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[Alec S.]

Sent out the new version.

[Fuzz]

I wrote this while playing beta 2; I hope it's helpful. There were no bugs that I noticed except that I kept falling through the floor during the area with the goat.

4:00-   I open the program. It takes a fair bit of time to load; perhaps you can consider loading resources externally?

4:02-   The title screen is well designed and clear. The font is good and the contrast between the text and background works well. However, the mouse should be hidden.

4:03-   The menu screen needs some work; it seems too sparse and the objects are spaced strangely. Selection of items should be done with the arrow keys rather than the mouse.

4:08-   It should be made clear to the player that a button needs to pressed after the screen of text.

4:13-   I'm having trouble with my character's movement during the boss fight with death. Movement is too fast to the left and right, so I often die by falling off the screen.

4:15-   There is an unreasonable vertical distance between some of the platforms.

4:18-   The winning conditions for the end of the first level need to be made more clear. Currently the player is making a blind jump where they may or may not die.

4:19-   The sound is gone, I'm not sure why.

4:20-   There needs to be a clearer distinction between the moon blocks and the blocks of static.

ALSO: It needs to made clearer that there is a double jump! (The sound came back.)

4:27-   Took me a very long time to figure out that I could jump on the stars in the area with the moontree. Maybe those stars should be animated while the others are not?

4:29-   The jumps between the smoky enemies at the top of moon mountain are too difficult, as it causes the player to go into the next screen. Platforms with enemies at the top of a screen do not work well.

4:33-   I've only now discovered that I can shoot the "smoky" enemies. This needs to be made clearer to the player, as enemies up till now have not responded to gunfire.

4:36-   Enemies should not regenerate when you jump off the top of the screen, go to another screen, and land back where you started.

4:38-   It should not be possible to fall off the screen during the fight with the goat.

FINAL COMMENTS: The game clearly shows its Game Maker origins in the way the character moves, the particle effects, and the mechanism for changing between screens. The graphics are very amateurish, and there is no music. However (!), there is the start of a good game here. The characters and concepts inside the game are fascinating, and with a more refined engine, and more attention to detail in the design of platforming sections, the game would be quite good. If you're planning to release this as shareware, these graphics will not do. I'm afraid that most people would not buy a game with art like this. If you're planning to release this as freeware, the graphics will be fine, but it still needs music, which was unfortunately lacking in the previous game.

EDIT:
This also happened to me, except the demo ended rather than making me run in place:

After finding the moon master, the game just kinda freaked out. Not sure exactly what happened, I warped around a whole bunch, but it ended with me at the last save point I was at running in place, unable to move.

[Alec S.]

Thanks for the feedback!

I have music planned, it's just not in the game yet.  I'll hopefully have it implemented in one of the updates soon.  I'll also work to get rid of the sound effect problems and have more sound effects in general.

I'll make damaging enemies more clear.  You actually can damage the enemies earlier in the level, they just take a couple hits before dying (which I need to ad an animation of some sort to make clearer). 

I'll take out the enemies at the top of that one screen.

I'll slow down horizontal movement.


As for the graphics, can you be a bit more specific?  The art side isn't necessarily my strong suit, but I'm trying to learn, so specific advice would be a help.  Does all the art need improvement or just some of it?  Should I go up to a higher resolution?  Also, some of the art is still temporary, mainly the lettuce enemies, the underworld tileset, and some parts of the moon tileset.  I also have a couple alternate visual styles in mind, which I might end up experimenting with.

[Fuzz]

Well, it's hard to say exactly what the problem with the art is, it just doesn't seem very professional or skillfully done. It might be worth trying to see if someone here might be able to help you with the art aspect of things.

[mokesmoe]

I think it's looks unprofessional on purpose.
When I found the moon master, the game went back to the title screen, but the mouse didn't reappear. The loading works. Although it works in the devil area, in the moon area, you can't run off a platform and then use your second jump.

[G.I.L.]

If there are any other spots left i'll test.

[Alec S.]

Sent you a PM, dude4k.

I think it's looks unprofessional on purpose.

To some extent.  As I go onward, I'm probably going to go even crazier with the graphical style, with more effects, changes in resolution between rooms, and some photographic and collage images, all to go with the style of the game, and to make the visuals more of a head trip.  My main focus up 'til now is getting the gameplay working and to have some decent pixel art.  Some of the art is potentially final, some of it isn't.  I'm not satisfied with the lettuce monsters at all, and the underworld tiles need a re-do as well.

