Zaphos;
First of all, thank you so much for the great input; ill adress everything particulary
* Doors are collectible items? That's really odd ...
Keys are collectables, doors/locks simply open up/dissapear, some animations are missing tho, but for the effect of the demo, i think it gets the point across.
* Controls don't feel quite responsive because of dead zones where they don't work -- like the jump key doesn't seem to double jump as the character is falling downwards, and the "go into hat" / duck key doesn't work while moving.
Noted!, and i just finished fixing that.
* It was odd to me that the duck key didn't toggle ducking; the idea that you right click to un-duck isn't intuitive to me.
Unfortunaly, its the next best thing i found... i tried some of the configs that Melly and Terry sugested, but unfortunaly, Mellys doesnt work as an all around alternative, and Terrys Z/X keys + Directional (was my original intention with the game) doesnt let me implement the gameplay like i want it.
* It might help to have a different animation for throwing the cards in a more upwards direction -- the animation seems a bit disconnected from the throw when I throw upwards.
* Also, an animation for throwing backwards, for when I run one way and throw the other ... or, actually, perhaps a 'running backwards' animation would be even better in this case.
Actually, i thought about this myself, and even tho, it might require quite a bit of remaking + some extra art, i think ill add it when i have a bit of spare time...tho, as it is right now, i dont feel like it takes much away from the game...does it?
* On that note, when I stand still and throw, if I've been running and the cursor was behind me I don't turn around to face where I'm throwing.
* The timing on card throws seems slightly off -- the second card seems to sometimes come out too quickly, sometimes too slowly, and then after that it's at a regular pace. I can see this getting confusing as people tough enemies where the number of cards hitting them is really important, so even though it's really small it would be good to fix.
Thanks, i noticed this myself, and im looking into it...dont really know whats causing it.
* Not sure if this is something you're planning already or not, but anyway it might help to make a more vibrant world if you put small animations (not too much -- just a few frames) on background elements like the flowers and grass. Just (for example) swaying in the wind, that kind of thing. For kicks you could also have more elaborate animations, but they should be randomly triggered (don't want the background to become too distracting).
Yeah, thanks a bunch for the suggestion, im actually planning to have subtles animations all around the scenery, like small creatures, butterflies, fireflies and stuff acording to the enviroment...actually you can already see the flower on the background moves. Im not sure about the elaborated animations randomly triggered...but i was thinking of some reaction of the enviroment on the player.
Tho, im trying to keep focused, i dont want this to become overly complicated.
* You absolutely want sound effects, but I'm sure you know that already!
Absolutely, music and sound effects, integral part of the game, however im outsourcing that line of work to my little brother, i hope to have the theme of the forest zone included in the next build.
Again, your input was fantastic, thank you so much, and i expect to correct the problems you mentioned and include your suggestions.
Thinking about my idea again, I don't see an issue with too many keys being pressed at once.
Lets take jumping onto that small opening right at the start in order to get to the doors: You'd tap 'up' twice in order to double jump, and while you're on the apex of the jump you'd press and hold 'down', ducking in the hat, then you'd press and hold 'right' to enter the opening. You only need two buttons being pressed at once (down and right), any other action being done with the mouse that doesn't conflict with keyboard keys.
Melly;
I tried to implement your configuration and works fine in open spaces (like entering that tight passage on the demo), however, inside tight spaces, trying to jump and enter the hat in mid air is right near impossible since you collide with the platform above...So im afraid im discarding that config.
Jimbob: I dont plan to include Joypad unless...well the control scheme returns to basics, and i drop the mouse control.
Terry: Like i said to Jimbob, i dont think ill enable that control scheme (tho the very first version was built around that system) hopefully its for the best!
Thanks everyone for the great critique; keep it comming!
Im not posting the fixed version without the deadzone...as i want to wait until i have something with and extra oomph! for you guys to test out.
Hopefully ill have something this week tho.
Developer
