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

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DimitarB

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 :)
About this... I have an idea... Why not the more time you are underwater more seconds (up to 5 for example) and bigger water holes...
 
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Blakkid489

Guest
Bro. . . .I hate that i'm the only one getting this error. . . anythought? Otherwise I'm unable to play this man.


Code:
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event1
for object obj_Hud:

Variable obj_Hud.LegendButton_pressed(100441, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_obj_Hud_Step_1
############################################################################################
EDIT: This also in the nedw update you posted
 

RangerX

Member
Bro. . . .I hate that i'm the only one getting this error. . . anythought? Otherwise I'm unable to play this man.


Code:
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event1
for object obj_Hud:

Variable obj_Hud.LegendButton_pressed(100441, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_obj_Hud_Step_1
############################################################################################
EDIT: This also in the nedw update you posted
Yeah, someone reported it. I will upload a new version in early february. Its fixed already on my side
 

RangerX

Member
Ok looks like I decided to push a new version right now. That crash was annoying afterall.

NEW VERSION (Jan 23/17)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/okdl0394ir4e2gk/TLR485demo.exe


Important changes:

- Entirely new zone! (Ezuma's Temple)
- New mobs and new power ups
- Game made easier in Adventure Mode + lots of fixes
- "Up" is now the interact button instead of "down"
- The player can choose its default control scheme before the title screen
- "Enter to proceed" made more consistent
- Save Points are giving back some health
- Fireballs from the spitter statues can be repelled
- Game controller support temporarily out (unplug your controller)

Don't shy on feedback! I want to know what you guys/gals think of the new zone.


 
Last edited:
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Blakkid489

Guest
Alright so I'm going to wait and see if anyone else is still having that crash still.
However this time its a different object lol
Code:
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event1
for object obj_Plate:

Variable obj_Plate.DpadUp_pressed(100091, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_obj_Plate_Step_1
############################################################################################
 

RangerX

Member
Jesus. Did you try to read a Rosetta stone by any chance?
Better yet, do you try to play with a controller?

Currently controller support is borked. You can only play with the keyboard. Exceptionally you'd have to unplug your gamepad. It said it in the post...
:p (sorry I bolded it for people to see)
 
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Blakkid489

Guest
Jesus. Did you try to read a Rosetta stone by any chance?
Better yet, do you try to play with a controller?

Currently controller support is borked. You can only play with the keyboard. Exceptionally you'd have to unplug your gamepad. It said it in the post...
:p (sorry I bolded it for people to see)
I promise lol I used the keyboard everytime. I did miss the whole unplug your controller post. But jeez I didnt think just having in my machine would cause this lmao
 

RangerX

Member
I understand. When the controller is plugged, the game detect it.
But I am in the process of redoing the whole controller support. I just dropped a version in the meantime since people can play with keyboard and see/try what's new still.
Sorry for the trouble, I appreciate your patience.
 
Last edited:

RangerX

Member
Coming soon.... controller support will be back...



by the way, why is it so hard to draw a freakin' controller? Took me forever to get it right....
 
F

FROGANUS

Guest
Hey I finally got a chance to test this all the way thru and its really nice!

The style is great and artwork is well done so far. I like the dialogue and story, which make you feel like you are indeed setting out on an adventure.

The controls and physics all seem really smooth- only critique here could be that occasionally, player can stick a little to the side of a wall or object, but it doesn't lock player up or anything.

There aren't any sound fx yet? I suggest get on SFXR and you can generate fx sounds pretty quick. It would help a lot at least for basic player stuff at first.

Criticisms about gameplay:

-There seem to be many "barely-jumpable" gap challenges in this game. I'm not a crazy fan of those, they become nitpicky.. in my mind they highlight one of the less believable tendancies of platformers- where the player can hang off the edge of a wall from 1 pixel without slipping (and jump off of that 1 pixel to maximize distance). I feel like the best platformers do something to make this a little more believable, like have the player teeter on the edge, fall and hang, etc. Maybe you could consider something like that, maybe even in combination with addressing that issue I mentioned above (sticking to side of wall). That said, I didn't spend much time trying the challenges...

-I'd like to see more dynamic encounters with enemies, like maybe a little more enemies, expanded ai? and/or maybe some dynamic powerup system to make traveling around a little more actiony? The levels seem just a little spread out as it is. I'm imagining something like what they did with the weapons in cave story, to keep it fun to backtrack around thru levels... Maybe the other powerups in the game will do this..

-little tidbit- the bat's depth was behind the crate which looked wrong.

-also a graphics critique: The water splashes and the player death animation really stand out as odd. It kinda urks me to see nice square pixel art throughout and then just 2 instances where the stretch effect is used. not a fan tbh.

So yeah, just my 2cents. All and all this is a really nice and impressive project. I'd like to play more!
 

