Demo The Life Ruby (metroidvania platformer) -------- Still lives!

RangerX

Member

Download the lastest version (executable only):
(Feb 19/17)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/1wwcq9gvi8hir06/TLR501.exe




What is this game?

The Life Ruby is a platformer game that unfolds like a "Metroidvania" instead of being "level by level" like the classic Super Mario game. There's also the Challenge Mode that is completely different, a mode where your skills will be put to the test in a succession of quick and challenging levels ala Super Meat Boy / League Of Evil.



What you can test...

- The 2 first zones of the game in Adventure Mode
- The first world in Challenge mode
- The tutorial level
- Controller support
- Menus, saving, options, performance adjustment system, etc.
- There's no sound effects yet and music is placeholder

I would love to hear any opinions / suggestions / general feedback!



Screenshots















Controls (keyboard)
Move character and cursor - W,A,S,D
Interact - W
Jump - Spacebar
Parachute On/Off - J
Attack / Deflect - K
Map - M
Pause - P
Help/Controls - H or F1
Game Stats - G
Take Screenshot - F2
Debug info On/Off - F3 (not in current demo)
V-sync On/Off - F4 (not in current demo)
Hud on/off - L

Game can also be set to "ZXC + arrow style".
There's also a key configuration menu to fully personalise controls



Controls (Gamepad)



Changelist
------------------------------------------------ TEST 50.1 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] Xinput controllers considered Xbox, Dinput controllers considered PS

[Mod] Disabled the automatic performance adjustements until better solution
[Mod] NPCs are using mob zones now
[Mod] Escargots and Rhino Bugs are using the mob zones
[Mod] Fishes are using mob zones

[Fix] Pluging/Unpluging controller causing slowdown in key config menu
[Fix] Can open the Help and start Credits while in Key Config menu


------------------------------------------------ TEST 50.0 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] Falling damage gameplay (with new animations and all)
[Add] New Mob - Rhino Bug
[Add] New Weapon (sword)
[Add] Critical Hit gameplay (for sword)
[Add] Shallow water gameplay
[Add] Challenge Mode Level 1-5
[Add] Challenge Mode Level 1-6
[Add] New song - Titlescreen (not final)
[Add] New song - Tutorial (not final)
[Add] New song - Intro Cut-scene (not final)
[Add] New song - Village (not final)
[Add] New song - Red Mage (not final)
[Add] New song - Ezuma's Temple (not final)
[Add] Disable application surface script
[Add] Game can start in French
[Add] Fog effects
[Add] Animated cursor on text boxes when the player can proceed/skip
[Add] Depth Changer object for hidden passages

[Mod] Attacking code completely redone!
[Mod] Now can shoot underwater with the Yuree's suit
[Mod] Slopes code improved (no more player jittering)
[Mod] Redone the "Secret Detector" power-up
[Mod] Weapon swaping function redone
[Mod] Slimes are using the new Mob Zones
[Mod] Made the sound test up to date
[Mod] Rewoved built in friction
[Mod] Corrected some errors in sprite behavior
[Mod] Improved gamepad detection by using the system event for gamepads
[Mod] Pause menu can also be closed by Pause button
[Mod] Changed hero and some objects' depth
[Mod] Made the titlescreen a tad more beautiful (or so I hope!)
[Mod] Power's icons now moves in the text box that appears when you collect them
[Mod] Help message takes longer to appear and can now appear when HUD is permanent
[Mod] Text reformatted! (discovery of the "w" argument in "draw_text_ext" function lol)
[Mod] Text boxes appear smoothly now
[Mod] The boat now moves

[Fix] Crash when opening/closing the pause menu extremely fast
[Fix] Infinite jump when jumping after unpausing while touching water pond bottom
[Fix] Pausing/Unpausing gives infinite air
[Fix] Changing weapons rapidly messes up weapon toggle
[Fix] Deceleration wasn't considering the gamepad and therefore was slowing it down
[Fix] Player can glide then jump then double jump
[Fix] Player can move after alt-tabbing in the Pause, Help, Map or Stats menu
[Fix] "ScalingOnLoad" that would actually mess up with saving crazy
[Fix] Gamepad support: "Anykey" not working when coming back from an Alt+Tab
[Fix] Statues not sending the cam at the right node sometimes
[Fix] Volume return to 100% after a transition regardless the user setting
[Fix] "Quit game" function not stopping music properly
[Fix] Score from previously erased game is kept and transfered to Challenge Mode until new game is saved
[Fix] In water when dying while swimming up, movement wasn't cancelled
[Fix] Rosettas not appearing if they were seen but in a secret area
[Fix] View following the player instead of cam in the Challenge Mode's levels
[Fix] AutoText killing textboxes the Rosetta was already killing
[Fix] Mobs dropping Pearls in Challenge Mode
[Fix] Spawn objects, nodes, statues and teleporters not deactivating properly
[Fix] Pause menu can be opened and giving problems during transitions
[Fix] Game Stats error regarding Rosettas and Items
[Fix] Exit signs appearing over the text box for a couple of frames


------------------------------------------------ TEST 49 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] The player can choose its default control scheme before the title screen
[Add] Fireballs from the spitter statues can be repelled
[Add] Activating a statue now triggers a micro cut-scene

[Mod] Gamepad support entirely redone
[Mod] Improved Pause Menu with "Quit/Change Mode" and "Restart level" options
[Mod] Sleep margin set to 15
[Mod] "Enter to proceed" made more consistent
[Mod] "Up" is now the interact button instead of "down"
[Mod] Script "Key name" updated with gamepad constants
[Mod] Checkpoints are giving back some health
[Mod] Improved deactivation (statues, nodes, changeroom)
[Mod] Changed Red Mage's collision mask to make it more forgiving
[Mod] Red Bad Plants are having 2 of health instead of 4
[Mod] Removed all the heart items (they can only appear as mob drops)
[Mod] Removed a bat near the first save point
[Mod] Save Points are making the HUD appear
[Mod] Some shadows correction in Ezuma's Village

[Fix] Crash because of Legend Button (gamepad support)
[Fix] Unable to proceed after entering Challenge Mode
[Fix] Not possible to close map legend
[Fix] Red Mage door appearing in front of wall tiles
[Fix] Player could dodge the spitters fireballs by attacking
[Fix] Green Pearls from the tutorial counts in Challenge Mode
[Fix] Secret entrances/exits not appearing on map once found
[Fix] Timer is overlapped by health


------------------------------------------------ TEST 48 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] New zone: Ezuma's Temple (Entrance Halls)
[Add] New mobs: Green slime, Rhino Bug
[Add] New breakables: Brazier
[Add] New level ingredients: Horizontal sliding doors, Touch platforms
[Add] "Legend" key can be pressed to make the HUD appear permanently or dynamically

[Mod] Changed the auto-adjusting performance. Stage1 = app surface off / Stage 2 = 30fps mode
[Mod] Auto-Adjustments cannot be reset anymore
[Mod] Improved the activation/deactivation system
[Mod] V-sync On/Off option is added back in the advanced options. (shortcut preserved)
[Mod] Trampoline bounce force adjustable now
[Mod] Made the air bubble rate adjustable for Air Bubble plants
[Mod] Fixed the water ponds in Challenge Mode W1L1
[Mod] Made the "Good Yuree" tell how to defeat the first boss
[Mod] 3/10 chance of getting a pearl from a wasp (instead of 2/10)
[Mod] Its now possible to deflect the wasp's darts (making them much easier)
[Mod] "Deflect" added in controls, help hints and keyboard image
[Mod] Updated help menu in both modes
[Mod] H, G and F1 can also be pressed to close their respective menus
[Mod] Hud elements moved around and health now displayed as hearts
[Mod] Keyboard splashscreen 2 times longer but added instructions to skip it
[Mod] Sleep margin now set to 10ms instead of 1
[Mod] Readable stones now called "Rosetta stones"
[Mod] Default time for text to appear when you collect a power made longer

