Kickstarter thread!

[YellowLime]

I focused on typos instead:

"ennemies" should be "enemies"

"elments" should be "elements"

"every slain ennemies" should be "each slain enemy"

"this fountain allow you to save" should be "allows"

And when it teaches you to jump it says "press E to confirm jump", this is like saying "appuyez E pour confirmer le saut" -- it just sounds weird.
You should put "press E to jump", which is "appuyez E pour sauter" 

It's a nice game, but I can't play it anymore this weekend (I'm participating in Ludum Dare) so I'll come back to it on Monday

[Kasumi]

Bats can perch in the middle of the air.

I run in slow motion here:
And anywhere else a cutscene had occurred. Actually, it seems the program's CPU usage just shoots up at those parts. Not sure if there's anything you can do about that, but look into it.

If you push the boulder in the not intended direction (left rather than right), it rises through the platform by the lava, and then can't be pushed anymore. (you can only push it while standing, and the boulder occupies the entire platform.) Reloading the room fixes it.

Another note about crouch jump: You can simply press down while jumping, you don't have to start from a crouch at all. I noticed I was getting stuck in walls a lot in the swimming section, and that was why.

While swimming you can "jump" while the standing attack is happening.

Found another collision thing with crouching. Listing it because it's technically different, and fixing crouch jumping potentially might not fix this. Screenshot:

If you run toward this area and crouch (have to start the crouch while still moving), you can exit the map after stopping the crouch. Again, I assume it's because for the small bit while you're still moving the crouching hitbox is active. (Even though visually you're running.)


Really nitpicky, but if you press down while rising from a jump, you can make the player change animation frames in the air. A cute little dance.

In this area:

If return after going loading a new map, the platform doesn't spawn. (You can force it to spawn, by jumping up to the left, then running back and catching it, but waiting for it in the location at the screenshot is a lost cause.) But... when you get to the middle after riding that platform, the NEXT platform doesn't spawn either. Then you're stuck. (If it weren't for crouch jumping!  Anyway, I wanted to go back to buy the double jump ability, since it looks like there's a part I could use that on)

You can't double jump after walking off a platform.

Ah. Apparently walking all the way back to the start after reloading the level triggers the intro cutscene again. The, "The castle can be seen..." one.

Okay. And beat it. All in all, my biggest complaint is how enemies PROPEL YOU AT HIGH SPEEDS AWAY. I was standing on a moving platform. Mr. Bat taps me. WHOOSH! Death. Other than that, it's good. The puzzle pieces are well hinted at. I found 3, if there are more, well... okay.

Edit: Oh! I apologize for asking about posting screenshots when it says right in that post we can. I missed that.

[Zizka]

Thanks Kasumi, you did an epic job.

The bugs are being ironed out as I'm typing this (some of them have already been fixed).

@YellowLime:

Thank you, those have already been fixed. No problem for the rest, take your time.

Did you guys have any comments about the gameplay or graphics? That's pretty important too  .

[Kasumi]

I listed a few gameplay complaints/good stuff. Control over the character feels right, except the landing canceling attacks as noted. In general, you're on the right path.

Magic seems a little useless as an attack. In the places it would be useful (thing that shoots fireballs by underwater entry), I tended to just run out really quickly. Although... in that particular instance, you can totally game the fight by continually saving to replenish your health/magic. There are other things you could do, like having it stun the enemy briefly as well as damage it. Then you could run up and slash the enemy once or twice. I understand if you don't want powerful magic early on, but it's perhaps a problem when a thing you gain is totally useless compared to what you start out with. (Unless you plan to have many more puzzles the magic solves, as opposed to just the one)

What happens when you get hit is inconsistent. Airborne, your attack isn't cancelled out and you're shot away at high speeds. Grounded, seems like the character barely feels it, but his attack is cancelled. Getting hit in the air is always 1000% worse than getting hit on the ground. Simply landing on an enemy SHOOTS YOU AWAY, having them walk into you while standing is a slap on the wrist. The airborne behavior is WAY too fast, but a bigger issue for me is that it's inconsistent. Consistency is super important.

I did not understand the stats screen at first glance, I haven't seen that style before. The blue number (I assume), is what you can max each stat to using the level ups. But I expected it meant my CURRENT max health. The others did tip me off, though. Not sure if it's worth changing, but it's worth noting.

More generally, I hope you have a warp system planned. Walking all the way back from the swimming area to buy the double jump, then walking back to the get that chest that requires it was a little irksome. It may be worth exploring more compact maps even with warps. I notice when I'm walking 4000 pixels when the map could be 1000 pixels and lose nothing (like hidden stuff) with the change. But it could also be Metroidvania style stuff isn't quite my genre. I tend to play straight platformers.

For the old man's shop, maybe play a sound effect when you try to buy something you can't afford. You already have a sound effect for cases like this (time trial on the title screen), so I was somewhat surprised to not see it used there.

Nothing jumps out at me as particularly bad, though. I guess it'd be cool to see different kinds of weapons, but I can't imagine you don't have that sort of thing planned. I'll wait for an update with some bugs fixed, and run through it again. If the text is really fair game, I can definitely find stuff there.