RangerX

Member
Hey I finally got a chance to test this all the way thru and its really nice!

The style is great and artwork is well done so far. I like the dialogue and story, which make you feel like you are indeed setting out on an adventure.

The controls and physics all seem really smooth- only critique here could be that occasionally, player can stick a little to the side of a wall or object, but it doesn't lock player up or anything.

There aren't any sound fx yet? I suggest get on SFXR and you can generate fx sounds pretty quick. It would help a lot at least for basic player stuff at first.

Criticisms about gameplay:

-There seem to be many "barely-jumpable" gap challenges in this game. I'm not a crazy fan of those, they become nitpicky.. in my mind they highlight one of the less believable tendancies of platformers- where the player can hang off the edge of a wall from 1 pixel without slipping (and jump off of that 1 pixel to maximize distance). I feel like the best platformers do something to make this a little more believable, like have the player teeter on the edge, fall and hang, etc. Maybe you could consider something like that, maybe even in combination with addressing that issue I mentioned above (sticking to side of wall). That said, I didn't spend much time trying the challenges...

-I'd like to see more dynamic encounters with enemies, like maybe a little more enemies, expanded ai? and/or maybe some dynamic powerup system to make traveling around a little more actiony? The levels seem just a little spread out as it is. I'm imagining something like what they did with the weapons in cave story, to keep it fun to backtrack around thru levels... Maybe the other powerups in the game will do this..

-little tidbit- the bat's depth was behind the crate which looked wrong.

-also a graphics critique: The water splashes and the player death animation really stand out as odd. It kinda urks me to see nice square pixel art throughout and then just 2 instances where the stretch effect is used. not a fan tbh.

So yeah, just my 2cents. All and all this is a really nice and impressive project. I'd like to play more!

Thanks for your feedback! Its cool to receive some from the retro gamer maker and not getting completely destroyed haha

- Jumps... In the Challenge Mode you will have right from the start some jumps that are quite tight right from the second level called "Mastering the jump" because honestly, this mode is skill based and the player will NEED to master the basics fast.
This brings me the question though. Which jump in adventure mode you felt was too tight? I have a couple in mind but I'd really like to know.
Oh and a little tip... there's tight jumps in the Challenge Mode but the jump is also very loose. I made it that way to help those jumping at the last second or a little bit over the gap.

- Thanks for the bolded. Indeed not supposed to be like that. Will fix.

- Am surprised and glad you noticed my water splashes. I tell people on this forum to not cheat pixel art but I do it here and there in the game. I always try to make it very discreet and not mood killing though. Sometime its because I wanna save time and sometimes its to spare me from how I suck at drawing or animating certain things. The walking animation of the main character is also cheated to make it look more lively. Some text here and there, etc. Don't tell. :(;)
 
D

Docker

Guest
Didn't have much time to play today but one thing that I wish I had been able to change was the keyboard binds..
I actually use 'wasdazxc' for other games as well but the only two choices meant one of the other, maybe its just me but I feel like controls for a game should always be accessible with just one hand, even on games that require no mouse input I feel awkward if my hand isn't on it
 

RangerX

Member
Didn't have much time to play today but one thing that I wish I had been able to change was the keyboard binds..
I actually use 'wasdazxc' for other games as well but the only two choices meant one of the other, maybe its just me but I feel like controls for a game should always be accessible with just one hand, even on games that require no mouse input I feel awkward if my hand isn't on it
At the beginning of the game you only choose the default controls.
In the game you can reconfigure the controls as you see fit. (Titlescreen / Options / Key Config) and (In-Game / Pause / Key Config)
 
D

Docker

Guest
At the beginning of the game you only choose the default controls.
In the game you can reconfigure the controls as you see fit. (Titlescreen / Options / Key Config) and (In-Game / Pause / Key Config)
Ah, when I was offered two sets of binds I just assumed customising was out of the question :p only had about 15 minutes to play so ill have a proper run-through tomorrow
 
D

Docker

Guest
Few things I've noticed:
1. Typo when you encouter yuree after the waterfall near the beginning 'stay quiet of we might'.
2. If you stand too close to the flower that spits red projectiles the attack button stops working, don't know if its intended to be that way but its quite fiddly... I can understand you having that mechanic for walls etc
3. Inside the temple to the left of the room with the teir 3 boots (I think? haven't done all the mechanisms to get up that high yet) there is a pit area below the red squares that put me back into the main game screen, if this is a mechanic then I'm not a fan... having to reload the game is annoying.
4. There are a few very pixel perfect jumps that means you almost have to be falling to make the jump, this left me wondering if some jumps were possible and were just very difficult, I'm not a fan of this mechanic or the uncertainty it brings, because the jump distance is doubled by tier 2 boots I think you can afford to make it slightly less dependent on tapping the jump button the instant you start to fall.