[Fix] Crash when exiting pause menu right after the hero dies
[Fix] Crash when exiting a challenge mode level while dying
[Fix] Game not returning properly after an "alt+tab" at challenge mode levels' result screen
[Fix] Red Mage reappearing and its door reopening slowly (now its instant)
[Fix] Player avoiding to jump over the Red Mage by slashing his knife
[Fix] Game hanging for some seconds while trying to quit challenge mode levels
[Fix] Wasp mob shooting at player while its interacting with an object
[Fix] Vertical moving platforms problems for Hero when going down
[Fix] Slope detector problem when ground collision touches slope collision
[Fix] Lifetime setting not working for spitters' fireballs
[Fix] Autotext tool, Textbox appearing behind certain tiles in power mode
[Fix] V-sync option greyed out during auto adjustments
[Fix] Player's icon was overlapped by other icons


------------------------------------------------ TEST 47 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] Level 3 and 4 in the first world of Challenge Mode
[Add] New textbox for Challenge Mode
[Add] Shadow tiles for waterfall (amongst other things)

[Mod] Adjustments mode checking FPS for 800 steps instead of 600

[Fix] Incorrect pearl count in Challenge mode when using "quit level"
[Fix] Game not paused properly after coming back from "alt+tab" while in Pause or Map menu
[Fix] Challenge Mode's end level textbox appearing behind water
[Fix] Scrolling backgrounds not stopped when game is paused


------------------------------------------------ TEST 46 ------------------------------------------------------

[Add] New attack (magic ball like the Yurees). Obtained with the Yuree's Suit.
[Add] New interface for Challenge Mode (level panels, goal icons, etc)
[Add] Challenge mode having its own statistics screen and help screen
[Add] Watching game credits function at titlescreen
[Add] New message while creating a save space
[Add] New message about credits in the default main menu page

[Mod] Challenge Mode now functional
[Mod] Yuree's Suit improved and made more important
[Mod] New exit menu. Can now resume, quit and change mode of play
[Mod] Completely revamped save system for Challenge Mode
[Mod] Improved activation/deactivation system
[Mod] Made "ScalingOnLoad" script actually faster
[Mod] Level entrance in Challenge mode now a swirl instead of door
[Mod] Made the titlescreen look better (or so I hope!)

[Fix] Crash when the game was set in 30 fps mode
[Fix] Player can stay stuck in the key configuration menu
[Fix] Adventure mode save fails to load under certain circumstances
[Fix] Slowdown in key configuration menu
[Fix] Ezuma's Village map is placeholder
[Fix] Ezuma's Grounds map is placeholder
[Fix] Error in "key_name()" was changing the language
[Fix] Player can shoot or potentially attack while talking
[Fix] Secret counters are not updating the map array
[Fix] Plates appearing on map even if placed in a secret area
[Fix] Plates not updating the "item/plates" stats when found
[Fix] Auto text tool not changing language on the fly
[Fix] Wasp mob is not dropping anything
[Fix] Vines will destroy themselves if there's no more vine under them
[Fix] Selector and Enter not blocked while there's a fade out
[Fix] Stats pages not updated in French language
[Fix] Hero appears to fall in the ground a bit when coming back from menus


------------------------------------------------ TEST 45 ------------------------------------------------------

[Add] Intro cut-scene on new game
[Add] Weapon Toggle button (Up)
[Add] Advanced options menu accessible in-game
[Add] Boss at the end of Ezuma's Ground
[Add] Special camera object (for necessary cam panning/movement by cut-scenes)
[Add] Object controller for in-game micro cut-scenes
[Add] V-sync On/Off function (F4)
[Add] Screenshot function (F2)
[Add] Debug screen that will be accessible for players (F3)

[Mod] Revamped game statistics screen + new stats!
[Mod] Game can now be paused at all time except titlescreen
[Mod] Improved room transitions in regards of the new camera
[Mod] All exit signs besides the tutorial's are invisible
[Mod] HUD takes more time to appear on idle

[Fix] Camera bug when returning to village in certain circumstances
[Fix] Scaling on load not handling application surface settings properly
[Fix] Game not pausing when player is alt-tabbing
[Fix] Controls not recovered properly after alt-tabbing
[Fix] Auto adjustments mode playing again in tutorial room if accessed later
[Fix] Slowdown in key configuration menu (partial)


----------------------------------------------- TEST 44.5 -------------------------------------------------------

[Add] New message in the hud to tell the player about the Help/Controls screen and Pause
[Add] Help/Controls screen also accessible with F1 key
[Add] New main character (Mao) and also some more villagers for the intro cut-scene
[Add] Added the Hero's boat in the village

[Mod] Improved Game Performance adjustment mode (clearer messages, saving, restarting auto adjust)
[Mod] Improved whip's attack animation
[Mod] Removed shader "simple pass" because causing trouble on some PCs
[Mod] Can breathe underwater a little bit longer without lungs
[Mod] Made crossing the water easier in the tutorial room
[Mod] Blocked the pause menu during the intro cut-scene
[Mod] Adjusted the cooldown from being hit by a fireball
[Mod] Finished decorating Ezuma's Grounds

[Fix] Crash when pause menu is opened during a fade-in / fade-out
[Fix] Pause background not deleted causing memory leak
[Fix] Save slot 2 and 3 not up to date
[Fix] Game performance adjustment mode not working automatically
[Fix] Black screen on game loading if application was turned off
[Fix] Game performance adjustment mode not resetting properly on NewGame or Tutorial room
[Fix] Plant mob hurting the hero while he is attacking (theorically happening with all mobs)
[Fix] NPC Yuree 2 disappearing at certain wrong moments
[Fix] Cursor not moving right to left properly in the key config menu
[Fix] Help screen missing the "weapon change" controls
[Fix] Pause background not working when not using the application surface
[Fix] Hero slope max speed not accurate
[Fix] Screen flashing when saving
[Fix] HUD appearing when player is idle on a moving platform
[Fix] Loading script "Scaling on load" still using "display reset"


----------------------------------------------- TEST 44.3 ------------------------------------------------------

[Mod] Cleaned up the performance adjustment mode. Added a message on screen
[Mod] Blocked the scaling option while in windowed mode
[Mod] Blocked both the scaling and window style option while the application surface is disabled
[Mod] Buried the V-sync on/off option (that was for debug anyways)


----------------------------------------------- TEST 44.2 --------------------------------------------------------

[Add] V-sync On/Off function (for debug only)
[Add] Frameskip can start dynamicaly or with an On/Off function (F5)
[Add] Application Surface Enable/Disable function (F7)


------------------------------------------------ TEST 44 -------------------------------------------------------

[Add] Wasp mob added
[Add] Readable stones now appear on the map with their own icon (once read)
[Add] Equiped weapon icon now in the hud
[Add] Camera object (testing only)
[Add] New decorations for the village and Ezuma's Grounds and title screen

[Mod] Titlescreen appear with the cursor over suggesting to play the Tutorial level
[Mod] Health gauge stays on screen when in "low health"
[Mod] Pearls total stat (per zone) is now automatic
[Mod] Secrets total stat (per zone) is now automatic
[Mod] Optimised collisions by having only 4 objects now
[Mod] Optimised water by having only 1 object now
[Mod] Most objects now deactivates by a "outside view" event
[Mod] Removed "clear background with window color" option
[Mod] Changed the default shader to a simple "passthrough" one
[Mod] Optimised the vines (they now deactivate off screen) and sprite behavior (now automatic)

[Fix] Crash when pressing "pause"
[Fix] Plate crashing when wrongly activated in the distance ('cause they don't deactivate anymore)
[Fix] Hero starting with no health when game is compiled by the YYC
[Fix] "global.LoadGame" not returning to 0 after a game loading is done when the game is compiled in YYC
[Fix] Darts hitting the player for a little window of time after they hit a collision
[Fix] Text Box not appearing when NPC was placed near an Auto-Text object
[Fix] Messing up the fade-in/fade-out by freaking out on the "enter" key
[Fix] Green Pearls and Hearts not stopping correctly when game is compiled in YYC
[Fix] Auto-Text object displaying keyboard info instead of joystick info in certain cases


