Progress and Updates(9/1/2017)Currently, I am drawing closer to completing and releasing the second demo. I expect that it will be finished within 1-3 weeks.
Based on the feedback I received from the previous demo, I have worked to address the majority of complaints aimed at the base mechanics of the game. A few examples:
>Tech RollA unique mechanic in this game is the "Tech Roll", which is inspired by a mechanic found in many modern fighting games. When you are stunned and knocked back by an enemy hit, the Tech Roll allows you to quickly recover and return to action with a dashing maneuver. Originally, the Tech Roll was initiated by pressing any button after being damaged. As a result, it was too easy to roll by accident while attacking. The roll was also very fast, far reaching, and difficult to aim. Players would often overshoot or go in the wrong direction, rendering the mechanic more annoying than helpful.
To address these complaints, I've made the Tech Roll more timing intensive, and made it easier to control.
The Tech Roll now acts more like a timing minigame. When you are damaged, a blue ring will begin to materialize around the player, will turn white when it is finished, and then vanish. To initiate the tech roll, you must press the button the moment it turns white. If you press it any sooner or later, it will not work.
I have also made the actual roll or dash "heavier". It's slower, shorter, and has greater "steering" capability, and thus it is now much easier to maneuver into position.
I am hopeful that these changes will turn it into a satisfying and fun mechanic, that allows you to mitigate some of the disadvantage brought on by failure.
>No indication for when charge attack was readyAnother complaint I received was the lack of any visible indicator to show that your melee attack was fully charged. I intended for charge attacks to function as a kind of rhythm/timing element within battle. I did not originally include an indicator, because the charge time is nearly instantaneous (exactly 20 frames), and I figured that it would therefore be unnecessary. Since it was brought up as a negative, I have listened to the feedback, and added an indicator. For the time being, I have used a small glowing outline around the player.
I personally believe the effect is unappealing, but I will leave it in the demo as a placeholder to see if it will addresses the complaint.
>Judgment mechanic: balance, difficulty, and complexityThis was one of the first issues I fixed, a month or two ago. I worked hard to address it first, as it is one of the core mechanics.
For a variety of reasons, I was personally unhappy with the state of the Judgment mechanic even before I released the demo. I was so unhappy with it that I added a toggle to disable the mechanic in the demo, and set it to "off" by default.
I considered removing it altogether, but after listening to feedback from players, and spending time brainstorming, I managed to address the complaints that players — and I myself — had with the mechanic. I won't go into all the tweaks made, as it's a long and wordy story, but suffice to say: it's much easier and much simpler now.
I am still prepared to hear and address feedback and criticism, but now I am very hopeful that the mechanic will ultimately fulfill its purpose and that it will grant the gameplay a unique and visceral flow that is not found elsewhere.
>Game Over sequence could not be skippedI intended to allow players to skip the game over sequence, but due to a glitch that slipped by my notice, input was disabled for nearly half the sequence's length. The glitch has been fixed, and the game over sequence can now be skipped at any time. I have also reduced the overall length of the sequence.
In addition to the above, I have made numerous bugfixes and tweaks that are not worth mentioning here. I am happy with the progress I have made, but I am only halfway through the process of addressing the most important, consistent, and widespread complaint:
>The difficulty
The demo was
far too difficult for a first stage, and
none of my testers actually completed it. This is quite a statement, considering that many of them were veterans of the genre. In general, it does not seem that anyone had a problem with my telegraphing of enemy attacks, but that the attacks themselves were simply too stressful for an early stage. To address this, I have been tirelessly redesigning almost every enemy wave in the stage from the ground up. I have taken the opportunity to polish the stage, and add a significant amount of extra depth to the "speedkill" based scoring system. But my primary concern is ensuring that people are actually capable of completing it now.
I have also added a new defensive mechanic, the flamethrower, that allows you to defend yourself against incoming bullets at the cost of halting your offense. I am currently planning on adding a power up that grants you a one-time shield against damage. Hopefully, these elements will add an extra layer of risk/reward depth, and mercy to the game.
I'd say that I have about 70% of the stage itself "fixed". But I have not touched the miniboss, or the boss yet, so I still have a lot of work to do. Level design is the most difficult part of this game's development. I've frequently driven myself to near insanity over it. However, with what I've learned, I'm confident that the next demo will be much more balanced and fun.
Aside from gameplay, I am still working with my concept artists on character and monster design.
Aruspice and I are currently trying to find an elegant middle-ground between the graceful beauty of the first concept sheet, and the unsettling visceral designs of the latest sheet, above.
Once the second demo is finished, I will probably be more aggressive in spreading it around. I will probably post it here, and consider feedback anyone wishes to give.
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