I'm going to take a break for now but I'll keep playing later
 

JacobV

Member
3. Inside the temple to the left of the room with the teir 3 boots (I think? haven't done all the mechanisms to get up that high yet) there is a pit area below the red squares that put me back into the main game screen, if this is a mechanic then I'm not a fan... having to reload the game is annoying.
I'm pretty sure that's the end of the demo.
 
D

Docker

Guest
Haha that would explain it. Overall I enjoyed it minus the pixel perfect's and not being able to attack the plants if I were too close.

Didn't find any massive bugs, never crashed and ran perfectly fine on my mid range gaming laptop.

The only thing I wasn't 100% on were the statues splitting fire as most of the time I found they were PERFECTLY timed to make me either choose to attempt to get the collectables (and take damage 95% of the time) or leave them completely, maybe I was just unlucky but it kept happening to me when combined with other moving objects such as platforms.

I also found the secret treasure by chance but when comparing the sprites to everything around I couldn't see the slightest hint that something could be there, not a problem if that's how you intend to have it.
 

RangerX

Member
Haha that would explain it. Overall I enjoyed it minus the pixel perfect's and not being able to attack the plants if I were too close.

Didn't find any massive bugs, never crashed and ran perfectly fine on my mid range gaming laptop.

The only thing I wasn't 100% on were the statues splitting fire as most of the time I found they were PERFECTLY timed to make me either choose to attempt to get the collectables (and take damage 95% of the time) or leave them completely, maybe I was just unlucky but it kept happening to me when combined with other moving objects such as platforms.

I also found the secret treasure by chance but when comparing the sprites to everything around I couldn't see the slightest hint that something could be there, not a problem if that's how you intend to have it.
Thanks for all this feedback. I really appreciate it.
About the tight jumps, do you mean the one before getting the red statue? That would be the only "mandatory to proceed" tight jump in the temple. I can give it a little more head space.

By the way.... did you try deflecting stuff? Darts can be deflected black towards the fly mob and you can also repell the statue's fireballs (honestly making them alot easier)
 
D

Docker

Guest
Thanks for all this feedback. I really appreciate it.
About the tight jumps, do you mean the one before getting the red statue? That would be the only "mandatory to proceed" tight jump in the temple. I can give it a little more head space.

By the way.... did you try deflecting stuff? Darts can be deflected black towards the fly mob and you can also repell the statue's fireballs (honestly making them alot easier)
I did not know that, I spent the whole time avoiding them by jumping/running lmao, took me a few deaths until I realised I had to do that on the red mage and that's only because I remember reading it on here beforehand.

I just loaded in to grab a screenshot of the jump/s I was talking about and ended up becoming batman xD

There's also a glitch somewhere around the screenshot I've attached, between the moving platforms and the spikes on the roof above the second moving platform (which doesnt kill you?) I kept gaining health back with no pattern to it
 

Attachments

RangerX

Member
If you can reproduce and elaborate on the health glitch you said you found, I am definetely curious 'cause I can't reproduce it...
 

RangerX

Member

NEW VERSION! (February 17, 2017)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/jv9dusp9ny1l6m9/TLR490demo.exe


Important Changes

- Game made generally easier
- Activating a statue now triggers a micro cut-scene
- Gamepad support entirely redone
- Improved Pause Menu with "Quit/Change Mode" and "Restart level" options

I would love feedback on the controller support, general difficulty changes and the last zone added to Adventure Mode (Ezuma's Temple).
General feedback is always amazing.



Full Changelist for this version:

[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



 
Played a bit longer now that the gamepad controls work better. Here's a few things I noticed/that bothered me:

Sliding movement:
I'm still not comfortable with the sliding movement. Accelerating and decelerating would need to be 0 to maybe 5 frames (just a guess, but really really low if not 0) for my taste. I know that's personal taste. But I wanted to give that feedback because that's something really reducing fun for me.

Broken Statue (Ezuma's Temple):
When I activate the statue in Ezuma's Temple you see on the screenshot the camera moves up and right for a really long time, stays put on a far away corner and won't return to the player preventing to continue playing.
TheLifeRuby-Screenshot-BrokenStatue.jpg

Menu controls:
In so many games controlled with a gamepad A/Face1 is Enter and B/Face2 is Back. In your menu B is enter and Y/Face4 is back. That was very confusing and actually made me accidentally quit instead of resuming because I hit B intending to go back more than once.

Optionsmenu:
The button on the gamepad to open the options menu won't close the options menu.

Press any button:
When the game looses and regains focus it says "press any button". However only a few buttons on my gamepad actually work there:
TheLifeRuby-Screenshot-PressAnyKey.jpg


Still a great game, eager to see how it evolves. I like the art style and sound, would like to see some more movement on the screen and I think a lighting engine would go well with it.
 