------------------------------------------------ TEST 43 ---------------------------------------------------------

[Add] Implemented placeholder music. Fades in/out with the transition object
[Add] New scaling option (play the game in its native size or scaled up)
[Add] New window option (play the game fullscreen or windowed)
[Add] New music volume option (set to 0, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%)
[Add] New sound test option (only in main menu)
[Add] Option menu available when pausing

[Mod] Removed precise collision on tons of sprites where it was not useful
[Mod] Improved passthrough collision (works better as solids)
[Mod] NPCs now checking for the language setting each time they talk instead of only at creation
[Mod] Improved the skip of intro's splashscreens so it doesn't mess the fade in/out transition
[Mod] Stopped the background color from being drawn
[Mod] Spawners not solid anymore
[Mod] "obj Statue Text Box" isn't used anymore
[Mod] Ajusted the depth of multiple objects (pearls, watersplash, smoke, etc)

[Fix] Crash when trying to activate teleporter in Ezuma's Grounds
[Fix] Crash when pressing "pause"
[Fix] Crash + background not appearing because obj_hud and obj_background wrongly deactivated
[Fix] Gamemaker becomes slow after a controller is unplugged!
[Fix] Music started twice after a game loading.
[Fix] Window settings and application surface not saved because of the "game_save()" function
[Fix] Teleporter bottom not solid
[Fix] Hero being spawned 4 pixels above ground
[Fix] NPCs getting deactivated while still on screen creating undesirable blinking


------------------------------------------------ TEST 42s ---------------------------------------------------------

[Mod] Version ported to GameMaker Studio!
[Mod] New file path now sorta universal
[Mod] New scaling solution - Even better than the old one!
[Mod] Finding an item doesn't save the game anymore
[Mod] Updated the keyboard splashscreen at game start
[Mod] Bats now move away while the player is hurting
[Mod] Improved the trampoline irregular jumps
[Mod] Added some padding to textbox movement in the tutorial room
[Mod] Gave the object_transition its own variable for controlling alpha
[Mod] V-sync now working, yay!
[Mod] Re-arranged the different drawing depth of objects and tiles

[Fix] Crash: Collision companion disappearing too fast
[Fix] Player is stuck if he died in the tutorial
[Fix] Platforms and trampolines broken (was because Pearl fix, v41)
[Fix] Slashing+Jumping on a wall = can climb it without glove power
[Fix] Can't open the game statistics screen
[Fix]Can't slash while on slopes
[Fix] Some hits aren't registering when hitting mobs
[Fix] Player not following trampoline movement

------------------------------------------------ TEST 41 ---------------------------------------------------------

[Add] Left an easter egg in Ezuma's Village

[Mod] Save and data folder now created in window's "AppData"
[Mod] Cleared Ezuma's Village possible out of maps
[Mod] Made some place for Sound and Music menu
[Mod] Gamepad button press tracking is now local in each object
[Mod] Made tutorial text adaptative (because of key config)
[Mod] Adjusted the Pearls' glow
[Mod] Updated hints in the Help and under "scaling force" option

[Fix] Crash because of old joystick events not removed
[Fix] "Wall jump + direction" sometimes ends up the normal jump
[Fix] Wall jump boost broken since key configuration
[Fix] DKCjump broken
[Fix] "move outside solid" problems with pearls and "object direction"
[Fix] Some text not respecting margins in plates (Ezuma's Grounds)
[Fix] Word "Échap" in french in the "keyname" function
[Fix] Image_speed setting causing problem with attack facing left


------------------------------------------------ TEST 40 ------------------------------------------------------

[Add] Key configuration menu

[Mod] Modified controls so they work with the key config
[Mod] Revamped controller support so it works with key config
[Mod] Help page and menu text now dynamic (because key config)
[Mod] Made air and heat gauge a little more explicite
[Mod] Mobs now respawn only after a zone change
[Mod] Bonus health is now unused
[Mod] Moved pearls away from slopes, preventing wierd collision problem
[Mod] Made the checkpoint respawning less ugly
[Mod] Only the save overwrite message is red in TitleScreen room

[Fix] Crash when mob dies and its collision doesn't disappear same time
[Fix] If help page opened while in default page, user is stuck
[Fix] Top detection problem where character could enter walls
[Fix] Wierd double jump when jumping and touching trampolines
[Fix] Some typos in main menu (TitleScreen room)
[Fix] Air and heat gauge reappearing upon death
[Fix] Death animation that was foxing with the ground
[Fix] Mob collision disappearing after the mob is dead
[Fix] Character feet can be visible in a secret passage


------------------------------------------------ TEST 39 ---------------------------------------------------------

[Add] Bat mob return to start pos if near checkpoint/NPC/InteractiveObject
[Add] Added 2 new treasures to find in Ezuma's Grounds
[Add] Added hearts collectables in Ezuma's Grounds
[Add] Added variable jumping
[Add] Made the pause/map/exit menu detect a controller

[Mod] Reserved space for each zones in all global arrays
[Mod] New shortcut in Ezuma's Grounds near the map item
[Mod] Made more slopes in Ezuma's Grounds since they now look good
[Mod] Added bats and plant mobs in Ezuma's Grounds
[Mod] Adjusted some wrongly placed grass in Ezuma's Grounds
[Mod] Added information in the debug screen (F3)
[Mod] Houses can't be jumped on anymore

[Fix] Collision problem on pedestals because of new slope down code
[Fix] Can't interact with NPCs if using a controller
[Fix] Options menu, controller pressing multiple times
[Fix] Can't skip powers messages with controller
[Fix] Unplugging controller in-game messes keyboard controls

------------------------------------------------ TEST 38 --------------------------------------------------------

[Add] Added the option for scaling by the engine or the video card
[Add] Added a down slope movement
[Add] Added a jump ala Donkey Kong Country, falling from a platform
[Add] Added tiles to the titlescreen! (not final)

[Mod] Made interactive objects into NPCs, preventing certain problems
[Mod] Made attack invicibility just a bit longer
[Mod] Made Pedestals and Teleporter with collision
[Mod] Simplified slope up collision
[Mod] Improved fire effect for chandlers (still not final)

[Fix] Bogus top detection with HighJump in a 48 pixel space
[Fix] Bogus calculation of vertical speed with jump in general!
[Fix] Attack sometimes cancelling on a mob with collision
[Fix] Can't skip item collecting text with "Arrow down"
[Fix] Window Style error in option screen when changing scale
[Fix] Tutorial en FR, AutoText didn't say only blue pearls count
[Fix] Mob dying animation played in half pixels position sometimes
[Fix] Exit sign appearing over text boxes
[Fix] Text errors in the option menu

------------------------------------------------ TEST 37 ---------------------------------------------------------

- [Add] Map now had a legend
- [Add] Can control with ZXC+Arrows
- [Add] Can now skip item collecting text by pressing S-Key
- [Add] Plates to read
- [Add] Plant ennemy
- [Add] Spitter ennemy
- [Add] Good Yuree
- [Add] Bad Yuree
- [Add] A secret room in the Tutorial
- [Add] Game Stats screen
- [Add] Teleporter added (not functional though)
- [Add] Icon for windows folders
- [Add] Loading graphic and loading bar
- [Add] Added fire effect for chandlers

- [Mod] ESC and ENTER to quit game
- [Mod] Run is slower
- [Mod] Gravity added underwater
- [Mod] Special color blocks redone
- [Mod] Black girl NPC looks more black
- [Mod] Help screen updated
- [Mod] Added collision on checkpoints
- [Mod] Statues now work with "AutoText"
- [Mod] Made sloping down looking a little less like 💩💩💩💩

- [Fix] Game hang when changing rooms too fast
- [Fix] Crash when quiting tutorial after a respawn
- [Fix] Character 💩💩💩💩s in corners when both walling and touching the ground
- [Fix] (Partial) for when entering the game by a rain of "enter"

- [Mile] Ezuma's Village has reached beta state!!

-------------------------------------- External testing begins! -----------------------------------------------



What's the plan for the full game?

- More than 6 zones in Adventure Mode
- 36 levels of Challenge Mode
- 16 different power ups and new abilities
- Bosses, early 16-bit style graphics and lots of secrets



Have fun and don't be shy on feedback!
 
