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[battlerager]

Dopterra Presents:
RUNGEONS AND TAGEONS
(click above title to download)




RUN FOR LIFE IN THIS BRUTAL GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK.

At the start of the game, one of the players is assigned to be the hunter.
Watch as the hunter becomes the hunted the moment he slays his prey.
Score points by not getting caught.
Whoever ends with most points wins.


Potent magic fills the air and will manifest in unpredictable powerups found throughout the arena.



Controls
F1 = 2 Player Mode
F2 = 3 Player Mode
F3 = 4 Player Mode

Player 1 controls the mysterious BLUE BLADE and uses WASD.
Player 2 controls the shifty YELLOW CLOAK and uses the arrow keys.
Player 3 controls the mighty RED GAUNTLET and uses IJKL.
Player 4 controls the elegant GREEN GRIMOIRE and uses FTGH.

R restarts the match.


HAVE FUN


TL;DR: The thrill of tag combined with the chaos of Mario Kart

Notes:
- not all graphics finished in time
- didnt have time for a menu so controls are fixed and modes mapped to f1 - f3
- more items to come after comp, different maps, different sprites for different Players
- the rooms were separated by doors that you could lock, but I had to quickly take them out due to time reasons when I tried implementing new graphics for them. Sorry!
- the "Darkness" item is completely horrible and more of a proof of concept

[Moth]

I handled this game's shapes and colors. It ended up being more than I could chew in a few hours so there's a lot of stuff that has placeholder graphics or just really bad, "last 3 minutes before deadline" graphics.

For this I apologize. I promise the later iterations of this game will look much better, haha.

[battlerager]

Because voting started and I don't want this to get completely lost. 

[Hayden Scott-Baron]

Increpare, Terry Cavanagh, Sophie H and I tried this game for a while. Here's what we thought:

- Like the name
- like the game
- took us a while to figure out what was going on
- illusion with fixed background and gap in centre is disorienting but charming

[Theon]

Interesting...

Downloading now.

[Fluff]

Ok, we played this for a little while. There's definitely some neat concepts at work behind this game! Ultimately, though, it felt unfinished and more like a prototype than a game.

Some thoughts:
Love the character sprite! But it doesn't really match the perspective of the background. I'd say keep the characters change the background, though. (Also: how about only animating when moving?)

Hard to tell who was "it," that is: the who was the hunter. You have to watch whose points don't change but usually you don't have time for more than a quick glance at the HUD. You have to watch for at least a second to see if it's not changing but watching for at least a second disrupts your play. Some other form of feedback to tell the players who the hunter is would help. For example, you could have a symbol on the HUD for quick visual reference or you could change the hunter's avatar in some way (e.g., different color or size or appearance).

When we played 3-player, we all ended up watching the minimap not our individual screens. You could remove the individual screens and just put the whole map over the whole screen but that removes some of the novelty of the game, I think, which is that you have to tell where someone is by looking at the pattern of doors on their screen. Other options would be to remove the minimap entirely or make it less effective (like, you can see what screen each player is on, but not where in that screen.)

The question boxes didn't seem terribly effective. The game is essentially tag. It's about person X trying to touch someone and everyone else trying to avoid person X. So, think about traps that could hurt or help the people in that situation in interesting ways. I would say drop the damaging traps and keep the speed, invisibility, darkness and teleport. (Also: when you teleport, how does the player know what happened? Try adding some feedback like a unique sound or animation.)

There is a lot of work to be done but it could turn out really great. Good luck!

[battlerager]

Thanks for the feedback, Hayden! Glad you guys seemed to like it.

And wow, mad good post, Fluff

it felt unfinished and more like a prototype than a game.

Yeah, this is certainly true. I basically started this 3 days before the compo ended as my first game maker (or any real game period) game ever.  

Love the character sprite!

Thank Moth for that.  

(Also: how about only animating when moving?)

We'll test this.

Hard to tell who was "it," that is: the who was the hunter.

Yeah, I had little to no time to improve this as I was putting in more items and bugfixing nonstop, haha. EXCUSES I KNOW

you could change the hunter's avatar in some way (e.g., different color or size or appearance).

This was pretty much what I was planning on. Glowing eyes or a black color. (and an item that messes with this, obviously!)