B

Blakkid489

Guest
Menu controls:
In so many games controlled with a gamepad A/Face1 is Enter and B/Face2 is Back. In your menu B is enter and Y/Face4 is back. That was very confusing and actually made me accidentally quit instead of resuming because I hit B intending to go back more than once.
Yeah thats pretty much my issue too. other than I like it so far
 
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Blakkid489

Guest
Found some controller issues. First I accidentally scaled down the image3 because of the backwards menu controls but then I couldn't close the menu back. then I . . . . I other buttons and ... welll. . . .
 

RangerX

Member
Wow ok, thanks Reverend and Blakkid. Some great bugs popping out!
I'm on it. :)


Broken Statue (Ezuma's Temple):
When I activate the statue in Ezuma's Temple you see on the screenshot the camera moves up and right for a really long time, stays put on a far away corner and won't return to the player preventing to continue playing.
View attachment 7072

Press any button:
When the game looses and regains focus it says "press any button". However only a few buttons on my gamepad actually work there:
View attachment 7073
Those 2 important bugs are fixed now. I will upload a new version in a few (T491)
 
Last edited:

RangerX

Member
NEW VERSION! (February 19, 2017)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/jqvtaaj3z6j18o7/TLR491demo.exe


Important Changes

- Game made generally easier
- Activating a statue now triggers a micro cut-scene
- Gamepad support entirely redone
- Improved Pause Menu with "Quit/Change Mode" and "Restart level" options

I would love feedback on the controller support, general difficulty changes and the last zone added to Adventure Mode (Ezuma's Temple).
General feedback is always amazing.



Full Changelist for this version:

Patch 49.1:

[Fix] Crash when opening/closing the pause menu extremely fast
[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] AutoText killing textboxes the Rosetta was already killing
[Fix] Spawn objects, nodes, statues and teleporters not deactivating properly
[Fix] Pause menu can be opened and giving problems during transitions


Version 49.0:

[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
 
Both fixed now it seems.

Right after the statue that was broken I drop down a shaft and return to the home screen. Is that the end of the demo or a bug?

And an idea to add. something RPGs in the late 90ies came up with:
Allow players to set reminders on the map. Like have a set of different symbols and colors they can place on maps to remember stuff. Pretty much like the'd do when drawing their own maps on paper.
 
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Blakkid489

Guest
How does your save game code work? I ask because I shuts my screen capture off. It kinda freezes or does soemthing to where the game goes ape sh** lol. When I change to window mode then pass through the checkpoint, it switches back to full screen mode....


Also the buttons are still backwards for the controller. "B" is select and "Start" is Back
 

RangerX

Member
Little update/news

Version 50 is getting along pretty nice. I fixed all the nasty stuff you guys found so far and more. I discovered that my gamepad implementation wasn't perfect, actually the game was harder when played with the controller because of a bug I don't want to pull you to sleep explaining it. On version 50 you gamepad peeps won't be at a disadvantage anymore. On the side I am almost designing the next part of the Ezuma's Temple, the "Main Chambers". I also want to have the full first world of Challenge Mode done (outside a little surprise you'll get later when you beat all the goals!).

Finally, I also added a little new gameplay that was planned since the beginning but that I never went around programming it: Fall damage. Since its a Metroidvania game and that you also get to have parachute down the road, it was logical to have fall damage. This brings more meaning to verticality and the parachute upgrade. Starting version 50 you will get to fall for about a screen high without any damage. If you fall from higher, damage occurs and the higher you fall the bigger the damage. All in all this means you can fall from freaking high, just not without some consequence now. Anyhow, its in the next version for you to test and complete with new animations when falling and hitting the ground.




I also added a little something to the title screen. I also wanted that there since a while. Now I feel the whole things is pretty final except the title font itself that I want to change someday:

 
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Reactions: 607

RujiK

Member
You're always giving me loads of awesome feedback, so I figure I owe you some. I played the game until the end when you jump in the big hole and these are my thoughts:


Bugs:
  • If you alt tab out of the game while in map mode you can move (While still in map mode)
  • Slopes are a little buggy. If you attack while going up a hill you do a weird little dance. If you start moving exactly on the start of a slope you jitter around
  • Map turned black in Ezama's temple? (Picture below)

