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[jc]

Credit goes to "The Translocator" for the name.  


So the story behind this game is that it started out as some dumb, simple game to be played between me and my friends. However, as I added more and more to it, I realized that it was actually coming out pretty good. So, I decided I would release it to the public. I haven't finished all the levels yet, but I'd say I'm about 80% done. Once I finish it all the way, I'll release it for free! For now, I've put up a playable demo for everyone to try out. Let me know what you think of it, what you liked and didn't like.

Note: The game was meant to be played with a controller (An X-Box controller is what I tested it with.) You can use a keyboard, but it will be a bit awkward.

I also want to give a big thanks to the good folks at crunchyco.com who were gracious enough to give me permission to use their music!

KEYBOARD CONTROLS:
Player 1
Arrow Keys - Move
. - Jump
/ - Shoot

Player 2
W,A,S,D - Move
X - Jump
Z - Shoot

Player 3
T,F,G,H - Move
V - Jump
C - Shoot

Player 4
I,J,K,L - Move
M - Jump
N - Shoot

Before I post the links, a few quick notes:
- Press 'F5' at any time to toggle FullScreen mode.
- During play, hold down the 'ESC' key to return to the main menu
- Some of the levels are missing some detail. I plan to go back and add some more detail once I finish making all the levels.
- The title graphic is temporary. I'll make a better one sometime in the future.
- I also plan to add health pickups to make it a little easier.

You can watch the gameplay sample here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYDGr6h5AHk

You can play it yourself with the current demo here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/77nox89tqftm2t4/BitCrushersDemo.exe

[The Translocator]

You know that since I gave you the name I have to play it.

I'll start with the minor things:
I was expecting the credits to go automatically, so I waited for them- it took a while to figure out I had to press something.
It let me move on the menu with a keyboard but not select anything, so I got out my xbox control. You should either fix that or make it clear that you *can't* play with a keyboard.
The game didn't detect the control after I plugged it in, so I had to restart it.
The physics felt great- although I might change the jump "animation" if possible.
The first flying enemy was really hard to get a shot at... until I realized you could shoot upwards and downwards. Since you're mainly supporting controllers, I'd suggest mapping aiming to the right analog, movement to the left, jumping to up on the movement analog, and shooting to either trigger- as it would allow the player more freedom.
Once I got used to the controls, though, it was a nice platform shooter.
Then I got to the spiders and tried to duck to shoot them... I died and the level reset. 
The explosion from a dead flying enemy killed me. Nice touch.
I like the minibosses you included.
I didn't get very far, but if you change the controls I'll try again because what I got to play that didn't involve standing still so I could shoot straight up or down was great. 

[jc]

You can use the keyboard, the controls for the first player are '.' and '/'. The reason for that is because I needed to fit controls for four different players on the keyboard. I told you it was awkward. I need to update the first post to include this info, thanks for letting me know.

I like your idea about using both sticks for shooting.

Yeah, the spiders. You're meant to jump over them, lol. I'm glad you liked the game, though. Thanks so much for the feedback!

[The Translocator]

Oh. I guess I should have guessed it was . and / 
Yes, I knew you were supposed to jump over the spiders, but I'm so used to retro platform shooters where you can't aim that I made that mistake. I'll definitely play it more if you switch it to use both sticks. Then it will be a "Platform Twin-stick shooter".

[Quicksand-S]

Nice game you've got there. I'll mention a bunch of issues below, but my overall impression was good.

Waiting for the level title to go away took about twice as long as I would've liked. I just wanted to get to the gameplay as quickly as possible. Not the biggest deal, but something I thought I'd mention anyway.

Is there a way to quit back to the menu during gameplay? I had to use Alt-F4 or the X button for the window every time.

I really like the music. The differently-sized pixels bug me a little bit, but I realize your art isn't finalized.

Gameplay-wise, it feels pretty good. I agree with the suggestion to map aiming and movement to different sticks. The only thing I really disliked was that enemies could aim in directions that I couldn't. 90% of my deaths came from either being shot from a location I couldn't aim at or being killed because aiming without moving into the line of fire was basically impossible.

I don't like the spiders. I know it's possible to kill them, but in a game where shooting things is the point, it seems strange that the player is kind of encouraged to just avoid those enemies.

I think the bees might be just a little too fast. I was aiming up and hitting the fire button. Most died, but one proved that it's possible for them to move fast enough to avoid bullets, which just seemed buggy because my bullets looked like they were hitting it.

It would be nice if F5 worked during the initial credits/logo screens (or, even better, if it remembered my preference). If I'm going to play a game in full-screen, I tend to switch to that mode as soon as I can.

Bug? The gamepad doesn't seem to do anything during the initial credits. I agree with The Translocator that they should probably move along on their own, but being able to skip through them with the gamepad is something I'd like.

Anyway, it's pretty cool. I really like the feel of the gameplay and the music reminds me of certain games from my childhood. As The Translocator said, "if you change the controls I'll try again".

[jc]

Bug? The gamepad doesn't seem to do anything during the initial credits. I agree with The Translocator that they should probably move along on their own, but being able to skip through them with the gamepad is something I'd like.

Ohhh shoot. You were meant to be able to do that. Those credits screens were rushed in at the last second and I forgot to add the code for that. Oops!

Is there a way to quit back to the menu during gameplay? I had to use Alt-F4 or the X button for the window every time.

Yep. You can hold down the Escape key at any time to return to the main menu.

As for the difficulty, I'm going to add some health pickups in the next update and also implement some of the suggestions you guys mentioned. Plus, playing with more people makes the game a little easier, haha. As for the spider enemies, well, I wanted to give the player a reason to jump, lol. You can kill them if you jump and aim downwards, which is what I intended.

I'll also see if I can add a level select in the next demo so you don't have to replay the same levels.

[Quicksand-S]

You can hold down the Escape key at any time to return to the main menu.

Ohhhhhh. I pressed it a bunch of times but I'm not used to PC games requiring me to hold buttons like that, so it never even occurred to me.

As for the spider enemies, well, I wanted to give the player a reason to jump, lol. You can kill them if you jump and aim downwards, which is what I intended.

Jumping and aiming down doesn't seem particularly practical with the current control setup. If I aim straight down, then I'm likely to land on the spider. If I aim down at an angle, half the time my aim changes when I go to shoot (with the gamepad). This may be an issue with the way the stick direction is being used. There seems to be a very, very fine line between aiming down at an angle and aiming sideways. Then again, maybe I just use my gamepad strangely or something.

One thing that occurred to me is that there's little incentive to fight most of the airborne enemies. Only the bees and the tower/boss/thing are a threat if you keep running forward while shooting. If it's meant to feel like Contra, then enemies should probably move faster and possibly spawn from various locations rather than being pre-placed. If it's not meant to feel like Contra, then I would propose that you give some enemies a little more health in order to force players to stop and fight sometimes.