Necromancer

almost 2017-12-04 06:25

The art style is cute.

I don't like that I need 3 hands (WASD, Arrows, and Mouse). I found it difficult to click on the right object when things overlap. I also don't see any reason to ever not take something or to not awaken a skeleton, so I feel like the mouse input could be removed completely if things were 'clicked automatically'.

I don't know why there are so many more skeletons and lamps than I need. I'm a bit sad that my skeletons seem to be pacifists, I would have liked to see them do some fighting.

william-bundy 2017-12-04 10:27

Great job for finishing the compo!

I agree that needing three hands is kinda rough--maybe move shooting to the mouse too (right-click?) to make it more playable. However, the game implements the theme well: as you get more skeletons, it is much harder to click on what you want.

While the music is... hard on the ears, it's good at setting the tone and mood! Maybe the background graphics should have been grey/cryptlike to reinforce the necromancy/undead theme

orcdraco 2017-12-04 13:28

Thanks for the input! :) The control is quite awkward, yes. (my bad)

@almost: The skeletons are supposed to give some disadvantages. The more you have them, the more annoying it is to pick stuff. (And on nightmare mode, having more skeletons means you need more food to keep them). The only advantage to have more skeleton is higher damage point for necromancer.

@william-bundy: Nice ideas! :) Right-click for shooting(or moving) would make the controls feel better.

merotrydal 2017-12-04 15:07

Game was fun, like most are saying controls could use some work, using Arrows with WASD can make things complicated. Overall it was a neat game, and Congrats on finishing the compo!

brandon-anderson 2017-12-04 15:07

Controls were a little wonky, but I like the art style. I got cornered by two dogs right away and couldn't get out of the corner lol. Great submission and very creepy music!

drfallos 2017-12-04 15:09

played 100 times sound of raising skeleton and raised sceleton in real ))) good game!

meatpudding 2017-12-04 15:09

I liked building my army

tvance 2017-12-04 17:00

I love the art style. The controls are a little unwieldy. Right have has to alternate betw mouse and arrows.

grostonton 2017-12-04 17:13

I agree on what is said about the art style, very nice. But i agree alos on the controls, there are a little difficult.

siarhei-rakuts 2017-12-04 17:34

that face of necromancer)

pinmei 2017-12-04 18:07

The controls also reflected the theme!

jlreymendez 2017-12-04 18:21

I love the art specially the audio. Why did you go for the requirement of using the mouse to interact?

rob-white 2017-12-04 18:23

Nice aesthetic! As others have said, the control scheme is a bit janky, not sure how to fix that because you need to specify which object you're interacting with. I did like how you included two different modes though.

seano 2017-12-04 18:34

Awesome game. Love the sound effects and the general art is really good. Great style.

strelly 2017-12-04 21:55

This game is what happens when pokemon mistery dungeon and the binding of isaac have a child together, and I love it.

xacur 2017-12-05 01:02

Yes, I beat it... in normal. But it's good, I liked a lot. Sadly, our Lord Satan has not given me the third arm I would need to play the Nightmare version, because changing from mouse to arrow keys is easy. I always tried to hit enemies with the mouse.

orcdraco 2017-12-05 14:57

Thanks for the input! :D As for control, I've been thinking to add right click to move around, and use WASD for shooting. Left-click to interact with object. Or have 2 different controls which player can choose, maybe (but that after this Ludum Dare is finished).

@jlreymendez : I need mouse click to interact because I want to make clicking stuff more difficult when the player has a lot skeletons following them

korpokrowa 2017-12-05 15:10

Using a WSAD, arrow keys and a mouse at the same time it's not the best idea for game controls. Instead of a mouse I was using a touchpad and that helps a little. Besides of that this game is not so bad.

jani-nykanen 2017-12-05 15:51

Nice concept!

the-bm 2017-12-05 16:52

the conrolls need a bit of work because they are weird.

gris 2017-12-05 16:55

Art style and audio are great. Like the concept. Congrats!

poorwill 2017-12-05 17:04

I really like that you connected the different resources. I really hoped the skeletons would somehow attack the dogs though.

mess110 2017-12-05 19:13

Got stuck between 2 dogs and couldn't make it out. Loved the option to choose difficulty.

rombus 2017-12-05 22:03

I like your style bro! the sfx are awesome, but I encounter some glitches with movement and I whish you wouldn't have to use the mouse.