Cons:
  • Some jumps are a bit too difficult. Some seem almost pixel precision. (Although I never used the parachute. Maybe I was supposed to?)
  • Jumping isn't very responsive. Tapping or holding jump makes no obvious difference. For a platformer, I would recommend more control.
  • Waterfall platform thing is not obvious that it's in the foreground. I jumped on it by accident. Maybe put an enemy walking on one? (Picture below)
  • Quite a few typos or grammatically incorrect things.
  • Not being able to attack while facing a wall is a bad idea. If you couldn't shoot while facing a wall in an FPS it wouldn't feel like you're in control.
  • First dungeon is hard! For a later level I think it would be fine, but for the first dungeon it's a bit tough.
  • Mosquitoes can be a little unfair. There isn't a good way to kill them and they can block your jumps. This gets frustrating.
  • Serious tone doesn't really match the graphics. Everything looks cute and colorful, but the story starts out with a death and a murder. Maybe make the story more whimsical? Here is an exaggerated art piece to illustrate what I mean:

(Cute graphics with serious tone is a little weird)


Here's the waterfall platform and the map bug. Also that mosquito kept blocking my jump. It was annoying without a ranged weapon.

Pros:
  • Enemies are varied, not just in looks, but in attack style.
  • First boss is good. Not so easy I'm bored, but not too challenging either.
  • I like the map
  • Secrets are cool!
  • Menu's look nice, especially the start menu. Gamepad and keyboard icons are great
  • Intro is short enough that I don't get bored, and long enough to tell a story.

Obviously, some of these are personal opinions so you may have other ideas, but hopefully some of them are helpful.
 
Wow, quite an impressive game you've made so far!
I played around a while but I couldn't get past the red mage, so I stopped after about 15 attempts. It was a little frustrating because the game was just getting started! Maybe I missed some powerups somewhere?
Anyway, here's what I think:

Graphics
Absolutely great! I love the town and townspeople. The water effects and particle effects look really nice. The enemies are colourful and well animated. Tilesets have a lot of detail. Sadly I couldn't see the temple from inside. I'm looking forward to seeing the other worlds.

Gameplay
It's fun to play, but needs some extra attention. Jumping is still a bit awkward, a lot of the jumps are very tricky and very pixel perfect. It would make the gameplay more fun by making this a little easier. Or maybe add a run button?
Most platforms are rectangle based, slopes are rare, maybe add some more?
Only a few items and weapons available (at least the part I played). How many are available in this demo? You could add some more to spice up gameplay. Also, those coins you collect, can I use them to buy something? I couldn't find any shops or anything.
On a sidenote: Because it takes so long for coins to spawn after an enemy dies I forgot to pick them up most of the times.

Sound
Well...what sound? Where are the sound effects? The music is a placeholder?
No great game without sound or music, so I hope this is somewhere on top of your to-do list!

Story
I love how you lay out an illustrated story before the start of the actual game and then work on it while playing. It is interesting and promising.

In short: Great job! Keep working on it and it will turn into something even greater!
 

RangerX

Member
You're always giving me loads of awesome feedback, so I figure I owe you some. I played the game until the end when you jump in the big hole and these are my thoughts:

Bugs:
  • If you alt tab out of the game while in map mode you can move (While still in map mode)
  • Slopes are a little buggy. If you attack while going up a hill you do a weird little dance. If you start moving exactly on the start of a slope you jitter around
  • Map turned black in Ezama's temple? (Picture below)
Cons:
  • Some jumps are a bit too difficult. Some seem almost pixel precision. (Although I never used the parachute. Maybe I was supposed to?)
  • Jumping isn't very responsive. Tapping or holding jump makes no obvious difference. For a platformer, I would recommend more control.
  • Waterfall platform thing is not obvious that it's in the foreground. I jumped on it by accident. Maybe put an enemy walking on one? (Picture below)
  • Quite a few typos or grammatically incorrect things.
  • Not being able to attack while facing a wall is a bad idea. If you couldn't shoot while facing a wall in an FPS it wouldn't feel like you're in control.
  • First dungeon is hard! For a later level I think it would be fine, but for the first dungeon it's a bit tough.
  • Mosquitoes can be a little unfair. There isn't a good way to kill them and they can block your jumps. This gets frustrating.
  • Serious tone doesn't really match the graphics. Everything looks cute and colorful, but the story starts out with a death and a murder. Maybe make the story more whimsical? Here is an exaggerated art piece to illustrate what I mean:
Pros:
  • Enemies are varied, not just in looks, but in attack style.
  • First boss is good. Not so easy I'm bored, but not too challenging either.
  • I like the map
  • Secrets are cool!
  • Menu's look nice, especially the start menu. Gamepad and keyboard icons are great
  • Intro is short enough that I don't get bored, and long enough to tell a story.

Thanks for this feedback of yours. Its very precious for me because by observing your work, I can see your quality standards are very high and that you're a MUCH better programmer than me. That sloppy slope code is something I should someday completely redo but I am currently avoiding it by lack of time and because I feel its in the "holds itself" level of quality. That alt-tab out of the map bug is totally the kind of stuff I expect people to find because its easy to miss it. Will fix it for next version. Oh and the Ezuma Temple simply is not there yet graphically because there's a whole other section coming because I "redraw" it. (Ezuma's Temple Main Chambers).

