WASD to move, L-Click to fire, R-click (Hold) to charge mana quickly
I was curious about adaptive difficulty systems, so I thought I'd try something that's a weeee bit like Border Down. The notion is that you go down deeper to get more XP, but expose yourself to greater challenges. There was to be multiple endings depending on how deep you are when you finish the game, but I didn't have the time.
Also, the maps were supposed to be different depending on your difficulty level, but... common theme emerging here
Tips for success : * Hold right click to charge mana! Once again, I have failed at telling players things. * The blades deflect fireballs. Extremely useful, overpowered. * They are not cacodemons, their canonical name is "CHOMPY2" * Try playing while violently nodding to simulate the screenshake I didn't have the time to implement
Uses music from ko0x "bitpop worlds" under creative commons license. If you like it, go buy : http://ko0x.bandcamp.com/
Very nice work! My pacifist run didn't go so hot :)
C
Cake&Code29 Apr 2014, 01:18
Wow! This is a ton of fun to play! I was using a trackpad so it wasn't ideal but it was still really cool to delve down into the pits of the dungeon. I wasn't brave enough to always choose harder but the powers were really creative (especially that rebounding sword spin thing!).
That was fun to play ! I really liked the beam thing that you shoot, it's so op haha The only thing that bothered me is that the first kind of shot you gotta press the mouse repeatedly, it hurts my hand.. But overall it was really great! ( And you've done many kinds of enemies, nice job )
What a fantastic game. The music was great, the sounds were good, the art style worked well, the graphics brought back fond memories of bullet-hell shooters on the SNES, and the mechanics did, too.
While I like that the game lets you choose whether to play the harder level next or an easier one, I absolutely love that the game then taunts you when you die. Sure, you don't get a gameover, but the game is basically calling you out saying that you couldn't handle how hard it was. Some things are worse than death indeed. Also, it serves the dual purpose of making me not want to die (since I want to keep my dignity) but I don't have to go through the tedious process of playing content I already did just to try and see the ending (something all too annoying about some Ludum Dare entries). I ended up playing through it multiple times just to see all the levels anyway.
I'm not sure if I just wasn't paying attention or what, but it wasn't until my second playthrough that I realized you could hold down right click to charge up. I'm not sure if there's a way to make that more obvious? Also, the sword spell goes through walls, which was basically the only way I made it through certain parts of the harder levels, so maybe that's intentional.
The level design was also really good. Some of the levels were somewhat non-linear, or allowed you to attack enemies that you won't encounter until later on, making them more interesting than just "beat this group, then this group, then kill these guys, then you're done."
Honestly, if this were given more time and polish I could see this turning into a commercially viable game. Throw in a ton more levels, more weapons, more enemies, co-op play, some unlockable stuff, (and maybe a few secret areas) and I would totally pay a few bucks for this on steam or something. Seriously, go get this green-lighted :)
Your game is awesome. I like the adaptive difficulty system, it was useful for my first play through since I was using a trackpad. I really enjoy the weapons. They are well balanced and are just fun to use. Good job on the enemy types too.
I did have the game crash on me once. In case you want details: I'm running love on ubuntu 64-bit. screenshot of error output: http://imgur.com/lwahKaZ
Also to everything Fritzendugan said: Yes. (Although if you want to go commercial with it you'll have to replace the soundtrack)
Man, this is really really good. Don't dwell on the things you didn't get in, it's a jam, it's bound2 happen! What you have here is really fun. You mostly said what can be said about it in your comments (ie the mind blade is over powered). I guess I really wanted to go in those doors/up those stairs and they were just walls which kinda made me sad. But you did an excellent job in this. Top marks for most categories
Really fun! I accidentally clicked middle difficulty after going all the way to the last one on hard D: died hoping it would let me re-choose, and ended up at a victory screen o_o Started again, hard mode all the way :D
This is a lot of fun to play. I think you made the right move working on mechanics over animation. There is a lot of content here for a short period of time!
I liked the frantic action. I also appreciate the fact that there is a lot of content. The only down point to me is that some of the great pixel graphics contrasts to much with some other placeholder ones (menu background, exits, for example). Good job!
Excellent fun. Maybe some collectable powerups to restore mana would be good? Also, as others have noted, it's super easy to click outside of the small window and accidentally lose focus.
This was really fun. Graphics were decent, and I liked the music as well. An animation on the character would have been nice. Also, it would have been good if the level up notes stayed on screen a bit longer.