Last edited:
F

fxokz

Guest
I want to play so badly but no access to a pc. i reserve this spot for later.

edit: Okay so i just finished playing the demo for a good 30 minutes and i have a lot of things to say. At the start i was bored... I actually disliked the controls since there were so many buttons to memorize, J to parachute S to interact K to attack it was hard at first. But the more i played, the more drawn i was to the games atmosphere.

The environment, sprites, colour selection is all great. What i probably was most impressed by was the wide variety of enemies, each with their own little unique personality/mechanics. Im not going to lie.. the fish caught me off guard like 3 times and that damn motherf. snail....... lol you get what i mean.

Some other things to mention, the tutorial was definitely well constructed and should (in my honest opinion) be the first thing the player has to complete before moving on to the adventure mode because the difficulty is quite high in the adv mode. Seriously though great job on the tutorial...

Couple of things you should probably add:

- More sound effects for enemies
- Different music for different parts of the map/different sequences such as bossfights etc etc
- Somehow simplify the controls OR make the tutorial a must play at the very beginning.

Also there are just some things that i am impressed by such as how you change the view when the player interacts with something or the cutscenes, loading/saving etc etc. It really scares me that i dont know these things and that i have to learn them one day :S
 
Last edited:
R

rivor2

Guest
Parachute is broken, nothing happens when pressing J.
Game is really nice, i like it, only thing i dont understand is how i can get coins/pearls underwater if i just simply die instantly?
 

RangerX

Member
Parachute is broken, nothing happens when pressing J.
Game is really nice, i like it, only thing i dont understand is how i can get coins/pearls underwater if i just simply die instantly?
You have to try a bit more. I don't want to game to tell you everything in text. You need to figure out some basic stuff.
When you enter water, you have an airgauge on screen that empties itself. It lasts for like 3 seconds. This means you don't have more air than that. And since there's stuff to get underwater, this also tells you that you will eventually get to dive deeper. What do you do when you're blocked in Zelda and the game clearly tease you with areas you can't get to at the moment? You know you wait until you find the proper item. Its not different here and I don't think the game should tell you more --- just like Zelda doesn't tell you more.

Also, if you want to use the parachute, did you make sure you actually have it? The parachute is only available in the tutorial level that I suspect you didn't play and that I strongly suggest you do. That tutorial should answer all basic questions. Have fun :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 607
R

rivor2

Guest
You have to try a bit more. I don't want to game to tell you everything in text. You need to figure out some basic stuff.
When you enter water, you have an airgauge on screen that empties itself. It lasts for like 3 seconds. This means you don't have more air than that. And since there's stuff to get underwater, this also tells you that you will eventually get to dive deeper. What do you do when you're blocked in Zelda and the game clearly tease you with areas you can't get to at the moment? You know you wait until you find the proper item. Its not different here and I don't think the game should tell you more --- just like Zelda doesn't tell you more.

Also, if you want to use the parachute, did you make sure you actually have it? The parachute is only available in the tutorial level that I suspect you didn't play and that I strongly suggest you do. That tutorial should answer all basic questions. Have fun :)
oh, that explains a lot. ^^
 

RangerX

Member
I want to play so badly but no access to a pc. i reserve this spot for later.

edit: Okay so i just finished playing the demo for a good 30 minutes and i have a lot of things to say. At the start i was bored... I actually disliked the controls since there were so many buttons to memorize, J to parachute S to interact K to attack it was hard at first. But the more i played, the more drawn i was to the games atmosphere.

The environment, sprites, colour selection is all great. What i probably was most impressed by was the wide variety of enemies, each with their own little unique personality/mechanics. Im not going to lie.. the fish caught me off guard like 3 times and that damn motherf. snail....... lol you get what i mean.

Some other things to mention, the tutorial was definitely well constructed and should (in my honest opinion) be the first thing the player has to complete before moving on to the adventure mode because the difficulty is quite high in the adv mode. Seriously though great job on the tutorial...

Couple of things you should probably add:

- More sound effects for enemies
- Different music for different parts of the map/different sequences such as bossfights etc etc
- Somehow simplify the controls OR make the tutorial a must play at the very beginning.

Also there are just some things that i am impressed by such as how you change the view when the player interacts with something or the cutscenes, loading/saving etc etc. It really scares me that i dont know these things and that i have to learn them one day :S

Thank for this great feedback. Its interesting because I didn't think the game (well, the part presented here) could be hard for players generally speaking. I am glad the game interested you enough to persevere. Do you think the save points were properly placed for someone dying a bit more than most people?

Now for the sound, its not implemented yet. Its one of those last things I will go through and I am also waiting for music composed by my brother which is a musician. The public demo and more advanced version of the game will definetely have sound effects for everything where it make sense and original music. :)

And the tutorial is a delicate matter. Design speaking, you can either want your game to force a tutorial (integrated tutorial) or having a tutorial on the side. I prefer the later. The tutorial on the side is good because the player goes for it only if need be. People who likes to discover more, experimented players or platformer fans can step right into the game with nothing slowing them down. Its a tuff choice though. Some people really do need to play the tutorial no matter how good a game is good at teaching by "show don't tell". The village is sort of an tutorial area itself after all. You can test the jump, the interact button with the villagers, you can swim and you absolutely need to attack in order to exit the village. The only thing it doesn't show (and isn't useful at first anyways) is the parachute button. Anyhow, what I did for pushing the tutorial a bit more on players without imposing it is to put the cursor at "tutorial" position when you reach the main menu the first time. This way people might notice a bit more easily there's an actual seperate tutorial and those people pressing enter like crazy when a game starts will enter the tutorial right away. :p

Oh and did you think the default configuration for buttons was nice? I'd like to know your opinion on that. You know you can also configure your controls in the options right?
 

JacobV

Member
I also gave this a playthrough; made it to the first boss before I had to surrender. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit; the art is very nice, and the music was fitting. I do have a few criticisms though;

First off, the movement controls were a bit weird. You speed up, slow down, and change directions rather slowly, which lead to everything feeling like an ice level. Secondly, the range on the default weapon was sorta unsatisfying; you have to swing at the exact right second to hit an enemy and avoid taking damage. I also thought it was weird that you couldn't swing while near a wall. Finally, I didn't really like the default configuration for buttons that much; that might've just been not being used to them, though. Other than these things, I like where it's headed!
 

RangerX

Member
I also gave this a playthrough; made it to the first boss before I had to surrender. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit; the art is very nice, and the music was fitting. I do have a few criticisms though;

First off, the movement controls were a bit weird. You speed up, slow down, and change directions rather slowly, which lead to everything feeling like an ice level. Secondly, the range on the default weapon was sorta unsatisfying; you have to swing at the exact right second to hit an enemy and avoid taking damage. I also thought it was weird that you couldn't swing while near a wall. Finally, I didn't really like the default configuration for buttons that much; that might've just been not being used to them, though. Other than these things, I like where it's headed!
Thanks for you feedback. I am cautious about the weapons feeling, I am glad you mentioned that. In my original plans I didn't even had an attack, you only avoided mobs. After a while I decided this would be too much unfamiliar for people playing this genre of games so I decided to have some minimal attacks. Just in case someone actually doesn't want to avoid the mobs of the game. While I will leave the range as is of now (because there are weapons other than the knive that the player will find), its something I am always opened to tweak pretty much until the end.
 
F

fxokz

Guest
had a spare 15 minutes so i decided to play your game again and found this by accident xd
 
A

Adhiesc

Guest
It looks great overall, I just need to tell you some bugs I found~

- There is a time when I can't move even a pixel when near the fish and it leads me to get a bite. even though I did mess up with movements for a while and no stucks when no fish.
- Access Map, Alt+Tab, access the game again, still Map, I can move my character with my map on screen. The bat killing me sneakily after that then. lol.

Edit: I also have a hard time seeing the small health bar there, will be good if you can use thicker line for that. + Or better color difference.

