next »

[banjotoadstudio]

Ahoy friends!

TLDR: Here's the link to the demo playtest, roast us.



How am I just finding out about this forum? Feeling very behind the times hehe. I'm super new here so I'll introduce myself again -- Donald from Banjo Toad Studio, an indie developer (obvi) based in Atlanta. We're working on our very first attempt at a game (completely self taught programming, pixel art, etc, as I figure many of you were at one point). We heard the advice "your first game should be tetris" too late and we've saddled ourselves with a bit of a whopper of a concept, but we've been "learn as you go" types as long as we can remember so we figured why not dive right into a samurai-inspired pixel-art side-scroller with instant death combat, deeply consequential decision-making resulting in multiple endings, optional bosses, pettable cats, multiple video modes, etc. See for yourself, it's a bit of a pile.



One-Thousand Cuts (like the subject says) is a samurai-inspired pixel-art side-scroller with strong design emphasis on simple-yet-satisfying combat, deeply consequential choices, and lore-rich storytelling. Built on the idea of the one-hit kill, there are no health bars, no cooldown management, no RPG-style modifiers, and no random damage. If an enemy lands a hit on you, you die. Luckily, the same goes for almost every enemy you hit. While this style of gameplay may be more challenging, our thinking is the reward of completing an area is that much more satisfying. Enemies also have distinct behaviors and appearances to clearly telegraph their attack styles, giving you an advantage in each future encounter.



Re: The demo build and the feedback we're looking for. We've had a couple friends playtest, but they've been a little too "friendly" in their criticisms and pointing out obvious bugs, which made us pretty embarrassed weeks / months later discovering an easily solved bug / exploit / graphical error / game breaking problem that they knew about but didn't have the heart to tell us. So what we're looking for is Brutally Honest Feedback. In addition to the obvious "Hey this text showed up backwards, my character started floating for no reason, the game crashed when I tried to pet a cat" etc. We're looking to answer The Big Questions: Is the game fun? Is it worth playing? What major design flaws are there? What have we overlooked? Are there any questions we should be asking but don't know because we're new? I'm also interested in Nuts and Bolts feedback: Is the game too dark? Are the mechanics (attacking, blocking, dodging, investigating bodies, petting cats, resting using tea, pausing the game, changing the video mode) working as intend? Does the music suck?



Like I said before, this game is the product of our first time opening Unity (rip) and Aseprite and putting something together. I'm positive there is so much we've failed to do, include, work out, develop, just because we're at the bottom of the learning curve. Basically, whatever notes you have, send them, be totally honest (you can be mean about it, I'm something of a hater myself). You can download the installer on our itch page. While you're at it, you can roast the layout of the Itch and our first attempt at a pre-launch Steam page. We've actually included a link to a survey in the build, but you can also email me your feedback directly at [email protected], or shoot me a DM on instagram @One.Thousand.Cuts.



Okay, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for taking the time to read all this and (hopefully) play the demo.

[jbarrios]

Hey banjotoadstudio,

I played your game.

What I liked:
- The pixel art is beautiful
- Everything controlled well
- The kills were brutal

What could use work:
- I tried to follow the tutorial.  I could never get the parry right.
- There is a lot of talking in the beginning.  I was eager to start playing.

Very cool game!

[banjotoadstudio]

Thanks so much for playing and giving me some feedback :- )

- There is a lot of talking in the beginning.  I was eager to start playing.

Based on your feedback I've added a couple "SKIP DIALOG" options in the tutorial for players who want to jump right into the action. After a frustratingly long time tinkering with it (how hard could a skip dialog button be, I foolishly asked myself), it's finally stable and on the newest build on itch! I'm also gonna trim up 10-20% ish of the current dialog because playing it again, even I get a little bored and I wrote the darn thing!

- I tried to follow the tutorial.  I could never get the parry right.

This is the second or third time I've gotten this note, so it's definitely something I need to fix. The system is intended to work as follows: If you parry an enemies attack, it puts the enemy into a short stunlock where you have a short (1 second) window to press the attack button performing a riposte. If you perfect parry them (hit the parry button within a small margin of error of the frame they'd hit you), it extends the riposte window to 1.5 seconds + puts the enemy into a longer stunlock. Do you think it would help if I were a little more specific with the language in the tutorial for parries / ripostes? Aside from making the player successfully parry and riposte an attack to continue with the tutorial, I'm not sure how to get the idea across. Any suggestions?

