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[gunswordfist]

y'know, that actually reminds me. the pair of cute spiders in the one stage that help you along the path, I was actually sorta expecting to see them waving bye after you left that particular screen, or near the end of the stage anyway. (though maybe that's something we'd see much later in the game? mysterious!)

Isn't that in the level ironically named Lion's Den? I've been wondering about them too.

[NinjAttack81]

So far into the new demo, up to "Awakening"...

Wow, there's quite a bit more pop to the graphics now!  Even "Toturial Cat" got a makeover!  It's also great seeing some new enemies, as well as some new enemy animations, be they major or minor.  For example, I dig the blue-haired spinning baddie's simple, rhythmic standing pose.  That screams old-school, and little animated touches like that are rare these days, unless I've been playing the wrong games.

The new levels I've encountered so far are sweet!  Navigating the large blocks of gelatin was fun--I WANNA TALK ABOUT BIKE LEVEL NOW SORRY.  "Dead Heat" was a pleasant surprise, as I didn't expect the level to already be featured in the new demo!  I also didn't expect Diabetes Forecast's wonderful boss intro idea to be implemented so soon!  Overall, Dead Heat is a good hectic rush that's quite challenging due to danger coming from all angles.  I must admit that it took some time for me to realize where my hit point was, but still, a very welcome stage in a delightful platformer.  I look forward to hearing the stage's theme -- I can't help but imagine something about as hype as the motorcycle stage theme from Contra 3, but with the distinct "laidbackness" that permeates songs by SuperSweep composers.

As far as bugs, issues, an' stuff...

-Not sure if this was already mentioned a while back, but one cannot pause the game during the "Let's Run!" stage!
 
-Apathetic Giant Guutara tried to pull a fast one on me upon defeat, as he snuck in another laser attack while dying!  I wasn't too bothered, because "sweeping laser beam with delayed explosions attack" has always been one of my favorites in any game.

-I died so hard in Awakening that the game crashed, giving me the error window.  That'll teach me to begin that chase sequence with the speed item!


Jack the Reaper is just a-comin' along nicely!  Wishing you the best, and keep doing you! 

[Raku]

@DiabetesForecast ahh, I actually forgot to put that in! they should be waving goodbye, since they don't appear later on anywhere (sorry! apparently there are some people who are fans of their designs)

@gunswordfist Alright, please do if it happens again, thanks!
And the black bear enemy is female, I know the short hair threw you off though, no biggie.

@NinjAttack81 Im glad you're enjoying everything so far! Im also glad you liked the bike stage as well. I'm concerned about you wondering what the music will be, since I thought I put the music in that stage. Did that stage have no music playing for you?

-currently you can't pause in the 'lets run' stage, unfortunately. It's a bug I havent been able to work out yet.
-I realized after I put the demo out that Guutara does send an attack out AFTER he dies, and that was also accidental, I've just recently made sure his attacks stop once you beat him.
-ah, can you tell me what the error window said? It might be something to do with the sound effects of the rocks breaking at the start maybe?

And thank you!

[NinjAttack81]

Yikesies!  So there is music for the bike stage after all?  I was given the silent treatment up until the boss fight! o_o  I wonder what happened...

And darnit, I wish I caught the message the error window gave me.  All I can say is that it happened maybe three or four seconds into the first chase in Awakening.  I like to pretend that my embarrassing death at the beginning of the stage caused it.  I'll let ya know if an error pops up again there or anywhere else! 

[NinjAttack81]

Ah.  Error reproduced: 

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event
for object Cherub:

Creating instance for non-existing object: 733


I guess foolishly dying during that chase sequence brings that up, lol.  Also, I still don't get any music in the bike stage.  Perhaps missing from folder?  Or is it a song shared by other levels?

[Raku]

Ahhhh, I thought so, I was just shown that same error today. Unfortunately, due to a flub on my part, the Cherub object is just trying to call on an object that doesnt exist in the demo (I must have stupidly removed it not realizing the Cherub wanted to call on it) and since the cherub is calling on this object every step of the game, the error will continue to go until the cherub is gone. THANKFULLY, if you just click ignore, and then hold the "I" key, it'll ignore all of the errors until the cherub is off the screen once he drops Jack at the start again.
I apologize for this error, it was completely on me and only exclusive to the demo due to the missing object.

So, either try to avoid using the cherub item, or power through the error by holding "I" after you click ignore until it passes.

on a happier note, I've been working on the scarecrow hats some more. I don't really like how the normal hat looks on Jack, but thats what it looks like on the scarecrow. I've decided to make it so that if you catch a hat and you have an ability equipped, the hat will change form depending on your own, like so:

if you lose it and it flies off it'll revert back into the scarecrow hat while in the air, naturally.

[NinjAttack81]

I see I see!  Funny thing is, I accidentally purchased the Cherub item, as I normally brave the game without it!  Man, what a string of bad luck I had yesterday!

