I'm digging the overall concept, but is there a way to get through the no-oxygen area? I keep dying in there and I can't seem to find any items that would help.
I love the Metroid inspiration, but I am bothered by the little drone thing at the start. It's reminiscent of Fi in Skyward Sword, and not in a good way; It reeks of telling the player, rather than showing. Instead of outright listing the controls, I believe you should let the player discover them.
Putting obstacles in the way that require knowing the controls allows the player to feel like they've figured something out, and it looks like it already has this baked in. The section with the first series of vertical ledge grabs is perfect. The path clearly demonstrates where to go, and it educates the player about a movement mechanic without the bot having to explicitly say "this door wont open, you can climb up these ledges." The elements are already there, all that needs to happen is letting go of the players hand. Let them discover for themselves that sparky cables, acid, and lasers are environmental hazards, and it'll be perfect.
The obstacles are there in the first few rooms for this exact reason.
There are pretty much only two reasons the bot is there:
1. It's 2019 and I assumed people expect this sort of thing since it's been so heavily ingrained in pretty much every game at this point.
2. Keyboard users, it's either this or they will have to go to the options and check the keys / mash random keys on the keyboard to find out how to move, with a controller this would not be an issue.
With that said, I've kinda been trying to remove the bot already, in the current version it only helps you up until the save room then it powers down leaving you on your own.
And now, just as I was typing this, I came up with another way I could do this:
Show a yes/no "popup" when starting a new game asking if you want to enable tutorials or not.
That seems like it could be a good compromise so this has now been added to the to-do list.
Controller worked well for me. Game is starting to look good but it's a little too quiet and gloomy with the soundtrack and sound effects. The inventory items are not very prominent and it's hard to tell them apart from the background. The menu system is gorgeous!
Sound effects and music / ambiance will be completely reworked at a later point in time.
As for it being quiet, I'm not sure if you noticed the audio levels can be increased to 200% in the options menu but that should let you make it a bit less quiet.
Also I kinda realized just now that this is a bit weird so I will put this on the list and see if I can improve on this.
Do you mean inventory items as the ones on the in-game HUD or do you mean the upgrade list menu?
In any case, I'll add both to the list and see if I can improve upon this.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback, hopefully I can improve on what you said. :)
I meant the items lying around in the game. I ran past one without noticing it on the floor. And by gloomy sound, I meant this game could use some fast and upbeat tracks. Since you said it will be added later, I guess it's all good. This is going to be a great game. Looking forward to it!
You have heavily referenced Metroid and take a lot of 'the good stuff' but also taken other scifi influences and they are coming together nicely.
Technical notes:
Hooked it up through steam on a windows machine to try out the steam controller and it is pretty good. Takes a few seconds to detect the controller at startup, and if the controller ever disconnects you have to restart the game to get it back. These are pretty common issues with controllers, so are at worst C bugs.
The diagonal angle fire is a little wonky feeling, but I imagine you get used to it with longer play. You might consider keeping the character facing the same direct when moving and holding an aim button so the player can do some backpedal firing and can also target switches a little better.
Less technical notes:
I am interested in what other elements you plan to include. How much are you planning to diverge from Metroid and what kind of story you plan to tell. (I am not asking you to answer any of that, I am just saying those are the elements that would excite me most about the continued dev on the project)
They are small touches, but the reflections on fluids and the little light enemies go a long way to pull you into the game.
Likewise, starting out with nothing instead of starting out all power armored up feels like a better plot piece. Others have already spoken to progression and it sounds like you have some ideas about it, so I will just note that you have made the first part of the game feel almost more like alien isolation and then you get to build up to being a force of your own. It feels good and has a LOT of potential as an immersive experience and I hope you find the balance you are looking for there.
There are also a lot of teases of lore and you figuring out what has happened to the base. That is an aspect I would love to see leaned into. The little bot at the beginning who gets you started is a beautiful little touch and you have other ones scattered about as well(like what appears to be a corpse of another female who looks very much like you as you flee the first section.)
All and all this project feels like it has a great deal of potential.
Hey, glad you like the game and thanks for the extensive comment. :)
Controller issue:
I have pretty much only tested it on two different controllers and both are knockoff playstation ones, pretty sure they don't have this disconnect problem though, assuming you mean unplugging and plugging in while the game is running, so not really sure what to do about that at this moment.
Diagonal fire:
This is something that would definitely improve the game so I've added backpedal aiming to the to-do list, so I'll be trying to add that at some point.
Story:
I have a general story line planned out, but I haven't decided how it's going to turn out yet as I have multiple versions of it laying around. So I'll be combining / choosing among them to make the final story line when the time comes. I know this doesn't exactly answer your question but that's all I got to say about that for now.
Diverging from metroid:
Well, this is always going to primarily be a VERY metroid like game so that is always going to be there. My general idea about the game is something like this - metroid but not metroid at the same time. So if everything goes as planned, I have a lot of non metroid things coming to the game. Not sure what else to comment about this so you'll just have to wait and see.
Other elements:
Well, this can be interpreted as many different things so I'll just say, yes, there will be many different elements added in the full game.
Progression:
Yeah, I have big changes planned for the beginning of the game in terms of progression. Like finding parts of the suit instead of just helmet then straight to full suit, which I'm guessing is what you've already read about. And that is definitely how I want the game to feel - building up from nothing.
Teases of lore etc:
If all goes as planned, then there is a reason for the bodies to be there, let's just stop there. ;)
The bot is going to stay, but I've changed it a bit so it goes offline at the in the first save room as I feel it didn't really do anything after that. It was pretty much always supposed to be a tutorial only thing anyway.
So, I hope that answers some of your questions, thanks again for the extensive feedback. :)
Controller issue: assuming the controllers are connected via Bluetooth, try disabling Bluetooth on your computer while the controller is connected, and the game is running. If you are lucky, it will trigger a similar situation, and you can see what you need to do to continue using a re-connected controller in the framework you're using.
Even from just the demo, this looks like it's going to be a very good Metroidvania game.
I have a few points and questions though...
First, she wakes from cryosleep in just her underwear (understandable - you're going for a pretty standard sci-fi trope right there), but the fact that the first "upgrade" is a broken helmet before next getting a spacesuit with attached armcannon is kind of jarring as far as progression goes. I understand she'd be a bit disoriented after waking and her clothes might be inaccessible, but wouldn't it make more sense to find a jumpsuit/coveralls and a [laser]handgun first?
I dunno, that's just my opinion on aesthetics/progression and it may be far too late to even consider changes to the beginning, so take from it what you will.
I suddenly can't actually think of any other comments/critiques that haven't already been stated in the first page of comments I read (hitboxes and the like, mostly) so I'll just skip to questions.
1. How far progressed is the development? As in, have you finished the majority of the levels and just need to polish it so it doesn't break? Or is it more of a process of "get this section running smoothly before I start the next"? (I'm just curious about others' processes)
2. How long are you planning on making the game? Super Metroid is anywhere from ~3 hours to 8 hours, depending on skill. I'm currently paying La Mulana 2 and I'm already at 10+ hours.
3. Where do you plan on releasing it? If you release on Steam, will you put it up in Early Access?
3.a. How much are you planning to charge?
You can ignore #3 if it feels to early to say.
Thank you for taking the time to respond, I can't wait to see how the end product turns out.
Ever since I added the broken helmet upgrade I've actually been thinking about something similar to what you said.
For example: finding parts of the suit until you finally complete the whole thing and put it on or something like that.
In an ideal world, I'd like to have this system in the game as far as suit progression goes, that's why it's on the to-do list, but I can't promise anything, all I can say is I want the game to begin like that at some point.
I assume the hitbox issues you mean are when you aim straight up near a wall and you hit the wall, if so, then it is on the list, otherwise I'm not sure what issues you mean.
As for your questions:
1. I have most things planned out, every room on the map, item locations, bosses, etc, but I still go by the "get this section done" way as you said it in terms of actually adding things though, since a lot of what I already have planned change over time.
As for how far in development the game is, can't really say exactly but there is A LOT left to do, I'm still considering adding more areas as well.
2. I have no idea how long the game will be, this will vary from person to person.
I don't know what else to say here other than that the demo is only the beginning of the game. (and it may become longer)
3. It will be on Steam at some point, don't know when but it will not be in Early Access.
I'd rather not discuss pricing at this point as the main focus right now would be actually finishing the game.
Hope that answers some of your questions, I'm glad you like the game and thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback. :)
The following youtube video links to the creator's page instead of this one:AlphaBetaGamer: Zordak . The link does eventually take you to this page, but I have commented the video with a link directly to here for you. I'd recommend you contacting the creator and asking them to link directly to this page instead of using your game to make them money through their own blog/review site.
I really liked this demo, although I thought it was too short.
Some notes, first the game detects usb controller but won't accept input(linux); I ended up using qjoypad to play with controller and the game was much more enjoyable. I just wanted to verify this wasn't a VM issue.
Second, the boss was very balanced. I thought I had it figured out, then it changes the pattern. I really hope you can achieve this sort of challenge for a full game.
Hey, thanks for playing the demo and glad you like it.
Okay thanks for letting me know it's not just a VM issue, not sure what the issue is but I guess I'll have to look into it at some point.
I'll also take a look at qjoypad, no idea what it does at the moment though.
The boss has been through some changes since the demo as well, so hopefully it's even better now, we'll just have to wait and see until I update the demo again.
I'm going to try and slowly increase the difficulty as the game progresses, so we'll just have to wait and see.
AlphaBetaGamer sent me here. Didn't get to play it myself yet, but just from the aesthetics, I really like what I'm seeing! Looking forward to seeing how this game will shape up.
As a side note, do you have a Discord server? I don't log into Twitter or itch.io often and I think most people would prefer following your game on Discord. Though, maybe I'm in the minority here.
Yeah, Discord makes it very easy to share this kind of stuff. Most of the groups I joined (some of them Kickstarters) usually have a channel dedicated to announcements, where only the admins can post. So you know, if you ever make the jump, you can just share your links in a dedicated channel.
Linux version works well, using Ubu 18.04 with AMD HD6870. The Yoyo Games Runner also requires libssl1.0.0:i386. You can see all the library files required by running ldd ./Zordak though it's not always clear which files are in which library package (eg: file libcrypto is in the above libssl package).
The art, sound, and level design are all wonderful so far. The pose of her jump while initally unsuited seems a bit odd, like she's leaning back too far, but not really a big deal.
I thought more indication when oxygen was depleting would be handy, perhaps a box blinking red around the oxygen indicator? I didn't even realise the gas section was using oxygen until I was in the last room.