Edit again: oh yeah, and the first boss Red Mage is too big and too hard while player's attack is too minimalist I can't even see my attack hits. xD
 
Last edited by a moderator:

RangerX

Member
It looks great overall, I just need to tell you some bugs I found~

- There is a time when I can't move even a pixel when near the fish and it leads me to get a bite. even though I did mess up with movements for a while and no stucks when no fish.
- Access Map, Alt+Tab, access the game again, still Map, I can move my character with my map on screen. The bat killing me sneakily after that then. lol.

Edit: I also have a hard time seeing the small health bar there, will be good if you can use thicker line for that. + Or better color difference.

Edit again: oh yeah, and the first boss Red Mage is too big and too hard while player's attack is too minimalist I can't even see my attack hits. xD
Oh my God!
Now that's a great bug there. Thanks for this. That's precisely the type of things I wish someone can find!!
 

RangerX

Member
Here's some screenshots I had taken but not published....
In the first one you can see the HUD (which is entirely modular and appearing contextually).





Second one is from the second Challenge Mode level.




And other parts of Ezuma's Grounds.





 
Last edited:

RangerX

Member


NEW VERSION (470demo1)

https://www.mediafire.com/?mohxt7sj5e26j8t


[Add] Level 3 and 4 in the first world of Challenge Mode
[Add] New textbox for Challenge Mode
[Add] Shadow tiles for waterfall (amongst other things)

[Mod] Adjustments mode checking FPS for 800 steps instead of 600

[Fix] Incorrect pearl count in Challenge mode when using "quit level"
[Fix] Game not paused properly after coming back from "alt+tab" while in Pause or Map menu
[Fix] Challenge Mode's end level textbox appearing behind water
[Fix] Scrolling backgrounds not stopped when game is paused


I would love to have feedback!
 
G

gamedev4life

Guest
why no gif?

cool game, cool feeling, its turning out very nice, cool music too. its a great idea for all game devs to make a tutorial for both the player and for the game's development itself. making a tutorial for your game forces devs to really think about the structure of the games features, mechanics, art style etc. im going to have a tutorial bc its a must imo lol

great game world you made/are making, feels real and alive, believable but still quality fantasy

cool emphasis on dialogue and story, i always appreciate that


imo feedback

-whats with the "adjusting frame rate" thing?

-add thumb stick support for xbox controller instead of just d pad;

-the text boxes for the tutprial feel a lil too big, kinda overshadows the little power ups: make the text box smaller and the power up objects more vibrant or something so they catch the player's eye easier;

-attack feels a lil week and too short range, player has to get really close to enemies to engage them, increase the (knife) weapon size, doesnt have to be a lot but cmon--"but its just a knife, supposed to short range" then give him another weapon bc it makes combat less fun;

-if you press h to open help screen, use h key and or esc to exist the help screen, not just esc; dont make the player move there hands all around the keyboard unnecessarily;

-jump feels kinda unforgiving, too tight, for this kind of game, without the jump boots. it feels really strict--high grav and low max jump height--loosen it up, make the player start with the jump boots style jump, and make the jump upgrade something else like double jump or ledge grab or something;
 
Last edited by a moderator:

RangerX

Member
why no gif?

cool game, cool feeling, its turning out very nice, cool music too. its a great idea for all game devs to make a tutorial for both the player and for the game's development itself. making a tutorial for your game forces devs to really think about the structure of the games features, mechanics, art style etc. im going to have a tutorial bc its a must imo lol

great game world you made/are making, feels real and alive, believable but still quality fantasy

cool emphasis on dialogue and story, i always appreciate that


imo feedback

-whats with the "adjusting frame rate" thing?

-add thumb stick support for xbox controller instead of just d pad;

-the text boxes for the tutprial feel a lil too big, kinda overshadows the little power ups: make the text box smaller and the power up objects more vibrant or something so they catch the player's eye easier;

-attack feels a lil week and too short range, player has to get really close to enemies to engage them, increase the (knife) weapon size, doesnt have to be a lot but cmon--"but its just a knife, supposed to short range" then give him another weapon bc it makes combat less fun;

-if you press h to open help screen, use h key and or esc to exist the help screen, not just esc; dont make the player move there hands all around the keyboard unnecessarily;

-jump feels kinda unforgiving, too tight, for this kind of game, without the jump boots. it feels really strict--high grav and low max jump height--loosen it up, make the player start with the jump boots style jump, and make the jump upgrade something else like double jump or ledge grab or something;

Thanks for taking the time to give feedback. That's what I am looking for.

- Gifs... do you have a nice free application you could suggest? Something simple, free, no watermark, etc

- FPS adjustment... at your first play the game adjust itself depending how good it performs on your computer. If you can't keep up 60fps, you can fall in 30fps, lose the application surface, etc. And then if you want to play with the settings and see whats best for yourself, you have all you need in the "advanced options" under pause menu. I am however thinkering with the idea of removing my auto-adjustment feature though. I encounter certain laptops where the tests I do aren't really working and this ends in my auto-adjustment system setting the game wrong. Anyhow, might keep, might remove. I dunno. The options for the player will always be there though.

- Gamepad support... its on the "to do" list. I need to revamp it completely thanks to the last big update.

- Attack is short... yes indeed at first you only have a knife. Partly because I want the player to feel vulnerable and make them think about avoiding some mobs. Later in the game there will at least 2 other attacks your will acquire. They are obviously stronger and with bigger range. :)

- H key to leave... good idea! I will implement it.

- Jump feels too tight... here again you will have upgrades. High jump boots, Double jump, Walling ability, etc. You won't recognise the hero you were controlling in the beginning of the game ;)
 
I played abit and here's my feedback so far:
1st: the game made me curious, I like it, I'll keep playing future updates :)

Gamepad XBox One wireless:
I missed being able to use the L-Stick. Maybe let the player use both L-Stick and/or dpad
Buttons 6-8 didn't work most of the time. Especially not on the map screen. Also opening the map often didnt work with the gamepad.

Movement:
Jump curve felt not refined enough. It felt like going up and down again is kinda linear like you decrease y by the same amount each step wich results in a very short time at the peak. Now since the jumps sometimes are pretty tight It felt like I need to a bit too precise for my taste. If the y difference per step would decrease until the peak is reached and then slowly increase that would give a smoother curve.
On platformers I'm not to fond of characters moving still when I release the button.
Both jumping curve and stopping time are clearly design decisions and not bugs. I just like the difficulties of a game in other systems.

I think since movement is a huge and really important part of a platformer you should spent alot of time to get movement absolutely perfect. MAke sure when the player dies he doesn't fell like the movement is to blame. The player should always feel like he was just not good enough.

Life/Checkpoint:
I also didn't like the fact that the checkpoint saved health. But again that's probably a clear design decision :)

Crash :
When opening options after dieing just before the character dissappears and then closeing the options menu the game crashes:

___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object obj_Hero3:

Unable to find any instance for object index '245' name 'obj_Hud'
at gml_Object_obj_Hero3_Step_0
############################################################################################


Game Design Videos by Mark Brown I strongly recommend to watch:

Shovel Knight and Nailing Nostalgia:

Getting Lost in Axiom Verge:

Downwell's Dual Purpose Design:

Secrets of Game Feel and Juice (especially the part about Mario):
 
Last edited:

RangerX

Member
Life/Checkpoint:
I also didn't like the fact that the checkpoint saved health. But again that's probably a clear design decision :)

Crash :
When opening options after dieing just before the character dissappears and then closeing the options menu the game crashes:

Game Design Videos by Mark Brown I strongly recommend to watch:
Thanks for this precious feedback. It like your comment for health that isn't restored because yes its a design choice. I actually am trying to avoid the behavior that I have myself since like Castlevania Symphony Of The Night that is to basically abuse save points in order to heal. But then again, there's this feeling that isn't supercool when you load your game after couple of days and you go "oh yeah, I remember now, I had only 1 point of health left" then you play, you die and get back the points almost immediately. One way or another, it doesn't have a perfect solution to me.

Thank you also for this excellent bug! My main character spawns and destroy my hud object at certain moments. I will have to review that and probably fix that crash easily.

