Topic: Nightkeep, 2D metroidvania RPG

[Nightale]

Thats hard to tell... I am not native english speaker, so whole process is slowed down. I am working on Czech version of the game myself, but I will hire translator to translate demo texts. I am afraid with my English there would be 5times more of grammar bugs than necessary. So I use another person for translation of English version and he's somewhat busy. But as I wrote I will share demo this november.

I plan to go crowdfunding too with info why I need it. I actually have original music in project, not royal free. Give at least try to the demo when I release it. But I cant tell date of release now.

[theANdROId]

No pressure or anything!  I said that more to imply that it looks really great and that I want it, and not so much that I'm looking for a specific release date! ;-)

[Nightale]

Ah  I understand. You know in English I take everything as questions. Haha, I have not such sense in this language. 
I just finished English tutorlal for Rare monsters and I like the direction I am turning the game around its bit old-fashioned... but happy to announce that Thomas Schmied joined back the team and will translate the demo onwards. There shouldnt be any extra delays till november.

[AdrianTepes]

As someone interested on game developing, the amount of things you have done in only 2 years is amazing.
All the art looks amazing, and the gameplay looks fun, plus everything looks very polished.
Keep it up with this great work, and hope to hear more news about it soon!

[Nightale]

Hi,

I am coming with a quick update on the development. I am having demo ready, it's just waiting for translation now. I would like to release it next month.If you played the old demo, there are some new adjustments as I tried to make it a bit better. It's still a relatively simple game, but that was the original goal anyway. No hundreds of skills, I am aiming at more SNES-like play. But yeah, there are some equips, yet I am not sure if I will add these in demo.

Anyway, I bring two images with me, that I didn't share here.

*new logo

*castle entrace ( I edited roots after this gif, slightly.)


Here are links to my social media, nightkeep.rpg2heaven.com More info is coming.

[Nightale]

Hello,

Nightkeep is a project I’ve been working on for the past 2 years. A public alpha demo and a new trailer were just released.

Trailer:



My goal is to merge classic metroidvanias and JRPGs, add a fairytale-like theme and make a platformer, which will bring players 20 years into the past. Inspired by the SNES-era classics such as Castlevania Bloodlines, Demon’s Crest and a number of JRPGs - I’m a big fan of the stories these games tell.

You can get the demo at Indiegogo : https://igg.me/at/keep
or
Direct Download : http://rpg2heaven.com//downloads/nightkeep_abuild_01.zip

Game may has its own flaws and I am trying to catch them -annoying details- based on the feedback. I fixed few things since the demo release and  the demo is ready to be shared here as well. I hope someone will enjoy the game and its direction. Someone may dislike it too, that's fine. I am looking for fans that will provide me with a feedback, so we can improve it and make the good game.

After two years, the project is launching on indiegogo looking for support. If you'd like to help me, consider sharing the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign over social media! I appreciate it.

[X]

Nice demo! It does have that classic-esque vibe to it. However there are only some small things I have with it.

1) Transitioning from room to room leaves me standing still like a statue rather then continue onward, and I have to forcibly move in order to continue. This can get frustrating.

2) The difficulty is a little up there. I'm not saying the game should be easy, but a little fine-tuning wouldn't hurt. Plus when I level up my strength should allow for my weapon to do more damage. My character got to either the third or fourth level and her weapon was still doing the same base damage.

3) The climbing and hanging on rope nets is also a bit of a frustration. If I'm not pressing up on the D-pad I should just fall, but instead I still hang there, and when surrounded by enemies it is quite a cause for concern. I feel this game mechanic could also be tweeked a bit to help it function better in the character's favour.

4) All the gold you receive after killing enemies or bashing bushes and haystacks seems to float a little to high for me to acquire them all. Having the gold fall to the ground where I can easily get at it without trying to jump up to impossible heights might work better.

Overall this game was enjoyable and I look forward to the next demo release 

[Nightale]

Thanks for playing and for detailed feedback X, wish more people cared like this. This kind of feedback is excatly a thing, that will help the development. As I am not native speaker and translation for game is done by other person, I may get a bit confused, so I will ask (not entirely understand Answer 2).


1)  This should be fixed now. But only others can verify it. Demo was reuploaded, link is the same.
Reuploaded it just now. same adress http://rpg2heaven.com//downloads/nightkeep_abuild_01.zip

2) So you find difficulty a bit too hard for start  ? Any concrete example.