There's one point where you shoot upwards to a tentacle above but the edge blocks you, you have to step out a bit to shoot the tentacle, the edge probably shouldn't block like that. ABG does the same thing.
A lot of people are complaining that this is apparently a Super Metroid clone, as if that's a bad thing? Also I think you've extended beyond that game with things like kick/punch, ledge hang, crumbling blocks, so it feels like it has a bit more variety which is great. I look forward to seeing your future ideas to differ from the exact SNES/GBA gameplay as well.
Thanks for that dependency check tip, had no idea you could do something like that.
I'll be updating the dependency script at some point with libssl added.
I don't know much about linux as mentioned in the readme file. ;)
I'll add the sprite suggestion to the list for whenever I decide to update the non suit sprites again.
Yeah, I think I'll probably add something like that for the oxygen actually, so thanks for the suggestion.
And yes, aiming straight up and shooting will sometimes hit the wall if standing too close, this will be fixed at some point when I decide to update the suit sprites.
I'm not really hiding the fact that I'm taking a lot from super metroid, I'm also not just trying to copy it which the people who actually play it will see.
The demo is also intentionally restricted with a bunch of closed off areas and only certain items available, which happens to be items pretty identical to super metroid, this may be a mistake on my part but it is what it is.
I'm just trying to make a game that is super metroid and not super metroid at the same time.
But yeah... I mean, it doesn't matter what I do.. some people will always call it a clone or simply complain about pointless things.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and linux help. :)
Alright, so basically it's Super Metroid, but holy hell it's really well done. I like where this is going.
The art style and atmosphere are great. I really like the little touches, like how water and goo moves and the swaying of plants when you walk by.
I thought the oxygen limit would be frustrating, but there are only select rooms that don't have air, and the mechanic adds some urgency to the gameplay. You get enough time to explore, but there's a sense that you need to keep moving to stay safe. I'm guessing this might get expanded upon in the full release.It also adds to the feeling that you're not some superhuman, but a person stuck in a messed up situation.
The only issue I think is the amount of health the boss has. It takes a really long time to kill and the flying one hit creatures don't give a lot of missiles. Then again, the missiles take off quite a big chunk of health off the boss, so it's probably for balance.
So.. yes, I'm basically trying to make super metroid but not super metroid at the same time, more things will likely change at a later point in time to differentiate the games more but it will always look / feel like super metroid.
Just wanted to give some more clarity on that subject.
Atmosphere is a pretty big deal for me which you've probably noticed. ;)
Yep, you're pretty much correct about the oxygen part.
I've gotten this comment about the boss a couple of times now, regarding that the flies do not drop enough stuff, so this will be addressed at some point.
I may look into the boss health as well since I know the fight can get long if it gives you the wrong patterns.
And you're pretty much right about the missiles as well, I don't want the player to have a large amount of missiles (ie: be overpowered) therefore the upgrade(s) only add 2 to maximum missiles.
Which in turn will hopefully force the player to use the standard beam weapon more later.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and glad you like the game. :)
I like the demo, good pacing, nice exploration for what the demo offered. My only problem and its a little one is the ledge grabbing. When you press a direction opposite to the ledge being grabbed you let go, maybe a wallkick or just the option to stay on until the jump button is pressed. Overall great game would buy.
Thanks for trying the demo and glad you like it. :)
There is actually an option in the gameplay options that removes this behaviour. When that setting is enabled then left/right no longer lets go off ledge grab. This setting may be turned on by default some time in the future.
After checking out a video for this (Alpha Beta Gamer on YouTube), I've downloaded the demo & played through it. I have many things to say.
TL;DR? Some rough patches here & there, but this game is good. Very, very good.
I will freely admit; My initial thoughts from the video, while still highly positive, did have some very minor nitpicking that I've honestly thought about, and have changed my stance on.
I'll get that out of the way first; I mentioned in the video's comments that I didn't care too much for the animations at the start; Her running seemed a bit too dainty, and you've probably heard a bunch of comments about physics on her chest, so I'll just say I only made a passing remark about that since it's fixed when you find the suit, anyway (In that incredibly Dead Space moment that made me nerd out so hard, it almost hurt).
But after playing it & seeing all the effects in practice, I think I get what you're going for. I know this isn't Samus Aran, and honestly, small details like the spiky hair & post-cryo getup that you see frequently in sci-fi, it honestly feels like a nice homage towards either 80's/90's sci-fi horror films & anime combined. It's good stuff, and even if I still had a problem with it, it has no impact on the gameplay whatsoever.
Basically, I hope you don't get pressured into changing this aspect. If anything is changed, I hope it's under your terms & not because of complaints.
I absolutely love the tone you've gone for with Zordak. It's like Super Metroid combined with Fusion, with many of your own ideas & bits of inspiration from various other things here & there. I will say this; From all the bodies & gore lying around, I'm expecting to see some horrific stuff later.
Seriously, I've already got the feeling you're fooling us into thinking this is just some kind of Metroid clone, then pulling the rug out from under us. In the comment I mentioned, I actually used the words 'Metroid clone'. Honestly wish I hadn't.
This looks to be much darker than Metroid. Really looking forward to keeping my eye on it, and seeing what you come up with.
There is some stuff I would like to address though:
- Item pickups; The frequency of enemies dropping items is just a bit too scarce. I died on the first attempt with the boss while trying to work out all the patterns. The problem wasn't so much getting hit too many times, but rather those creatures swooping down from the ceiling gave me next to nothing. That was the only genuinely frustrating moment I had throughout the whole thing. I even noticed this when finding those same creatures spawning out pipes, like in Super Metroid.
- Crouching; I see you've already gotten some feedback about the crouch animation, so I'll just say that her height felt a bit finicky while trying to aim at first, but it's easy to quickly get used to. I may've mentioned it, but I'm not going to demand you change that, since crouch walking is a mechanic in this game. But if there's anything you can think of to improve it, all the better.
- Jumping; It could just be my controller, but the jumping can feel a tad restrictive, especially when it's off of walls. I just expected to go a bit further is all. Those moments where you have to grab ledges can be a bit too awkward because you have to jump straight up then go left/right. I'm gathering this is intentional for the sake of the level design, but it did throw me off a bit when I pressed right to jump across & instead let go of the platform.
It almost feels like the character's missing an animation where she hoists herself off the ledge to jump across. But since that would require you to make additions to that mechanic or even re-work it, I don't want to make it sound like a total deal-breaker. It's just that it stood out to me.
- Control fluidity; For the most part, I had no problems & really like the momentum you build up when running forward. But there one or two points where I had to momentarily struggle with the controls to get her to either crouch or jump. Again, it could be my controller, but I mention it in case it's something more.
- Collision detection when shooting; Overall it's fine, but I have noticed that if your're right up against a wall & try to fire at something directly above you, the shot has a habit of hitting the wall instead.
- Gun sounds; Nothing more than personal preference, and I know it's only the first gun, but for an energy weapon, the sound is a more of a pop than any kind of pew-pew. I don't think it needs to be a different sound. Maybe just take the existing one you've made, and mess about with one or two filters. The charge-up sound is absolutely fine. Would be interesting to see if there's any difference when you get other energy types.
Aside from these points, I enjoyed the hell out of this & will be having a second or even third run-through at some point.
I also have a couple of ideas I want to send your way, in hopes they might be good for even a foundation of an idea you might be working on; It's about a possible morph ball mechanic.
- So I've seen a few comments already along the lines of 'If she turns into a ball, you'll get a call from Nintendo'. So if you do decide to make some kind of mechanic around that, how about this?
Give the character the ability to change into a thick fluid of some kind, or at least some sort of liquid mass that stays together & can move around freely. This means you could make use of the water mechanics you've already got in place, creating some intersting puzzles & shortcuts that involve you having to slosh around through pipes & tight spaces.
It could also be a serious 'What the hell just happened' moment for the player; Boss fight occurs, boss is defeated but strikes the character before dying, character melts & looks like she dies, then after a couple of seconds, the mass she melts into starts twitching & moving, then recomposes herself back into human form, then you get informed you've aquired whatever the name of this ability could be... That should help people see this isn't a mere Metroid clone.
- This one's a lot simpler & in all honesty, not really important in any way. I've also seen remarks about the character being a girl that isn't Samus. Unless it affects the story in any major way, maybe consider letting the player select either a male or female character.
In all honesty, I kind of hope we're just told that we get what we're given. It shouldn't make any difference who the protagonist is or what they look like. But you know the internet; Always itching to complain about something.
It's only something I've noticed, and as far as I'm concerned, you gotta change nothing in this department. But if it's something you wish to work on at some stage, then there ya go. At the very least, you could try the Resident Evil 2 deal; 2 protagonists, 2 stories running parallel to one another. Entirely your choice.
I understand this is a lot of feedback in one go, but I wanted to give all my thoughts on this & hopefully play my part in helping this shape up even further. Super Metroid has easily been one of my favourite games ever made, ever since it first came out.
Zordak is obviously Metroid inspired, but with the lighting & fog & overall tone you've set with the amazingly dark ambience, the previous violence on display with all the dead bodies, blood & gore, and the way the enemies look familiar then surprise you by hurling themselves at you like they do... Thank you for making this. This is way more than a clone, and you might be able to guess I'm somewhat keen to see what the end result will be.
Oh & just one other thing; The arm cannon's called a 'Blaster'? Charged shots deal 'Quad damage'?... I see what you did there, and it's just the best >w>
First of all, thanks a lot for this extensive comment!
Let's see here, this will probably be a giant reply as well and I'll try to comment on most of what you said.
Let's just start with addressing all the "player is naked, physics, etc" comments as I've read plenty of them.
The reasoning for the player being in her underwear is that I've always seen it like you have to be basically naked in a cryotank and I obviously couldn't make her completely naked so I had to go with some middle ground.
Being basically naked also makes you feel more helpless which is exactly what I was going for.
I could of course have made it into something like a swimming suit or whatever but I did not think of that until people started commenting about it so it is what it is.
As for the "jiggle physics" as people usually comment, I don't know what people expect there, it's literally like 4 pixels moving 1 pixel up and down just to add more dynamic to the animation. It only makes sense for things to move there, otherwise it would just be completely static around the chest and that would probably look worse.
So this is not really going to change.. at most I might redo the sprites for the 500th time and make it a sort of swimming suit but that will probably not happen any time soon.
I'm not taking a stab at you here or anything, just trying to explain why it is how it is.