Thanks again :- )

[geo]

Hi, awesome looking game.

I am writing this while playing to keep the feedback fresh.

The cursor and button highlights are a bit hard to see:


There is a lot explained at once at the start. TBH I had forgotten half of it by the time the dialog had ended. Parry, Shift, slow-attach with mouse, A D to move, parry, thundercuts, ... . It probably is reiterating the obvious for fighting game enthusiasts. For a newbie like me it was a tad much all at once

The screen now reads "... you get the idea". Honestly all I really remember is A <-> D, Mouse to attack and Shift to (parry?, run?, not sure).

It's nice that the game comments on my performance during the tutorial, though I had a bit of trouble reading this font. I mean I CAN read it but it requires some focus:


Sometimes the screen is quite full with text:


I like the clear signalling with the bright white blade of the enemies. Good to read

I assume I will die a lot in this game. Would have been nice to do the restart automatically after death. The "resume" screen is in 99% of cases (pardon me) a waste of the players time. If they want to quit they will hit the Esc key anyways. I would rather have an automatic restart instead of having to click that button all the time. Especially at the beginning where I am still getting used to the controls.

How do I choose here? The controls info does not really help me either :-/


The controls feel very unforgiving. Have some mercy :D - Example: If I press parry and then I want to jump immediately afterwards it would be nice if I could press space a bit too early and it would still react (it doesn't).

I like that you can use the surroundings (like burning the first opponent). The guy in the first room (left door) is super hard. Tried like 10 times, then gave up. I can block his first attack but then his second strike gets me every time.

I got annoyed with having to fight the first two guys again and again. That's where I stopped (for now, got little time).

Hope this was useful and not too harsh.
Really great staging and wonderful pixel art.

[banjotoadstudio]

@Geo thanks so much for taking the time and energy to play the game and give some great feedback plus pictures for reference. Amazing quality and level of detail, this is exactly what I'm looking for and more :- )

There is a lot explained at once at the start. TBH I had forgotten half of it by the time the dialog had ended. Parry, Shift, slow-attach with mouse, A D to move, parry, thundercuts, ... . It probably is reiterating the obvious for fighting game enthusiasts. For a newbie like me it was a tad much all at once

The dialog heavy top-end is a note I keep getting, I did a 10% cut and added the skip dialog button last week, but based on the continuing feedback I think I need to cut the dialog more aggressively, at least between the "learn how to play" and "actually play" sections. It's not a book (I'm a writer by trade, please forgive the wordiness), it's a game. Gotta keep reminding myself that.

I had a bit of trouble reading this font. I mean I CAN read it but it requires some focus:

Adding this font is actually the most recent update we've made, our first custom typeface. Do you think the old font (which still plays over dialog and the "help" menu) is easier to read? Obviously it would be cool to have our own font, but readability is the top priority.

The "resume" screen is in 99% of cases (pardon me) a waste of the players time. If they want to quit they will hit the Esc key anyways. I would rather have an automatic restart instead of having to click that button all the time.

I LOVE the suggestion of doing away with the death screen. My first round of playtesters said it was absolutely necessary to have a "you died" type screen ala soulsgames, but I've always looked at the death screen as kind of archaic. I added a feature early on that any input (keyboard or mouse) after dying skips the "you died" card putting you right at the death screen, and any input upon reaching the death screen automatically resumes. Based on your feedback, I think I'll put in a toggle-able "auto resume" button for players who want the "more traditional" death screen experience, but a faster loop for everybody else.

How do I choose here? The controls info does not really help me either :-/

F is the universal interact button. It investigates, listens, pets cats, opens doors, deactivates lanterns (when / if you unlock that ability). The priority system (as intended) is 1.Investigate, 2.Deactivate traps, 3.Enter Door, 4.Listen to Optional Dialog, 5.Pet cat. Originally we had all different inputs for each of these things, but it started getting way too cluttered. "Press F to do this," "press Y to do that," etc. This is also an early step toward controller / console rollout, because we realized controllers just don't have enough buttons. Implying we keep the "F to do everything," how do you feel about preventing overlapping prompts, and only showing the top priority option? For the picture you posted, it would look like ONLY investigate popped up first, then after investigating, enter would appear?

