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[Kramlack]

Love the new scenery, but I didn't notice the fog until like thirty seconds in. It might be better when full screen'd but I'd recommend bumping the alpha up a bit (maybe like 10 points)?

[DustyDrake]

I didn't notice it until someone mentioned it was in the background.
I guess it will be more noticeable in the actual game.

[Maud'Dib Atreides]

:O there's fog? whoa

[Udderdude]

Gave it a try.  Unfortunately the combat felt really weak (auto-aim?  really?!) and there didn't seem to be any way to avoid taking damage aside from rolling .. but you can't shoot while rolling anyway, so you're forced to fire at them and take damage eventually.

[SolarLune]

The fog is more noticeable in-game, but I also upped the alpha since then.



I also just added a reload key so that you don't have to waste shots to trigger a reload.

@Udderdude - What do you mean about the auto-aim? How do you feel it makes the combat weak? It takes use of a slot, and I was thinking about giving it a timer or something to make it so that you wouldn't roll with it all of the time. Does it make the combat too easy? Strafing helps to mitigate the damage, and I've tuned the controls a bit since the demo. It's not as easy as it probably should / could be to fight. The auto-aim was something to make the game easier when I first started making it, but I haven't used it since I've started implementing the items into the game world. It was going to be an optional item, not something that you have to get or start out with. I might end up taking it out altogether.

I do see that you'll take damage while playing, and that's something that I'm not a huge fan of. But hopefully that won't be an issue as there are health drops. Also, there already is stealth in the game (not in the demo, though), so direct combat against more than one enemy generally is a bad idea (like it probably should be). On the other hand, enemies will be patrolling, and they can be surprised and taken down quicker if you play strategically. They'll give chase, but they'll forget about you if you move far away enough. Bursting into all of the rooms will net you some damage, but hopefully, by the end of development, the player will be able to beat the game without getting hit once if they play smart.

Also, most modern shooter games have you take damage, as that's just the way games play. Bullets generally fly faster than you can dodge, but there's health drops or a shield / healing mechanism to compensate. I don't really think that's good in all cases, but I feel like the combat can feel solid for those games.

Top-down perspective with no manual 360 degree aiming and realistic bullet speeds probably was a bad decision. If I make a sequel, it'll probably have Contra-esque slow bullets.

[Udderdude]

Top-down perspective with no manual 360 degree aiming and realistic bullet speeds probably was a bad decision. If I make a sequel, it'll probably have Contra-esque slow bullets.

Is it really too late to change the enemies so they shoot projectiles you can dodge like this?  It's still in Alpha stages.

[Kramlack]

@SolarLune: One of these days you're going to sit down with me and spill your secrets. Your delicious secrets.

Also, I agree with Udderdude.

[Squid Party]

I actually love this new scenery 

[SolarLune]

Is it really too late to change the enemies so they shoot projectiles you can dodge like this?  It's still in Alpha stages.

I actually got through testing it out with slow projectiles just now. On the one hand, I like that I can now have actual projectiles that look different (so different weapons give you different attack styles, so to speak), and slower projectiles do give you a better chance of dodging them.

On the other hand, it was cramped given the size of the screen, which meant that I would have to pull the screen back to give you 'room to breathe'. That, though, made the game feel smaller. The bullets move slowly enough for you to just run away from them, but that makes rolling feel unnecessary since you can just run away from the bullets (though I was going to adopt a kind of "Lost Planet" system where the first part of the roll makes you invulnerable. That would allow you to roll 'through' bullets).

The enemies moved too quickly for the bullets, as well (i.e. you would shoot at a patrolling guard and he would literally out-walk them). I do like the idea and want to try it out, but I think I'll keep the system that I have for now. I guess I could release a video or demo and see what people think, though.

As for having to take damage, as I've mentioned, that's the case with pretty much every shooter game out there. If you play brazenly (stand around in the middle of four guards and shoot), you'll probably die, or at least take loads of damage. If you play cautiously, you should take minimal damage. That's what I'm aiming for here - there are at least two different styles of play currently. Be bold, attack directly, and patch yourself up afterward, or be smart and avoid conflicts, taking out enemies when convenient, or even not at all. I don't think I want this to turn into a top-down Contra (run and gun).

With the stealth elements and good level design, you should be able to play without taking very much damage at all (if any), and still feel relatively satisfied with the gameplay.

EDIT: Oh, and my brother suggested that I add some sort of visible 'lock-on' system for the robots. That way, if you see you're being targeted, you can roll out of the lock and attack. That sounded like a pretty good idea that might be worth investigating, though that might discourage stealth gameplay

@Squid Party - Thanks.

[SolarLune]

So I'm workin' on this. I just refactored the sign code a bit to be a bit more modular and easy to work with, but it's such a small change that it might not even be worth it. I'm building the dark park area into the rest of the world, and I'm trying to think of a good obstacle to focus you a bit. I've just got the areas up to the sewers worked out in terms of flow, pretty much. I might have to look at some Metroid Let's Plays or something to find good map flows. Something I'm pretty sure of is that the next place you should go after getting an item should be far from where you get the item.

For example (this isn't Metroid levels or anything; just an example), if you get the morph ball in the basement, you should use it in the elevator shaft 10 screens up - if you get the freeze gun in the ice containment facility, then you should use it in the volcano. If I recall correctly, in Metroid games, rarely was an item near the place you needed to use it to progress.

The areas in-between 'goals' (world-expanding items or abilities) can hold a lot of secrets and things that you can only access with the correct items; it's harder to pack secrets that aren't out of the way if you 'compress' the areas that you need to travel. That's another good reason to space out items - it keeps the player exploring. You could even throw in optional events depending on how the player progresses.

I also am thinking about adding skills in addition to items to help round out your exploration capabilities. I've only thought up one, though.

EDIT: Oh, and that purple water will be 'hazardous' water when I code it in. Fall in and you'll get some health taken and respawn at the beginning of the room (I think).

Also, thanks to everyone for your feedback and encouraging words to keep me working on this.

[DustyDrake]

That was water in that screenshot?
Thought it was grass.

[SolarLune]

Heh, nah, it's water. You can see it flowing in the animated GIF a couple of posts back.

[poe]

Looked like water to me

[SolarLune]

So I changed the color of the guard to a more obvious purple, since my bro said that he found it a bit difficult to keep track of them, which made sense. Now it shouldn't be hard to spot them at all. They also now have a little light around them in the dark, again making them easier to spot.



I also implemented the dark water as a hazard - fall in, and you'll lose 20 health and re-spawn at the last position that was safe. This will probably cause a bug later if I ever have moving platforms where you can fall into the water, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

[DustyDrake]

Weeelll, if you know the player is on a moving platform... can you store which platform they were on?