You just can't really win when it comes to things like this, if you fix that thing then something else is wrong and it goes on forever.
As for the "clone" comments and such, Super Metroid is one of my most favorite games ever so of course I'm going to make it as close as possible to that game, so people calling it a clone or whatever is not really surprising to me. Yes, I may have gone a bit too far in a lot of cases but I've been trying to add some more "me" or however you should call it, into those things. I'm still trying to move more towards "me" and will continue to do so until the game is done. One comment in particular was a bit annoying since it is flat out wrong, the one about me tracing SM graphics, all of the graphics have been made from scratch, they are not even the same size as in SM, pretty much half the size actually. Of course I've looked at SM sprites and used them as references though, that only makes sense when you want to make a very similar game. I also have plans to rework the suit at some point to make it look less like the SM one as well. I don't know what else to say about this.
Oh, one thing though, when people compare it to metroid fusion, funny thing is... I've never *really* played that game, maybe a tiny bit many years ago. I have *seen* most of it though from streams and such but never really played it.
About the gore and such, I won't say much, but unless something changes along the way, then there is a reason the dead bodies and such exist.
Ok, now that that is out of the way let's get to the gameplay comments:
Item Pickups: I have gotten this comment before about the boss enemies, seems like there is still some tweaking to do there.
Crouching: I get what people are saying, I know it's not the usual type of crouch, it should probably be a crawl, the problem I have here is that if it was a crawl it would look like you could go through 1 tile gaps which should not be possible. But it is still on the long term list to possibly convert it into some kind of crawl, I'm just not sure yet how to solve this.
Jumping: Not sure how to solve the "up" room transition any other way than it is right now, this is probably something everyone has to get used to.
The left/right wall jump actually has a setting in the gameplay options right now which removes this behaviour, left/right no longer let's go off ledge grab with this enabled, this setting might be turned on by default later at some point.
And yes, you are pretty much correct about the missing animation, technically there's no missing animation but I have plans to possibly add a wall kick like animation for ledge grab jumps, with possibly some more horizontal speed added to make it feel like a stronger/longer jump.
Control Fluidity: I'm not sure what people mean here as I've gotten some similar comments before, some player states like turning/transitions lock player input for a tiny moment, I suppose this is what people may be referring to. It could also be controller stick sensitivity and deadzone setting issues if one were to use the stick for movement, otherwise those should have no effect. Other than these things, I don't really know what to do here. I play 95% of the time on keyboard so controllers have not been as thoroughly tested.
Collision Detection When Shooting: This is known and will be fixed at some point, probably after I rework the suit a bit.
Sounds In General: Most of the current sounds will be reworked later at some point, same with the music so expect this to change.
Okay so let me just straight up say this right away:
There will be no morph ball in this game.
There is already an upgrade in the game intended to replace this.
Your idea is not bad however, probably more interesting that what is actually in the game right now and it definitely sounds like something that could be in a game like this. But now that you've already told me this, it unfortunately makes this less interesting for me to add, mostly because you or anyone else reading this will know about it. Sure, it would get spoiled on day one anyway but you probably know what I mean. I do have some other things planned though and unless things change in the future then there will hopefully be some more interesting stuff happening later. If I find any use of your idea for other things though then I may choose to add something similar/related to that. ;)
As for the choice of male or female character, this is probably not going to happen, mostly because it would involve even more work and as you said, it really shouldn't matter.
This is one of the best types of feedback so it's no problem that it is a lot as it helps me improve the game in multiple aspects.
And yes, the game has a lot of "inspiration" from super metroid, some almost straight up copying, I'm not hiding these facts. Bottom line is: I'm just trying to make super metroid but not super metroid at the same time.
Sorry it took a couple of days to respond to this, I pretty much took a break from working on this last week so I chose to not respond to most comments during this time as well.
Anyway, hope you like the final product when it is done and thanks a lot for the feedback. :)
If I missed anything you said in this post then just tell me again in a reply or something, since the post was quite big.
And also, now I will just feel bad if I get this wrong, you're referring to Mega Man and Quake with the blaster and quad comment right? ;) I didn't even think of this until you said it.
Apologies for any points at which my grammar may've stumbled. It was quite late when I finished this comment.
I'll try to clear up anything I might not've explained too well, and just show I fully understand what the deal is. It's good to talk in-depth about this, but I don't want to take up all your time with it. That being said, here's another lengthy comment.
I honestly hadn't thought about that aspect with her attire at the start, and now you've explained that, not only am I completely on board with it, but I also request that the sprite not be changed any further; You've had to work on that enough by the sound of it, but this is an artistic statement. This is your idea, and it's relevant to the game. I take back what I've mentioned about the character model, and would just like to say thank you for reminding me of a time when artistic value wasn't stifled by whining about being offended.
And just for the record; Despite the fact I said anything about it, that wasn't the direction I was coming from. I'm just an oddball is all. But after seeing other people lean so heavily on that one, I feel bad about it. Seriously, I hope I haven't replied too late, and you're not already changing that sprite.
I know this may sound weird, but I immediately recognised the level of love for Super Metroid, the second that cryo tank started counting down. I remember pre-ordering SM when it was on the shelves, and booting it up for the first time. For what it's worth; I think you nailed that same kind of feeling, and getting to play even these first 30 minutes that are subject to change was like experiencing that again.
If you mean the comment/thread I think you mean... You really shouldn't get too worked up about it. That person is badly in need of professional help. It was an argument that no one could win, because he was only interested in antagonising people. I'd call it trolling, but it just turned out to be tragic.
It has occured to me that you're on what's left of your ship for a very short time, and then it's onto Zordak itself. Starting off with Station X is the main reason I went "Oh yeah, Fusion" (Despite the fact you have Ceres Station in SM).
Still, I'd recommend trying to get a copy of that one. It's probably the creepiest in the Metroid series.
Oh & speaking of; Really like the sound of that ominous statement on all the corpses. Sounds like this planet is going to be a bad time in the best ways.
Alright, gameplay stuff;
- Glad I could help confirm any issues with pickups.
- As said, it's easy to get used to the crouching, so if it stays the same, people will just have to pay more attention to the controls.
- I did not spot that option, and how you plan to improve this part will nullify the issues I mention. Good to hear that more animation is on the agenda as well. I know stuff like this takes hours, and don't want to seem demanding & ignorant.
Also, I have no problem with the transition, if you mean between rooms. Didn't even think of that since it's a room transition. That's all fine.
- Here's another attempt with the control fluidity; When doing a running jump, it feels like she's a bit resistant to jumping forward in accordance with how fast she runs. It doesn't break the flow, but it does kind of jolt it. But since you plan to give her more horizontal speed, that should fix it.
As for the crouching, the only thing I could recommend is giving her the ability to crouch while on the move. This does slow down the pacing by just a fraction of a second. However, it pays to remember that Metroid didn't sort out this kind of thing until the Prime games, and even then, you still have to watch her transform into a ball for a second or two. The only game that actually gives you a smooth transition between standing & morph ball is AM2R & possibly Samus Returns.
- Again, glad I could confirm something that's already on the list of fixes.
- Looking forward to whatever changes are made with the audio.
I did think about trying to message you privately about that idea, because that thought had occured as well. Also looked for a way to do so, but nearly as hard as I could've looked. Either way, it's no worries if the ideas not of any use, but if it can be used for anything in the game then all the better :3 I'll say this; If it doesn't show up in the end result, that's fine. But if it does, I assure you I'll go "Ayyy!", then feel a bit smug. Probably.
I'm really glad to hear that response from you on the character front. Again, the choices you've made to convey the story should stay as your decision. After hearing about it, I can safely say it matters that you stick to your guns & don't worry about people choosing to complain because they don't get the point. That's why critics & fans get to rave on about this kind of stuff years after something comes out; It's given time to be deciphered.
Any delay is fine, and I know this is a lot to talk about. My objective with all this is to be helpful & supportive, but I don't want to distract you from making any progress. If it takes a while, it takes a while.
Lastly, you'd be 100% correct on the references! :D However, I will admit to being a bigger fan of Quake, and the starting weapon in the second game happens to also be called the Blaster.
Thank you for taking the time to look through all of this, and I hope that I was able to be clearer on anything that might've been confusing. Please remember; I'm fine with any delayed response, if you feel the need to say anything further. I know exactly what it's like to have this kind of workload.
I have not begun changing any sprites yet, in fact, I have not really started working yet either, only started watching gameplay videos and replying to comments.
So no, your reply was not too late. ;)
I'm glad that was the experience you had with the game as that is basically the feeling I'm trying to recreate.
It's probably the same comment thread and no, I'm not really worked up about it.
It's just a bit annoying when they keep spreading false information though.
So I take it there's a station in fusion also called "Station X"?
I just couldn't come up with anything better at the time so that's the name it got.
And yeah, I should probably play through fusion for real at some point.
The ledge grab option should be there or something is wrong but yeah, as I said before, it might become the default later anyway.
I kinda see what you mean with the running and jumping thing and kinda don't at the same time but it will probably be improved at some point, either accidentally or intentionally. ;)
Same with the crouching, you should already be able to crouch on the move unless I'm misunderstanding something here.
Well, we will see if any part of your idea makes it into the game, not giving any promises or anything. ^^
That would probably be the best way to contact me privately if needed.
I played Doom more than Quake back then but I still think Quake is good. ;)
Anyway, thanks again for the reply, I tried to respond to most things but as stated before, I didn't 100% get what you mean with the jumping and crouching parts. ^^
Good to know it's not too late to say what I've said ^^; Your explanations have gotten me thinking about a lot of stuff in that regard. Glad I got to speak with you about this stuff.
Believe me, that thread isn't worth getting worked up over, so you've got the right idea. I wasn't joking either; That person is in need of help. There's deliberately spreading misinformation, and there's just flailing wildly.
Zordak may have a different opening structure to SM, but you've got the 'Something's gone horribly wrong' vibe down with your tutorial level, and the immediate 'I'm not any safer' feeling with the planet. Details like that dark musical drone really helps, too. I love that kind of stuff.
So the whole of Fusion is set on a space station; The B.S.L. Research Station (Biologic Space Labs). There's also the fact that the enemies of that game are creatures known as the 'X Parasites'. Hopefully you can see where the general reminders comes from with that.
One particular reason I'd recommend looking/playing through Fusion is it's horror aspect. I won't bang on about that, but I offer my word as a Metroid fan since an early age; It's a pretty solid game.
If any of my issues with the movement are because of either my controller or overlooking things in the options, I will happily eat my words on things like the crouching.