I'll take time to watch those videos. Being a level designer myself, those videos analysis seems interesting and should be much my type of thing. I played Axiom Verge and Shovel Knight is sleeping in my backlog of games to play. Axiom is like the total package. Incredibly well done, retro, good level design, polished, and all made by one guy. An extremely talented guy and this game is like the ultimate example of what us loners making a game out of here should aim for in matter of result. This guy totally got it. I actually doubt I can pull off a quality game like that. Not with The Life Ruby or my current programming and graphic skills. Oh well :(
 

RangerX

Member
Ok I just got my hands onto some win10 portable and I have slowdown with the exe version of the game. There isn't much reason for this to happen so I am trying to investigate. The game is running between 40 and 50 fps, never 60.

Anybody on windows 10 got slowdown??

I would love to know
 
T

Tonydaderp

Guest
Very very very very cool game. One thing though, Do you use a colour palette or do u just add a new colour every time you need it?
 

RangerX

Member
Very very very very cool game. One thing though, Do you use a colour palette or do u just add a new colour every time you need it?
Thank you! I am glad you like it. For the colors I don't really use a palette to be honest. Sorry for my fellows pixel art purists but I don't put that level of care just yet. I am planning one last graphical pass near the end of the project though, to see if I can improve the graphics if I am not bored already by then.

I have a question for you by the way. Did you try the game on windows 10 and was it running rock solid 60 fps? Computer or laptop?
 
T

Tonydaderp

Guest
Thank you! I am glad you like it. For the colors I don't really use a palette to be honest. Sorry for my fellows pixel art purists but I don't put that level of care just yet. I am planning one last graphical pass near the end of the project though, to see if I can improve the graphics if I am not bored already by then.

I have a question for you by the way. Did you try the game on windows 10 and was it running rock solid 60 fps? Computer or laptop?
windows 7 and it works great
 
M

MEITdev

Guest
Hi there!

I have recorded a short "honest first impressions" feedback video for your game.

The reason WHY is explained HERE

The purpose of this video is for you as a developer to see how players play your game, what are their expressions as well as some likes and dislikes.
Basically the personal feedback is something that is hard to get, so I am hoping to help you just a little bit with this video.

The video is slightly longer than my usual videos but there was a lot to cover and I wanted to give you a proper feedback as I feel your game deserves it!


Keep up the good work!
 

RangerX

Member
Hi there!

I have recorded a short "honest first impressions" feedback video for your game.

The reason WHY is explained HERE

The purpose of this video is for you as a developer to see how players play your game, what are their expressions as well as some likes and dislikes.
Basically the personal feedback is something that is hard to get, so I am hoping to help you just a little bit with this video.

The video is slightly longer than my usual videos but there was a lot to cover and I wanted to give you a proper feedback as I feel your game deserves it!


Keep up the good work!

Wow, I don't know how to thank you. I was SO NOT expecting this.
I don't know if you realise how precious this kind of video feedback is. Its simply priceless. When you see someone play your game, you can validate so many things about your design.
I subscribed to your channel :)

Thanks again, this made my day. I looked at the video, round eyes, full attention, just like a kid with Santa Claus right in front of him.

EDIT:
oh yeah, and without necessarily making other videos, if you happen to play the demo more and complete Ezuma's Grounds, play the Challenge Mode (4 levels in there now), I would be very curious of your impression.
 
M

MEITdev

Guest
Wow, I don't know how to thank you. I was SO NOT expecting this.
I don't know if you realise how precious this kind of video feedback is. Its simply priceless. When you see someone play your game, you can validate so many things about your design.
I subscribed to your channel :)

Thanks again, this made my day. I looked at the video, round eyes, full attention, just like a kid with Santa Claus right in front of him.

EDIT:
oh yeah, and without necessarily making other videos, if you happen to play the demo more and complete Ezuma's Grounds, play the Challenge Mode (4 levels in there now), I would be very curious of your impression.
Thank you for your kind words! And thank you for the subscription! Much appreciated.

But MAINLY - I am happy that this helped you with the development of the game !!! It feels great when the video achieves its purpose! yay \o/
I will play the rest of your game and will record it now that I know how to play the game, you can see what is the learning curve for the player! Hope it will help. My internet is slow so please give it at least one day.
I will upload it so you will get update from youtube, or twitter if you are following.

Keep up the good work! And thank you again for your time !
 
M

MEITdev

Guest
Hello ! So as advertised, another video. A super long one this one, but I believe it has a lot of information for you as the developer.... It was a long day :D

So, I hope it will be helpful and hope to see further progress with this project!


Keep up the great work and Stay Tuned ;)
 

RangerX

Member
I didn't think you would make another video. That really is great. I noticed a couple of things:

- Yes that line in the map when you zoom out is a bug. So is the character appearing behind icons (easy to fix that one).
- I didn't succeed into making you slash enough stuff with the knife. Took you ages to discover the crates and you missed that all the flowers or again the barrels in the tutorial also are breakables.
- I totally FAILED at hinting you that you need to slash the boss projectiles to shoot them back at him...
- There's no way to make the whole HUD appear all at once other than actually staying idle for 3-4 seconds. I am wondering what to do with this. Maybe have an option to set the HUD at "always there" or "dynamic".

Amongst other things, your comments on music and teleporter were legit, however I did not go through all that is "not ready" in this thread. The teleporters will be ready when there are actual other zones to teleport too and for the music, its just a couple of placeholders I did test with. There will totally be music for all that makes sense later (way later actually). Same for sound effects obviously.
 
M

MEITdev

Guest
I didn't think you would make another video. That really is great. I noticed a couple of things:

- Yes that line in the map when you zoom out is a bug. So is the character appearing behind icons (easy to fix that one).
- I didn't succeed into making you slash enough stuff with the knife. Took you ages to discover the crates and you missed that all the flowers or again the barrels in the tutorial also are breakables.
- I totally FAILED at hinting you that you need to slash the boss projectiles to shoot them back at him...
- There's no way to make the whole HUD appear all at once other than actually staying idle for 3-4 seconds. I am wondering what to do with this. Maybe have an option to set the HUD at "always there" or "dynamic".

Amongst other things, your comments on music and teleporter were legit, however I did not go through all that is "not ready" in this thread. The teleporters will be ready when there are actual other zones to teleport too and for the music, its just a couple of placeholders I did test with. There will totally be music for all that makes sense later (way later actually). Same for sound effects obviously.
You failed at NOTHING! This is just one mans opinion, so other people may have figured all of the stuff on their own! I am but an average gamer :) Maybe in the far future people will start leaving comments under the videos :D (Staying positive!)
Thank you for your time and for your response. Looking forward to another update and additional content.

Stay tuned for the next video - Challenges, and a lot of face-palms ! :D

Keep up the great work !!!
 

RangerX

Member
Makes me wonder still if I should hint the player more for the boss. Point is that I don't want the game to be about fighting. My original was to not even have an attack! But I caught some fear my game wouldn't be understood y most gamers so I added a certain amount of fighting to the game. That being said, I don't want players to struggle for too long with the bosses. Its just flashy gaming stuff there. Maybe the Yuree guarding the High Jump Boots could hint at the boss. I'll see.

Oh, by the way, you didn't "get" that guy either. He's a having a subtle but key difference from the other Yurees and he seems to help you more than anything else if you noticed. When he said "Oh me? ... I'll do as if I was sleeping or something". That's a Zelda-ish way of hinting that the player (mute like Link) asked what he will do when they will discovered he's letting me take the boots.....

Anyhow, waiting to see your butt gettting whipped in the Challenge Mode. :p
 
M

MEITdev

Guest
Makes me wonder still if I should hint the player more for the boss. Point is that I don't want the game to be about fighting. My original was to not even have an attack! But I caught some fear my game wouldn't be understood y most gamers so I added a certain amount of fighting to the game. That being said, I don't want players to struggle for too long with the bosses. Its just flashy gaming stuff there. Maybe the Yuree guarding the High Jump Boots could hint at the boss. I'll see.
This sounds like a good idea to me!