When we played 3-player, we all ended up watching the minimap not our individual screens.

I kinda feared that would happen

novelty of the game, I think, which is that you have to tell where someone is by looking at the pattern of doors on their screen.

Very glad to hear that it worked out this way, because that was pretty much the idea when I realized screenpeeking was unavoidable with splitscreen. YAY  

Other options would be to remove the minimap entirely

Probably this. It only was in this build anyway because the screen setup for 3 players left that empty part and I wasn't sure what to put in. I'm sure I can put in a nicer timer and some random tips or the last events (PLAYER 2 TAKES THE LEAD) in there. Maybe some announcer guy sprite.... hmmmm!

I would say drop the damaging traps and keep the speed, invisibility, darkness and teleport.

Pretty good advice!
What about the rotating fire object? The main thing I am trying to do with these items is force players off the "ideal", short ways through the rooms. I thought at least the rotating fire would be a big enough obstacle...
Did you guys notice that you get slower the less health you have? Did that play a role at all?

Here's some other item ideas I am implementing by the way:
- a fake item pickup at the same spot that is actually a trapdoor to the other players
- a spreading puddle of glue
- a very experimental idea that makes the screen's contents the actual level layout for a little bit
- an item that reverses the other player's controls for a bit

how do these sound?

Also, the ball is very bad because it covers so little space I think. I'll try how it feels if it is aimed at the nearest (other) player when spawning. Would it be more interesting if it also knocked people away (so it is not just damage but a choice between evading or the gap becoming bigger)

(Also: when you teleport, how does the player know what happened? Try adding some feedback like a unique sound or animation.)

Again, lack of time and wasn't sure what to do exactly. How does a (rather quick) pan of the camera to the new place (so you see what way it is moving) after a short delay with a TELEPORTING animation sound?

There is a lot of work to be done but it could turn out really great. Good luck!

Thanks so much for the feedback. This is greatly encouraging and I will work on this more.  
Thanks!!!!

[Fluff]

Pretty good advice!
What about the rotating fire object? The main thing I am trying to do with these items is force players off the "ideal", short ways through the rooms. I thought at least the rotating fire would be a big enough obstacle...

I like the way you think! When we played, though, we just walked through the fire. Partly we didn't know how important health was. Idea: if the rotating object was solid, players would be physically unable to go that route. (Although leaving it fire does give players an option and creates an interesting trade off: spend life, and therefore speed, to take a shortcut and gain ground).

Did you guys notice that you get slower the less health you have? Did that play a role at all?

We didn't notice this. We noticed players moving different speeds but couldn't figure out why. This certainly makes health more important. Of course my approach is to just remove as much as possible so if I could find a way to do without health, I probably would. But variable speed could be important in a game of tag. And tying it to health isn't a bad way to get variable speed in the game.

Part of the problem, perhaps, is that the connection between health and speed is not immediately intuitive. Maybe if the character sprite looked physically hurt and started limping, it would tie these things together more.

Here's some other item ideas I am implementing by the way:
- a fake item pickup at the same spot that is actually a trapdoor to the other players
- a spreading puddle of glue
- a very experimental idea that makes the screen's contents the actual level layout for a little bit
- an item that reverses the other player's controls for a bit

how do these sound?

I like your ideas! I actually wanted to do a "reverse controls" trap in my own game, but ran out of time. (So I really like that idea, I'm biased). The trapdoor sounds a little similar to the teleport trap? But maybe I misunderstand how these work.

I'm not sure if how the item system works now is the most effective. The combination of items being random and immediate makes them of questionable usefulness, I think. Essentially, if you aren't in trouble, they won't make a significant difference. If you are in trouble, you have to just hope you get something that will immediately help.

Also, the ball is very bad because it covers so little space I think. I'll try how it feels if it is aimed at the nearest (other) player when spawning. Would it be more interesting if it also knocked people away (so it is not just damage but a choice between evading or the gap becoming bigger)

That's a good idea, and if you keep health, you'll want some damage items. But you're right, the ball was ineffective.

How does a (rather quick) pan of the camera to the new place (so you see what way it is moving) after a short delay with a TELEPORTING animation sound?

That should work fine. You might even get away without the camera pan. You could also think about spawning a little cloud of smoke before and after so people know why someone just disappeared or appeared in front of them.