I have thought of a better example for what I mean with the jumping aspect, though. Let's make the original Sonic games the example for this; Depending on how fast the character is running, that determines how far a gap they can clear. The faster they go, the further they can jump.
I know the Sonic games didn't inspire anything about this, but the way it feels in Zordak right now, it's the equivelant of getting some decent speed on Sonic, taking the leap forward, but the character has a set velocity for how far & high they can go.
It's also relevant to point out that this kind of kinetic energy is in SM (But none of the other Metroid games after that), so much so that they give you the speed boost to improve it.
Apologies if I'm just droning on about this now. It's just I thought this might be a much better explanation than just "It feels funny".
It's no worries if you don't end up using it, and I'll enjoy the game anyway :3
Haven't paid any real attention to Twitter for a while now. Long story short, got a lot to do right now. But I will take note of this in case anything comes up.
Yep, Doom was the first game I ever played. I kid you not. I was about 5. Quake wasn't until much later, but it still left one hell of an impression.
I really do hope this attempt at explaining what I mean went better this time, and that I'm not just being even more confusing than usual ^^;
got to say the new update is great, I like the way the character got faster and more fluid. the little thing I can still mention is still the crouching (I can live with that tho, but still think it can be improved) and on the main menu, specially if we want to change a bit the button for the joystick or keyboard, choice, selection and validation (they all somehow get confusing to each other) ! overall, great update ! do you have a realistic release date ?
hey, so sorry I got so late to get back to you, had a hard week. Well; thanks for your reply. all good about the crouching :) ; regarding the menu select, looks it's about the joypad/keyboard, it was the down arrow thing, yeah, but nothing really bad. good luck and again thank you for the hard work. cheers
I can see how this could be enjoyable. Its got that Super Metroid feel, but its missing many things. For one, there's a severe lack of music which is absolutely key to this genre. Secondly, the game font is terrible. I can barely read it. Third, the controls are seriously bugged; I use JoyToKey to turn my keyboard into my SNES controller. However, Zordak likes to randomly swap the control scheme into things I never programmed/wanted. For instance, I can't seem to aim diagonally up while standing still. Can you have an option to turn off auto-detection? Also, those predefined controls are just madness (Down arrow to confirm? How am I supposed to scroll through a menu!?)
Those things aside it seems like you have a nifty game on your hands. Were I to have a more powerful computer (I.E. not a potato) I can see how some of the graphical options would be fun (water/foilage movement).
A simple pet peeve is how it takes the character a moment to get up to full speed every time she starts moving. Minor, I know, but its something I notice every single time I turn around or enter a new room. Got real old, real fast. Again though, that's my personal annoyance and not a mechanical bug. The way to scroll through menu options after going into your map seems less than efficient. I'd rather there be a way to skip the map and just go straight to options (there's plenty of buttons you could use).
As is, the annoyances are outweighing the fun for me. Maybe I'll come back to this one later.
Music will be updated at some point, not sure when but likely closer to when the game is finished.
I can see how some letters could be hard to read with the game font, but not really how it would be completely unreadable. That being said however, I have plans for adding an option to use a standard font like Arial or the like in the future.
As for the control issues, never heard of or seen any of these. The control scheme you're talking about (down arrow to confirm etc) doesn't exist so something else is wrong here and I'd like to clarify that I'm not saying I don't believe you, this control scheme should not exist though (unless it's custom made). But this did make me realize one thing though: I should add restrictions for certain buttons so that you can't bind for example - "down arrow" to "confirm.
I haven't tested the game with JoyToKey so I will add that to the list in case JoyToKey does something weird to the game. I do not have a SNES controller either so this one I can't really test.
You should be able to aim diagonally up when standing still but as something seems wrong I understand it could be broken.
The game should also not swap controls around unless you bind them or change control scheme so no clue what could be going on here.
And finally, not sure what you mean about auto detection? If you mean controller detection there is an option for that called "Controller Enabled". (should probably rename this to controller detection)
Unless your computer can't compile or handle shaders for whatever reason then you might be able to play with those graphical things enabled. Using the "Frame Skip" option in the "Display" menu should help a lot with framerate issues, this does render the game in 30fps instead of 60fps however if this is something you do not desire. I have tried to optimize it to run it on weaker machines, still lots to do of course, but I can run it pretty decently on my very low end laptop using said frame skip option and low/medium graphics. This is where the minimum requirements listed on the game page comes from. This is on Windows however so if you're talking about Linux then I can't do as thorough testing since I only have a virtual machine available for that at this moment.
The character speed up thing is probably not going to change, I want the character to feel slower and honestly, a little bit clunky, not too much though of course.
The reason for having to go to the map and then pressing a button for the options menu is exactly that, buttons, there's not enough of them, I'm speaking in terms of using a controller since of course there are enough buttons on a keyboard, but if you're only using a controller then this seemed like the best way to do it ie: using less buttons. But if you have another idea, please let me know. Also, not sure what to do different about the efficiency part as this is just the same menu as the title screen menu, again, speaking in terms of using a controller so there's no mouse or such available here.
Sorry that there were too many issues for you to enjoy the game, I try to make it as enjoyable as possible for everyone but sometimes it just does not work.
Anyway, I tried to answer all the issues, if you have any suggestions and such please feel free to tell me.
Firstly, its got lots of potential, I can see that, but I think a lot of my technical issues were getting in the way of it. Great job on the demo so far! Didn't want to seem like I was just trolling you or making it seem like you didn't know what you were doing.
Music: Not a problem. I understand its a demo and that music probably isn't a priority at this point. Tweaking mechanics and smoothing out bugs is, and that's probably a good thing. Just saying that a Metroidvania style game has to have great music. :)
Font: No, its not totally unreadable, but my eyes aren't what they used to be. A more standard font / just making the font take up more physical spacing per letter would be a great addition for some of us older gamers.
Controls: When I first booted the game up, it was in "custom" control scheme. I used those keys to map to JoyToKey initially. However, in mapping these keys I encountered some strange things. For clarification the game auto-recognized my SNES controller as "SNES controller" though I have no idea what this ended up doing to the control scheme.
So #1 this auto-detection would happen every single time I swapped windows (I.E. to go back and forth to see what button I needed to map next). This may have been messing with my controls every time it happened?
#2 I then swapped from Custom to Predefined 4. Then I started to experience the next issue, where it kept switching back to Custom.
#3 After I finally got all the keys mapped to Predefined 4, I started actually playing through the game. This was where I noticed that only one of my directional aiming buttons worked (one of the shoulder buttons). The other would simply point straight up. SUGGESTION: perhaps make it so there's instead a button that stops you from moving so that you can use the d-pad/arrow keys to aim?
#4 I'll give the "controller enabled" option a go and see if it fixes some issues.
Graphics: Yeah, my potato of a laptop seemed to not like shaders and I had to turn them off. Any graphical things are my issue for playing on this old hunk of junk LOL. I am playing on Windows 7 BTW.
Okay, this helped me better understand the control config issue.
So what I think is happening is:
You are pressing buttons on the controller, which in turn activates the input in game, but then JoyToKey converts that input to a keyboard input, which in turn also activates in game causing a sort of loop and therefore switching control scheme between controller and keyboard since they are separate.
That's the only explanation I have for it switching control schemes by itself without your input.
So the solution(s) would be:
1. Since the game detects the controller then just use the controller without JoyToKey and bind everything in game, this is of course if the game actually understands the SNES controller, I have no idea about that.
2. Disable controller detection completely with the mentioned "controller enabled" option, this should make it so the controller does nothing to the game and all inputs should be keyboard only, which in turn *SHOULD* make JoyToKey work.
I think I will add a message in the controls menu recommending people to disable controller detection if they are planning to use JoyToKey.
About the suggestion, if I'm not misunderstanding then that option basically already exists, but without the "stop moving" part, since there are dedicated buttons for aiming and not just using the directional keys.
Sure, music is pretty important but exactly as you said, it's not really a priority right now, the priority is actually finishing the game and fixing the most glaring bugs.
Yeah, that's what I thought, the font couldn't be THAT bad. ;) but as mentioned before, hopefully I will fix this issue when I add support for using a more standard font, not sure when this is coming though.
As for the graphics, my suggestion would be:
If the shaders are not auto disabled eg: shows a message that they are "not compiled" and the button does not accept input, then:
Try using the "Low" or "Medium" graphics preset with the "Frame Skip" option turned on in the "Display" options.
This might allow you to play the game with some graphical things turned on.
Also, to be honest here, I haven't really tested the game on Windows 7, but it should work the same as on Windows 10, all I know is there are definitely issues running it on Windows XP that's why I put Win 7 as Minimum Requirements. :)
Anyway, thanks for the extensive reply since it (hopefully) helped me find the cause of the control issues.
Also, it did not really seem like you were trolling me or whatever, you said what was wrong and that is what I expect from feedback. :)
I loved this demo, I'm huge metroidvania fan and I can say you nailed it big time. Since you asked stuff to improve and impressions there is one little thing, when you lower the character on her knees, sometimes she stays stuck in this position and walks, it might be a bit confusing sometimes and we don't really know if she's walking normally or get slowered by something. this didn't get me away from the fun though, just a little suggestion. also, is there any newsletter i can subscribe to be warned about the release?
Not sure what you mean with the "stays stuck in this position" part though, there are only two things I can think of:
Either you are crouching or you fell too high causing a hard landing, but the hard landing one does not line up with the next part of what you said "and walks".
So I have to guess you are crouching, there are several issues with the crouching animation in terms of it looking a bit weird, which I've been trying to slowly improve upon.
If this is not what you mean then I'm not sure what it is.
There is no newsletter at this moment and to be honest I'm not 100% sure how and/or the best way to set one up either.
Looks incredible and plays really well. Very promising. Patiently waiting till it goes for sale! Will this go up in early access or can we expect it to release when it's done?
One thing I thought worth mentioning: in the room where you get missiles, it took me a good ten minutes to find the block I was supposed to hit. Maybe it's worth placing it in a more visible or accessible spot than that corner? It could also be that I'm just not that perceptive!
More of a QoL thing: some way to remind yourself to return to a room like being able to add a marker on the map would be cool. Or perhaps an indicator like in RE2 Remake that the room is not yet fully explored/completed.
that missle locking room ( and a few others with similar objectives to get out ) aren't telegraphed well enough. maybe exclude all the light sources, and have one shine on the spot you're spposed to hit, or maybe have your suit tell you abnout it, point it out and act as a tutorial, so the player knows to keep an eye out fot things to shoot and reveal the paths.
other than that, this is fantastic - i can see the metroid influence, but it didn't feel like I was playing metroid - which is a good thing.