3) I thought of this, what if this stays the same. But - If you press DOWN+jump you will fall and net will be ignored till you hit the ground.
I think this may be good solution.

4) I thought this popup gold effect is nice :-) I am not sure if I am gonna alter it. However if I get more feedback on gold, its something I should look @. Or relic that auto drags coins to you would be nice.

[X]

2) So you find difficulty a bit too hard for start  ? Any concrete example.

Sort of. It mainly has to do with the strength of the character; How many hits she can take and how much stronger she gets when levelling up. I think if her attacks got slightly stronger as she levels up would help to offset the difficulty enough. That's my recommendation anyways.

3) I thought of this, what if this stays the same. But - If you press DOWN+jump you will fall and net will be ignored till you hit the ground.
I think this may be good solution.

You could do it that way too. I'd have to give it a try and see for myself.

4) I thought this popup gold effect is nice :-) I am not sure if I am gonna alter it. However if I get more feedback on gold, its something I should look @. Or relic that auto drags coins to you would be nice.

The floating gold is not a bad idea. It's just a bit too far away when I need to collect it. The problem could be solved by not having it scatter too far from the character. Be it within reach instead of beyond the character's jumping radius. This would help with the collecting bit.

[Nightale]

Update on the items. DL of new demo, link is the same.
http://rpg2heaven.com//downloads/nightkeep_abuild_01.zip

1) Resolved issue?

2) Weapon Art stands for strength of throwable weapons and sword art will update eventually with level too. Some weapons have extra power and I just added two new into the demo (forest) - I will add more powerups to the game that will increase strength,.. I have them in game already.

3) I did some polish to NET, you can fall down just by holding "Down", I reduced ceiling bounce when on net, and lowered strength when u just stroke Down once, so you will slightly decrease.

4) Floating gold ?? No, no. It should never be floaty, coins fall to ground. I thought you find them jump too high before they start to fall.

Now I might know what happened. I updated Developer's software Clickteam fusion recently and the last update messed my physic codes. Probably?

I returned to the previous version of developer software = problem with gold solved. Gold never should stay in the air .

[X]

Just tried your recent demo update. The gold issue is still 'up in the air' if you get my meaning, lol. During the intro stage when you first start the game I got some gold and it fell to earth as it should have. But after that stage the gold went right back to floating again. Moneybags too. I also discovered another bug where I jumped through one of the open doors (to the rat boss I believe) and I got stuck behind the wall and started scrolling upwards. I couldn't get free 

The good news? The net climbing is much better. It seems to work so I doubt you need to adjust it further. Plus the room-to-room transition is smooth as we see it in other Metroid-like games. These issues as far as I can tell are put to bed.

[Nightale]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly X !

1) Fixed! Money - I caused this by adding new auto save, I moved line somewhere I shouldn't and I didn't notice this. All works.
2) Fixed! No more stuck at boss room, feel free to jump as u wish.

I just need to upload (did) right file, and it's ready.

[X]

Tried the new demo update. Looks like all the issues i mentioned have been dealt with    Gold functions as it should too. Keep your fingers crossed that it stays that way eh? Good luck on finishing your project 

[Nightale]

Glad I fixed it, it was a bit unlucky to happen at its release But it's not a big deal I fixed it all.
-
I also updated Jump today. Minimum and maximum height differs based on key press. And added new sword attack for basic weapon that no longer force you to bend the knee to kill the rat. It's more enjoyable that way.
-
If anyone wants to help the indiegogo campaign, consider sharing it over social media https: //igg. me/at/keep - Very much appreciated.

[Nightale]

Hi, please support Nightkeep through Thunderclap (it's free)! Go to the Thunderclap campaign http://thndr.me/Abef88 and select any of the 3 options: Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. Thank you!

New combat prototype. Combat is based on stamina now, but don’t worry. Lack of stamina will never stop you. You can still attack normally. Stamina adds great aid to the current Gemstone system that I plan to expand as well. With stamina Arietta will be able to perform combos, charge attacks, to use different attacks with the same gemstone and it will also help to balance otherwise overpowered stuff. Oh, by the way one you see in the GIF is just your basic sword, no gemstone equipped - it is just that stab, stab forward weapon you know from the demo.



It's quite difficult to spread a word about the game. I have 6 days left on Thunderclap.
Any support via it is very much appreciated!