mtinkerhess 2013-12-16 03:42
I kept dying! One time I managed to get to the second level, but every other time was just impossible.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD28 → One Spell at a Time
By dopplex
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | 511 | 2.83 | ||
| Audio | 561 | 2.38 | ||
| Graphics | 588 | 2.75 | ||
| Mood | 588 | 2.63 | ||
| Innovation | 648 | 2.67 | ||
| Overall | 766 | 2.67 | ||
| Fun | 862 | 2.29 | ||
| Coolness | 1141 | 45 |
I kept dying! One time I managed to get to the second level, but every other time was just impossible.
The Game Was Okay, But you really just sit in one place and shoot for the most part, because if you move, the monsters get too close for you to kill before they get to you.
Yeah, game balance is something that I really ran out of time on. While it's possible to get to level 8 or so, you're forced to play very defensively, and it relies on exploiting my terribad pathing. I had hoped that the time limit would provide some pressure to be aggressive, but I think that getting close to the monsters is so punishing that that didn't end up happening.
the monsters are a bit too strong (too much lifes). But cool game though
Really tough to make even the slightest progress! Good work getting the game done for the deadline. I wish I could get further.
This seems like it would be fun to get into, but unfortunately I think I may just be bad at it (or not understanding something). Spells will never kill the monsters, and I always end up getting killed.
Very hard game and I also killed myself using a spell.
Well, the killing yourself with a spell is actually intended. The game is supposed to be difficult, but... probably not quite this difficult.
One thing that would improve it (but I ran out of time) is having more monsters - then I could ramp the monster difficulty over time. As is, the 'only one health point' piece may have been theme over game design here, as it punishes bad luck or misclicks quite severely.
The concept is very good.
However, some parts are badly designed and make it somehow frustrating.
The pathfinding is terrible, which make it more balance in a certain way :D
You don't really have spells information, I though I had a bug with fireball whereas it is just because it has a limited range.
As others said, you mostly sit on place and shoot to everybody before move on.
Not sure if the time limit bring something to the game.
Anyway, don't stop here, implement/fix everything you wanted and I'm pretty sure you will have a great game !
Just kept dying!
Ack! Those creepy dragon-spider-bunnies keep getting me.
Interesting concept and some good stuff, but a few snags got in the way of having a lot of fun. Two points of feedback here:
- It took me quite a while to realize I could shoot through the walls. My first five deaths or so, I kept thinking I had to get line-of-sight before I could shoot the monsters. If you do try to get in view to shoot, you're too close by then and you are dead meat.
- The monster AI I think just moves to the absolute-value closest to the player, without regard for whether there is a wall in the way. I know that fancy AI and pathfinding can be a real problem. I cut "walls" as a feature before I even started for this reason, and I *still* spent more time on AI than anything else in my game. My point is that your monsters got totally stuck, and as a player exploiting this was my main means of killing enemies harmlessly, which is no doubt not your intended feature. I think that if you add walls and enemies, you are almost forced to use basic pathfinding. Try Dijkstra's algorithm for a really simple one that is easy to implement and probably would have been enough for this game. A* is the other biggie I guess, but you can use "Dijkstra Maps" to solve the pathfinding problem for ALL the monsters at once.
Thanks for the pathfinding suggestion - you're right about the way it was implemented, and I just didn't have time to figure out anything else. Planning on doing better pathfinding on a more polished version of this (mostly to get myself more familiar with it, because I recognize it as a serious shortcoming in the game.)
As others are saying, the game starts out way too difficult. A gradual progression of health increasing per level would make this a lot more fun.
Finally made it to level 7 once I realized the spells could go through walls. Otherwise, I was stuck on level 1.
Cool idea but it mostly came down to luck to defeat the enemies.
I like the concept and in that case don't think the game need pathfinding - in later levels using fire spell with range 4 is mandatory, making pathfining not so neccessary. Its obvious that the first goal is to take the fire spell and advance with it. I suggest to prevent it from appearing on first 5-6 levels and leave the ice for them. The game also need an ending, reached level 13 where was just impossible to play - too many enemies that lagged alot. You can add a spell power-up when the same tome of magic is taken. Good luck on improving :)
Good first effort at LD. I found the game a bit too difficult but reading some of the comments here helped. Well done!