Also, while I already enjoy the incentive of completing a stage wearing the scarecrow hat, the idea of changing the hat's appearance depending on your special ability is brilliant and more encouraging!  It puts me in mind of Bayonetta -- you could purchase costumes ("Umbran Elegance" fragrances) to compliment your weapons.

[gunswordfist]

I got past the new jelly stage. Very nice! I didn't expect to see a new level early on. Also, I went back to see if there was anything after a certain boss and got a kiss. Lastly, my first play of the demo was the first time I got to increase Jack's reach. I always was low on money the first time I played. I think it's because I've gotten better.

[Gerk]

Friend of mine's streaming the game, it looks really great and he's got lots of good things to say, but...



What do? Not sure if he's/we're just dumb or if this is a developmental oversight.

[gunswordfist]

Friend of mine's streaming the game, it looks really great and he's got lots of good things to say, but...

[beautiful screenshot]

What do? Not sure if he's/we're just dumb or if this is a developmental oversight.

From the previous page:  

Ah, sorry about those! I just fixed the hole in the Lion's Den stage (just filled the wall in so that you cant even go there, it's a small space that's unneeded anyway.

Additionally, it seems like the speed sneakers helped make that an issue because that's exactly how I ran into that problem.

Lastly, whoa, I missed a number of posts, probably trying to purposely skip just one post to avoid later-in-the-demo "spoilers" (basically just any new content). I have some cathing up to do!  

[NinjAttack81]

Whoops, my bad!  My excitement, it ran amok.  I should've kept it under control. 

[Storsorgen]

Tried the new demo, looking splendid as usual!

The biking stage was a bit infuriating, a lot of stuff going on, but still a cool addition.

The only crashes I've had so far is from killing the gumball dispensing thing that is flying around, and once from killing a scarecrow, otherwise i've been fine!

[gunswordfist]

I restarted the demo due to the Cherub glitch and got past where I was today. I got past the level where you first enter the large purple structure. I love the cutscene with PoiPoi and the bridge and purple tower thing behind her. Hmm, I'm sure the gold and purple enemies are new. I see you completely replaced the drill enemies.  Those weird beast didn't scream invincible so good for doing that.

[Raku]

Oof, sorry about those bugs! I'm realizing a lot of these game crashes are due to too many sounds playing at once without cutting eachother off (which was just an oversight in several places. Most of the time, I made sure that wouldnt happen)

Also before I forget, for the missing musics, please download these three small files and place them in the folder with the game, and the music will be back in those places!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/av8uzsoo9dd8w16/Philosophy.pttune?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lqcjkhfdljhxoyn/OceanBreeze.pttune?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/88fh64w2iz01n9n/Deep_Sea.pttune?dl=0

I'm glad you liked the new purple enemies by the way!

[NinjAttack81]

Completed the demo.  If I hadn't commented on this already, you create some lovely backdrops for your stages.  Just breathtaking and imaginative.  Also, the new songs are great! As I had hoped, the theme used for "Dead Heat" has those nice, erm...uh, "orchestra hits"?  Is that what they're called?

Man, I must say, I was pretty sloppy during this recent playthrough.  Stupidly fell down pits, some easy enemies gave me a rough time, and now Mitsu-Honeytrap terrifies me.  Carefree is NOT an option with this cutesy platformer, lol.

[Praesidium]

Great job man, looks incredible!

[gunswordfist]

During Power Surge, I died at the beginning (right when you get to the first set of small platforms), then I was revived by the rings or whatever but the energy didn't kill me again and the screen just kept on going up. I had to restart. Also, I was moving left and right with the super speed when this happened. That probably has a lot to do with it.

[Raku]

@NinjAttack81 Congrats! I'm really glad you like the backdrops, I've spent a lot of time working on those and making them all something I was happy with. Thanks on the compliments on the Dead Heat BGM, yeah orchestra hits is what those are called, I believe.
You'll get the hang of playing safer. Though even I play really recklessly and die a lot when testing (then again I'm not limited by lives or game overs, etc, so there's less urgency in my case)

@Praesidium thank you!

@gunswordfist, Ahh, that's that's a pesky bug that I can immediately understand. What's happening is that Jack is being revived after being killed on the burning energy below, and he's being put back down below them. With nothing down below the screen to actually kill Jack again, he's left to sit there as the screen continues to scroll. This was an oversight with the Ophan helper that I've been meaning to fix (I just now finished fixing this in my copy and it should be better next demo) It shouldn't ever revive Jack when he touches an instant-death obstacle or falls down a pit since that wouldn't make much sense and it would just make him die immediately again afterwards, and also because it's purely for reviving Jack after being damaged to death from enemies (and the cherub is purely for rescuing from pits.) thanks for the feedback!

[Glyph]

I just beat the demo and have some more feedback!


*I played the whole thing on a gamepad with Joy2Key. It worked really well! Are you ever planning to innately support it, though? (my mapping was A-jump, X-attack, B-dodge, LB&RB-drop souls, if anyone's interested)

*In several of the later levels (pretty much every new one for this demo), checkpoints flat out didn't work for me, making them much harder to beat. I don't know if that's because my save got messed up, or if they're not implemented yet.