Oh, by the way, you didn't "get" that guy either. He's a having a subtle but key difference from the other Yurees and he seems to help you more than anything else if you noticed. When he said "Oh me? ... I'll do as if I was sleeping or something". That's a Zelda-ish way of hinting that the player (mute like Link) asked what he will do when they will discovered he's letting me take the boots.....
This was understood ;) Sometimes it takes me few seconds to realise what I just have read. He will be my powerful ally! Or at least a silent helper ;)


Anyhow, waiting to see your butt gettting whipped in the Challenge Mode. :p
There has been a lot of whipping, trust me :)
 
M

MEITdev

Guest
See what you have done to me! Oh the pain, oh the whipping.... But the pleasure of completion as well :)

See it all here:


Keep up the great work!
 

RangerX

Member
See what you have done to me! Oh the pain, oh the whipping.... But the pleasure of completion as well :)

See it all here:


Keep up the great work!

Ok wow, there was indeed alot of ass whooping in there. But the Challenge Mode is meant to be "hard". To the opposite of Adventure Mode really.
Your video was again very useful as I fixed alot of things for the next version so far. I really owe you a BIG thank you! Not only this is the first full game am making but I am also making it alone so you can't begin to imagine how feedback of any kind is actually important.

Look at the changes for next version so far (the bolded is because of you!):




------------------------------------------------ TEST 480 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] "Legend" key can be pressed to make the HUD appear permanently or dynamically

[Mod] Changed the auto-adjusting performance. Stage1 = app surface off / Stage 2 = 30fps mode
[Mod] Auto-Adjustments cannot be reset anymore
[Mod] V-sync On/Off option is added back in the advanced options. (shortcut preserved)
[Mod] Made the air bubble rate adjustable for Air Bubble plants
[Mod] Fixed the water ponds in Challenge Mode W1L1
[Mod] Made the "Good Yuree" hint at how to defeat the first boss
[Mod] H, G and F1 can also be pressed to close their respective menus

[Mod] Sleep margin now set to 10ms instead of 1

[Fix] Crash when exiting pause menu right after the hero dies
[Fix] Crash when exiting a challenge mode level while dying
[Fix] Game not returning properly after an "alt+tab" at challenge mode levels' result screen
[Fix] Player avoiding to jump over the Red Mage by slashing his knife
[Fix] Game hanging for some seconds while trying to quit challenge mode levels
[Fix] Player's icon was overlapped by other icons

 
M

MEITdev

Guest
Ok wow, there was indeed alot of ass whooping in there. But the Challenge Mode is meant to be "hard". To the opposite of Adventure Mode really.
Your video was again very useful as I fixed alot of things for the next version so far. I really owe you a BIG thank you! Not only this is the first full game am making but I am also making it alone so you can't begin to imagine how feedback of any kind is actually important.

Look at the changes for next version so far (the bolded is because of you!):




------------------------------------------------ TEST 480 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] "Legend" key can be pressed to make the HUD appear permanently or dynamically

[Mod] Changed the auto-adjusting performance. Stage1 = app surface off / Stage 2 = 30fps mode
[Mod] Auto-Adjustments cannot be reset anymore
[Mod] V-sync On/Off option is added back in the advanced options. (shortcut preserved)
[Mod] Made the air bubble rate adjustable for Air Bubble plants
[Mod] Fixed the water ponds in Challenge Mode W1L1
[Mod] Made the "Good Yuree" hint at how to defeat the first boss
[Mod] H, G and F1 can also be pressed to close their respective menus

[Mod] Sleep margin now set to 10ms instead of 1

[Fix] Crash when exiting pause menu right after the hero dies
[Fix] Crash when exiting a challenge mode level while dying
[Fix] Game not returning properly after an "alt+tab" at challenge mode levels' result screen
[Fix] Player avoiding to jump over the Red Mage by slashing his knife
[Fix] Game hanging for some seconds while trying to quit challenge mode levels
[Fix] Player's icon was overlapped by other icons
:) :) A pleasure to be of service. The challenges were awesome, the difficulty was just right for challenge, as you saw it resulted in honest joy and sense of achievement when I managed to complete them, and that is a game design well done!
Keep up the great work!!
 

RangerX

Member
Ok, I would like to have as much opinions as possible. I am currently designing sort of a new zone. Since I might have space for some new rewards, I would like to know if you guys like it to have a bestiary in a Metroidvania?
I know its something I personally liked to have in many Castlevania games and its not hard to make (just a bit time consuming but hey, that game gotta be cool right?
So what do you guys think? Its nice reward? you don't care? you have better ideas? , etc. Just curious to know.
 
M

MEITdev

Guest
Ok, I would like to have as much opinions as possible. I am currently designing sort of a new zone. Since I might have space for some new rewards, I would like to know if you guys like it to have a bestiary in a Metroidvania?
I know its something I personally liked to have in many Castlevania games and its not hard to make (just a bit time consuming but hey, that game gotta be cool right?
So what do you guys think? Its nice reward? you don't care? you have better ideas? , etc. Just curious to know.
Bestiary that will show the monsters you have encountered and show silhouettes of the ones that you have not yet identified - like PokeDex style - nice reward! ^___^
 

dphsw

Member
I liked this, but I stopped playing at the boss. It's only reading here I find what I was supposed to do, I doubt I would have guessed that. Apart from it being odd to hit fireballs back with a knife, there had been no similar gameplay element prior to that. If you take Yoshi's Island as an example, there's a whole level of skimming eggs at stuff before you get to a boss that has to be defeated by skimming eggs. Here you're presented with a boss requiring you to hit projectiles back with your knife, with nothing in the game so far having indicated that that's a possibility.

I was running the game on Windows 10, it didn't slow down at all as far as I could tell. I noticed the snail kept coming back to life when destroyed in the tutorial, but I don't think the same thing happened in Adventure mode, so I wasn't sure if that was a bug or intentional. And then there was just the mage that said, "Stay quiet of we might have to deal with you" - I guess the 'of' was meant to be 'or'. (And technically in the next sentence 'if I was you' should be 'if I were you', but a mage usually finds it difficult to grasp the subjunctive mood, so I guess that's just realism.)
 

RangerX

Member
I liked this, but I stopped playing at the boss. It's only reading here I find what I was supposed to do, I doubt I would have guessed that. Apart from it being odd to hit fireballs back with a knife, there had been no similar gameplay element prior to that. If you take Yoshi's Island as an example, there's a whole level of skimming eggs at stuff before you get to a boss that has to be defeated by skimming eggs. Here you're presented with a boss requiring you to hit projectiles back with your knife, with nothing in the game so far having indicated that that's a possibility.

I was running the game on Windows 10, it didn't slow down at all as far as I could tell. I noticed the snail kept coming back to life when destroyed in the tutorial, but I don't think the same thing happened in Adventure mode, so I wasn't sure if that was a bug or intentional. And then there was just the mage that said, "Stay quiet of we might have to deal with you" - I guess the 'of' was meant to be 'or'. (And technically in the next sentence 'if I was you' should be 'if I were you', but a mage usually finds it difficult to grasp the subjunctive mood, so I guess that's just realism.)
Thanks for the feedback. Always useful.
What you noticed there is a definite problem with my game right now. I really hope I will be able to brush it under the carpet. lol
I made the "kind Yuree" hint at deflecting the magic balls right now. But I wonder what other options I have without changing the boss much or changing the game. Deflecting is not a main mechanic although I could make it more important. We could deflect the darts from the fly mob maybe. Or again deflect the fire balls from the spitting statue. But even with all this, its not a clear hint at the deflecting the boss' magic balls. I could also hint it in the help screen and tell about it in the tutorial.

