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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingThy Sword: Action roguelike platformer (Demo Removed - FullGameComingsoon)
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Author Topic: Thy Sword: Action roguelike platformer (Demo Removed - FullGameComingsoon)  (Read 1847 times)
Gamephasenet
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« on: July 21, 2016, 10:39:41 AM »

Hey friends,

Demo is outdated so it's offline!
Stay tuned for more news!
----------------------------------------------
We'll post this here as well as in our devlog thread for Thy Sword - Action platform roguelite.
(We are Greenlit! woohoo)

You select an area and complete four levels by killing all monsters.
Get loot, visit the village between areas, repeat.

There might be a small boss in there... Wink

---Removed link---

Play away and! We love to hear your comments and feedback, so feel free to C&C here as well.
We're updating atm, so we'll probably post a new version when substanital changes/content are made.


Stay tuned for more news!

Follow the devlog here >> https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=48380.0



« Last Edit: October 17, 2017, 06:14:02 AM by Gamephasenet » Logged

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readyplaygames
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« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2016, 11:21:45 AM »

Awesome! I stream games-in-progress so you can get valuable feedback from watching someone play. I'm going to stream it over here: http://twitch.tv/readyplaygames. I have it set to record the videos so you can watch them later. I let everyone know when I stream on twitter https://twitter.com/readyplaygames.

I hope I can help!
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Bahototh
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« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2016, 04:15:00 PM »

@readyplaygames:

Nice man! Thank You very much.
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"An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one." ~Charles Horton Cooley
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[Thy Sword] https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=48380.0
Gamephasenet
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« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2016, 11:40:38 PM »

Awesomeness!

Great getting feedback, many things you overlook or simply don't notice when you're in it.  Shocked

*Card game will probably be polished. It will include only the variant of 21, in which some "skill" is required and not just pure luck.

*Raven with the treasure key will be a littel easier, he wont disappear so fast, but still tricky to get.

*Clearer instructions overall in starting menu.

*Lots more...!

 Gentleman
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« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2016, 12:00:26 AM »

I just played it a bit. This feels as good as it looks. Nice work, guys!  Beer!
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Gamephasenet
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« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2016, 12:05:21 AM »

@Pietze:

Thank you man! That's good to hear.  Coffee
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« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2016, 08:02:16 AM »

Hello swordslingers.

Tomorrow on  the 1st of August we'll put up an updated version of the Demo.
Some minor tweaks and polish stuff. (The old version will expire)

We made an alternate attack animation for the player. Let us know what you think!

 Coffee

Edit: The new demo is coming, as soon as we have put in the stuff we want to improve.
Then we'll most likely grind away at the full game. We'd love to hear your thoughts on early access, although we'll probably not go that route.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2016, 11:57:42 AM by Gamephasenet » Logged

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« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2016, 01:42:40 AM »

I played a bit using keyboard, and I feel like it would be better to use WASD for movement, and the arrows for action. Just my two cents :D Anyway controller should be better (didn't try)
Other than that, the gameplay feels pretty cool, but there was no features that made me say "THIS IS THE GAME", know what I mean? It feels a little generic :x
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« Reply #8 on: August 02, 2016, 06:20:09 AM »

@Babar:

Thank you for playing!
This seem to work out nice: arrows for movement, and WASD+space(jump) for actions.

Anyway, it's up to players to configure controls, so what works for you.
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« Reply #9 on: August 02, 2016, 11:19:37 AM »

I played using controller. I know that I could reconfigure the controls, but I'd say most people would rather have the regular sword slash on the face button and the special one on the shoulder button, not vice versa. Or maybe it's just me. Shrug

As for multiplayer, I never understood the notion that when one person dies, the other one loses automatically. It frustrates the better player, at least let them finish the run. Yes I know the game is easier in co-op due to the two player advantage, but to compensate maybe give them half of the normal max health.

I hope you considered adding some long term progression system, like unlockable characters, or gateways to skip chapters you already completed lots of times (like in Spelunky), or at least a scoreboard.

I think the special-twirly-kill-slash was fairly unique to this game and fun to execute.

The small platforms with 2 enemies on it are also very frustrating, and I can't shoot upwards through the platform to make it easier for myself.

And maybe this is just a personal thing, but I don't like the art style, or at least in its pixel-y form.
The story isn't particularly interesting but thankfully not at all obtrusive.
I'll keep an eye on the game, it's fairly interesting, and now on my desktop. 
Oh, and nice work.  Coffee
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-Ross
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« Reply #10 on: August 02, 2016, 05:40:00 PM »

Hmm. I dunno, it's not bad, but I didn't find it very interesting either. It's about like your description on Greenlight: "action rpg platformer in a fantasy setting" . . . No special setting, amazing graphics, or cool gameplay twists.

I played it a fair bit, in single-player. Started out dying on one of the first few enemies, then eventually got up through the little keep place and on into the mountains. It definitely got a bit more fun as it went on, but if I didn't feel obligated to critique it with more experience I'm not sure I would have kept at it that long.

