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[Polygonzo]

Hopefully this image makes you say to yourself, "I wanna see what that there game's all about!"


Someday I will elaborate on the characters featured here, like Kissy the Cobra who holds Sir Eleanor hostage in the Tower of Lonely Hearts.

[Quicksand-T]

Yeah I really like that. Especially the glimpse of another area.

[Polygonzo]

That's something I've been debating actually. Someone told me the blue sky didn't fit (fair enough), but I want to elude to the other areas/moods of Happy Hell so...cool!

[Pezomi]

I think the image represents the game perfectly! Great job!

[Quicksand-T]

That's something I've been debating actually. Someone told me the blue sky didn't fit (fair enough), but I want to elude to the other areas/moods of Happy Hell so...cool!

I think an area like that could fit if you just make everything superficially cheerful but also wrong in some way.

[Polygonzo]

Here's a modest (though gib-liberal) clip. I've changed the turban power to a kind of satanic-anti-pope hat... Check them exploding feet!

[bsp]

hahah this looks amazing

def following

[Quicksand-T]

Satanic Pope Hat! Haha that's so cool.

[SirNiko]

Gave the demo a shot. In general I like it, though the demo level seems crowded and small. I couldn't get past the coffin since I hit the kill-box bug twice in a row. Is there a way to open the coffin without any of the soul powers?

The disappearing platforms near the start will start flickering when you touch them from the side, which seems weird. You should make them only vanish when stood upon.

You can easily walk on the rocks bordering the level, which makes reaching the devil tail soul sucker easier than it seems like it should. Is this intentional? I would have expected the player to start sliding off the rocks, pushing them back into the level or into the pit to prevent that.

I like the mix of powers - the redundancy of some of the powers (eg double jump, jester jump, devil tail jump do similar but different things) is a great idea, since the player is encouraged to not take them all.

The way the powers are obtained by trading souls is iffy to me. It sounds like the optimal way to play is to skip all the powers to get to see the best ending, which makes all the cool abilities redundant. If the game winds up being very short (eg. 1-2 hours) that might not be a big deal, since you can just do a series of successive runs with fewer powers each time.

You should consider making up a narrative reason to let the player pick two or three powers (either for the duration of the game, or for each level). You could still keep the handicap of giving up some powers for a better ending, but it'd also introduce strategy to the game where each combination of powers dictates a different strategy for beating the levels.

[Polygonzo]

Hey SirNiko, thanks for playing the game!

Sorry about the coffin bug (which you need Proboscis Trismegistus to open). I'll have that fixed in a build this weekend. Ditto the flickering platforms and the outer level geometry.

I'm glad you appreciate the "redundancy" of powers. The way in which those powers can be used and change the outcome of the story is something I'd like to open up for discussion.

I continue to toy with different ideas. Should the player be able to tell what power they'll get from a Soul Sucker before using one? Can they swap powers, having a limited number of powers at once? That would give players more of a sense of control over their path, making kind of strategic decisions…which could be fun.

Going further into that kind of decision-based approach, I've entertained the idea that Soul Suckers give you a $oul currency to spend. All the powers would have different prices to pay and could be unlocked at any time granted the player has sold enough soul. I've leaned toward a simpler approach but I'm not opposed to going down that road if it resonates with others.

About how the powers effect the outcome (Spooky's wish). I don't really think of there being "good" or "bad" endings because the value of the endings and the fun had by trying to win them are up to player's tastes…(or at least that's the intent). If you decide to forgo all powers and tough it out through mad platforming skills and deranged detective work, that's interesting in itself for some people, and then there's the unique ending/reward as a result. The narrative outcome is not a better or worse outcome necessarily but a different one to entice another play through and gameplay approach.

The amount of soul that's sold will affect the final boss battle in a way that is similarly ambiguous as to whether it's the "good" or "bad" way. It's mostly just about having a different experience. So if you don't use Soul Suckers, you are essentially fighting Satan naked and much weaker, but he has no influence over you. If you have loads of magik powers, you are stronger but he can manipulate you more easily.

Anyway, I am still quite open to how these powers can be obtained and used throughout the game. There are a number of ways that I can go about it so it would be great to get people's opinions and hear what people find most interesting.

I should go fix those bugs though. Cheers.

