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[Aloft]

Im working on Top down 2D action game too and this game looks Super good. Im happy that you are inspired by star tropic that game is hidden gem. I want ask you one question. If this game has Zelda like dungeon progression and overworld.. what make this game a  zeldavania? Should you call it a  Zelda like?

Many folks aren't aware that The Legend of Zelda on NES was the first metroidvania, so the two formats have a lot in common between them.

We are sort of choosing to really draw out the gameplay progression in the style of metroidvanias: there will be lots of points of progress where you may have to return with new tools in order to progress; your character will feel noticeable growth over the play through; the world is pretty open from the outset, but the player is also locked out form accessing some spaces due to being unequipped.

We chose that term because in one word it quickly explains the gameplay strcture to a casual listener. It isn't really a description we are married to of course- you could use a different collection of terms to describe the material and it would still be effective.

Maybe we could change the title a bit to give a better impression of the spirit of the work...

[beetleking22]

Im working on Top down 2D action game too and this game looks Super good. Im happy that you are inspired by star tropic that game is hidden gem. I want ask you one question. If this game has Zelda like dungeon progression and overworld.. what make this game a  zeldavania? Should you call it a  Zelda like?

Many folks aren't aware that The Legend of Zelda on NES was the first metroidvania, so the two formats have a lot in common between them.

We are sort of choosing to really draw out the gameplay progression in the style of metroidvanias: there will be lots of points of progress where you may have to return with new tools in order to progress; your character will feel noticeable growth over the play through; the world is pretty open from the outset, but the player is also locked out form accessing some spaces due to being unequipped.

We chose that term because in one word it quickly explains the gameplay strcture to a casual listener. It isn't really a description we are married to of course- you could use a different collection of terms to describe the material and it would still be effective.

Maybe we could change the title a bit to give a better impression of the spirit of the work...

Yeah that makes sense. Im trying to itself mimic the Super metroid level  design in my game but Im trying to avoid Zelda influence 100%. For me personally pure Super  metroid design is  that  world itself act as big dungeon. You are guiding player without him knowing it.  Sometimes you backtrack to access new areas and sometimes paths are just hidden. So my game will  have just 1 dungeon like place and the rest are just  environment with a lots of variety and imagination. Im trying to shove puzzles and side quest and all other thing in environments instead of towns or dungeons. This project looks super  interesting would love to test your game.. We are using Unity engine too and there are me and my brother working it :D

[Aloft]

Super Metroid does a lot in terms of level design to guide the player. There are times when it feels like you can go anywhere, and sort of feel lost, but in reality, the level design has actually trapped you into a space which you can't leave with your current tools, in order to narrow down your choices for you. It is also very much funneling you back toward areas which you could not access before, once you get the new tools.

Super Metroid allows  the player feel lost and without aids, while simaltaneously guiding them from backstage the whole time.

There should probably be a book that JUST discusses level design theory that you can extract from Link to the Past and Super Metroid. The two together are like the best living textbook on level design.

[beetleking22]

Super Metroid does a lot in terms of level design to guide the player. There are times when it feels like you can go anywhere, and sort of feel lost, but in reality, the level design has actually trapped you into a space which you can't leave with your current tools, in order to narrow down your choices for you. It is also very much funneling you back toward areas which you could not access before, once you get the new tools.

Super Metroid allows  the player feel lost and without aids, while simaltaneously guiding them from backstage the whole time.

There should probably be a book that JUST discusses level design theory that you can extract from Link to the Past and Super Metroid. The two together are like the best living textbook on level design.

True! You guys have made so much progress. I feel jelly :D  We are just creating prototype maps with shitty as prototype tiles and prototype monsters. Did you guys spends a lot of money to hire composers? We are pretty much broke... So its so damn hard to get composer...

[Aloft]

Super Metroid does a lot in terms of level design to guide the player. There are times when it feels like you can go anywhere, and sort of feel lost, but in reality, the level design has actually trapped you into a space which you can't leave with your current tools, in order to narrow down your choices for you. It is also very much funneling you back toward areas which you could not access before, once you get the new tools.

Super Metroid allows  the player feel lost and without aids, while simaltaneously guiding them from backstage the whole time.