The special sword attack is pretty sweet, nice risk/reward to that. It's pretty darn satisfying to behead guys.

The magic sword special attack thingy seems kind of pointless, I never really used that. You already have your bow for ranged attacks and two attacks with your sword. If I could choose a special ability I'd rather have some sort of short buff I think—a berserk mode that let me move and attack really fast, or a maybe few seconds of invincibility

The combat was okay. It seemed more like an exercise in patience though. The best way to kill guys was to jump up and whack their feet. But not too fast consecutively or they might stab you. Sometimes it seemed a bit unfair too: I'd jump up on a platform and instantly get stabbed, while most other times I had a sec to jump, block, or attack. Blocking was fun, but not exciting for long, since the most sensible way to use it was to hold the button and wait. That's why timed blocking mechanics were invented . . .

I wish the character was more badass. I mean, I'm playing a beefy barbarian with a magic sword, I want to carve guys up. Instead the little green buggers will butcher me with their knives if I don't fight like a sissy. But the mechanics train you to play in an un-satisfying way.

I would remove, or at least somehow separate the wanderer dude at the start. I thought he was a playable character(until I went back and actually read stuff, duh Tongue).

I think you made life difficult for yourselves by choosing such a low-res art style. Most people use a few more pixels for good reason; it's hard to make anything graceful or cool looking with so few pixels, but it's not so small as to be a novelty ("A four-pixel character! Whaaaat!?"). I think the art could be a lot more interesting without a major overhaul though. You should take a look at Daniel Linsson's "Roguelight", again if you've already tried it. I think it only uses 4 colors and still (or maybe because) looks really cool. It's very dynamic and varied. There's lights moving around and changing all the time, lots of different block patterns, grass, hanging vines that swing when you shoot past them and drop little leaf particles, little torches everywhere, the lanterns that you shoot swing around, your flaming arrows stick into the walls and slowly burn out, etc. Those little details of how the world operates and reacts to your presence really make it enjoyable just being in the game.

You could use more color variation in the art too. All the grass is just greeeeeeeeeeeeeen, all the dirt is the same brown, etc. It would be nice to have some random variations to break up the monotony.

All that said, it is quite decent, and it feels like a complete game. I would be happy if I made this. Everything just needs to be stepped up a couple notches.

 (. . . like this kind of awesomeness: http://www.intotheriftgame.com/Grassland_Fight.gif )
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Gamephasenet
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« Reply #11 on: August 02, 2016, 10:18:48 PM »

Thank you! @Evilperson @Ross

That's what I call oof C&C. Good points all around.
We wanted this first testing round to see if combat works out like we wanted.
We want you to be able to hack through, but also plan and fight more strategic.
small platforms, that's where arrows are nice to have.
The magic attack is a bit limited, yes, and that will be added to in different ways.

As for co-op, we're thinking about it atm, so nice to hear your points.
I think you could play on when a second player dies, maybe even with some chance of re-joining.

We're definitely doing unlockables and such content, so with progression and perks I think it'll add a lot.
The story bits you get may give it a "finished game" feel, but remember it's just for flavour.
The scope is just a teaser to try out combat and the map.

Good points on the variation for the graphics. That will be adressed along the way for sure.
To keep it short, I always prefer good animation over resolution, and I think minimal just feed the imagination.
But it's definitely low res!

Thanks guys,

/Thomas
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« Reply #12 on: August 25, 2016, 10:43:34 AM »

Heyy Swordslingers!  Evil

We've updated the demo. Hack away, and don't forget to gamble away all the loot!


Pre-alpha v0.13 (2016-08-01) (Expires 2016-12-31)
----------------------------
- Village after every area (always after last level of area).
- Fewer skeletons on night levels.
- Sword slashes through all monsters.
- Hazard card game remove, now always 21 Horsemen.
- Damage taken by monster never exceed health they have left.
- Damage frame for monsters.
- Heroes have two alternating sword attacks.
- Explosive barrels damage all enemies near.

- Double jump more generous.
- Gust when double jump used.
- Flying creatures are not spawning near player.
- Enemy melee attack is not falsely delayed after a ranged attack.
- [SPACE] is the default key for special attack.
- Flying enemies removed from night levels.
- Some bigger enemies are knocked back less after being hit.
- No chest on night levels.
- Some hitboxes (projectiles or other hitboxes that are destroyed after hit) should always inflict damage, even if index for hit is less than last_hit_id for object.

- Lower homing y-position for bats on player.
- More blood, bodies of monsters remain.
- Arrow removed from open gate and replaced with torches being lit.
- Raven flies away after being hit, dropping the key to the chest.
- Sound options: music & fx, fx only, no sounds.
- Color of healer dialog options changed.
- No spiders from barrels in Ember Wood.
- Lightning graphical error corrected.
- Text engine added for story and lore.

- Enemies jump down if attacked from below. (Yeah, bring it!)
- Getting poisoned is more visibly clear.
- Health flashing when low.
- HUD animations for gate and poison.
- Clearer player selection on title screen.


Stay sharp!

