AuthorTopic: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires  (Read 5907 times)

Offline Grundy

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We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

on: January 14, 2013, 08:43:15 am
Hi mates.

I've been spending some time working on the alpha  a 2D roguelike called Pimps vs Vampires.
There is a secret war going on between these two tribes and in this game you are the pimp.



It has a lot of pixels and animations and I hope you can appreciate it.
Also. It's fun to play.

Here you can play the demo http://www.indiedb.com/games/pimps-vs-vampires



Offline Lachie Dazdarian

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #1 on: January 14, 2013, 11:50:07 pm
Tile by tile movement, and lack of north/south facing was a downer.

I like the main menu art work.

Do you plan to implement pixel by pixel movement?

Offline Grundy

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #2 on: January 15, 2013, 02:28:01 pm
Hey mate. Thanks for the reply!!

It hurts but you're right. There are some downers.
What is pixel by pixel movement? (i should google this)

Again! Thanks!

Offline HardcoreBadger

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #3 on: January 15, 2013, 02:58:24 pm
it means moving without being limited by a "tile by tile" movement, i mean when you walk square by square like in bomberman or in RPGMAKER's games


it looks nice but the music doesn't really remind me pimps (lol you should put some beat inside)
and i don't understand why u have to aim with the mouse to shoot (maybe to shoot diagonally), i'd prefer to use a key
and you could add a sound for the shot too, even if it's the same for all weapons for the alpha

« Last Edit: January 15, 2013, 03:19:13 pm by HardcoreBadger »

Offline Facet

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #4 on: January 15, 2013, 03:32:59 pm
I haven't had played it yet but this looks pretty sweet from the video. It's a great concept, I've wanted to make a roguelike myself for a long time.

I don't share Lachie's reservations; the simple animations work just fine imo, you often do without them altogether in this kind of game! The tile based movement is almost a prerequisite anyhow, it's part of the appeal of the genre.

I wouldn't have twigged 'vampire' immediately if I saw the sprites out of context but the stylisation is fun. Are the pick-ups popcorn?

Offline Lachie Dazdarian

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #5 on: January 15, 2013, 08:00:12 pm
I'm not against this tile by tile movement by default. But in action games involving shooting....yeah, then it's a downer.

Offline PixelPiledriver

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #6 on: January 16, 2013, 12:24:59 am
I like this type of gameplay.
Some stuff:

It feels weird that I have to start the game with a key press, mouse clicks don't work.
But then the Main Menu is controlled by a mouse.
Try to keep controls across game states consistent.
Being able to use both keys or mouse would be nice.

There are 2 broken seams that scroll by in the title screen.

If you have access to shaders in your render pipeline you could easily fix this by doing a texture offset to fake the scrolling.

The Credits button opens on MouseDown and closes on MouseUp.
This is fine but the Credits image has a Back button built into it that can't be used.
Both styles are fine, just do one or the other.

I like that you can shoot more than once per turn.
But when you miss a shot it doesn't count as part of your turn, only when you hit.
This feels weird, like there is no pushiment for clicking all over the place randomly.
I would be happy to lose part of my turn, it would make me play more carefully.
Especially when shooting into the dark at sound waves, it would make sense to lose part of a turn for missing.
Another solution would be to not play the shoot animation when the tile is empty.
But I'd really rather receive the punishment.
Edit:(after playing some more I notice that the FlameThrower is the only weapon that takes a turn when you miss)

The Esc key instantly quits the current game and goes to the title screen.
It'd be nice to have a pause menu to select Title Screen, Options, Quit etc.
Or just warn the player with a Yes, No button that the game will end.

The tile movement is fun, I like this sort of thing.
The position interpolation on the Vampires movement feels nice.
Try interpolating the player movement between tiles, even if its quick.
It might feel good and make the motion more consistant between all characters in the game.

The font at the top and bottom of the screen is kind of blurry compared to everything else.

The health number flickers when it hits the 170 max.
Run the:

if(health > healthMax)
 health = healthMax;

Before the render, not after.
Or just dont run it at all.
Something like:

class Player
{

  void Update()
  {
     if(health < healthMax)
        RegainHealth();
  }

  void RegainHealth()
  {
     health += healthRecoverAmount;

     if(health > healthMax)
       health = healthMax;
  }

}

When I press SpaceBar I lose a turn and it says "You decided to wait for a moment".
When I press almost any other key like z,x,c,h,u,i,k etc. I still lose a turn but there is no message.
Also it would be nice if there was some obvious benefit to waiting, like regaining more health, or my next shot would be more accurate.

