criticalmammal 2015-04-23 07:49
This was really interesting, though for some reason it took me multiple tries at first to get the correct syntax without blowing myself up haha.
I kind of wish the spellcode carried over after failure (since it's so easy to mistype/misunderstand syntax) or worse, die and lose that beautiful code. Though I understand the story point is that it's dangerous to be fiddling with spellcode... I dunno, seems a bit extreme. It really makes me not want to experiment more with the coding part of the game after getting something working. It's kind of like "write code for the adventure and then don't touch it", it's simply too risky to modify the code on the fly. I would have rather just had it sputter and fail, leaving me helpless to mobs for a moment than completely kicking away any progress I make.
I enjoyed the sounds, specifically hearing the typing sounds that shadowed my real typing. It's a sort of neat effect getting that "hacker" feel like you see in movies, just hearing the keystrokes as you work on a new spell.
I mean, the idea itself is very inventive. I just think it could use some modifications so that it's not so punishing to experiment with the game. I wasn't sure what you expected for the loop syntax for instance, and since I knew it would restart the whole thing over I just never bothered with learning it. Perhaps some bits of example code leftover by a dead spell hacker you stumble on for instance, could be pretty useful and also provide a nice narrative backdrop to an area.
Actually, now that I think about it... finding the documentation scattered about the level could have been a really nice way to gradually give the player more and more control over their code. Rewarding them for overcoming challenges and introducing things at a decent pace.