//GamePhase  Coffee
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« Reply #13 on: August 26, 2016, 12:53:24 AM »

Love the graphics of this game man! Looks amazing!
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« Reply #14 on: August 27, 2016, 04:27:47 AM »

Awesome! I like the changes. Making the enemies jump down was a great idea. You might try making it a little more aggressive: make them jump toward the player a bit, or just fall faster. But it's fun to jump up, whack them once, then hit them again as they fall by. Smiley It also lets you move enemies to larger platforms so you can behead them, which is awesome; it gives you so many more options. The bodies and blood are great too. If you wanted to make the bodies even better, you could make a couple variations to randomly pick from, so they're not all the same.

Two other little crits:

- There seems to be some delay after you press the button to stop talking to someone? At least talking to the wanderer, you can't move again for a second or so.

- The second attack animation is nice, it definitely makes things more interesting. A nitpick on the blond guy's animation though: the "recover" part of the animation makes it seem like he bounces his sword off the ground. The girl's animation is better, a nice round swing.

Not sure if you made it easier or I'm just getting good at this. I was consistently getting further than with the last version. After a few runs I got to the end and just barely beat the boss.

 Hand Thumbs Up Left Hand Thumbs Up Right
« Last Edit: August 27, 2016, 06:15:58 PM by -Ross » Logged

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« Reply #15 on: August 27, 2016, 11:59:23 AM »

@Ross:

That's awesome man. We thanketh thee!  Beer!

Some good pointers for sure. One of the most important things is getting the difficulty
just right where it's real easy to pick up and play, but wuickly gets (rewardingly) tough.

Keep choppin'!
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« Reply #16 on: December 04, 2016, 12:43:32 PM »

Hi Swordslingers!

Hope you having good times testing the demo out!


If you have a moment -vote for us for Indie of the Year over at IndieDB.
Thank You all for supporting us!

http://www.indiedb.com/games/thy-sword

//GsmePhase

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He got in because of his beard and sword. Also likes beer.
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« Reply #17 on: December 04, 2016, 02:53:17 PM »

This. Is. Awesome.

For reference, I assumed this was the kind of game I could sort of apply an intuitive test to: That I would be able to learn mostly by playing, not from menus. So I glanced at the controls once it was clear I wasn't dealing with a mere Z-X-C type of setup.

The levels are consistently generated fairly. Some enemies feel a little more annoying than challenging (the rock-throwing golems or what-have-you are the chief example, especially when combined with the bats and harpies.)

I'm really liking the combat. It feels like I had to actually learn the dynamics to Do Well. In particular, I got very frustrated with the skeletons on one run, because they were the enemy I couldn't just fight and run away from. I checked the controls again on my second run and discovered I could block! After trying out my newfound blocking ability I discovered the skeletons were way easier.

I don't know that I found much usefulness for the special attack, but maybe there's a possibility there that I'm missing.

Anyway, it felt like a pretty elegant experience overall, though I will agree with the exercise in patience part someone brought up a version ago.

That said, I didn't find the combat unsatisfying. I enjoyed finishing it.

My biggest beef was a UI piece. It's really neat to see the gate-opening effect, it covers up my health bar. Since I could still kill myself on an exploding barrel or be killed by the bats, it seems fair that I should see my health still. Maybe at least auto-generated enemies like bats/harpies should disappear when the other enemies are cleared out so they don't kill players who can't even see their health/arrow availability?
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« Reply #18 on: December 05, 2016, 12:12:26 AM »

@kkairos :

Wow, thank You! That's what we call awesome feedback.
Sure agree with you about health bar and flyer enemies when completing the level.

Nice to hear your take on the combat. It's proving a (fun) challenge to get it right, against what people expect.
The low res style may disguise the "deeper" combat a bit...?
This gives us ideas and help with tweaking and implementing, so again - thanks!
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« Reply #19 on: December 05, 2016, 10:14:43 AM »

Hi. I tried your game and here are my first impressions.

I like the art in general, everything looks good and there are some nice effects on the background. I think that part is very well done.

The controls and movement is good, there’s a good feeling hitting with the sword and also when you are hit by an enemy.
To be fair I never used the special attack or the block movement of the sword (the enemies that I want to block are too big to be blocked so I never used it anyway). It would be a good idea to give the player more freedom when aiming the bow because now the player can’t aim under the horizontal line.

I think that you should add an effect to the exit door of the level (if you really want to let that part clear to the player) instead of the animation in the lower part of the screen (I think someone commented something similar too) The game is active during the animation and it can be confusing not seeing the lower part where the health and items are shown.

The music is a bit…. I don’t know how to say it. I muted the game after a while because there was too much noise in the music. I know it’s a 8 bit music but maybe you could make it more clean instead of so oversaturated. It’s just my opinion, maybe some people like it. The rest of the sound are pretty good and they fit very nice with the rest of the game.

Maybe it’s a good idea to make the second levels easier to facilitate the entrance of the player in the game.

In general I have fun playing your game. I liked the level design (for beeing procedural generated) and the enemies. I think you make a good work here and I’ll keep following the game’s progression.
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