Did you play with keyboard of gamepad? Because there was an error in the gamepad support that made the game more difficult when playing with a gamepad. I also made some jumps easier by adding "half tiles" at certain places. It should be much easier now (next version). I have an important question though. The jump IS dynamic, if you hold it you jump higher. If you tap it you jump small. So maybe you faced a bug that was preventing that??

Slashing on a wall is an imcomplete feature right now. Am planning for having an "hitting spark" effect and sound when you slash on wall + a little recoil. I hope it will make the game feel better.

Oh and, deflect the darts from the mosquitos... it almost make them to easy! :)
 

RangerX

Member
1) I played around a while but I couldn't get past the red mage, so I stopped after about 15 attempts. It was a little frustrating because the game was just getting started! Maybe I missed some powerups somewhere?
Anyway, here's what I think:

2) Jumping is still a bit awkward, a lot of the jumps are very tricky and very pixel perfect. It would make the gameplay more fun by making this a little easier. Or maybe add a run button?
Most platforms are rectangle based, slopes are rare, maybe add some more?

3) Only a few items and weapons available (at least the part I played). How many are available in this demo? You could add some more to spice up gameplay. Also, those coins you collect, can I use them to buy something? I couldn't find any shops or anything.
1- Oh, you make me sad you did not discover to "deflect/repell" move. I try to tell about it everytime there are controls or help text on screen + the "Good Yuree" right beside the high jump boots is giving it away. ;)
Try it again sometimes, you can deflect fireballs, mosquitos darts and the boss' magic.

2- I fixed the jump in the next version. Something was wrong with my velocity in the gamepad support I just added :p

3- Ok here's a secret for you to have some more fun... you can add yourself power-ups for testing them with the digit keys (not the ones on the numpad). The character reloads as default when you change rooms though.
Here again, have fun! I'd love to hear what you think of the hero's other power ups.


By the way I need to play your game soon. Its been a while I spotted it!
 
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mochipon

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I played it all the way through. Didn't encounter any bugs or glitches.
Maybe I should have taken some notes during my play-through, hmm.... here are some things I rembember:
Jumping: In the tutorial, after you get the parachute, the jump is rather hard to do. It feels like there's only a 1 pixel margin. At first I missed the jump and thought I had to go back, or do something with the yellow blocks at the bottom. In Adventure mode, there are quite a few of these tight jumps. I guess after I got a bit more familiar with the character's movement, they got a bit easier. But still slightly annoying. It's hard to hit a sweet spot between challenge and frustration, especially because that spot can vary from player to player. Perhaps you can make some of the jumping a bit easier. For example, after you get up the 2 moving platforms (there's also a fireball shooter near the 2nd), the jump across the spiky-gap is very easy to miss. Well. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by all the easier games, hehe.

Story: On one hand, I think that games don't necessarily need a story, or can get away with some contrivance, as opposed to movies or books. On the other hand since you do take the time to set up a story...
I think a lot of the stuff from the opening could be moved into the actual game. For example the thing about the Mayors kid dying. Either you could have a cutscene, or you could expand some of the dialogue and make the player meet the Mayor in the first town.
Or maybe you could draw it out even longer, make the player go look for the kid and discover the dead body. Uh, that might be a bit too dark, actually. :eek: But it could act as a side-quest and story wise there would be a goal that's nearer (as I expect the life ruby to be near the end of the game)
The idea is that it's better to show, than to tell. An example where I think you did this well was with the townspeople at the foot of the mountain, and the Yuree. You never mentioned a year or anything, but I get the idea that this is a kind of colonialism setting, where the Yuree are the indigenous tribe and there's tension between them and the newly arrived. It paints a larger picture without going into detail about explaining it. Also, there seems to be some disparity among the townspeople as well as the Yuree. I suppose you have something in mind about why they allow the player into the temple or even help them.
I like that all this is not rubbed into the players face.

Some other things:
Maybe you could make the enemies repel the player when they hit him? One time I kinda stood inside the plant and continuously lost life whenever the invulnerability wore off. Although, stupid me I guess.
The bat at the top before the first fireball machine takes away 3 hearts when it hits you. Not sure if that's intended or not, but it leaves you with only 1 heart, so that makes the fireball machine very hard to get by, especially since it's the first one. I feel like you could ease the player into these kind of challenges by first introducing a fireball machine in an otherwise safe environment and later ramp it up by putting them at the end of a series of obstacles.

Sometimes, depending on the path you choose, you can run into dead ends after overcoming a difficult challenge. Dead ends are fine, or even a must if you want to have a proper Metroidvania, but it's a bit of a bummer when you get past an obstacle after a few tries only to find a dead end.