There should probably be a book that JUST discusses level design theory that you can extract from Link to the Past and Super Metroid. The two together are like the best living textbook on level design.

True! You guys have made so much progress. I feel jelly :D  We are just creating prototype maps with shitty as prototype tiles and prototype monsters. Did you guys spends a lot of money to hire composers? We are pretty much broke... So its so damn hard to get composer...

We spent a moderate amount of money.

The project is about a year into development. We started looking at composers on month 9 (which is probably the right time- don't think about anything like that too early).

We looked at it in terms of an investment in the demo, as a step to making the project marketable enough to secure funding. The work currently has 4 tracks, which felt about right for this point in time.

The other aspect of the demo compositions is that it was an opportunity to try on the working relationship with a few composers. Shannon ended up being an excellent fit for the work, so she is going with us into the production later!

Don't worry about being broke right now. Worry about getting your project to a point where it even makes sense to spend money out of your pockets on it.


Also... Yay 300 posts!

[Aloft]

We are still accepting beta testing opt-ins for this week!

Now that the first couple round of small closed testing are through, we are moving onto Beta this week. If you would like to participate on this level of testing, feel free to message us or email for an opt-in!


[email protected]

[qMopey]

I'd like to join!

[Aloft]

I'd like to join!

Sure absolutely! Just send us a message or an email with an email for you!

[Aloft]

Here is the full scene from the plate the other day:

The home interiors are actually going to play an interesting role in the game experience, which is why we are putting extra emphasis on the details there. They will be the sites where the players can go to trade items with the NPC villagers, and in some cases further minor storylines.

[Aloft]

Another shot from the demo highlight reel, hehe:

[Aloft]

Ok Sent the Demo Beta off to the opt ins! We will get it out to the first landing page subscribers shortly!

If you would like to opt in to receiving it early though, for the purpose of getting us constructive feedback, you may still opt in, by sending us an email at:

[email protected]

[Aloft]

Still time to sign up for the Demo's Closed Beta Opt-in!

[Aloft]

Keep the error reports rolling in!

[Aloft]

So we are getting some solid feedback so far!

Most folks seem to be having a good time with the demo, although a recurring point is that the combat rooms are bit harsh, and some small aspects of the combat (like hitboxes, stun times, speeds) could be tweaked a bit to give a more satisfying combat experience, so that is going to be one of our big focuses (along with bug fixes) going into the second release of the beta shortly!

Keep the feedback coming, it is helping speed up our process substantially!

[Aloft]

Beta Changelog:

Many Demo Beta players responded that they wanted to see the combat overhauled a bit. Common complaints were that that the rooms were a bit too busy; they felt frustrated that they were unable to avoid enemies based on the relative speed of the many enemies to the player; they were frustrated by what felt like too many near misses with the sword; they felt they were missing an attack to deal with enemies in an arc pattern; they wanted a larger deadzone for joysticks on certain controllers; and they felt the 4-way movement pattern was restricting.

We made a number of changes geared specifically at addressing these combat-related complaints, including adding several new forms of attack. We chose to continue with 4-way movement patterns. Our reasoning there is that many mechanics in the game are built around the assumption of 4-way movement, and so changing to 8-way would require a redesign of the game on a fundamental level. We feel a lot of the frustration some players felt with this movement scheme may have been the result of a couple game situations being somewhat unfair (or at least overly challenging for a new player), and with these situations massaged down, players may be more open to this design choice. It comes down to the sorts of room layouts, enemy designs, and combat techniques we wold like to explore in the game. The entire world the player exists in must be fundamentally different based on this choice. The game world we have built is designed to accommodate and challenge a player that moves in 4 directions.

The arc swipe technique is a fun addition to the game, but of course it must be balanced with a use cost, since otherwise it would negate the intended challenge of certain aspects of the design.