Also, what are you guys' oppinions on this tileset which I'm planning on using for the caves (the next part of the game after the demo)
(ignore the far back layer of the background, it's temporary)

[mokesmoe]

Thought it looked neat for the second I saw it when I finished the game, still do.
Also you said two unlockable, Can you give me a hint to the second one, so I can find and test it? My guess is right before the moon master, but I cant make it to that ledge.

[Alec S.]

Yes, although the second unlockable is currently kind of a letdown, since I already made it available as a pseudo-demo for this game (ie. it's Super Pumpnik).  I'm currently working on a better unlockable to go where Super Pumpnik is, so you might want to wait till the next update to go through the challenge of unlocking that. 

But if you don't mind repeating yourself later on, I can tell you that it's hidden somewhere between the end of the up-side-down area and the start of the mountain, and it's quite a bit more hidden than the first unlockable.

[mokesmoe]

Found it almost right away.
You can mess up the game if you jump off the top of the screen above the secret.
Also:

[Fuzz]

Sent you a PM, dude4k.

I think it's looks unprofessional on purpose.

To some extent.  As I go onward, I'm probably going to go even crazier with the graphical style, with more effects, changes in resolution between rooms, and some photographic and collage images, all to go with the style of the game, and to make the visuals more of a head trip.  My main focus up 'til now is getting the gameplay working and to have some decent pixel art.  Some of the art is potentially final, some of it isn't.  I'm not satisfied with the lettuce monsters at all, and the underworld tiles need a re-do as well.

Also, what are you guys' oppinions on this tileset which I'm planning on using for the caves (the next part of the game after the demo)
(ignore the far back layer of the background, it's temporary)

this image actually looks really good.

[Alec S.]

Ah!  Excellent!

I think one of the issues is that my skill level with pixel art has been changing at a noticeable pace so that the art nearer to the beginning of the demo is worse than the art later on, making the whole think inconsistent.  I'm planning on bringing up much of the old art to the current level at some point, although I probably don't have time by the due date.

[Alec S.]

Alright, I have been continuing work.  I've been working on another of the unlockables, one to go where Super Pumpnik is now, after which I'll need to find another place to put Super Pumpnik.  I probably only have time for these three unlockables, although the other two aren't that elaborate, so I may be able to make one more.

I'm also going to clear up any issues with the main game that are still remaining, as well as add music and more sound.

Finally, while I can't do a complete graphical overhaul in the time given, I'll probably try to redo at least the underworld tileset and possibly one of the moon tile sets, as well as those lettuce monsters.

I'm not sure when I'll post the new update for the demo.

[Fuzz]

A few small changes I'd suggest:

-have flashing text on the title screen saying "press any key to start" or something similar

-use the arrow keys and jump button to select options on the menu screens rather than the mouse

-perhaps put the eyes back on the menu screen, as they were in an earlier trailer for the game?

-do not show the mouse on the title or menu screens, or anywhere ingame

-maybe change the control scheme for jump and shoot? a and s seem strange, perhaps try z and x or shift and ctrl or have multiple options selectable at startup.

[Alec S.]

Ah, yes, thanks for reminding me.  I also plan to do all of that.

[Alec S.]

Well, I've been taking a little break from this after I submitted the demo so I can spend some time focusing on my other projects, but I figured I should post a screenshot showing some of the aesthetic changes I made between the last Demo Beta and the final IGF demo.



I'm also thinking of making some form of public demo when I have time to put that together, but I still need to work out how much of the game will be in that.

[G.I.L.]

Really sorry about the late feedback. The game itself was rather enjoyable  the dadabus.
The levels were pretty challenging and the story was pretty funny. In my option the only thing slightly lacking was the graphics but even those seemed to fit in with the style.
Some small suggestions
-make the falling sheep part a little harder
-add some checkpoints in the boss fight with death
-make the moon enemies a little more intelligent
other than those minor gripes i found the game fun and interesting
good luck in the igf.

[Alec S.]

Thanks for the feedback!

[Alec S.]

Hey, just posting to let you guys know that this isn't dead.  However, the game file has gotten so unruly that it would be an extremely daunting task to complete this game as I had originally intended.  Therefore, I'm going to release Dadaists Gone Wild 2 episodically.  That way I can start fresh with the continuation of the game.  I'm not sure yet exactly the form later episodes will take, but the first episode will be freeware.

There's still some stuff I need to add before releasing episode 1, however, I have a good deal of episode 1 ready already, so the release date shouldn't be too far off.

[Hajo]

This thread just popped up on my radar, I read through it and it's amazing

Good luck with the project!