The controls feel very unforgiving. Have some mercy :D - Example: If I press parry and then I want to jump immediately afterwards it would be nice if I could press space a bit too early and it would still react (it doesn't).

I have no idea how to bank inputs / do coyote time, but then again 12 months ago I had no idea how to make a character move. I love the idea of banking certain inputs (like jump, perfect example), and I'll try to roll that out for the next update!

For the double cut enemies--which we build specifically to break the parry + riposte combat loop--try dodging their first attack, then going in during their cooldown / recovery to kill. Low cut enemies you can prep under their first attack, then parry and riposte their second attack. Low cut enemies, you can jump over their first attack to do the same.

Okay I think that's everything I've got. Again AMAZING feedback, so incredibly useful. :- )

[geo]

I'm a writer by trade, please forgive the wordiness

I think your dialog is well written. It's just much text at the wrong time.

My take on this:
The "great master" whom the player fights in the tutorial went down in a single hit in my run (maybe that was a bug?). Anyways, that does take away a lot of the feeling of him being a "master" (what a great master he is that he goes down instantly). I think it would have been easier to digest (emotionally and logically) if the dialog was divided into multiple parts by tutorial gameplay. The opponent could always be the master.

Like this (please excuse my writing, am neither an author nor a native speaker):

Master: "So, let's go through the very basics, just to warum up. I know you can do it blindfolded, but indulge me, please."
-> "Dialog that saying [A], [D] means move".
-> Then immediately follow that up with a short gameplay section where the master wants you only to move left and right.

Master: "Very good, you seem in execellent shape. Let's pick up the pace!"
-> "Dialog run, jump, duck" (notice the joke with "run" and "pick up the pace", okay sorry, I love those jokes :D)
-> gameplay section run and jump

... and so on for all the things you want to teach in the beginning.

Keep the new things the player has to do at a minimum. No more than 2 or 3 buttons, ideally just one. If you are smart you can even integrate the keys into the level (like an A shaped stone to the left that glows until you stop over it, then the D shaped stone on the right starts to glow, stuff like that)

Then in the end you can do the fight just like you do now and I promise it will be much smoother and you will have managed to squeeze in as much dialog (maybe even more) than now *wink* *wink*

Also, maybe do NOT teach the player moves he/she does not need yet. Teach them when they need it.

What I mean by this is that for example the [F] key is not used until later (the character already starts with the training sword) so why not teach [F] later.

The improved version of this would be "Teach them when they need it ONLY if they need it." By that I mean that maybe experienced players have already tried [F] to pick things up (it's a common key binding). Keep track of that and if they did then simply skip that tutorial dialog (also helps a lot with reruns).

Also #2: Please make the KEYS the user should press stand out in the text. Either like I did in my text here (notice the [] I used) or even better by [] and color. Maybe also higlight the single action that it does, best use a single verb.


Do you think the old font (which still plays over dialog and the "help" menu) is easier to read?
I have a strong optionon on fonts. In general pixel fonts (especially those very low res) just suck for readability. Your custom font is particularly bad (sorry for being harsh). For example: the O and the D are only differentiated by one single pixel. That's just crazy bad in terms of readability. Also ALL CAPS IS A NIGHTMARE TO READ. People do not read letters, they recognize whole words and most are trained on the default writing style which is neiter a pixel font nor ALL CAPS.

Another thing I do not like about this font (and this is somewhat subjective) is the style itself. Your game is about swordsmen in asia. Just google "asian writing style samurai" and put in on image search. Notice something? Yes, all the letters are smooth bow/curve shapes. Your font however is bulky (to the left) and very straight. It would fit into a Warhammer or Halo Universe but not here. Just my opinion of course but if I were the art director on this I would reject it and send it back for redesign. I know it is very hard to work with such few pixels but I dare you to rework this. It will pay off. - Again, this is my subjective opinion

My first round of playtesters said it was absolutely necessary to have a "you died" type screen ala soulsgames
Well, is your game a soulslike? Yeah you die a lot in these games and they are hard too but I think in terms of how quickly you die here you are better served with comparing your game to things like Super Meat Boy or Celeste.