Its hard to tell how much hand holding you need to put in your game for people to be able to proceed and nowadays most game designer don't give a damn anymore and they write all there is to know right there in the screen. 100% hand holding = any problem solved afterall. But I don't like those games. I don't want to tell stuff to the player like a spoon fed baby. This is also why I even seperated to tutorial from the main game. If you give everything, it kills half the sense of discovery and also make the players bad a finding stuff and totally disable their sense of "trying things". I really think its a plague in the industry right now and I wonder what one can do about this horrible trend. I mean, when you arrive at the boss you can do 3 things. Jump, slash him or slash the magic balls. There's litterally nothing else that you can do and yet... most people won't try. This really kills me and at the same time I can't exactly blame people.

sorry about the blabla, just shared my thoughts. :p
maybe together we can find a nice solution, who knows.
 

dphsw

Member
I mean, when you arrive at the boss you can do 3 things. Jump, slash him or slash the magic balls. There's litterally nothing else that you can do and yet... most people won't try.
It may seem that way from the point of view of a programmer who knows how it's supposed to work, but try to see how a player coming to the game knowing nothing about it might see it. They may see various other possibilities:
  • Maybe you just have to hit the boss at a particular time, like when it's zooming across the screen.
  • Even if hitting the boss at a particular time has failed, it's hard to tell whether it doesn't work, or whether you just missed, or whether you just need to hit it more times (and all these things are difficult to test, because you will have to keep restarting in the process).
  • Knowing that it's a metroidvania game, maybe you just need to give up for now, and wait until you've gained some different weapon or skill.
  • Of course, knowing that it's an unfinished game, maybe the boss is a placeholder that can't be beaten yet!
As for avoiding hand-holding, have you heard of the swinging rope experiment?
Way back in 1931 Norman Maier at the University of Michigan wanted to explore how people solve problems (Maier, 1931). To do this he attached two cords to the ceiling of his lab and asked people to tie the two ends together. What made it tricky was that the two cords were just far enough apart that, while holding on to one cord, you couldn’t reach the other cord.
...
The answer, when you hear it, often provokes forehead slapping, although most people don’t get it until prompted. The answer is to attach a weight to one of the cords and set it swinging. Then you grab the other rope and can reach the swinging rope when it comes towards you.
If you got it, well done – that’s very unusual. Most people need a clue and that is what Maier eventually gave his flummoxed participants. Throughout the experiment he would be casually walking around the room until, when people had run out of solutions, he would apparently accidentally brush against one of the ropes and set it swinging.
Almost invariably people would work out the solution above in under a minute of this apparently accidental clue.
Maybe you have some enemy that hits back projectiles - whether those of the player, if the player ever gets that ability, or of other enemies - and place that enemy where the player will see it knocking some projectiles away, to put that idea in the player's mind. If the player approaches a boss with that image in mind, then they'd be more likely to think of it.
 
Half the Zelda games have you deflecting ganon's magic back at him with your sword. I beat Link to the Past when I was like five, and don't remember having any trouble figuring out what to do. I forget if that game gave you any hints about what to do there, though.
 

JacobV

Member
I couldn't really figure out the boss either. I gotta agree with dphsw, some sort of clue would be very good. Or, even better, offer alternate ways to defeat the boss, so there are multiple strategies the player can use.
 
N

nayru's-love

Guest
Only played a bit so far, I'll definitely be back with full impressions. But for now:

Criticism first, as I like to end on a positive note:

-The oxygen goes down way too quick. I fell in the water by accident and got stuck under the boat, and had no chance to get out of the way because I drown about a second or two later. It also makes getting past those fish really difficult, but not in a way that feels fair.

-The knife feels great to swing and to hit with, but the collision detection feels kinda sticky sometimes. I don't actually think the size of the knife is a problem at all, but some better invincibility frames would go a long way. Getting hit by the slug, and then getting hit again before you have a real chance to get away or counter-swing is frustrating.

-The jumping feels really slippery, somebody earlier put it apt when he said "every level feels like an ice level." And I understand you get double-jump boots, but the jumping is a bit too tight in some areas. I don't feel like having to be like 4 pixels over the ledge to make the next jump feels very good.

-Spelling mistakes, and some of the sentence structure is weird.

Positives:

-I love the art, like a lot.

-The cutscene was really nice, and the story seems genuinely interesting

-The enemies are great, they are very "Sonic the Hedgehog" in the way that every single one is extremely unique

-For placeholder music, it sounds really nice!

-Controls feel really good, apart from the complaints above


I look forward to playing more, and I'll be back with further thoughts. Really great job!
 

RangerX

Member
I am getting paranoid with that deflecting projectiles thing. lol
Here's what's boiling regarding this "issue":

- The help screen tells you about deflecting projectiles.
- The term "attack" is always paired with "deflect" now wherever its mentioned in the game.
- The "Good Yuree" is now squarely telling you how to defeat the boss.
- You now can deflect the darts thrown by the fly mob.

Now for the stuff am undecided about...

- Deflecting the statue's fireballs? (I fear it make them too much irrelevant)
- Adding some plant mob hanging on ceiling (hard to reach) but you can deflect its spores towards it
- Making the boss vulnerable when it stomps the ground (I wouldn't want a player to kill it exclusively like that though)



Thoughts?
 

RangerX

Member


NEW VERSION! (TLR480demo - exe only)

https://www.mediafire.com/?7xv68rcj2hzh3je

- Now 2 entire zones you can play in the Adventure Mode!
- New mobs, new breakables, new secrets, new difficulty, lots of new things actually (see full changelist).
- Sound and music not implemented or placeholder

Would love some feedback :)


SCREENS








FULL CHANGELIST
------------------------------------------------ TEST 480 -----------------------------------------------------

[Add] New zone: Ezuma's Temple (Entrance Halls)
[Add] New mobs: Green slime, Rhino Bug
[Add] New breakables: Brazier
[Add] New level ingredients: Horizontal sliding doors, Touch platforms
[Add] "Legend" key can be pressed to make the HUD appear permanently or dynamically

[Mod] Changed the auto-adjusting performance. Stage1 = app surface off / Stage 2 = 30fps mode
[Mod] Auto-Adjustments cannot be reset anymore
[Mod] Improved the activation/deactivation system
[Mod] V-sync On/Off option is added back in the advanced options. (shortcut preserved)
[Mod] Trampoline bounce force adjustable now
[Mod] Made the air bubble rate adjustable for Air Bubble plants
[Mod] Fixed the water ponds in Challenge Mode W1L1
[Mod] Made the "Good Yuree" tell how to defeat the first boss
[Mod] 3/10 chance of getting a pearl from a wasp (instead of 2/10)
[Mod] Its now possible to deflect the wasp's darts (making them much easier)
[Mod] "Deflect" added in controls, help hints and keyboard image
[Mod] Updated help menu in both modes
[Mod] H, G and F1 can also be pressed to close their respective menus
[Mod] Hud elements moved around and health now displayed as hearts
[Mod] Keyboard splashscreen 2 times longer but added instructions to skip it
[Mod] Sleep margin now set to 10ms instead of 1
[Mod] Readable stones now called "Rosetta stones"
[Mod] Default time for text to appear when you collect a power made longer

[Fix] Crash when exiting pause menu right after the hero dies
[Fix] Crash when exiting a challenge mode level while dying
[Fix] Game not returning properly after an "alt+tab" at challenge mode levels' result screen
[Fix] Red Mage reappearing and its door reopening slowly (now its instant)
[Fix] Player avoiding to jump over the Red Mage by slashing his knife
[Fix] Game hanging for some seconds while trying to quit challenge mode levels
[Fix] Wasp mob shooting at player while its interacting with an object
[Fix] Vertical moving platforms problems for Hero when going down
[Fix] Slope detector problem when ground collision touches slope collision
[Fix] Lifetime setting not working for spitters' fireballs
[Fix] Autotext tool, Textbox appearing behind certain tiles in power mode
[Fix] V-sync option greyed out during auto adjustments
[Fix] Player's icon was overlapped by other icons


Have fun!!
:)
 
Last edited:

RangerX

Member

Almost one week, 50+ downloads and ZERO feedback? Really?




Ok, anyhow, am preparing the next version and seems like there will be some important changes!
Here's some:

- 2 basic controls to choose from. (this means when you choose to default a key in the key configuration menu, it comes back to that). There's ASDJKL style and the ZXC+arrows style now.
- "Enter" shall always be used to proceed. Gone are the textboxes where you press down!
- Speaking of pressing down... now "interact" will be "up".

I am quite excited, there's many more adjustments that will be going on in that version.
 
Top