*A few notes on Kotobi: The tongue in general behaves weirdly, sometimes bouncing off the floor when trying to get to you, and retracting strangely as well. Its hitbox is also quite erratic. At times, it seems like you can hit the entire tongue sprite to inflict damage, and other times my attacks will whiff at the ball. I wonder, is the ball of the tongue even a hitbox? As for other attacks, I think the eye-missiles might fall just a tad too fast, and when the seed bombers start showing up, there seem to be a bit too many.

*Partially regarding the above, some bosses just have a pool of HP that can't even be scratched without all but the strongest of powerups. This calls for better overall weapon balance to allow for more than just a handful of combos being useful (see below).

*Some of the camera cuts for events, like when you beat Nadia, are quite jarring since they happen instantly. I'd recommend a slide transition if you can manage it.

*I figured out what to do with the green eye spirals. I was wondering for so long!

*Especially around enemies that seem like pinatas bursting to the seams with cubes, crystals, spheres, stars, and money, it's easy to get lost in the confusion of an enemy's death and the very real attacks coming at you. I don't know how to fix this and I like the flashy deaths, just bringing it up.

*When Jack jumps into the honey-coated elevators in the beehive, I assume his object is being destroyed, and re-created when he jumps out. This works fine, except for the pesky issue of depth. Jack and his hat seem to be at the same depth, so since Jack existed first he is drawn below his hat, and when he is re-created he will be drawn above his hat. I would recommend just making the hat's depth just be Jack's minus 1 so that this can't happen.

*Weapon balance:
-Gas+Boomerang is still incredibly powerful. Most combination powerups sacrifice something, be it speed, power, or range. Gas+Boomerang has it all, though. You can use it to burst down minibosses basically before they can act. I would assume that power level isn't intentional, so I'd suggest a damage reduction.
-Gun+Boomerang is, sadly, still quite ineffective. Despite being made from two of the most versatile and long-ranged powerups, it touts no range of its own, and its power is underwhelming to say the least. I'd recommend heavily boosting its damage and possibly making the shot speed faster.
-It seems like most of the Gas combos that actually use generic gas-attacks are underwhelming. They don't do enough damage to really seem worth using.
-I didn't play around much with Drill, but its range seems too short (I know that's the point), such that some enemies simply can't be safely hit with it without resulting in a trade.
-Shield+Boomerang, while looking awesome, doesn't seem to be balanced for the short range it confers. Its damage output is meager and can't compare to safer, stronger things.


Anyway, concerns aside, the game is great as ever! The background scenery is very nice and the levels were all varied and fun. Keep up the great work, I can't wait until the full thing's out!

[Raku]

Ah thank you for all the in-depth feedback!
Going through each in order:

-I'm glad joy2key worked well! I currently have no plans on innate support, but that's more of a thing I'd work on last if so. (nice button layout, btw. Sounds like it would work nicely)

-Huh, checkpoints should work regardless if you've beaten a stage or not, thank you for telling me. When you started this new demo did you start a new game from scratch, or continue?

-for that boss, I'll admit it's probably the least refined boss of them all, just due to working on other things and forgetting about it. The ball of the tongue is the hitbox at all times, but I should really work on making it seem to respond better, I know what you're talking about there. Understood on the other attacks, I'll tone those down a tad, thanks!

-about the camera cuts, I've noticed that there's a jolt as well, and I've been trying to make sure that it doesnt snap around like that. there's an invisible object that actually shoots out of bosses that move the screen and rushes toward Jack while "carrying" the camera with it, it SHOULD always have the camera connected to it whenever it's created, but apparently for a frame it jitters around due to something else trying to take the camera. I think I have a solution for this, and I'm making some fail-safes too as I type this.

-good job finding how to use the eye spirals! I'm happy people are figuring out how to interact with them haha.

-oh no, his hat still does that? I thought I had fixed that, but I must have somehow forgot to fix it with those, thanks for the heads up

as for weapon balance:
-I had weakened the gas+boomerang attack on main bosses, but I must have forgotten to weaken it enough on minibosses.
- the benefit of bullet+boomerang is the widened hitbox on the fireballs, and that they bounce and stay around for a while, letting enemies run into them. you can also shoot them off a ledge and let them get rid of enemies below you or in other areas like that. (also, like normal bullet ability, you can fire it as fast as your fingers can mash the button)
-I just realized myself that it might be nice to make the gas combo abilities bigger when combined, so that might help, but I'll see what I can do about making them a bit more powerful
-drills.. I didnt think of it before, but I could possibly make them bigger to make them safer to use (their hitbox already extends a bit further than their actual sprite fyi)
-does the sword and shield feel weak? I programmed it so that it should be one of the highest damaging abilities, but maybe I entered some value in wrong. I'll check up on it and also see what I can do about making it a more balanced ability.

Thank you for all the feedback! and thank you for the compliments, too! I appreciate it