Exhibition at Freeplay 2015

First time we ever got to show of the game to the public

FreeplaySplash

Feedback:
We learnt a lot from your feedback. Responses to the mechanics, abilities improvisation and level generation seemed very positive, with most of the criticism directed towards issues of pacing and teaching the player.
There was an interesting range of skillsets, some people reached the 3rd or 4th level on their very first try, with minimal guidance, while others fell quite a few times in the first level (getting a bit frustrated as a result).

Alot of new players felt overwhelmed at the options they had in the game to (e.g. duck and roll/grab ledge/stunning/throwing enemies/abilities/equipment/psychic abilities/inventory/manipulating traps and the environment etc.) to deal with several challenges at once. We will be looking to adjust this.
I apologize that it was disconcerting to have the instructions conveyed without a built in tutorial, however we are working to fix that and several other issues.

In response to the feedback:
Changes Made from alpha 0.33.1 to 0.33.7

  • Initial levels are much smaller, expanding to much larger labyrinths of rooms as the player progresses.
  • The confusing flooded section beneath the player’s spawn point has been removed (not to be confused with the tidal corridor level theme).
  • The dark level theme can no longer occur in the first 2 levels.
  • Vases containing trap-grenades can no longer be found in stage 5 and onwards.
  • Possessed incendiary vases and possessed explosive vases can only be found beyond stage 4.
  • Poisonous giant bats can only spawn on stage 3 and onwards.
  • Ranged mimics and toothy mimics will not spawn on the first level.
  • Run only triggers with double tap (not walk+release+tap), which should make controls less twitchy.
  • Loading screen on level generation.

Priority changes to be made:

  • Aesthetic Enhancements
  • Built in tutorial. I know it’s disconcerting having a monolithic readme file. or having mechanics explained verbally. As games like Spelunky and Catacomb Kids show, an interactive tutorial can explain the most complex of mechanics in just a few minutes.
  • Introducing and teaching the player mechanics more gradually
  • Introducing traps and enemies more gradually.
  • Many more.

Special thanks to:

Update 0.32.0

So what’s Changed?

  • 4 new unique enemies each with their own idle/aggressive states of behavior, and methods of detection.
    • Giant Slime
    • Drone Type B
    • Melee Mimic
    • Ranged Mimic
  • Improvements to behavior across all enemies
  • Better telegraphing of attacks (including the implementation of some additional animations)
  • Multiple rebalancing and progression related changes.
  • Alot of bug fixing and optimization.
  • In the background I’ve been working on a new level generator. (The alternative generator is still unstable, so you’ll only see the effects in much later builds).
  • Much more…