Alright, I'm finaly here! And about time too!
I've based my comemnts on your first release. I know you made a second but we'll see if you fixed some issues that I've spotted in the first download.
Let's get down to it...
Controls:
First thing's first, you shoukd always try NOT to use the shift keys constantly in your games. Windows got that sticky thing going on where once you've pushed 5 times the shift key rapidly, it pops up a message box asking you if you want to enable it. Use other keys, like space or Z, to make sure that you don't annoy people with this.
The ENTER key is pretty much the standard in terms of "entering" in menus. Use it in your. This will be the first key the player will try out so might as well us it. You don't need to use it in-game but menu-wise, it's better to use it.
Speaking of the menus, you need to be consistant between your screens. Choose one key to accept (I strongly suggest ENTER) and one key for cancel/back (ESC is a good choice too). And, whatever you do in your game, the player will now which key to press to accept or cancel something.
Moving on to the ESC key... It's always a good idea to allow your user to use the ESC key since it's already the standard in terms of exiting a program. Of course, always ask a confirmation before closing the game, as you never now if the player pressed it intentionaly or not.
If there are no use for cursors in your game, don't put one. You're just telling us to use the mouse but all we need is the keyboard...
In new game, I didn't not have the time to say YES or NO before the game was erased.
Weird bug when trying to push an object when you're too close. You ahve to press the c button down and then move closer. It should be automatic .
The tutorial is very long. Try to make it a bit more simple. A good way of doing so is by using the SNK approach. You create a 30 second animation telling what are the basic moves and that's it. The player will want to toy around with the game a bit. By holding too much his hand, he'll be turned off.
Attacking isn't very tight. The character should be attacking the second we press the button. Right now there's a slight delay before the character attacks and we attack too fast. We should see more of the energy spark. The jumping attack is ok, but the groudn attack needs work.
Also, you need to push back enemies after they got attacked. Right now, enemies stay very close to us and actually kill us before we can't even do something about it. You could also make us bounce back a bit after we're attacked. Just a teensy bit.
The jumping speed is a tad too slow. Try to make it a bit faster. I also feel like the character is floating too much after he reached his jump peak.
I don't think I like how you handle the stopping of a run. I feel like the character should break a lot faster when you just let go the button and you should add a breaking animation when we press the opposite direction. Right now, it feels like we have too little control over the character when we don't use the keyboard and too much when we use it.
The walking speed is too slow. I know you have the running technique but I'd still make the character walk faster.
Levels:
I didn't see much of the levels cuz I never got through level 1-2...
When you deisgn your levels, make sure that the pick-able objects are positionned in a fashion that a player can catch them all with one move and not have to come back. If the player misses crystals, he'll try to jump again to catch them all in one shot. You can make it that you have alot of crystals to pick up with many jumps, just make sure that it's placed so that they cna all be grabbed using optimal jumps.
Always make sure the player will see where he's going. The fore ground trees are very nice but they cover the game screen too much. At one point in the first level, I died because I fell off a ledge and didn't see enemies at the bottom.
Multiple paths are always a must. It promotes exploration. I think you have something like taht but can't remember.
If the character dies at the first level, don't show us the quick tutorial. We already know all off that info.
User interface:
I'd move the lives with all the rest of the information regarding the character. Perhaps add the number of lives on the bottom right corner of the face icon...
If I don't have access to magic, don't show the MP stats... The adding of a new element can be used as an element of discovery for the player.
I think you could try to have a more graphical way to show the HP.
The crystals in the HUD look like a condom with a star... I'd make it more like the one we pick up, with 2 energy lights moving inside...
Graphics and sounds:
Interesting stuff. The graphics are ok, but need a little more finish. I think his feet are a bit too big and I don' feel like the big portraits match the model.
I'd also make the character blink occasionaly
The textures a bit blurry at some spots and we can see the wrapping limits on some of them, like the background of the big tutorial. The trees in the background have a pixeled outline in the first level. Try anti-aliasing them.
The yellow arrow feels a bit dull compared to the rest
Ladders should always be connected to something...
The winning stance is a bit odd. the character looks straight up and I think he should look at us instead...
The music is catchy and nice. The sounds are a bit off at some place, happening after the actual action. The characters does sound like Mickey Mouse, which is just plain weird at moments.
The woopa sound should be abit more happy
I'd make the heart bonus powerup look more like a heart.
I'd use a slightly bigger font to make sure we can clearly see the numbers.
The butterflies are a nice touch.
Gameplay:
The idea of mixing RPG elements with action isn't a bad one but I don't think you should use numbers to show us teh information. Remove the numbers from the attacks and give us graphical xp gages...
Make sure that we have plenty of things to explore and give us alot of possibilities with powers.
It's hard to tell about our motivation in the game because I can't get very far.
Well, that's pretty much it for right now. See what you can fix and I'll give it another go.
You did a great job so far, don't give up! Keep us noticed of further developments!
Later!
Guert
Developer