The section between core and frotz, if you don't go another way to get the item in the cystal section( sorry for not remember the name of it ), you are stuck there unless commit suicide.
If you mean the place with the long breaking "bridge", then you were not stuck. It's the only place I can think of that someone could think they were stuck.
Quite an improvement from the last time I played your game! The HUD is clean and smooth, the map has the perfect size to it and the atmosphere is top notch quality! I'll add some helpful tweaks though, like making the cracks of the places you can break more noticeable (they are hard to spot when there's grass in front of it) and add some shortcuts to improve interconnectivity between areas. The rest is still great, so amazing job and keep on devin'!
Sure, visibility issues can (and probably will) at some point be improved, one thing though, the tells I'm going for are not always cracks and such but I do understand what you mean.
Shortcuts are definitely a good idea which I've not thought of that much before, will look into this, I might not be able to add many shortcuts though, but some.
And this makes three Zordak videos to date. :) The boss battle is more sneaky in this build, visually it's even more impressive (really detailed, even the grass moves when you shoot?) oh, and I really like the the color coding for different areas. :)
Played the demo, and it was incredible. I already feel absorbed into this world! The powerful color effects really stand out and the environment feels "real" in a way that makes me want to explore every tiny nook and cranny. The user interface is gorgeous and feels really solid, and it contributes to the feeling that this game is a retro-futuristic cross between Metroid and Alien.
I appreciate that my non-Xbox controller is not treated as second-class, although it would be better if I could simply tell the game which style of buttons I have (cross, square, etc.)
Fantastic work, I am looking forward to the game's release.
Hey, thanks for trying the demo. I'm glad you like it. :)
I have put "controller button style" on the to-do list and I will try to add it, but knowing which controller button does what is a bit of a pain, they always have different IDs on each controller I've tested, so it might not work out.
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I'm digging the overall concept, but is there a way to get through the no-oxygen area? I keep dying in there and I can't seem to find any items that would help.
Nevermind, figured it out.
Now I feel like a total idiot...
Thanks for trying the demo, hope you liked the rest. ;)
I love the Metroid inspiration, but I am bothered by the little drone thing at the start.
It's reminiscent of Fi in Skyward Sword, and not in a good way; It reeks of telling the player, rather than showing.
Instead of outright listing the controls, I believe you should let the player discover them.
Putting obstacles in the way that require knowing the controls allows the player to feel like they've figured something out, and it looks like it already has this baked in. The section with the first series of vertical ledge grabs is perfect.
The path clearly demonstrates where to go, and it educates the player about a movement mechanic without the bot having to explicitly say "this door wont open, you can climb up these ledges." The elements are already there, all that needs to happen is letting go of the players hand.
Let them discover for themselves that sparky cables, acid, and lasers are environmental hazards, and it'll be perfect.
You know.. I agree almost 100%.
The obstacles are there in the first few rooms for this exact reason.
There are pretty much only two reasons the bot is there:
1. It's 2019 and I assumed people expect this sort of thing since it's been so heavily ingrained in pretty much every game at this point.
2. Keyboard users, it's either this or they will have to go to the options and check the keys / mash random keys on the keyboard to find out how to move, with a controller this would not be an issue.
With that said, I've kinda been trying to remove the bot already, in the current version it only helps you up until the save room then it powers down leaving you on your own.
And now, just as I was typing this, I came up with another way I could do this:
Show a yes/no "popup" when starting a new game asking if you want to enable tutorials or not.
That seems like it could be a good compromise so this has now been added to the to-do list.
Thanks for the feedback and trying the demo. :)
Controller worked well for me. Game is starting to look good but it's a little too quiet and gloomy with the soundtrack and sound effects. The inventory items are not very prominent and it's hard to tell them apart from the background. The menu system is gorgeous!
Sound effects and music / ambiance will be completely reworked at a later point in time.
As for it being quiet, I'm not sure if you noticed the audio levels can be increased to 200% in the options menu but that should let you make it a bit less quiet.
Also I kinda realized just now that this is a bit weird so I will put this on the list and see if I can improve on this.
Do you mean inventory items as the ones on the in-game HUD or do you mean the upgrade list menu?
In any case, I'll add both to the list and see if I can improve upon this.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback, hopefully I can improve on what you said. :)
I meant the items lying around in the game. I ran past one without noticing it on the floor. And by gloomy sound, I meant this game could use some fast and upbeat tracks. Since you said it will be added later, I guess it's all good. This is going to be a great game. Looking forward to it!
Okay so I take it you're talking about the helmet. I kinda like it how it is right now though, but I'm sure there will be changes later down the road.
Yeah, I get it, and as I said - I have plans to rework anything audio related at some point.
I hope the game will become great with time as well, thanks! :)
meow
Solid style, solid controls, solid demo.
You have heavily referenced Metroid and take a lot of 'the good stuff' but also taken other scifi influences and they are coming together nicely.
Technical notes:
Hooked it up through steam on a windows machine to try out the steam controller and it is pretty good. Takes a few seconds to detect the controller at startup, and if the controller ever disconnects you have to restart the game to get it back. These are pretty common issues with controllers, so are at worst C bugs.
The diagonal angle fire is a little wonky feeling, but I imagine you get used to it with longer play. You might consider keeping the character facing the same direct when moving and holding an aim button so the player can do some backpedal firing and can also target switches a little better.
Less technical notes:
I am interested in what other elements you plan to include. How much are you planning to diverge from Metroid and what kind of story you plan to tell. (I am not asking you to answer any of that, I am just saying those are the elements that would excite me most about the continued dev on the project)
They are small touches, but the reflections on fluids and the little light enemies go a long way to pull you into the game.
Likewise, starting out with nothing instead of starting out all power armored up feels like a better plot piece. Others have already spoken to progression and it sounds like you have some ideas about it, so I will just note that you have made the first part of the game feel almost more like alien isolation and then you get to build up to being a force of your own. It feels good and has a LOT of potential as an immersive experience and I hope you find the balance you are looking for there.
There are also a lot of teases of lore and you figuring out what has happened to the base. That is an aspect I would love to see leaned into. The little bot at the beginning who gets you started is a beautiful little touch and you have other ones scattered about as well(like what appears to be a corpse of another female who looks very much like you as you flee the first section.)
All and all this project feels like it has a great deal of potential.
Hey, glad you like the game and thanks for the extensive comment. :)
Controller issue:
I have pretty much only tested it on two different controllers and both are knockoff playstation ones, pretty sure they don't have this disconnect problem though, assuming you mean unplugging and plugging in while the game is running, so not really sure what to do about that at this moment.
Diagonal fire:
This is something that would definitely improve the game so I've added backpedal aiming to the to-do list, so I'll be trying to add that at some point.
Story:
I have a general story line planned out, but I haven't decided how it's going to turn out yet as I have multiple versions of it laying around. So I'll be combining / choosing among them to make the final story line when the time comes. I know this doesn't exactly answer your question but that's all I got to say about that for now.
Diverging from metroid:
Well, this is always going to primarily be a VERY metroid like game so that is always going to be there. My general idea about the game is something like this - metroid but not metroid at the same time. So if everything goes as planned, I have a lot of non metroid things coming to the game. Not sure what else to comment about this so you'll just have to wait and see.
Other elements:
Well, this can be interpreted as many different things so I'll just say, yes, there will be many different elements added in the full game.
Progression:
Yeah, I have big changes planned for the beginning of the game in terms of progression. Like finding parts of the suit instead of just helmet then straight to full suit, which I'm guessing is what you've already read about. And that is definitely how I want the game to feel - building up from nothing.
Teases of lore etc:
If all goes as planned, then there is a reason for the bodies to be there, let's just stop there. ;)
The bot is going to stay, but I've changed it a bit so it goes offline at the in the first save room as I feel it didn't really do anything after that. It was pretty much always supposed to be a tutorial only thing anyway.
So, I hope that answers some of your questions, thanks again for the extensive feedback. :)
Controller issue: assuming the controllers are connected via Bluetooth, try disabling Bluetooth on your computer while the controller is connected, and the game is running. If you are lucky, it will trigger a similar situation, and you can see what you need to do to continue using a re-connected controller in the framework you're using.
Best of luck!
My controller only has USB so can't test bluetooth at this moment. But I'll add this to the to-do list as a possible scenario, thanks for the tip. :)
Even from just the demo, this looks like it's going to be a very good Metroidvania game.
I have a few points and questions though...
First, she wakes from cryosleep in just her underwear (understandable - you're going for a pretty standard sci-fi trope right there), but the fact that the first "upgrade" is a broken helmet before next getting a spacesuit with attached armcannon is kind of jarring as far as progression goes. I understand she'd be a bit disoriented after waking and her clothes might be inaccessible, but wouldn't it make more sense to find a jumpsuit/coveralls and a [laser]handgun first?
I dunno, that's just my opinion on aesthetics/progression and it may be far too late to even consider changes to the beginning, so take from it what you will.
I suddenly can't actually think of any other comments/critiques that haven't already been stated in the first page of comments I read (hitboxes and the like, mostly) so I'll just skip to questions.
1. How far progressed is the development? As in, have you finished the majority of the levels and just need to polish it so it doesn't break? Or is it more of a process of "get this section running smoothly before I start the next"? (I'm just curious about others' processes)
2. How long are you planning on making the game? Super Metroid is anywhere from ~3 hours to 8 hours, depending on skill. I'm currently paying La Mulana 2 and I'm already at 10+ hours.
3. Where do you plan on releasing it? If you release on Steam, will you put it up in Early Access?
3.a. How much are you planning to charge?
You can ignore #3 if it feels to early to say.
Thank you for taking the time to respond, I can't wait to see how the end product turns out.
Hey, sorry for the late response.
About the suit progression:
Ever since I added the broken helmet upgrade I've actually been thinking about something similar to what you said.
For example: finding parts of the suit until you finally complete the whole thing and put it on or something like that.
In an ideal world, I'd like to have this system in the game as far as suit progression goes, that's why it's on the to-do list, but I can't promise anything, all I can say is I want the game to begin like that at some point.
I assume the hitbox issues you mean are when you aim straight up near a wall and you hit the wall, if so, then it is on the list, otherwise I'm not sure what issues you mean.
As for your questions:
1. I have most things planned out, every room on the map, item locations, bosses, etc, but I still go by the "get this section done" way as you said it in terms of actually adding things though, since a lot of what I already have planned change over time.
