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[cepnox]

We are extremely excited that today we are releasing a new Tendril: Echo Received alpha demo.

You can get it here:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtmjwDm49BRKhfRgSo__Dc5kJl40rg?e=mEJLiF


We would be happy for any honest feedback!

Requirements:
============
- OS: Windows 7 or later
- .NET Framework 4.8
- DirectX 11


======================================== OLD ===========================



Hi everybody!
We have finally created a gameplay demo of Tendril: Echo Received.
You can download it from here:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtmjwDm49BRKgbMkjcVdP-74jVXDmg?e=UUSPO6

We will be happy for any feedback, especially how do the controls feel to you. If you were able to finish the demo and what is your opinion on enemy AI.

[Ramos]

Good experience.

I left the feedback on your Discord room.

[irn]

Hey! Thank you for your feedback. It is extremely valuable to us!

[mtorc1]

Is it possible to download the demo without creating a Microsoft account?

[cepnox]

Is it possible to download the demo without creating a Microsoft account?

Hi, I have fixed the link. Now it should be possible to download the demo even without an account.

[mtorc1]

Thank you for fixing the link. After following your devlog for the past few weeks I was already looking forward to play your demo. And I think you made a really good game. For me the mix of platformer and stealth action is quite new and I really enjoyed it. The feeling I had instantly reminded me of the alien campagne in Alien vs Predator from 1999 (https://www.mobygames.com/game/aliens-versus-predator), a game that I played when I was a child.

Here are my thoughts:
First, I was confused that the alien can pass through laser beams by just grappling a ventilator grill on the other side of the beam. The "click-the-mouse-button"-overlay makes it clear, though. All in all I like the mechanic and the tendrils' look. This is definitely what I expect from an alien in a game with "tendril" in its title.

Second, using the mouse buttons for attacking and grappling felt kind of strange because in most cases there is only one potential target for these actions while using the mouse suggests that I can move to (or perform an attack against) any spot on the map. This is probably not a big "issue" but I just wanted to share my thoughts and maybe this feels more natural when playing with a gamepad, anyway.

I like the enemy AI. It didn't have the feeling that I can trick the enemies too easily while I still can lurk or lure them as it's typical for the genre.

TL;DR
That's a great and very polished demo and I am definitely looking forward for the next one!

[irn]

Thank you for fixing the link. After following your devlog for the past few weeks I was already looking forward to play your demo. And I think you made a really good game. For me the mix of platformer and stealth action is quite new and I really enjoyed it. The feeling I had instantly reminded me of the alien campagne in Alien vs Predator from 1999 (https://www.mobygames.com/game/aliens-versus-predator), a game that I played when I was a child.

Here are my thoughts:
First, I was confused that the alien can pass through laser beams by just grappling a ventilator grill on the other side of the beam. The "click-the-mouse-button"-overlay makes it clear, though. All in all I like the mechanic and the tendrils' look. This is definitely what I expect from an alien in a game with "tendril" in its title.

Second, using the mouse buttons for attacking and grappling felt kind of strange because in most cases there is only one potential target for these actions while using the mouse suggests that I can move to (or perform an attack against) any spot on the map. This is probably not a big "issue" but I just wanted to share my thoughts and maybe this feels more natural when playing with a gamepad, anyway.

I like the enemy AI. It didn't have the feeling that I can trick the enemies too easily while I still can lurk or lure them as it's typical for the genre.

TL;DR
That's a great and very polished demo and I am definitely looking forward for the next one!

Thank you so much for trying out the demo and for your kind words!
Alien vs Predator is our huge inspiration. We spent our childhoods playing both AVP1 and AVP2 and they are constantly in our minds when making our decisions. Also the alien campaign of AVP 2010 was pretty cool. It has some great stealth elements with that Alien feel.

You are right with the laser. We knew it might be a bit confusing in the demo. In the final game we want to teach the player the mechanics step by step. In the demo, we wanted to show various cool things but we did not want to make it too long.

We are indeed focusing more on gamepad, but we still want to offer the best experience for people playing with mouse and keyboard. There will not be much aiming, but you are right that it can be confusing. We will definitely think about it more.

Thank you again for your feedback!

[jbarrios]

Hi cepnox,

I played your game and recorded my thoughts:

[cepnox]

Hi cepnox,

I played your game and recorded my thoughts:

Thank you so much for your feedback! Your mention of speedrunning gave us an idea and we made our own speedrun of the demo

[cepnox]

We are extremely excited that today we are releasing a new Tendril: Echo Received alpha demo.

You can get it here:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtmjwDm49BRKhfRgSo__Dc5kJl40rg?e=mEJLiF


We would be happy for any honest feedback!

Requirements:
============
- OS: Windows 7 or later
- .NET Framework 4.8
- DirectX 11

[Asthalis]

One word to start : Wow

I just started to play it looks amazing, immersing and I guess... addicting ! Graphics, animations and sounds are stunning and I like the look of the "beast" (reminds me of nothing else I know in video games).

I need to dive in deeper to give you more detailed feedback (I will do it) but congratulations, it looks like a commercial game ! But the way, will we have to pay when the final version is out ?

If you like platformers, feel free to try my own (Hop! 2D, in the same forum, playable beta and final version coming soon).

[cepnox]

Hi, thanks
We would like to release the final game commercially on Steam - we still need to create the page for it.

Yeah, sure I will give it a shot

[Asthalis]

I'm back after getting here for now :



this longer run confirms what I first thought : this is a terribly addictive game and there are lots things I love in it

Even if I already said it, graphics are stunning (I like the fact the player can choose between crisp or filtered scenery in the options menu) with a scary atmosphere, well served by creepy sounds. Enemy AI seems high too, I like to see their reactions when I hide after beeing seen. What I like the most is the animation of the "beast", the way it sounds while it progresses through vents and rooms... and of course its "savage" attack when close to a target ! Getting further may be trickier because the player needs to learn how to use its special items and I guess more concentration id needed too.

I had a question about saving choices. From the main menu, I saw how to continue or start a new game. If I start a new game, is the other one lost ? Is there a way to "save states" further in the game ? I have no idea how big the demo version is but I will try to get to its end to conclude the test.

To get back to graphics, I like that it looks both pixellated (it's more obvious when the camera zooms in) and incredibly detailed. I also like the need of a small delay with some actions. To me, it looks more realistic this way and the player needs to time it right if enemies are near.

Great job, I will go on to explore the demo some more  



 

[cepnox]

Thanks!

In the current save system you have one slot. If you exit the game, you can resume your state by selecting continue. We are planning to implement more slots later.
You don't have to use abilities - they are optional (except for tentacle leap). We are designing each level in a way where you can finish it without any ability. They should just make it easier and give you more options to experiment with.