Wow I like this a lot! The controls are really good, simple and effective, the way you level up feels really cool and the increasing difficulty was really good to! I died at level 5 or something, and starting the game again it said I won.. That is probably a bug but it made me laugh, so .. awesome! ^^
Fun to play. Surprisingly hard after a couple of levels. Maybe I have to choose easier difficulty next time...
P
pinkmonkeyhead8 May 2014, 23:31
Fantastic!! The difficulty progress mechanics, the weapons, the enemies, everything is great. I like how it has RPG elements like XP and upgrades but is implemented in a way that it doesn't feel like (i hate when i have to stop the game to upgrade). I hope one day this become a model/style to future games. I would love to see more of that.
The mana recharging is a nice mechanic. If you want to make a post-compo version, I would let the player walk faster and make more enemies instead of less enemies with more health. What do you think? Anyway, fun game!
I had a really good time with this. The enemy variety is nice, although, I found that as far as spells go, the second spell is the only particularly viable option. It's very easy to deploy it as a shield when most of the bullets are coming from a similar area, then charge up while you're safe and redeploy it when you can. Even with this exploit, though, I found the game fairly challenging and enjoyable. Really great work!
The game ended when I was about to turn into a god of destruction... I just needed infinite XP. XD
This was so frigging fun!!! The difficulty system kind of reminded me of AutoRun. In that game, between each stage you also chooses between a easier and a harder path.
Something I really like a lot is that by the end of the game you are at the maximum level. It didn't feel like grinding, even though I could have skipped a few enemies, and I had fun in destroying each one of them.
I can only imagine how great this would be with greater graphics (at least, animated), screen shake and more particles.
Great weapons. At first I thought the blade was a bit overpowered then I went to a higher difficulty and realized how wrong I was. This game pulls at the strings of what makes a good game: it's fun.
Comments34
Awesome game, would love to see more of it :D
The different spells and the recharge mechanic work so well and the bullet hell-ish feel is so much fun.
While I like that the game lets you choose whether to play the harder level next or an easier one, I absolutely love that the game then taunts you when you die. Sure, you don't get a gameover, but the game is basically calling you out saying that you couldn't handle how hard it was. Some things are worse than death indeed. Also, it serves the dual purpose of making me not want to die (since I want to keep my dignity) but I don't have to go through the tedious process of playing content I already did just to try and see the ending (something all too annoying about some Ludum Dare entries). I ended up playing through it multiple times just to see all the levels anyway.
I'm not sure if I just wasn't paying attention or what, but it wasn't until my second playthrough that I realized you could hold down right click to charge up. I'm not sure if there's a way to make that more obvious? Also, the sword spell goes through walls, which was basically the only way I made it through certain parts of the harder levels, so maybe that's intentional.
The level design was also really good. Some of the levels were somewhat non-linear, or allowed you to attack enemies that you won't encounter until later on, making them more interesting than just "beat this group, then this group, then kill these guys, then you're done."
Honestly, if this were given more time and polish I could see this turning into a commercially viable game. Throw in a ton more levels, more weapons, more enemies, co-op play, some unlockable stuff, (and maybe a few secret areas) and I would totally pay a few bucks for this on steam or something. Seriously, go get this green-lighted :)
I did have the game crash on me once. In case you want details:
I'm running love on ubuntu 64-bit.
screenshot of error output: http://imgur.com/lwahKaZ
Also to everything Fritzendugan said: Yes.
(Although if you want to go commercial with it you'll have to replace the soundtrack)
Started again, hard mode all the way :D
It would be nice to show each key input until it has been pressed by the user, instead of for a constant duration.
Good job!
I like how it has RPG elements like XP and upgrades but is implemented in a way that it doesn't feel like (i hate when i have to stop the game to upgrade). I hope one day this become a model/style to future games. I would love to see more of that.
Some screenshake (like you said) & feedback sounds are my recommendations. Also using the mouse scroll to change between powers.
Even with this exploit, though, I found the game fairly challenging and enjoyable. Really great work!
This was so frigging fun!!! The difficulty system kind of reminded me of AutoRun. In that game, between each stage you also chooses between a easier and a harder path.
Something I really like a lot is that by the end of the game you are at the maximum level. It didn't feel like grinding, even though I could have skipped a few enemies, and I had fun in destroying each one of them.
I can only imagine how great this would be with greater graphics (at least, animated), screen shake and more particles.