As for how far in development the game is, can't really say exactly but there is A LOT left to do, I'm still considering adding more areas as well.
2. I have no idea how long the game will be, this will vary from person to person.
I don't know what else to say here other than that the demo is only the beginning of the game. (and it may become longer)
3. It will be on Steam at some point, don't know when but it will not be in Early Access.
I'd rather not discuss pricing at this point as the main focus right now would be actually finishing the game.
Hope that answers some of your questions, I'm glad you like the game and thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback. :)
the reason you find the helmet is bc you need to breathe when you leave ^^b Also, it serves as your HUD.
The following youtube video links to the creator's page instead of this one:AlphaBetaGamer: Zordak . The link does eventually take you to this page, but I have commented the video with a link directly to here for you. I'd recommend you contacting the creator and asking them to link directly to this page instead of using your game to make them money through their own blog/review site.
Hey, sorry for the late reply.
I don't really think this is that big of a deal, pretty sure that's how they do it for all their videos.
Not sure what else to say about this.
Thanks for adding a comment with the direct link anyways though.
I really liked this demo, although I thought it was too short.
Some notes, first the game detects usb controller but won't accept input(linux); I ended up using qjoypad to play with controller and the game was much more enjoyable. I just wanted to verify this wasn't a VM issue.
Second, the boss was very balanced. I thought I had it figured out, then it changes the pattern. I really hope you can achieve this sort of challenge for a full game.
Hey, thanks for playing the demo and glad you like it.
Okay thanks for letting me know it's not just a VM issue, not sure what the issue is but I guess I'll have to look into it at some point.
I'll also take a look at qjoypad, no idea what it does at the moment though.
The boss has been through some changes since the demo as well, so hopefully it's even better now, we'll just have to wait and see until I update the demo again.
I'm going to try and slowly increase the difficulty as the game progresses, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for the feedback. :)
qjoypad is just a button mapper for linux
Ah, it's a controller to keyboard mapper.
I'll still keep it on the list so I can tell people to use that instead if I can't get controllers to work any other way on linux.
This was such a cool demo for an awesome game! Cant wait for a full release!
Thanks, I left a comment on youtube. :)
AlphaBetaGamer sent me here. Didn't get to play it myself yet, but just from the aesthetics, I really like what I'm seeing! Looking forward to seeing how this game will shape up.
As a side note, do you have a Discord server? I don't log into Twitter or itch.io often and I think most people would prefer following your game on Discord. Though, maybe I'm in the minority here.
Glad you like what you see. ;)
I guess I could look into getting a discord server, I'm not that into how all that will work but I'll add it to the list.
If/when there is one available I'll be writing about it in a devlog / twitter and adding the link here to the main page.
And if there is a good way to post stuff like devlogs on said discord server, I will be starting to post the devlogs there as well.
Thanks for the feedback. :)
Yeah, Discord makes it very easy to share this kind of stuff. Most of the groups I joined (some of them Kickstarters) usually have a channel dedicated to announcements, where only the admins can post. So you know, if you ever make the jump, you can just share your links in a dedicated channel.
Okay, well, I'll try to get one set up at some point. :)
I'll post the link at said places when it is up.
Awesome! I'll be sure to join if/when it's up.
Saw this on AlphaBetaGamer and loved it.
Linux version works well, using Ubu 18.04 with AMD HD6870. The Yoyo Games Runner also requires libssl1.0.0:i386. You can see all the library files required by running ldd ./Zordak though it's not always clear which files are in which library package (eg: file libcrypto is in the above libssl package).
The art, sound, and level design are all wonderful so far. The pose of her jump while initally unsuited seems a bit odd, like she's leaning back too far, but not really a big deal.
I thought more indication when oxygen was depleting would be handy, perhaps a box blinking red around the oxygen indicator? I didn't even realise the gas section was using oxygen until I was in the last room.
There's one point where you shoot upwards to a tentacle above but the edge blocks you, you have to step out a bit to shoot the tentacle, the edge probably shouldn't block like that. ABG does the same thing.
A lot of people are complaining that this is apparently a Super Metroid clone, as if that's a bad thing? Also I think you've extended beyond that game with things like kick/punch, ledge hang, crumbling blocks, so it feels like it has a bit more variety which is great. I look forward to seeing your future ideas to differ from the exact SNES/GBA gameplay as well.
Will definitely buy the full version.
Thanks for that dependency check tip, had no idea you could do something like that.
I'll be updating the dependency script at some point with libssl added.
I don't know much about linux as mentioned in the readme file. ;)
I'll add the sprite suggestion to the list for whenever I decide to update the non suit sprites again.
Yeah, I think I'll probably add something like that for the oxygen actually, so thanks for the suggestion.
And yes, aiming straight up and shooting will sometimes hit the wall if standing too close, this will be fixed at some point when I decide to update the suit sprites.
I'm not really hiding the fact that I'm taking a lot from super metroid, I'm also not just trying to copy it which the people who actually play it will see.
The demo is also intentionally restricted with a bunch of closed off areas and only certain items available, which happens to be items pretty identical to super metroid, this may be a mistake on my part but it is what it is.
I'm just trying to make a game that is super metroid and not super metroid at the same time.
But yeah... I mean, it doesn't matter what I do.. some people will always call it a clone or simply complain about pointless things.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and linux help. :)
Alright, so basically it's Super Metroid, but holy hell it's really well done. I like where this is going.
The art style and atmosphere are great. I really like the little touches, like how water and goo moves and the swaying of plants when you walk by.
I thought the oxygen limit would be frustrating, but there are only select rooms that don't have air, and the mechanic adds some urgency to the gameplay. You get enough time to explore, but there's a sense that you need to keep moving to stay safe. I'm guessing this might get expanded upon in the full release.It also adds to the feeling that you're not some superhuman, but a person stuck in a messed up situation.
The only issue I think is the amount of health the boss has. It takes a really long time to kill and the flying one hit creatures don't give a lot of missiles. Then again, the missiles take off quite a big chunk of health off the boss, so it's probably for balance.
Thanks for trying the demo. :)
So.. yes, I'm basically trying to make super metroid but not super metroid at the same time, more things will likely change at a later point in time to differentiate the games more but it will always look / feel like super metroid.
Just wanted to give some more clarity on that subject.
Atmosphere is a pretty big deal for me which you've probably noticed. ;)
Yep, you're pretty much correct about the oxygen part.
I've gotten this comment about the boss a couple of times now, regarding that the flies do not drop enough stuff, so this will be addressed at some point.
I may look into the boss health as well since I know the fight can get long if it gives you the wrong patterns.
And you're pretty much right about the missiles as well, I don't want the player to have a large amount of missiles (ie: be overpowered) therefore the upgrade(s) only add 2 to maximum missiles.
Which in turn will hopefully force the player to use the standard beam weapon more later.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and glad you like the game. :)
Show post...
goodLeft a comment on youtube, thanks for the video. ;)
I like the demo, good pacing, nice exploration for what the demo offered. My only problem and its a little one is the ledge grabbing. When you press a direction opposite to the ledge being grabbed you let go, maybe a wallkick or just the option to stay on until the jump button is pressed. Overall great game would buy.
Thanks for trying the demo and glad you like it. :)
There is actually an option in the gameplay options that removes this behaviour. When that setting is enabled then left/right no longer lets go off ledge grab. This setting may be turned on by default some time in the future.
Thanks for the feedback! ;)
VERY AWESOME GAME!!!
Commented on youtube, thanks for the video. ;)
After checking out a video for this (Alpha Beta Gamer on YouTube), I've downloaded the demo & played through it. I have many things to say.
TL;DR? Some rough patches here & there, but this game is good. Very, very good.
I will freely admit; My initial thoughts from the video, while still highly positive, did have some very minor nitpicking that I've honestly thought about, and have changed my stance on.
I'll get that out of the way first; I mentioned in the video's comments that I didn't care too much for the animations at the start; Her running seemed a bit too dainty, and you've probably heard a bunch of comments about physics on her chest, so I'll just say I only made a passing remark about that since it's fixed when you find the suit, anyway (In that incredibly Dead Space moment that made me nerd out so hard, it almost hurt).
But after playing it & seeing all the effects in practice, I think I get what you're going for. I know this isn't Samus Aran, and honestly, small details like the spiky hair & post-cryo getup that you see frequently in sci-fi, it honestly feels like a nice homage towards either 80's/90's sci-fi horror films & anime combined. It's good stuff, and even if I still had a problem with it, it has no impact on the gameplay whatsoever.
Basically, I hope you don't get pressured into changing this aspect. If anything is changed, I hope it's under your terms & not because of complaints.
I absolutely love the tone you've gone for with Zordak. It's like Super Metroid combined with Fusion, with many of your own ideas & bits of inspiration from various other things here & there. I will say this; From all the bodies & gore lying around, I'm expecting to see some horrific stuff later.
Seriously, I've already got the feeling you're fooling us into thinking this is just some kind of Metroid clone, then pulling the rug out from under us. In the comment I mentioned, I actually used the words 'Metroid clone'. Honestly wish I hadn't.
This looks to be much darker than Metroid. Really looking forward to keeping my eye on it, and seeing what you come up with.
There is some stuff I would like to address though:
- Item pickups; The frequency of enemies dropping items is just a bit too scarce. I died on the first attempt with the boss while trying to work out all the patterns. The problem wasn't so much getting hit too many times, but rather those creatures swooping down from the ceiling gave me next to nothing. That was the only genuinely frustrating moment I had throughout the whole thing. I even noticed this when finding those same creatures spawning out pipes, like in Super Metroid.
- Crouching; I see you've already gotten some feedback about the crouch animation, so I'll just say that her height felt a bit finicky while trying to aim at first, but it's easy to quickly get used to. I may've mentioned it, but I'm not going to demand you change that, since crouch walking is a mechanic in this game. But if there's anything you can think of to improve it, all the better.
- Jumping; It could just be my controller, but the jumping can feel a tad restrictive, especially when it's off of walls. I just expected to go a bit further is all. Those moments where you have to grab ledges can be a bit too awkward because you have to jump straight up then go left/right. I'm gathering this is intentional for the sake of the level design, but it did throw me off a bit when I pressed right to jump across & instead let go of the platform.
It almost feels like the character's missing an animation where she hoists herself off the ledge to jump across. But since that would require you to make additions to that mechanic or even re-work it, I don't want to make it sound like a total deal-breaker. It's just that it stood out to me.