Btw.: these things can be dynamic. You have made a lovely death screen! Show it in full length but maybe only the first few deaths or only if the player has not died for like 10 minutes. If the player died recently then skip it or make a very shortened version of it. Add a "skip deathscreen" checkbox right below it. That way the players can decide. You can vary this a lot.

it would look like ONLY investigate popped up first, then after investigating, enter would appear?
Yes, just give the player one decision at a time. Maybe dim the other option until it is ready to be picked. Not sure, I don't have a good suggestion here, just that two bright options at once is confusing. I figured the priority thing out eventually. It just took me much longer than it should have.

coyote time
That is an execellent idea. Some people say they like hard controls but in reality (my subjective experience) 99% only like to THINK the controls are hard and they rock them. If you give them the forgiving version of the controls without telling them then they will almost always enjoy those more.

Phew, sorry for rambling on about the font. It's a pet peeve of mine. Btw.: please give your text some room to breathe (especially around the edges of dialog boxes). It's not always easy to do but it makes a difference. Better shorten the text than squeeze it in.

Best of luck with your game. Let me know here when you have a new tutorial to test 

[banjotoadstudio]

Love a followup geo! More detail is always good :- )

Add a "skip deathscreen" checkbox right below it. That way the players can decide. You can vary this a lot.

- added, its a toggle in the settings menu defaulted to automatically skip and respawn you. Players can choose to toggle the auto skip off. I gave you a little shout-out on the itch devlog for the suggestion :- )

I've also added input banking to jumps, parries (blocks) and attacks. You can now bank one input during "movement locked" animations, which automatically performs the action as soon as movement would be restored. It solves the "I tried to jump a frame too soon while blocking and died" problem I believe. I did a little testing before rolling out to Itch, but it seems smooth and pretty intuitive. Ditto the rollout to the "Enter" scroll, which now stays disabled until you've investigated anybody dead or knocked out in front of the door. I'll be doing the rollout for "Listen" as well, but that will take a little more time. Thanks so much for the suggestion :- )

The "great master" whom the player fights in the tutorial went down in a single hit in my run (maybe that was a bug?). Anyways, that does take away a lot of the feeling of him being a "master" (what a great master he is that he goes down instantly).

All unarmored enemies go down in one hit, just like the player. Early playtests had the master too difficult, so we built an internal difficulty scaler for him. His reaction time becomes slower (for parries, ripostes, and attacks) the more times you've died in the tutorial up to a cap. We wanted the whole tutorial experience to be short (5-10 minutes) but every playtester was taking 15-30 minutes on it alone. He was absolutely the outlier on the early tests, with lots of players getting frustrated at his ability to parry and riposte. Hence the scaler. If he's universally too easy, we'll tone back the scaling.

Master: "So, let's go through the very basics, just to warum up. I know you can do it blindfolded, but indulge me, please."
-> "Dialog that saying [A], [D] means move".
-> Then immediately follow that up with a short gameplay section where the master wants you only to move left and right.

I do really like the idea of going through limited movement as you get the controls down. A rollout like that is quite a bit of a commitment (for us, at least, it took a week to get the tutorial working as is), if we get more feedback on it being super clunky to the point of not wanting to play, we'll look seriously at an update.

Also #2: Please make the KEYS the user should press stand out in the text. Either like I did in my text here (notice the [] I used) or even better by [] and color. Maybe also higlight the single action that it does, best use a single verb.

It's funny you should suggest that, because it's something I'm working on right now in conjunction with controller support. It'll look something like [BUTTON NAME] (with button name in a lighter color) long term.

On typefaces, I'm very picky. I'm happy with the "Enter" "Investigate" etc text because we have so many pixels to play around with. Its a smaller version of the typeface we use for most buttons. Unfortunately for bulk text, most of what we have to play with is all caps. Even lower-case supporting pixel typefaces end up being essentially mono-weight allcaps because there are only six pixels you can play with. If I had infinite pixels, I absolutely agree that lowercase > uppercase, but in this case my hands are effectively tied. That being said, we've got a handful of in-house fonts (that are all caps) to chose from. If we hear that this one is universally difficult to read, we'll just slot in another one until we find something people can actually read hehe.

Thanks again! You can check out the current build (with the banked inputs, skippable death screen / auto respawn, improved "Enter" visibility) in the itch ( or wait a day or two for the new input system, if you're interested :- ) ) and let me know if it fixes some of the notes you had.