FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD29 → Mystic Castle

Mystic Castle

By xerohuang

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Coolness352
Innovation3653.35
Fun4273.16
Graphics4283.35
Humor4312.61
Overall5443.19
Theme5883.23
Mood6192.92

Comments

fuzzywuzzie 2014-04-28 02:23

Neat concept! I was confused at first how it fit the theme, but I got it after a minute. A bit buggy and a little hard to control, but with a bit of work I think this could stand up rather well!

skencer 2014-04-28 02:52

it was certainly interesting. but a little bit too fast paced for me. I had a hard time controlling the character.

somfunambulist 2014-04-28 03:03

I fricken love that zombie head attack, and the gameplay with toggling the sight function is interesting.

thegamefather 2014-04-28 03:52

The mechanic is great, seeing things beyond the surface and utilise it to solve puzzles. However, the control, I think, still can be more polished :)

danialias 2014-04-28 11:00

Great, great game. Exactly the kind of game can become something much bigger, I love it.

xerohuang 2014-04-28 13:09

Thanks guys. I will try to polish it after the compo :) .

jalgames 2014-04-28 14:30

Controls are a bit glitchy, but the graphics are totally awesome! Pixel art in general is awesome, but there are some people who know how to put that pixels together to create something even more aweseome - and you are surely one of them.

okkolobr 2014-04-28 14:31

Nice tweak around the theme. Really dig the gameplay and level design, good work on that. The ground is a bit slippy though, making precision in movement not that great.
Good job anyway !

quill18 2014-04-28 14:33

Loved that zombie head attack!

pandamicro 2014-04-28 14:57

Control is a too sensitive, and increased the difficulty, but the idea is really very interesting ! Art work also very funny ! I like it a lot.

tehryanx 2014-04-28 14:59

Awesome idea! I'd tighten the -accel when you stop moving, he feels too slippery. I love the baddies with their headwhip. Overall great job!

tifu 2014-04-29 10:20

Woops, I got out of the castle by glitching outside a wall and then fell forever through the sky D:
Guess I wasn't meant to do that... had to restart to complete it. Cool mechanic and level design.

geckoo1337 2014-04-29 12:08

Nice entry for LD29. I like this little man and zombie, but it seems to me that moves are really annoying - a kind of slide and combinaison to kill our enemies didn't work properly. I have a graphic problem - a constant cliping which affects my pleasure like a green rain ++

ryan-up-in-here 2014-04-29 13:19

The move sensitivity was killing me. Well that and the bad guys throwing their heads at me. Pretty fun overall.

jayhof 2014-04-29 13:37

I like the idea with "see/walk - through" walls. nice work!

thorig 2014-04-29 19:27

Good game for your first LD. The jump is a bit floaty, but for a first time it is good.

vdz 2014-04-29 21:16

Great game, far better than I'd expect for someone's first LD. Though there are some technical issues, design-wise it's mostly flawless.

The 'two worlds' mechanic was an obvious pick for the theme, but it was very well executed in this game; the environment-changing bubble is not unique, but it's definitely a fitting choice for overlapping worlds, and the way it was executed was really good; you really had to be careful about when and when not to activate the bubble. The level design was great and forced me to think about how to progress multiple times. The areas look a bit too similar, though; minor visual differences (paintings on the wall, sets of armor, other decorations) would make it easier to recognize where you are (and with that, whether or not you have visited that room before). The combat unfortunately sucked donkey balls, mostly because of the extreme slipperiness of the castle (seriously, what was it built out of?!). The death penalty is also rather severe; with no way to heal, your third time of accidentally running into a skeleton comes soon enough, and suddenly you have to walk back to where you were again - a lot less fun once you've finished solving the puzzles. In fact, I feel the combat didn't really add anything to the game, and it might've been better off without it.

I also feel that sound would very much improve the game. When you flip a switch or press a button, you might not even notice that you did so, let alone know what happened from pressing the button/flipping the switch. A simple *click* sound would help recognize when you press a button/flip a switch, and things like sounds of doors opening (for multiple-use switches) or a you-solved-the-puzzle jingle (for single-use switches) would help hint towards what just happened because of the switch. Music would add a lot too; once I started playing 'Fearless Challenger / Guidance Gate' (from La-Mulana) in the background, the game got several times more awesome.

Overall, great game, looking forward to seeing what you make after this LD.

xerohuang 2014-04-30 03:16

@Geckoo1337: What's the graphic problem? I don't get that.

Thanks guys and thank @VDZ for your helpful advice!

empyrealhell 2014-04-30 04:16

That was really well done. Cohesive graphics (though a bit sparse) and a fun and interesting mechanic really brought this one to life.

roaet 2014-04-30 04:18

I really like the see ability concept. Sound and music really goes a long way to completing the game but I know the feeling of time slipping away.

Other than sound and whatnot, try implementing some friction! It'll really help with the platform feel.

Like it.

hypnohustla 2014-04-30 07:25

This is cool! The "see" skill was a nice addition to the basic platformer formula. I wish the controls were a bit tighter tho. Congratulations on your first LD :)

aaronjbaptiste 2014-04-30 19:56

Haha, love the zombie. Great

spotlightor 2014-05-01 01:35

Very good use of theme! The game mechanics is really interesting, and the level is well designed too. The attack animations of player and zombie is my favorite part! Overall, an awesome piece as the 1st LD entry!

impmaster 2014-05-01 08:14

Eh. Didn't really get how to do anything. I saw an enemy if I used see, then it disappeared and I started losing life? Also, the collision boxes were a bit weird and the movement felt bad.

xerohuang 2014-05-01 08:51

@Impmaster : If you use see skill, you will see something and CANNOT see some other thing at the same time. For example, you will see the "hole" in the wall then walk through it, and you CANNOT see and hurt the enemy (but it can hurt you because it can see you). There're two worlds in the castle, you will see the inner world in the sight and CANNOT see the outer world.

vdz 2014-05-01 10:34

@Impmaster
To clarify what xerohuang says: There is a 'front layer' and a 'back layer'. The front layer is visible outside of the circle and around you when you have your power disabled, when when you enable your power you see only the 'back layer' of the level in the circle around you. Enemies will hit you when you bump into them regardless of whether or not you can see them; switch to the proper layer to kill them.

At the very start, you have a 'closed room' with only an enemy. Kill the enemy and activate your power to notice the back layer has a hole in the wall that you can walk through. The rest of the game is just like that; there's platforms that are or aren't there depending on the layer, etc. You'll probably find yourself wondering where to go next and thinking maybe the game ends here because of time constraints, but there's always a way to continue until you get a clear 'you win' message. I urge you to give this game another chance, it's quite good apart from the combat.

wschorn 2014-05-19 02:22

wow nice use of theme, animation, physics!