sided by giving the player a fair-ish part in talking, which also gives the opportunity to naturally reveal more about the character, world, and story.

Best of luck with your Kickstarter! Definitely hustle the publicity to get those mid-campaign and ending spikes going.
 
FYI, the Kickstarter banner links to your Steam Greenlight page.
Urgh...:confused: (fixed)

The game's appeal hinged on the characters: companions in combat, appealing colors and design, and general levity. Having a had a taste of NPCs following and helping out with combat, I definitely want more! I would suggest, beyond granting new abilities to the player, further pursuing the companion gameplay. Even limited to zones, it could involve adding multiple companions and having them take damage as well.
Yeah, I really want to make the companions even more distinct than they are now. I originally wanted the companions to take damage but it definitely comes with some challenges. If I can manage to do it in a way that doesn't turn into a frustration fest I'll do it.
The dialog is written well but at times is almost too irreverent and frequent, interrupting the flow.
Yup, this is a constant struggle. You need enough to establish character but too much and it bogs it down.

The multiple jokes about religion also started to come off as a thinly-veiled slant
Yeah, I've thought about this too. The game itself really isn't "anti-religion" and if it comes across that way that's a problem. Charm the Wizard definitely has a strong aversion to religion though, and there are story-related reasons for this. That's really all I want to establish. I'll definitely look over the writing to see if I can convey this better.

It would also be refreshing and interesting to have the conversations not be one-sided by giving the player a fair-ish part in talking, which also gives the opportunity to naturally reveal more about the character, world, and story.
I thought about addressing this.... but there are reasons I shouldn't.. just trust me on this :p.

Best of luck with your Kickstarter! Definitely hustle the publicity to get those mid-campaign and ending spikes going.
Thanks! 52 backers now and at 27%. Not terribly promising I must say but I'm not completely throwing in the towel just yet. Whatever happens I hope the campaign will at least bring some awareness to the game.
 
S

Spike

Guest
Hey there! Good luck with everything. I gave you a thumbs up on your greenlight. I had been on there for a while and came back to these forums and noticed you from greenlight. Keep up the hard work!
 
G

GM029

Guest
Nice game man! Very high quality - I love the graphics and music (the music is awesome actually - did you compose that yourself?). The story telling aspect is great too!

A very minor quibble - you can see the text in the dialogue boxes wrapping on the fly (at least on my computer). A word will start on one line then pop down to the next line as it is printing on the screen. I much prefer to put in the line breaks myself so the text is all fixed in the box and won't shift around as it is outputting. I only noticed because your game feels really polished otherwise.

Also, I sort of wish the slug had a bit more animation, sometimes it almost feels like you're just pushing him along rather than him actively moving. Maybe an exaggerated slinking along as he moves.

Overall though great game! Good luck!
 
Nice game man! Very high quality - I love the graphics and music (the music is awesome actually - did you compose that yourself?). The story telling aspect is great too!
Thank you! Yes, I'm working solo on the game.

A very minor quibble - you can see the text in the dialogue boxes wrapping on the fly (at least on my computer).
I know what you mean, I'll try to find a solution.

Also, I sort of wish the slug had a bit more animation
Yeah, the slug animations are pretty much the first thing I ever made for the game (like 2 years ago). I'm planning on redoing a lot of the character animations when I get to polishing. To be honest, for the slug at least, I probably should've done it sooner but it just got pushed back by other things.

In Kickstarter news, it's looking kinda grim for the campaign. Now it's pretty much deciding what to do with the rest of the time. More people than ever are downloading and playing the demo so I'll keep pushing the campaign if only for that reason.

After contacting around 300+ youtubers, some videos are starting to pop up. Mostly really tiny ones, biggest one had around 10k subs. But it's still fun to watch and is always good feedback. People contacting me and telling me they like the game also helps keeping my spirits up :).

Some playthroughs:
Pharaoh2091: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sn0VKlW9Es
Monticue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN26Ngz4ays&lc
Atantuo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hEPhFzx4CA
Necrocopter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvDdjhWHORg
D3rKommentator (German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deunec7_CYQ
FitzUnlimited15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sto5J91aHPw
Spudcats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFm3n2C6WB4
Hadriex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQZJs0KZFsY
 
Top