I really loved the blob-fish enemy or whatever that was. Like there was a piece of jelly that had a fish inside. That's so funny. :bunny:
Overall I think it shows that a lot of effort went into this, and I think you're on a good path to a great game. :)

PS: Oh right, I remember now that the game still displayed the mouse cursor. I think you can turn it off in some of the options, and since the mouse is not used in this game, it saves the player from having to move it to the side of the screen.
 
Some great new feedback there.

RujiK mentions the grafics style and of course states that's a question of opinion. I just want to give you another opinion on that point. I do like the grafics and I think a serious topic or a sad story can be told in a cute grafics style. Many animated movies look cute and still have some serious stories told - who didn't cry when Bambis mum died???. So I think the cute style works fine for me. But a serious style would work as well. But maybe the tragedy could be showed in other ways. Text and "cut scenes".

As for the grafics there's stuff I didn't like too much but am not sure if you plan to work more on it anyway. The one thing that bothered me the most was the temple grafics. Compared to the outside grafics the temple looks more like copy-paste grafics. The blocks don't have that typical pixel-art feeling the outdoors level has and look too generic. I just don't get the feeling of being in an ancient temple.
 

RangerX

Member
Wow. . so much feedback on this game. . . I might need to take notes on how to get more myself lol
Its a lucky streak since last weekend. This thread is normally starving. I am very happy that you guys pay attention though and find good bugs like that.
Really helps motivating me into putting more hours on the project!
 
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Sam (Deleted User)

Guest
I can't remember who said this but I agree with them that the pixel art for the outside forest doesn't match the temple art, seems like a completely different style. The outside matches the character more than the temple does, I think it's because of the level of pixel scaling used.

Anyways I just downloaded it, and will add more to this post below, once I've tried playing it for a bit. :)

EDIT:

Ok so I played up until I got stuck as shown in the screenshot. I was expecting a moving platform to come down or something (over the spikes in the screenshot), but I waited and nothing happened. I went both ways and I appeared to be trapped. Trapped like a rat. I go one way and there are spikes I can't jump far across enough to get over and the other way I go in some water and there's the cliff I came from that's too high to get back up. Considering I got the checkpoint down here, I'm pretty much screwed and have to start a new game (afaik).

All that negativity aside, as I'm clearly missing something important...

This game has a detailed and well thought out story, brilliant graphics, well animated, and wonderful little mock-up of background music you got going on there. This game is fun. Just plain fun. The first boss was too hard until I figured out what the deflect was for. XD Anyways I'm really busy with my projects but this is a great gem you have here. Very interactive. You can talk to and read everyone/thing. There are many different enemies and they do way more than just go back-and-forth (like some more simpler games have their enemies). Overall 4.7/5. Or you know what, I'll round it up. 5/5. :D
 

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1- Oh, you make me sad you did not discover to "deflect/repell" move. I try to tell about it everytime there are controls or help text on screen + the "Good Yuree" right beside the high jump boots is giving it away. ;)
Try it again sometimes, you can deflect fireballs, mosquitos darts and the boss' magic.

2- I fixed the jump in the next version. Something was wrong with my velocity in the gamepad support I just added :p

3- Ok here's a secret for you to have some more fun... you can add yourself power-ups for testing them with the digit keys (not the ones on the numpad). The character reloads as default when you change rooms though.
Here again, have fun! I'd love to hear what you think of the hero's other power ups.


By the way I need to play your game soon. Its been a while I spotted it!
Hahaha yeah I feel kind of guilty now, especially now I've read back all the previous posts! Well this makes it a lot more interesting!
I agree with @The Reverend though. The graphics in the temple feel a bit off, it looks like a mix of different art styles, try to make it a bit more homogenic.

Those powerups are great by the way, I hope they'll be implemented soon! I didn't encounter any bugs using them.


Indeed, it would be great if you checked out my game, it's seen a lot of improvement lately!
 
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RangerX

Member
1) In Adventure mode, there are quite a few of these tight jumps.

2) For example the thing about the Mayors kid dying. Either you could have a cutscene, or you could expand some of the dialogue and make the player meet the Mayor in the first town.

3) Maybe you could make the enemies repel the player when they hit him? One time I kinda stood inside the plant and continuously lost life whenever the invulnerability wore off. Although, stupid me I guess.

4) The bat at the top before the first fireball machine takes away 3 hearts when it hits you. Not sure if that's intended or not, but it leaves you with only 1 heart, so that makes the fireball machine very hard to get by, especially since it's the first one.

5) Sometimes, depending on the path you choose, you can run into dead ends after overcoming a difficult challenge. Dead ends are fine, or even a must if you want to have a proper Metroidvania, but it's a bit of a bummer when you get past an obstacle after a few tries only to find a dead end.