Man, I'll miss crouch jumping, though. It obviously has to go, but it's a lot of fun.

As far as graphics comments... I dunno, I'm not very good at that. I'll say I think the bat is far too cute. Both his eyes, and the way he flies. The magic attacks seem a bit generic. I'm not sure how well the semitransparent effects (like the pink orbs on the save fountain, and the magic trails) fit in with the pixel art. The way the menu fades in and out is fine, though.

[Zizka]

You bring out some very good points, Kasumi. It's great that you're willing to give the upcoming version another try  . It shouldn't be too long now I would think. Keep in mind that I'm just part of a small team however, the mastermind behind the game is Jonathan Brassaud. Still I'll tell you what I think.

Magic seems a little useless as an attack. In the places it would be useful (thing that shoots fireballs by underwater entry), I tended to just run out really quickly. Although... in that particular instance, you can totally game the fight by continually saving to replenish your health/magic. There are other things you could do, like having it stun the enemy briefly as well as damage it. Then you could run up and slash the enemy once or twice. I understand if you don't want powerful magic early on, but it's perhaps a problem when a thing you gain is totally useless compared to what you start out with. (Unless you plan to have many more puzzles the magic solves, as opposed to just the one)

I hope there'll be more puzzles too. That's something I really liked in Metroid, when you had to blast open the glass passage to access the underwater area.

What happens when you get hit is inconsistent. Airborne, your attack isn't cancelled out and you're shot away at high speeds. Grounded, seems like the character barely feels it, but his attack is cancelled. Getting hit in the air is always 1000% worse than getting hit on the ground. Simply landing on an enemy SHOOTS YOU AWAY, having them walk into you while standing is a slap on the wrist. The airborne behavior is WAY too fast, but a bigger issue for me is that it's inconsistent. Consistency is super important.

I totally agree on this one. I hope we'll find something more consistant. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to program. I've already told Jonathan about this.

More generally, I hope you have a warp system planned. Walking all the way back from the swimming area to buy the double jump, then walking back to the get that chest that requires it was a little irksome. It may be worth exploring more compact maps even with warps. I notice when I'm walking 4000 pixels when the map could be 1000 pixels and lose nothing (like hidden stuff) with the change. But it could also be Metroidvania style stuff isn't quite my genre. I tend to play straight platformers.

Yeah, we've had this comment pretty often before. Jon was against that idea at first but he seems to be changing his mind about it. I too think warp points are pretty important.

Nothing jumps out at me as particularly bad, though. I guess it'd be cool to see different kinds of weapons, but I can't imagine you don't have that sort of thing planned.

I hope so too. We're still in early development, so I guess it's not too late to be implemented.

For the old man's shop, maybe play a sound effect when you try to buy something you can't afford. You already have a sound effect for cases like this (time trial on the title screen), so I was somewhat surprised to not see it used there.

Oh yes, ok. It's a little thing so it shouldn't be too hard to fix either.

[Kasumi]

New build:

Hold left+right. Swing sword. Enter glitch stand state. In this state, you cannot move left or right or use the sword. You can only jump (holding the standing frame.) Landing fixes it.

Talk to Sahasrahla (in the house). As his "sale menu" is opening, hammer up.  Close the sale menu. A blank text box appears on the screen.

Apparently, doing the above with Sahasrahla in the cave entirely disables the menu. I can't even read signs. Running into the boss fight with the menu disabled brings up a blank text box, then restores the menu.

The Double Jump Ability now says it costs 300 (I think), but I'm 98% sure it still only took 200 from me. (Pardon me if I'm wrong. Didn't really double check.)

Small layering issue:

I got my controls to freeze completely during the cave cutscene. Basically, the text boxes appeared, but after I closed them, no buttons worked (Not even enter). Maybe I jumped too far? I'll investigate more how I did this.

Yeah, that wasn't a one time thing. All you have to do is jump forward a lot when entering the cave the first time. Maybe having the double jump ability makes it easier, but I just froze again.

Taking away control from the player after using the magic to activate bridge thing is not good. If you jump forward and shoot it, you'll die while it's coming out.


These walls aren't collision enabled, but should be. Double jump!

It seems you're dealt "airborne damage" when standing on moving platforms. This is bad because bats!

The new glitch stand state thing allows you to have glitchy collision detection.

Picture:

Same spot where you could previously run, crouch/stop crouch. Instead, run, crouch, run, crouch, press left/right, then E. You can then press start to open the menu (which cancels the glitched stand state), run to get further in the wall, and be outside the map. But there's no way to get back in, so it's not as useful a glitch.

The fire dogs replace those other dudes, but seem unfinished, so I won't comment on 'em.

[Zizka]

I did the fire dogs, I also felt they weren't ready just yet. I'll wait to read what the other players had to say about it.

Thanks for the quick update! 

P.S.: I'm still looking for me beta testers if anyone is interested.

[Zizka]

Kasumi suggested keeping a changelog and I think it was a good idea.

For version 0.9:
1. The Double Jump Ability now says it costs 300 (I think), but I'm 98% sure it still only took 200 from me. (Pardon me if I'm -wrong. Didn't really double check.)