- Control fluidity; For the most part, I had no problems & really like the momentum you build up when running forward. But there one or two points where I had to momentarily struggle with the controls to get her to either crouch or jump. Again, it could be my controller, but I mention it in case it's something more.
- Collision detection when shooting; Overall it's fine, but I have noticed that if your're right up against a wall & try to fire at something directly above you, the shot has a habit of hitting the wall instead.
- Gun sounds; Nothing more than personal preference, and I know it's only the first gun, but for an energy weapon, the sound is a more of a pop than any kind of pew-pew. I don't think it needs to be a different sound. Maybe just take the existing one you've made, and mess about with one or two filters. The charge-up sound is absolutely fine. Would be interesting to see if there's any difference when you get other energy types.
Aside from these points, I enjoyed the hell out of this & will be having a second or even third run-through at some point.
I also have a couple of ideas I want to send your way, in hopes they might be good for even a foundation of an idea you might be working on; It's about a possible morph ball mechanic.
- So I've seen a few comments already along the lines of 'If she turns into a ball, you'll get a call from Nintendo'. So if you do decide to make some kind of mechanic around that, how about this?
Give the character the ability to change into a thick fluid of some kind, or at least some sort of liquid mass that stays together & can move around freely. This means you could make use of the water mechanics you've already got in place, creating some intersting puzzles & shortcuts that involve you having to slosh around through pipes & tight spaces.
It could also be a serious 'What the hell just happened' moment for the player; Boss fight occurs, boss is defeated but strikes the character before dying, character melts & looks like she dies, then after a couple of seconds, the mass she melts into starts twitching & moving, then recomposes herself back into human form, then you get informed you've aquired whatever the name of this ability could be... That should help people see this isn't a mere Metroid clone.
- This one's a lot simpler & in all honesty, not really important in any way. I've also seen remarks about the character being a girl that isn't Samus. Unless it affects the story in any major way, maybe consider letting the player select either a male or female character.
In all honesty, I kind of hope we're just told that we get what we're given. It shouldn't make any difference who the protagonist is or what they look like. But you know the internet; Always itching to complain about something.
It's only something I've noticed, and as far as I'm concerned, you gotta change nothing in this department. But if it's something you wish to work on at some stage, then there ya go. At the very least, you could try the Resident Evil 2 deal; 2 protagonists, 2 stories running parallel to one another. Entirely your choice.
I understand this is a lot of feedback in one go, but I wanted to give all my thoughts on this & hopefully play my part in helping this shape up even further. Super Metroid has easily been one of my favourite games ever made, ever since it first came out.
Zordak is obviously Metroid inspired, but with the lighting & fog & overall tone you've set with the amazingly dark ambience, the previous violence on display with all the dead bodies, blood & gore, and the way the enemies look familiar then surprise you by hurling themselves at you like they do... Thank you for making this. This is way more than a clone, and you might be able to guess I'm somewhat keen to see what the end result will be.
Oh & just one other thing; The arm cannon's called a 'Blaster'? Charged shots deal 'Quad damage'?... I see what you did there, and it's just the best >w>
First of all, thanks a lot for this extensive comment!
Let's see here, this will probably be a giant reply as well and I'll try to comment on most of what you said.
Let's just start with addressing all the "player is naked, physics, etc" comments as I've read plenty of them.
The reasoning for the player being in her underwear is that I've always seen it like you have to be basically naked in a cryotank and I obviously couldn't make her completely naked so I had to go with some middle ground.
Being basically naked also makes you feel more helpless which is exactly what I was going for.
I could of course have made it into something like a swimming suit or whatever but I did not think of that until people started commenting about it so it is what it is.
As for the "jiggle physics" as people usually comment, I don't know what people expect there, it's literally like 4 pixels moving 1 pixel up and down just to add more dynamic to the animation. It only makes sense for things to move there, otherwise it would just be completely static around the chest and that would probably look worse.
So this is not really going to change.. at most I might redo the sprites for the 500th time and make it a sort of swimming suit but that will probably not happen any time soon.
I'm not taking a stab at you here or anything, just trying to explain why it is how it is.
You just can't really win when it comes to things like this, if you fix that thing then something else is wrong and it goes on forever.
As for the "clone" comments and such, Super Metroid is one of my most favorite games ever so of course I'm going to make it as close as possible to that game, so people calling it a clone or whatever is not really surprising to me. Yes, I may have gone a bit too far in a lot of cases but I've been trying to add some more "me" or however you should call it, into those things. I'm still trying to move more towards "me" and will continue to do so until the game is done. One comment in particular was a bit annoying since it is flat out wrong, the one about me tracing SM graphics, all of the graphics have been made from scratch, they are not even the same size as in SM, pretty much half the size actually. Of course I've looked at SM sprites and used them as references though, that only makes sense when you want to make a very similar game. I also have plans to rework the suit at some point to make it look less like the SM one as well. I don't know what else to say about this.
Oh, one thing though, when people compare it to metroid fusion, funny thing is... I've never *really* played that game, maybe a tiny bit many years ago. I have *seen* most of it though from streams and such but never really played it.
About the gore and such, I won't say much, but unless something changes along the way, then there is a reason the dead bodies and such exist.
Ok, now that that is out of the way let's get to the gameplay comments:
Item Pickups: I have gotten this comment before about the boss enemies, seems like there is still some tweaking to do there.
Crouching: I get what people are saying, I know it's not the usual type of crouch, it should probably be a crawl, the problem I have here is that if it was a crawl it would look like you could go through 1 tile gaps which should not be possible. But it is still on the long term list to possibly convert it into some kind of crawl, I'm just not sure yet how to solve this.
Jumping: Not sure how to solve the "up" room transition any other way than it is right now, this is probably something everyone has to get used to.
The left/right wall jump actually has a setting in the gameplay options right now which removes this behaviour, left/right no longer let's go off ledge grab with this enabled, this setting might be turned on by default later at some point.
And yes, you are pretty much correct about the missing animation, technically there's no missing animation but I have plans to possibly add a wall kick like animation for ledge grab jumps, with possibly some more horizontal speed added to make it feel like a stronger/longer jump.
Control Fluidity: I'm not sure what people mean here as I've gotten some similar comments before, some player states like turning/transitions lock player input for a tiny moment, I suppose this is what people may be referring to. It could also be controller stick sensitivity and deadzone setting issues if one were to use the stick for movement, otherwise those should have no effect. Other than these things, I don't really know what to do here. I play 95% of the time on keyboard so controllers have not been as thoroughly tested.
Collision Detection When Shooting: This is known and will be fixed at some point, probably after I rework the suit a bit.
Sounds In General: Most of the current sounds will be reworked later at some point, same with the music so expect this to change.
Okay so let me just straight up say this right away:
There will be no morph ball in this game.
There is already an upgrade in the game intended to replace this.
Your idea is not bad however, probably more interesting that what is actually in the game right now and it definitely sounds like something that could be in a game like this. But now that you've already told me this, it unfortunately makes this less interesting for me to add, mostly because you or anyone else reading this will know about it. Sure, it would get spoiled on day one anyway but you probably know what I mean. I do have some other things planned though and unless things change in the future then there will hopefully be some more interesting stuff happening later. If I find any use of your idea for other things though then I may choose to add something similar/related to that. ;)
As for the choice of male or female character, this is probably not going to happen, mostly because it would involve even more work and as you said, it really shouldn't matter.
This is one of the best types of feedback so it's no problem that it is a lot as it helps me improve the game in multiple aspects.
And yes, the game has a lot of "inspiration" from super metroid, some almost straight up copying, I'm not hiding these facts. Bottom line is: I'm just trying to make super metroid but not super metroid at the same time.
Sorry it took a couple of days to respond to this, I pretty much took a break from working on this last week so I chose to not respond to most comments during this time as well.
Anyway, hope you like the final product when it is done and thanks a lot for the feedback. :)
If I missed anything you said in this post then just tell me again in a reply or something, since the post was quite big.
And also, now I will just feel bad if I get this wrong, you're referring to Mega Man and Quake with the blaster and quad comment right? ;) I didn't even think of this until you said it.
Apologies for any points at which my grammar may've stumbled. It was quite late when I finished this comment.
I'll try to clear up anything I might not've explained too well, and just show I fully understand what the deal is. It's good to talk in-depth about this, but I don't want to take up all your time with it. That being said, here's another lengthy comment.
I honestly hadn't thought about that aspect with her attire at the start, and now you've explained that, not only am I completely on board with it, but I also request that the sprite not be changed any further; You've had to work on that enough by the sound of it, but this is an artistic statement. This is your idea, and it's relevant to the game. I take back what I've mentioned about the character model, and would just like to say thank you for reminding me of a time when artistic value wasn't stifled by whining about being offended.
And just for the record; Despite the fact I said anything about it, that wasn't the direction I was coming from. I'm just an oddball is all. But after seeing other people lean so heavily on that one, I feel bad about it. Seriously, I hope I haven't replied too late, and you're not already changing that sprite.
I know this may sound weird, but I immediately recognised the level of love for Super Metroid, the second that cryo tank started counting down. I remember pre-ordering SM when it was on the shelves, and booting it up for the first time. For what it's worth; I think you nailed that same kind of feeling, and getting to play even these first 30 minutes that are subject to change was like experiencing that again.
If you mean the comment/thread I think you mean... You really shouldn't get too worked up about it. That person is badly in need of professional help. It was an argument that no one could win, because he was only interested in antagonising people. I'd call it trolling, but it just turned out to be tragic.
It has occured to me that you're on what's left of your ship for a very short time, and then it's onto Zordak itself. Starting off with Station X is the main reason I went "Oh yeah, Fusion" (Despite the fact you have Ceres Station in SM).
Still, I'd recommend trying to get a copy of that one. It's probably the creepiest in the Metroid series.
Oh & speaking of; Really like the sound of that ominous statement on all the corpses. Sounds like this planet is going to be a bad time in the best ways.
Alright, gameplay stuff;
- Glad I could help confirm any issues with pickups.
- As said, it's easy to get used to the crouching, so if it stays the same, people will just have to pay more attention to the controls.
- I did not spot that option, and how you plan to improve this part will nullify the issues I mention. Good to hear that more animation is on the agenda as well. I know stuff like this takes hours, and don't want to seem demanding & ignorant.
Also, I have no problem with the transition, if you mean between rooms. Didn't even think of that since it's a room transition. That's all fine.
- Here's another attempt with the control fluidity; When doing a running jump, it feels like she's a bit resistant to jumping forward in accordance with how fast she runs. It doesn't break the flow, but it does kind of jolt it. But since you plan to give her more horizontal speed, that should fix it.