Control:
   -Increased axis dead zone from 0.3 to 0.4 (counters over sensitivity on the Xbox One contoller    which can cause the
         player to move the wrong directions when the stick is nearly centered)
   -Increased delay frames from 2 to 4. This is to allow the player to “tap turn”- turn their character
   in place to face an enemy on an adjacent tile, without adding too much stiffness to the input

Combat:   
   -Reduced bat health to 1.
   -Reduced red chitin health from 5 to 4. Reduced tiles to move from 8 to 7
   -Reduced blue chitin tiles to move from 4 to 3
   -Adjusted weapon colliders. Fixed horizontal offset issue and increased width from 8 to 10
   -Removed extra invincablity for snail/slug stun
   -Added swipe attack (interact button) for attacking several enemies at once in an arc
   -Added spin attack (right shoulder for now)
   -Reduced numbers of some enemies in certain rooms to be a bit gentler
   -Some enemies now have slower movement (the jelly was a bit hard to hit)
   -Widened the hitbox for several enemies to make hit detection slightly more forgiving (and more    
         accurate in some cases)
   -Now allows attacking stacked enemies
   
   -Adjusted the spawn spaces of a couple rooms to disallow the enemies from reaching the player too soon

Puzzles:
   -Changed scripting so that switches of type beam/lightning that use timer, hitting switch resets timer. So as long as
         beam/lightning is hitting it the switch will stay on. Use duration for how long the switch stays on once the
         beam/lightning stops. Should fix the sound issue too
   -Fixed an issue with moving blocks being blocked by the top part of the sprite for the spawned    block

Collision:
   -Added diagonal colliders for doors. Makes it easier to enter. Added them to all horizontal doors in    dungeon
   -Adjusted knockback issue related to stairs; shouldn't be able to get past water/stairs

Boss:
   -Fixed white flash on last hit persisting longer than it should
   -Adjusted bubble bomb depth. Stays above all objects for first half
   -Adjust timed bubble depth when first spawned
   -Reduced lightning switch timer.
   -Medusa now waits till the player has entered the room before moving, to avoid unfair early hit

General:
   -Fixed issue where completing game locks input
   -Added extra text to manifestor plate to clearly explain the block removal feature it has



Known issues which will soon be resolved:

Combat:
   -A couple enemies can temporarily slowdown due to a glitch

Display:
   -Shading displayed incorrectly for one user, but their resolution was not reported; if anyone else
   gets this bug (defined by seeing dark lines in the water) sends us your monitor and computer specs / resolution
        played at

Save feature:
   -To be integrated soon

Boss:
   -Final boss completes her last initiated move before kindly dying when her health reaches 0

[Aloft]

The New swipe attack motion in use:

[Aloft]

Some cute Bramble tiles:

[Pixelologist]

I don't understand how the title has anything to do with the game. I've been following this for at least a week. Does the character go to a Bastille? Is Hazelnut part of their name? I haven't seen the word before or know the meaning of Bastille and I don't feel like looking it up.   

[TitoOliveira]

I don't understand how the title has anything to do with the game. I've been following this for at least a week. Does the character go to a Bastille? Is Hazelnut part of their name? I haven't seen the word before or know the meaning of Bastille and I don't feel like looking it up.   

A bastille is basically a fortress.

[Aloft]

I don't understand how the title has anything to do with the game. I've been following this for at least a week. Does the character go to a Bastille? Is Hazelnut part of their name? I haven't seen the word before or know the meaning of Bastille and I don't feel like looking it up.   

lol.

Yeah, as TitoOliveira explained, the term Bastille has generalized to mean "fortress" now. If you get slightly less general, you get to prison-fortress, especially with the implication of wrongful imprisonment. There are several senses in which the island itself, and the citadel it houses are various kinds of prisons.

Then there is of course the historic event, the storming of the Bastille, which is the main reason we have the word in our English vocabulary. There is an analogous event to this somewhere in the pages of the story.

Hazelnut trees, while very common across varied climates, are principally known for being common in the eastern Mediterranean. They are iconic of that region even. You can find tons of them in Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon (as well as Italy). That is the rough geographic location the island in our story corresponds to. It belongs to a fictional world with fictional geographies, but land and cultures are modeled on this area.

The two words together also have a funny sort of dissonance. Most people get positive images from the word "hazelnut", and negative emotions about the Bastille (or at least heroic images). This dissonance is meant to evoke the dissonance between the setting and the tense events of the story, as well as internal dissonances in the heroine.