But overall solid entr :D, congrats!

dusho 2017-12-06 15:14

Gratz on your first submission. Art is nice, sounds and music fits nicely, but collision detection and clicking objects close to each other feels glitchy, I was also hoping skeletons would help with dogs.. also maybe use [Enter] to format text in your description so controls are better visible here

tom-panton 2017-12-08 21:30

Ace game, well done! I love the art and the sound effects, especially the sounds the dogs make :) There were some issues with the skeletons following the necromancer though; they would sometimes get stuck on corners because they just move in a straight line to the necromancer. I would recommend checking out the A* search algorithm (https://www.redblobgames.com/pathfinding/a-star/introduction.html), as it can be implemented to allow NPCs to find an optimal path through complex obstacles.

hydro-games 2017-12-10 20:12

I love the art style and sound effects! Although, I think you could get rid of the mouse clicking and have items just collect.

2017-12-10 20:20

I think you might have an interesting concept here in creating a game about managing a bumbling army of the undead. Maybe you could create a more comedic take on some person out for some type of revenge getting into dark magic only to find out that its not all its cracked up to be, which is why its not widely practiced anymore.

That said I found the game a bit... Lacking in something. Im not really sure what it is. I feel like trying to manage a ramble of skeletons fits the theme very well, but I dunno. Maybe it would be interesting if the skeletons did something, even if they don't fight the dogs. Like perhaps your goal is to fighten the towns people, or mess with your school bully.

Otherwise I only had some sparse feedback about the gameplay itself. I agree with other commenters that three controls sets between keyboard and mouse was a bit much. Could easily replace mouse clicks with a spacebar press. Along with a few hitboxes were a bit janky and hard to hit.

Aside from those last points I think you've got a solid base foundation that you could turn into some type of really deep and amusing game. Provided you're interested in expanding upon the game outside if the Jam.

Nice work.

https://youtu.be/9JIVCYwaagw

orcdraco 2017-12-11 15:53

Thanks for the input and thanks for playing! :) I'm sorry for the awkward controllers, it was a total design fail. Items being difficult to pick up is slightly intentional (if the skeletons are blocking the item).

@tom-panton Thanks for the link! :) Yeah, I used Vector2.MoveTowards which couldn't handle obstacles and walls. :/

@larrychupacabra Thanks for the review! I really appreciate it :) The story is actually about a necromancer-in-training who wants to invade human world by raising the army of undead. :) I'm planning to expand the game outside the jam. I'll think of what kind of actions I could add for the skeletons. And maybe some other items and different type of enemies so the game doesn't feel "empty".

deathray 2017-12-12 02:58

necromancer.png

"Hey you guys, stop getting stuck in the doorway and catch up!"

I lived the sounds and the sketched artworked. I would've liked some spooky terrain though ...and maybe something to get skeletons unstuck. :skull:

badly-drawn-rod 2017-12-15 21:19

I liked the concept and the artwork. It was also nice to have a game that tells you how much progress you're making and is clear in what you have to do to win. Overall, good job.

2017-12-26 18:26

Nice graphics! I included it in my Ludum Dare 40 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26D5qtoYgoQ

ambi 2017-12-28 17:21

That's fun. I wish the entire rest of the game was done with the art style that you did the characters. I really dig it. At first the music really sounded really bad, but I started liking it as it fits the theme of the game quite nicely. The AI and pathing of the skeletons and the enemies could be better and the controls weren't immediately obvious to me. Really cool entry!