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[Lode]

Hi, I've tried to improve the following things of the game and uploaded the new version:

-made the screen scroll smoother when the player walks (it scrolls with half instead of whole tiles now)
-made some of the initial levels a bit shorter and more action packed
-replaced the too long "Elemental Blocks" level with a completely new, shorter, one
-placed some more treasure in later levels
-improved the score system, there's a score value calculated based on all the stats and a total score in the main stats screen. The formula might change later though.

I'm a bit concerned about how the input feels now that the screen scrolls. There's nothing actually changed to how the character responds to the keyboard, but it seems to me as if due to the scrolling screen, it feels different to the player, which might cause missclicking sometimes (i.e. accidently walking one tile too far). How do the controls feel for you?

Note that if you can clearly see that the screen scrolls in half-tile steps, that this is not due to lag or slowness, but simply because the screen is only redrawn every 100 milliseconds. It uses almost no CPU between those frames. Does it appear laggy to you or not?

Thanks!

[lapsus]

hmm not sure if the movement change was an improvement, still feels choppy, i would prefer a fast smooth transition between the tiles. what is the reason for running the game in 10fps?

i do like that you changed the elemental block level, and the shield before the mouse that killed me in the wall, nice!

a "retry" button and a summary of total coins/treasure at the end screen might be nice for replaying the level to get all the stuff

[Thardus]

I enjoy the game's concept, and there are definitely some fun puzzles (I made it to about 18 before I needed a break) but man is the movement system frustrating. Cornering in particular feels very imprecise and leads to a lot of accidental deaths. Personally, I'd rather see either a Chip's Challenge style 1 press = 1 instant tile moved, or the movement system smoothed and tightened up controlwise.

Other comments:
* Blocks making no sound when moved and moving one whole tile at a time when everything else moves half-tiles seems weird and unfinished.

* I wish the game kept track of my -total- loot through the entire campaign somewhere on the main UI. Maybe something like yournumber/max loot? It would make it feel more important.

* Can we maybe press spacebar to advance to the next level? It's minor, but moving my hand all the way from WASD to Enter every time I beat a level is clunky.

* Are you planning on improving the graphics? I know good gameplay comes first, but this is a lovely setup so far and I think it deserves polish.

[cystem glitch]

I'd rather see either a Chip's Challenge style 1 press = 1 instant tile moved

+1  I also preferred this unchanged

[Lode]

I enjoy the game's concept, and there are definitely some fun puzzles (I made it to about 18 before I needed a break) but man is the movement system frustrating. Cornering in particular feels very imprecise and leads to a lot of accidental deaths. Personally, I'd rather see either a Chip's Challenge style 1 press = 1 instant tile moved, or the movement system smoothed and tightened up controlwise.

I could make it an option then maybe. It's in fact an option already, but hidden Press G to go to the GOTO screen, and in there type playeranim to toggle the walk animation. If it is toggled off, it's back like it was before. I think I'll make a checkbox for this option somewhere.

There's also a monsteranim setting by the way.

Other comments:
* Blocks making no sound when moved and moving one whole tile at a time when everything else moves half-tiles seems weird and unfinished.

Yeah, the non animation is a bug. I never planned to make sound for blocks though, it'd get annoying in levels with many blocks I think...

* I wish the game kept track of my -total- loot through the entire campaign somewhere on the main UI. Maybe something like yournumber/max loot? It would make it feel more important.

This is a good idea! Thanks!

* Can we maybe press spacebar to advance to the next level? It's minor, but moving my hand all the way from WASD to Enter every time I beat a level is clunky.

Also a good idea!

* Are you planning on improving the graphics? I know good gameplay comes first, but this is a lovely setup so far and I think it deserves polish.

There are some graphics that I plan to improve: The main menu image (I'd love to somehow get a very beautiful pixel art image with the tower and such). The menu buttons. The in-game interface. And some of the in-game tiles, such as the lizards and other not yet shaded monsters.

However most of the other in-game tiles are pretty final. But please be honest, are most in-game tiles and monsters fine, or bad?

[Thardus]

Press G to go to the GOTO screen, and in there type playeranim to toggle the walk animation. If it is toggled off, it's back like it was before.

