GMC Jam Paranormal(GMCJam 35 Post-jam version)


Decided to fix up and add a few things whilst the code is all still fresh from the jam. Probably won't add or change much if any more, but here it is if anyone is curious!
Enjoy!

Post-jam changes:

  • Fixed some bugs!
  • Fixed gamepad controls(X and Y were backwards)
  • Added missing effects(such as the boss' ranged attack)
  • Implemented a small melee and dash cancel(Meaning it's possible to dash or melee just a little sooner when you are already dashing or performing a melee attack).
  • Made the dash include vertical movement better.
  • You can dash backwards by not holding a direction when dashing.
  • Added a co-op mode!(Just press start on a currently plugged in gamepad not in use, or press Enter if player 1 is using a gamepad already and you don't have another)
  • Added boss music.
  • Remastered and recorded both music tracks(With real guitars!)
  • Improved the win/lose screens a little.

Copy/Paste from the readme file:
You are a Hunter on your way to track down the monster that killed your whole family, only armed with your shotgun filled with rock salt, and your mother's favourite machete.
Totally and completely not based on any existing TV shows I currently happened to be binging for the last month >_>

CONTROLS
Movement Arrow keys or WASD
Shotgun J
Melee K
Dash L

GAMEPAD(Not tested! Should work though)
Movement Left Stick
Shotgun X
Melee Y
Dash A

IMPORTANT
Ghosts are weak and can be killed easily.
Vampires only get annoyed by salt, so you have to decapitate them with you machete.
Dash uses energy(Yellow bar under health)

Health slowly regenerates.
Energy regenerates a bit faster.


Music:
https://soundcloud.com/siolforthejackal/sets/paranormal












 

FrostyCat

Redemption Seeker
As promised in the jam discussion topic, I just played through the revised version. Overall, I think the difficulty is just right if you play correctly, and the hitboxes and general flow work for what's given, so I like it on the most part. But the problem of unresponsive turnarounds still remains.

Some suggestions:
  • Turn-arounds should cancel the animation. This is especially important when being attacked from both sides is the norm. You might also want to look into input queuing for handling attacks just after turning around.
  • Try to make your deactivation margin more generous to avoid visible discontinuities. When I walk forward at full speed, the front edge of the screen has no fog effect, and sometimes it's possible to notice enemies disappearing off the left side. Leaving a wider strip activated on either end would have covered your tracks at a relatively small performance cost.
  • Don't try to slow animation down just by skipping or spacing frames apart. I understand the attempt at improving the menu by making it animated, but it turned out to be worse than the static original for being visibly choppy and robotic. Slow animation by reducing the change per frame, not by skipping frames or cutting the frame rate. Leaving stuff unanimated is often better than animating it worse than the player could extrapolate the movement.
  • Try to use more visual UI elements in the settings menu instead of just text. UI elements such as sliders and checkboxes make the settings more recognizable, and are also a good way to express the game's character outside the main content. Text is fine if you're short on time in a jam entry, but do keep this in mind for larger future projects.
  • Watch out for downward spirals. It's easy to just bounce around between two enemies and lose all your health this way. An invincibility interval may help with this
 
Thanks a lot for playing again and giving such useful feedback, dude.

  • I think I'm beginning to understand what you mean about the turn arounds. I have some ideas on how to fix it but I never would have realised it was a problem on my own.
  • Oh good catch on the fog particles! Completely missed that.
  • All I did for the menu animations was slow the image speed, so I guess that's just how they are when slowed down. I'll either remove the animation or export a special high fps version for the menu.
  • I've actually been working on checkboxes and sliders for my options menu. Hopefully by next jam I will have finished them.
  • I only just encountered the bounce myself last night when trying my game again. My mistake for playing my own game too well. I must have messed up my invincibility timing, as it's supposed to be much longer! Looks like it only lasts as long as the hurt animation which is really bad.
Thanks again for the feedback. I don't know if I will work any more on this project(still feeling a bit of jam burnout) but even if I don't, this is all great feedback to keep in mind for future games I make.
 
Just played this. Was pretty fun! General game feel was pretty good. Bouncing between enemies is a small problem, like FC says. I don't think turning around should cancel the attack animation completely, but letting the player turn around to attack during the *last few frames* of an attack would keep the slow deliberate feel while still making the game feel a bit more responsive. That's probably what I would've gone for.

Also, you can attack with the machete and shotgun at the same time. I don't know if that was by design or not, but I obliterated everything in my path, heheh. :'D

Good work on the art and music, and the sound effects you picked out worked well!
 
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