In Windowed Mode there is a strange amount of mouse gutter on the right side.
Enter the window from right to left and the cursor will not appear on screen for more distance than expected.
Enter the window from left to right and the cursor appears instantly like expected.
This also happens at the bottom of the window.

It'd be great to see controls in game.
When you step over a weapon "Press 'P' to pick up weapon" could appear.
I see that you can view the controlls with F1.
Customizable keys would also be a plus.

I find not knowing the name of a weapon until I pick it up and press 'I' a little strange.
You show the stats of the gun when the player steps on it, you could also put the name above the gun.
The color of the stats text is also REALLY dark and hard to read in many places.


The guns all feel very similar.
You could play up the fact that your game is tile based and chess like, using tile formations to differentiate the weapons, items, enemies, etc.
An example of what I mean:






Just curious, what language are you developing in?
I like what you have so far.
keep working and make it great.
 :y:
« Last Edit: January 16, 2013, 09:43:29 am by PixelPiledriver »
And knowing that it is, we seek what it is... ~ Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, Chapter 1

Offline Grundy

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #7 on: January 16, 2013, 06:27:33 pm
Ok first of all: Thanks for taking interest in this.
I am very happy you actually downloaded and played the game.
And that you all come back with your own views on it is just awesome.
What I take from this is that you all want this game to work. And that's great because so do I.
Is anyone of you on twitter?

Lachie, As a pixelart fellow pixel enthousiast I can understand your view on the tile by tile moving.
We also want to enable players to play this game as fast/slow as they want.
Waiting for an animation to finish is a delay in that pace.
We are not ruling it out though.
The lack of up and down view is indeed something that could be added. Good one. Thanks

HardcoreBadger, I love that you commented on the music.
My idea for it was to make it sound both shizzelicious (pimps) and creepy (vampires).
Maybe there was something wrong with the sound configuration because there is a beat in the song and all the guns make sounds too.
If you keep experiencing it without: give me a ring and we'll look into it. Should be interesting.

Here's the song on soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/grundy-music/grundy-pimps-vs-vampires-theme

Facet, Thanks for commenting on the vampire design.
I haven't documented the whole process because the game stems from a game jam but here is some of the reasoning behind it.
http://grundysoft.com/i-hate-zombies-but-i-hate-vampires-even-more/


Pixeldriver, Whoa. I could not have asked for more.
Seems like you poked in all the sore spots.
A thourough documentiontation of things and you even played it twice.
Thanks.

I am familiar with most of the things mentioned.
Though 95% of it is not essential to te core gameplay they are however VERY ANNOYING.
I hate being apologetic for the lack of polish though.
All I can do is work harder so that next round. Not as much gets lost in the fire.
As for the rendering issues in the main screen and healthbar: I'm passing it on to my other half.

I like the game design comments even better.
Particularly the punishment for missing and the lost turns when waiting are worth looking into.

Offline BacioiuC

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #8 on: January 16, 2013, 07:54:05 pm
@PixelPiledriver
Hey thanks for the well written feedback. Some of it is already on my to-do list and being worked on, while other aspects have been unnoticed till now.
Quote from: PixelPiledriver
Try interpolating the player movement between tiles, even if its quick.
Tried to do as such and it seemed a bit sluggy with the camera moving and all. Will give it another hammer later on.

Quote from: PixelPiledriver
In Windowed Mode there is a strange amount of mouse gutter on the right side.
Can you give some more details?

Quote from: PixelPiledriver
Just curious, what language are you developing in?
I like what you have so far.
keep working and make it great.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm programming the game using Lua and Love2D. I have quite a bit of background with C/C++ but during my time at Gameloft I fell in love with LUA's simplicity hence it allows me to focus more on the design aspect rather then the code. Hopefully many of the things you mentioned will be improved/fixed/added in the next version.

Again, thanks for the kind words and for such a well written feedback. Drop me a line (pm) if you want some discount codes (100%) for the game.

Offline Facet

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Re: We released the demo for Pimps vs Vampires

Reply #9 on: January 16, 2013, 11:16:46 pm
Quote
Facet, Thanks for commenting on the vampire design.
I haven't documented the whole process because the game stems from a game jam but here is some of the reasoning behind it.
http://grundysoft.com/i-hate-zombies-but-i-hate-vampires-even-more/
Aha! interesting indeed, thanks! Love getting an insight into development and thought processes.