I tried it out with this setting, I'm up to level 25ish now and it definitely "feels" more accurate but I -do- wish that I could move as fast as I could press the button. I'm guessing the reason for the delay has to do with the green monster that chases you? mmmmh.

Yeah, the non animation is a bug. I never planned to make sound for blocks though, it'd get annoying in levels with many blocks I think...

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think if it was short and non-obnoxious it'd be fine.

However most of the other in-game tiles are pretty final. But please be honest, are most in-game tiles and monsters fine, or bad?

They're okay, in a kind of old, retro sense. But overall the levels feel fairly bland. I think you could either use some fancier tile graphics, or a larger variety of tile types (so as to decorate the levels). But then I'm an artist so I'm into that sort of thing ;p

[Thardus]

I'm not really experienced at this kind of tile art, but I tried making an example of something I thought had a bit more personality to it. (edit: had another idea, changed it abit)

[Starflier]

I'm not really experienced at this kind of tile art, but I tried making an example of something I thought had a bit more personality to it. (edit: had another idea, changed it abit)

That turned out really good, I like that you managed to keep the feel of the game, just polished it up a bit...

[Lode]

I'm not really experienced at this kind of tile art, but I tried making an example of something I thought had a bit more personality to it. (edit: had another idea, changed it abit)

Wow, that's pretty nice!

I especially like the player character, and the perspective of the walls.

Quite a large improvement indeed...

[Thardus]

Wow, that's pretty nice!

I especially like the player character, and the perspective of the walls.

Quite a large improvement indeed...

I may be temporarily abandoning my sanity by saying this but I'd be willing to make a full tileset if you wanted.

[Lode]

Wow, that's pretty nice!

I especially like the player character, and the perspective of the walls.

Quite a large improvement indeed...

I may be temporarily abandoning my sanity by saying this but I'd be willing to make a full tileset if you wanted.

I like your work, so that's a nice offer! I was saying earlier on that the tiles were pretty final, but the above screenshots have changed my mind.

I'm making this game for free in my spare time, so I can't pay for artwork though, no matter how nice. It's not a commercial game, and the publisher is myself

Please let me know if you're still interested, and what your license etc... is.

[Thardus]

Sent you a PM.

[supershigi]

I haven't read all the responses in this thread, so I apologize if parts of my feedback have already been mentioned here.  This was a cute little game with well-designed puzzles, I had a good time playing it ^_^  I hope these comments are helpful:

• I thought you did a good job with the puzzles.  Rather than making the player read a ton of dialogue explaining how everything worked, you used the "show-don't-tell" method to teach players what to do with their environment, which I think is great.  The puzzles weren't too difficult, but were still interesting.  I also enjoyed the little messages.
• The game was slightly laggy, which made certain sections challenging in a bad way.  In "Forest Ice" for example, it was pretty frustrating getting through the area with the mice due to the lag.  I don't mind difficult levels, but when the difficulty comes from lag it is annoying.
• I wasn't sure how the sword and shield worked.  When you have the shield, can you just walk into enemies?  When you have the sword, do you kill enemies an unlimited number of times from just walking into them?
• The coin SFX is rather grating when heard multiple times in a row; you might consider doing something less high pitched (lightly tossing a few coins in your hand for example), or pitch shifting the coin SFX.

Overall I liked it a lot.  Also, Thardus: Your tileset and character example look great (I especially like the water).  I'm super curious to see anything you come up with for the game that follows that style ^_^

[Thardus]

Overall I liked it a lot.  Also, Thardus: Your tileset and character example look great (I especially like the water).  I'm super curious to see anything you come up with for the game that follows that style ^_^

Mwahaha. Lode and I have been working like crazy. Lode has added 4-frames-per tilemove animation support to everything in the game and I've been making great use of it. Here's some samples; there's a lot of old graphics floating around in the shots though. I'm not done yet!

[supershigi]

That's great to hear!  I'm really digging the main character's run animation, it's really cute.  I'll totally give the game another go once you have the new tileset implemented ^_^ 

I might be able to whip up some background music, too, if you guys need something.