6) I really loved the blob-fish enemy or whatever that was. Like there was a piece of jelly that had a fish inside.

7) Oh right, I remember now that the game still displayed the mouse cursor. I think you can turn it off in some of the options, and since the mouse is not used in this game, it saves the player from having to move it to the side of the screen.
Thanks for this detailed feedback. Its really cool to see some action in the thread :)
I am answering your stuff through numbers I added in your quote:

1) Jumps are less tight in the next version. I added half tiles and corrected gamepad support which fair unfair because of a bug. Now I fear the game is too easy but oh well...

2) I am not into stories really. I did put one there much under "modern gamers pressure" than anything else. I like it but as a skippable cut-scene in the beginning only. I don't want to interrupt the gameplay much unless that was the goal.

3) Actually your supposed to get repelled a bit when hit. I wonder if you have a bug in hands there. Can you reproduce it? Maybe you're getting stuck in the plant's collision block or something (its having a wierd collision block inside so the player doesn't cross through the plant when its been hit lol)

4) Ok that would be a bug. Can you give me more details though? Do you mean the bat near the first fireball machine in Ezuma's Temple? By the way, the game introduce your to fireball statues in a safe way right before Ezumas Grounds' Boss. :p

5) Can you give me an example of where? I am curious

6) Its a heart... but that's fine by me if its a fish and makes you laugh. I had fun with the blob. It's having only one sprite and I decided to animate it entirely by code. It was great fun.

7) Yeah I shall turn it off



Compared to the outside grafics the temple looks more like copy-paste grafics. The blocks don't have that typical pixel-art feeling the outdoors level has and look too generic. I just don't get the feeling of being in an ancient temple.
Yeah, the bricks are the same when outside though. I doubt I will redraw them. All the zones are going to have some pretty different looks so maybe later when I get the feel the game as a whole a bit much I might retouch. I'd like to add some effects too like maybe a color filter, fog, etc


Ok so I played up until I got stuck as shown in the screenshot. I was expecting a moving platform to come down or something (over the spikes in the screenshot), but I waited and nothing happened.
Hmmm, that's a bug there. Do you think you can recall what you did?
Its like the platform disappeared, deactivated or moved over its boundary collision (which shouldn't happen because am not deactivating them as far as I know)
 
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mochipon

Guest
Ok, I replayed it again.
I wasn't able to reproduce the thing with the bat, now I'm starting to think that it was me. Perhaps I only had 2 HP before I got hit, and only thought I had full HP? Because I realize now that respawning doesn't fill up HP.

As for the plant, when I went there again I now got propelled upwards a little bit. But anyways, I don't think it's a big issue. Replaying the game now also made it feel a lot easier. I guess since you are often playtesting you're used to how it works and that's why you wonder why people say it's too hard. It's really a different experience the first time around.

The dead end I spoke of happens when you don't get the red statue first, but go downwards instead. That way you won't be able to break the red blocks. But when you get the statue later, you'll have to get past all the fireball shooters again. I don't know - it just felt like I was being punished for exploring the wrong path first. Maybe I'm being too picky? Conversely though, if you do get the red statue but don't break the red blocks and instead jump up the platforms after the elevator that is above the spikes, you won't be able to get back without taking the long route again, since jump-through platforms are one-way only. I didn't realize at first that the path was leading back to a previous area, and when I did it was too late.

I think it all could be solved easily if you made it so that at the end of the demo (red blocks), the switch opens two paths: The one that's already there and leads to the next area (end of the demo) and another one that allows the player to travel back to the red statue, but also allows them to come straight back after getting the statue. That way, traveling the fireball shooter route will lead to some progress regardless of whether the player has the statue, and going back to the beginning of the temple doesn't mean they have to travel the long route again.
Platforms that you can jump through from below should really allow the player to drop down through them as well, usually by holding down and jumping.

Another small thing I forgot about: Please make it so that we can go through the messages with X or Space as well. It's a minor thing, but having to move the hand to Enter each time is slightly annoying. (How dare you make me move my hands!? :D)
 

RangerX

Member
You have an interact button. Arrow up, W, or B button (depending your default controls)
"Enter" to proceed is just added convenience :p
 

RujiK

Member
@RangerX
I actually played with a keyboard. I tried it again and you're right, it does jump less depending on tap vs hold. (Maybe I'm used to more hangtime or something?) Disregard that comment!

Hitting spark sounds good. Didn't know you could deflect mosquito stingers. That would make things much easier.

Also you can be as good of a programmer as you want to be! If you hold yourself to a high standard like you mentioned, your game will show it. If you say to yourself, "I'm not that great of a programmer, so this code isn't that great..." It will almost assuredly become a self-fulfilled prophecy. Thanks for the compliments though :)
 
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