Oh, and I think you may be right about the level feeling crowded and small…if you want to elaborate feel free

[eigenbom]

I loved Banjo Kazooie and this looks pretty cool. Good luck with development and ping me when you release it! (I unfortunately don't have time to play many early builds these days)

[Polygonzo]

Thanks eigenbom No worries, do your thing!

[Polygonzo]

So my goal is to launch the Kickstarter next week!  I'm spending most of my time making the trailer right now. It's narrated by The Devil (me, voice pitch-shifted).

Here's a game over image I made for the video and will insert into the demo in a bit. I'll add some wicked flames ect. for the final thing, for sure.



I'm also hoping to fix the annoying bugs in the current demo build. Thanks again to everyone who's played so far! I hope to have a playable demo available for the Kickstarter so any feedback is appreciated.

[DocLogic]

Here's a modest (though gib-liberal) clip. I've changed the turban power to a kind of satanic-anti-pope hat... Check them exploding feet!

Hey, this game looks great! Tons of charm, and I know 3d platformers are sort of in high demand/low saturation. That image on the top of this page is dope as hell! I watched this video a couple times, only thing that looked a bit off is the "eye" icon when you are Z-targeting an enemy. I get what you are going for, but for some reason its just standing out as not really looking right.

Everything else looks fantastic though, seriously great work.

[Polygonzo]

Thanks Doc! You are quite right about the eye. It was my first pass and it looks pretty lame. I will take another stab at it when I can, and I'm always open to suggestions.

[ChairmanYang]

Tried out the PC demo, because I'm also a huge Super Mario 64 (and Galaxy 1/2) fan.

Great work so far! I love the concept of a surreal 3D platformer set in various hells...you're going to be able to do all kinds of crazy, creative level designs with this theme.

The controls are decent, but still a bit floaty. Honestly, I'd suggest copying Super Mario 64's basic controls as closely as possible and then going from there--there's still plenty of room for innovation from that extremely solid base.

Some control bits that SM64 does almost perfectly:
* the length of time you're in the air after jumping, and the height of the various jumps (check this video for some potentially useful points:

)
* the acceleration and the momentum of the character
* the moveset. You've incorporated some SM64 moves with your powerups, but you should consider putting more of them as part of the core set, then saving powerups for more exotic, powerful moves. Ideally the player would feel super-maneuverable immediately.

Honestly, if you get the controls down perfectly, you'll have a huge leg up on pretty much every non-Nintendo 3D platformer out there. And I'd recommend finishing and polishing the controls before really getting deep into the level design.

Anyways, I'd be happy to give more feedback and playtest whatever builds you'd like over time...I love this style of game and it seems very hard to do well.

[Polygonzo]

I really appreciate your input, Chairman. Mario 64 is the gold standard and I agree Spooky Poo is not as tight and finely tuned as that game. I think Happy Hell feels pretty good compared to most of the other 3D platformers around, but it does need more fine tuning to be Nintendo classic-level. That's what I'll work for though! I hope you'll see steady improvement towards that goal. I also have a bunch of other abilities planned/half-working that should provide a more well rounded sense of movement and momentum: wall jumps, a dive, ground pound. I can't wait to get through the promotional side of things and get back into gameplay!

Thanks for playing. I hope you stay tuned  

[Zizka]

Holy smokes, this looks great. The 3d might look a tad dated (3d doesn't as well as 2d) but once you see the gameplay you quickly forget about it.

The main character is very original and unique.

Well done doing all of this on your own, major props to you!

[gimymblert]

hello suscribing

[Polygonzo]

Thanks for the kind words guys

So I've been working on the trailer the last 4 days. So much work! It's fairly enjoyable though I'd rather be working on the game, but that's how it goes. I was hoping to launch the Kickstarter next week, but I may have to push it to the next. I know the game is pretty rough in a lot of ways, I just hope I can convince people of the real potential it has with another 9-12 months of work. Watching the other Kickstarters from around here has been motivating (go Moonman!)

Anyway, here's the first 25 seconds of the trailer (minus my logo ect.) It still needs tweaking but I'd love to get some feedback. The visuals cut off right where it would launch into gameplay footage and all that.





And apologies to those that have tried the demo only to hit some stupid bugs. I will try my best to update the builds on my site this weekend.

Cheers