Topic: Castlevania 4 Inspired Game

[bigworm]

Hi Everyone,

I'm New here Just wanted to post this.  Seems to be where the CV Fans Hang out:)
Warning Low Res Game




Download!


All Feedback if more than Welcome, Let me have it straight.
I am posting because I want to see if anyone can find bugs in the system. like sticking to walls, falling through floors etc...
Have Fun.

[Esco]

You know, I am usually VERY disappointed with the demos I see people posting up on here; mostly because they are usually a messed up, BUGGY mess, or just plain ugly looking or clunky to play and slow paced.

............. that is not the case here. Yes, the gfx are VERY ugly, but I saw your comments and reasons on them and actually laughed afterwards. The constant flow of bats really keeps the player on their toes and makes it more exciting, and it's great to see a demo with both keyboard and controller support. You also had functional music and sounds, particles and overlays, and even a midboss battle that was slightly creative.

The only bug I found was the brandish tech; it just is TOTALLY broken and doesn't even do damage. I also killed the giant hand with one normal whip strike, and then a flaming one. Which seemed weird since his life was still half full.

It would also be a good idea to either give the player the ability to hit jump and STILL jump when ducking (unless you intend to implement a slide of course).

It should still be an alpha and not a beta, but it is an overall very good demo (assuming you WILL be fixing the graphics as you stated of course) and it is great to see someone actually put real effort into preventing bugs and was a fun experience. Definitely gets my approval (and if you know anything about me or my project, that is not easily done). 

[TheouAegis]

Too many fucking bats.

Whip mechanics need work. Couldn't even hti the bats sometimes. And the grappling took forever for me to get down. Controls weren't intuitive enough. First boss was way too easy but I loved the concept. Creepy and creative, albeit way too easy.

Not a bad start.

Oh, I guess I should say something positive. (I guess the boss kinda was.) I liked the music in an old DOS kind of way.

[C Belmont]

based of the screens you provided I wasn't expecting much
visually it's a mess & I think you've thrown in way too many flashy effects just for the sake of it, however everything else seems pretty good. I love how the character swings with the whip and finishes with a summersault after detaching and you've got a good stairs setup too, the jump feels a bit too heavy though.

[bigworm]

@esco

The only bug I found was the brandish tech

Ah The Whip System, It has a power up system, the longer you go without whipping the more your meter charges.  If you let it charge all the way you get the fireball when you whip, This Causes an extra 5 points of damage. If Done right I can can spell critical strike.  Own the bosses.  so you actually did a perfect strike on the hand boss!! ( maybe needs other obvious power ups I'm sure)
     The Jump while kneeling I can do that.  Right now it is set in a way that if you are on a semi solid platform or stairs, you can hold down and press jump to fall off and save your self from the baddies. (As far as jump while kneeling on solid surface yes I can do, and also If you press down angle then jump, slide across floor is also in order:)
@ TheouAegis
Whip Mechanics yes.  Like stated above it is set on a power-up. so the faster you whip the less damage it does. allow the meter next to the health bar to charge. then whack a baddie.  (The whip hits at any point in the animation it is a semi dynamic object for example you can be kneeling and facing away from an approaching "bat" and when you strike it has that balled up look, that can hit and kill the bat) The only time it doesn't hit things is after the momentum is gone lets say 1.5 seconds after you strike.
     The grappling system the relies on the fact that after you strike and (hold the attack button) it will catch you else it ignores you.  I played CV4 snes and I love the game to death, but no matter what if the whip came even close to it after swinging it would always catch and seem odd.   The scenario is what if a "annoying bat" is coming at you and there is a grapple spot and you are on a narrow platform and have to A. take the bat in the face. or B. Kill the bat and then the catching of the Grapple throws you off the platform!!!. My answer was as long as you aren't holding the strike the grapple ignores you and you get the best of both highly  unlikely scenario
The Bats Yes I haven't put in many other things to keep it interesting, and I thought bats why not.  Later versions will have way less bats Promise.
@C Belmont
     Heavy Jump you Say. Hmm sounds like you've observed a small detail
in the storyline:)

@All so far
I didn't expect such constructive criticism, Thank you I will get some more done on this side project of mine.  I will try to make the most out of your feedback.  Thank You!!!

[Lelygax]

Found a huge bug, press <- + -> at the same time and watch Belmont walking stopped.
Apart from that, great game, engine and nice SFX.

edit: What is Blitz Max? Its the program that you used to create this game? If not, what you used?
Also nice super jump floor in the train, cool idea.

[bigworm]

@Lelygax
Hi, didn't think of pressing both keys at once.  I assume the correct behavior is to have on direction be the dominant one?
I just use the joystick controls all the time:)
Yes the programming language is BlitzMax has been around for a while.
Found the Super Jump glad you liked it.

Hey if you or anyone else has some ideas that might seem cool to throw in there let me know!!

[Esco]

@Lelygax
Hi, didn't think of pressing both keys at once.  I assume the correct behavior is to have on direction be the dominant one?
I just use the joystick controls all the time:)

The best way to avoid controller glitches like this is to set up a script that reads each motion press one after another using the equivalent of an if then else, and ENDS once it reads one direction as having been pressed (I believe this is what you mean by making some DOMINANT).

This will ALSO ensure that if someone decides to be slick and press the pad on a controller AND movement keys on the keyboard in hopes of breaking it that the game doesn't glitch.

[bigworm]

Just a slight upgrade and some gfx update.  Let me know what you think.

[X]

Just gave this a try and it seems pretty stable as far as test versions go! It almost felt like I was playing SCV4 again. The SCV4 mechanics are pretty much there too. Esco is right about the bats, they do keep you on your toes. And fortunately they aren't en massing in huge numbers to make the game tedious or impossible to play through. I think you should do little graphics quarks as well to help make things more interesting. For instance; when you latch onto a hand with your whip you should have that hand close into a fist so it looks like it's holding onto the whip. But definitely work on those graphics as the engine itself is good enough to be left alone for the time being.