Fixed

2. Apparently, doing the above with Sahasrahla in the cave entirely disables the menu. I can't even read signs. Running into the boss fight with the menu disabled brings up a blank text box, then restores the menu.

Could not reproduce the bug. Possibly not fixed.

3. Talk to Sahasrahla (in the house). As his "sale menu" is opening, hammer up.  Close the sale menu. A blank text box appears on the screen.

Fixed

4. Hold left+right. Swing sword. Enter glitch stand state. In this state, you cannot move left or right or use the sword. You can only jump (holding the standing frame.) Landing fixes it.

Fixed

5. Small layering issue: http://i.imgur.com/vovYI0d.png

Fixed

6. These walls aren't collision enabled, but should be. Double jump! http://i.imgur.com/p0SJekG.png

Fixed

7. It seems you're dealt "airborne damage" when standing on moving platforms. This is bad because bats!

Fixed

8. The new glitch stand state thing allows you to have glitchy collision detection.

Fixed

9. Same spot where you could previously run, crouch/stop crouch. Instead, run, crouch, run, crouch, press left/right, then E. You can then press start to open the menu (which cancels the glitched stand state), run to get further in the wall, and be outside the map. But there's no way to get back in, so it's not as useful a glitch.

Fixed

V. 0.9.1 is being uploaded at the moment with the bugs above corrected (except for that one). You may download it via the same link as before.

[Kasumi]

Old stuff still on the list:

Landing from a jump cancels the attack, which is not so cool.

Switching maps repositions the game's window.

If you make the game full screen, then go back to windowed, the game is always the top window.

Holding left at the start after the storybook intro makes the character face the wrong direction during the intro with pop up textboxes.

(3. Talk to Sahasrahla (in the house). As his "sale menu" is opening, hammer up.  Close the sale menu. A blank text box appears on the screen.) This is not fixed. Image:

(2. Apparently, doing the above with Sahasrahla in the cave entirely disables the menu. I can't even read signs. Running into the boss fight with the menu disabled brings up a blank text box, then restores the menu.) Still not fixed. I can make a video if needed to help reproduce, but activating it is no different to the above.

In addition, it seems you can hammer up while the sale menu is closing as well. So to be clear, it does this whether you do it while the menu is closing or opening.

(4. Hold left+right. Swing sword. Enter glitch stand state. In this state, you cannot move left or right or use the sword. You can only jump (holding the standing frame.) Landing fixes it.) Partially fixed. Hold left+right+down and swing sword for more strange animation. I might be overstepping "just tester" etiquette here, but the way I fixed things like this is, "if left+right is pressed, neither left nor right is pressed. if up+down is pressed, neither up nor down is pressed." (You can even be trickier, and when right+left is pressed, you accept whichever one was LAST pressed.) Right now it seems like additional cases are being created. Like if you press left+right on the ground, it's like neither direction is being held because you stay facing either right or left. But if you jump, you always end up facing left. This always facing left while jumping isn't a problem, just gives insight into how things might be being solved. Apologies if I'm overstepping or just plain wrong about it.

(9. Same spot where you could previously run, crouch/stop crouch. Instead, run, crouch, run, crouch, press left/right, then E. You can then press start to open the menu (which cancels the glitched stand state), run to get further in the wall, and be outside the map.) Still doable. Just run, crouch, stand. Image:

Some other places this can happen (marked in red where I started from)

1:

2:

Moving Platforms still don't always spawn.

New Stuff:

A green column with an E at the top now appears where cutscene triggers are. Probably just for testing, but eh. I'll throw it out there anyway.

It seems there's a way for your save file to get deleted. Not sure if it's because I selected new game and quit during the intro or something else. I'll try to get repro steps at another point, I'm out of time now.

Things I did not retest (deleted file!):

You can't double jump after walking off a platform.

Taking away control from the player after using the magic to activate bridge thing is not good. If you jump forward and shoot it, you'll die while it's coming out. (I was trying to beat it without ever getting the magic to change things up a bit, so I didn't test this)

It seems you're dealt "airborne damage" when standing on moving platforms. This is bad because bats!

Everything not listed at all in this post is either fixed, or I figured it's not that important right now or by design. (Like menus needing start to go back and bats perching in air.)

[Zizka]

Raargh! Is there no end to those bugs  . The thing is, I will need to translate certain of your bug reports because otherwise it's a bit hard sometimes to understand for the dev. 

Mathias, Yellow Lime, any progress on your part? We'd like to release something stable before Christmas. 

Pixel Pile Driver is supposed to send his report soonish (from what I understood from chatting with him anyway  ).

A couple of things, Kasumi:

If you make the game full screen, then go back to windowed, the game is always the top window.

Sorry, we don't understand what you mean by this.

Landing from a jump cancels the attack, which is not so cool.

Dev said he'll keep it this way. Says it's the same in Castlevania.

Holding left at the start after the storybook intro makes the character face the wrong direction during the intro with pop up textboxes.

Dev says it's been fixed.

I'll keep you updated about the rest of the bugs.