As for the crouching, the only thing I could recommend is giving her the ability to crouch while on the move. This does slow down the pacing by just a fraction of a second. However, it pays to remember that Metroid didn't sort out this kind of thing until the Prime games, and even then, you still have to watch her transform into a ball for a second or two. The only game that actually gives you a smooth transition between standing & morph ball is AM2R & possibly Samus Returns.
- Again, glad I could confirm something that's already on the list of fixes.
- Looking forward to whatever changes are made with the audio.
I did think about trying to message you privately about that idea, because that thought had occured as well. Also looked for a way to do so, but nearly as hard as I could've looked. Either way, it's no worries if the ideas not of any use, but if it can be used for anything in the game then all the better :3 I'll say this; If it doesn't show up in the end result, that's fine. But if it does, I assure you I'll go "Ayyy!", then feel a bit smug. Probably.
I'm really glad to hear that response from you on the character front. Again, the choices you've made to convey the story should stay as your decision. After hearing about it, I can safely say it matters that you stick to your guns & don't worry about people choosing to complain because they don't get the point. That's why critics & fans get to rave on about this kind of stuff years after something comes out; It's given time to be deciphered.
Any delay is fine, and I know this is a lot to talk about. My objective with all this is to be helpful & supportive, but I don't want to distract you from making any progress. If it takes a while, it takes a while.
Lastly, you'd be 100% correct on the references! :D However, I will admit to being a bigger fan of Quake, and the starting weapon in the second game happens to also be called the Blaster.
Thank you for taking the time to look through all of this, and I hope that I was able to be clearer on anything that might've been confusing. Please remember; I'm fine with any delayed response, if you feel the need to say anything further. I know exactly what it's like to have this kind of workload.
Best of luck with moving forward.
I have not begun changing any sprites yet, in fact, I have not really started working yet either, only started watching gameplay videos and replying to comments.
So no, your reply was not too late. ;)
I'm glad that was the experience you had with the game as that is basically the feeling I'm trying to recreate.
It's probably the same comment thread and no, I'm not really worked up about it.
It's just a bit annoying when they keep spreading false information though.
So I take it there's a station in fusion also called "Station X"?
I just couldn't come up with anything better at the time so that's the name it got.
And yeah, I should probably play through fusion for real at some point.
The ledge grab option should be there or something is wrong but yeah, as I said before, it might become the default later anyway.
I kinda see what you mean with the running and jumping thing and kinda don't at the same time but it will probably be improved at some point, either accidentally or intentionally. ;)
Same with the crouching, you should already be able to crouch on the move unless I'm misunderstanding something here.
Well, we will see if any part of your idea makes it into the game, not giving any promises or anything. ^^
My email is visible on my twitter: https://twitter.com/ApapappaGames
That would probably be the best way to contact me privately if needed.
I played Doom more than Quake back then but I still think Quake is good. ;)
Anyway, thanks again for the reply, I tried to respond to most things but as stated before, I didn't 100% get what you mean with the jumping and crouching parts. ^^
Good to know it's not too late to say what I've said ^^; Your explanations have gotten me thinking about a lot of stuff in that regard. Glad I got to speak with you about this stuff.
Believe me, that thread isn't worth getting worked up over, so you've got the right idea. I wasn't joking either; That person is in need of help. There's deliberately spreading misinformation, and there's just flailing wildly.
Zordak may have a different opening structure to SM, but you've got the 'Something's gone horribly wrong' vibe down with your tutorial level, and the immediate 'I'm not any safer' feeling with the planet. Details like that dark musical drone really helps, too. I love that kind of stuff.
So the whole of Fusion is set on a space station; The B.S.L. Research Station (Biologic Space Labs). There's also the fact that the enemies of that game are creatures known as the 'X Parasites'. Hopefully you can see where the general reminders comes from with that.
One particular reason I'd recommend looking/playing through Fusion is it's horror aspect. I won't bang on about that, but I offer my word as a Metroid fan since an early age; It's a pretty solid game.
If any of my issues with the movement are because of either my controller or overlooking things in the options, I will happily eat my words on things like the crouching.
I have thought of a better example for what I mean with the jumping aspect, though. Let's make the original Sonic games the example for this; Depending on how fast the character is running, that determines how far a gap they can clear. The faster they go, the further they can jump.
I know the Sonic games didn't inspire anything about this, but the way it feels in Zordak right now, it's the equivelant of getting some decent speed on Sonic, taking the leap forward, but the character has a set velocity for how far & high they can go.
It's also relevant to point out that this kind of kinetic energy is in SM (But none of the other Metroid games after that), so much so that they give you the speed boost to improve it.
Apologies if I'm just droning on about this now. It's just I thought this might be a much better explanation than just "It feels funny".
It's no worries if you don't end up using it, and I'll enjoy the game anyway :3
Haven't paid any real attention to Twitter for a while now. Long story short, got a lot to do right now. But I will take note of this in case anything comes up.
Yep, Doom was the first game I ever played. I kid you not. I was about 5. Quake wasn't until much later, but it still left one hell of an impression.
I really do hope this attempt at explaining what I mean went better this time, and that I'm not just being even more confusing than usual ^^;
Ah, well I see how someone could take fusion as a reference then.
And yeah, I know, I should probably play through it at some point, sooner rather than later.
Okay so.. pretty sure I think I know what you mean now with the jumping.
Basically you want more momentum/less "air" friction allowing for longer jumps depending on speed, something like that right?
I don't know off the top of my head right now if that actually exists already and if it does, it has a very small impact at this moment.
I'll look into experimenting with some more jumping momentum at some point.
You don't necessarily need to use twitter, I just have my email there for now to hopefully reduce spambots picking it up.
(not sure if this actually works or not though)
So if you need to send any private message, my email is listed there.
Yeah, Doom was one of my first games as well, didn't play as much Quake though but it is still good as mentioned earlier.
This time your explanation worked better I think, assuming I got it right, otherwise I'm completely lost. ;)
got to say the new update is great, I like the way the character got faster and more fluid. the little thing I can still mention is still the crouching (I can live with that tho, but still think it can be improved) and on the main menu, specially if we want to change a bit the button for the joystick or keyboard, choice, selection and validation (they all somehow get confusing to each other) ! overall, great update ! do you have a realistic release date ?
Thanks for trying the demo again. :)
Yeah sure.. everything can always be improved but the crouching is probably going to stay like this for now.
Not sure what you mean about the menu though.
Do you mean that there is something wrong with the inputs that cause the menu to not work correctly?
Or something similar to the previous comment here that bindings supposedly change on their own or not the way you tried to change them?
Or that inputs conflict with each other like the "down arrow is confirm" issue in the previous comment?
Or that the way it is organized can be a bit confusing?
Or the wording of the buttons is confusing?
Sorry for asking lots of questions but I really need to know more specifically what is wrong. :)
And finally, no, I don't have a realistic release date yet, the only thing I can say it: it is done when it is done.
Anyway, glad you like the update overall. :)
hey, so sorry I got so late to get back to you, had a hard week. Well; thanks for your reply. all good about the crouching :) ; regarding the menu select, looks it's about the joypad/keyboard, it was the down arrow thing, yeah, but nothing really bad. good luck and again thank you for the hard work. cheers
No problem.;)
I'm not quite sure where the down arrow issue is as this control scheme should not exist but I will look into it at some point to try and fix it.
Hmmm where to start...
I can see how this could be enjoyable. Its got that Super Metroid feel, but its missing many things. For one, there's a severe lack of music which is absolutely key to this genre. Secondly, the game font is terrible. I can barely read it. Third, the controls are seriously bugged; I use JoyToKey to turn my keyboard into my SNES controller. However, Zordak likes to randomly swap the control scheme into things I never programmed/wanted. For instance, I can't seem to aim diagonally up while standing still. Can you have an option to turn off auto-detection? Also, those predefined controls are just madness (Down arrow to confirm? How am I supposed to scroll through a menu!?)
Those things aside it seems like you have a nifty game on your hands. Were I to have a more powerful computer (I.E. not a potato) I can see how some of the graphical options would be fun (water/foilage movement).
A simple pet peeve is how it takes the character a moment to get up to full speed every time she starts moving. Minor, I know, but its something I notice every single time I turn around or enter a new room. Got real old, real fast. Again though, that's my personal annoyance and not a mechanical bug. The way to scroll through menu options after going into your map seems less than efficient. I'd rather there be a way to skip the map and just go straight to options (there's plenty of buttons you could use).
As is, the annoyances are outweighing the fun for me. Maybe I'll come back to this one later.
Hey, thanks for trying the demo.
So let's see here..
Music will be updated at some point, not sure when but likely closer to when the game is finished.
I can see how some letters could be hard to read with the game font, but not really how it would be completely unreadable. That being said however, I have plans for adding an option to use a standard font like Arial or the like in the future.
As for the control issues, never heard of or seen any of these. The control scheme you're talking about (down arrow to confirm etc) doesn't exist so something else is wrong here and I'd like to clarify that I'm not saying I don't believe you, this control scheme should not exist though (unless it's custom made). But this did make me realize one thing though: I should add restrictions for certain buttons so that you can't bind for example - "down arrow" to "confirm.
I haven't tested the game with JoyToKey so I will add that to the list in case JoyToKey does something weird to the game. I do not have a SNES controller either so this one I can't really test.
You should be able to aim diagonally up when standing still but as something seems wrong I understand it could be broken.
The game should also not swap controls around unless you bind them or change control scheme so no clue what could be going on here.
And finally, not sure what you mean about auto detection? If you mean controller detection there is an option for that called "Controller Enabled". (should probably rename this to controller detection)
Unless your computer can't compile or handle shaders for whatever reason then you might be able to play with those graphical things enabled. Using the "Frame Skip" option in the "Display" menu should help a lot with framerate issues, this does render the game in 30fps instead of 60fps however if this is something you do not desire. I have tried to optimize it to run it on weaker machines, still lots to do of course, but I can run it pretty decently on my very low end laptop using said frame skip option and low/medium graphics. This is where the minimum requirements listed on the game page comes from. This is on Windows however so if you're talking about Linux then I can't do as thorough testing since I only have a virtual machine available for that at this moment.
The character speed up thing is probably not going to change, I want the character to feel slower and honestly, a little bit clunky, not too much though of course.
The reason for having to go to the map and then pressing a button for the options menu is exactly that, buttons, there's not enough of them, I'm speaking in terms of using a controller since of course there are enough buttons on a keyboard, but if you're only using a controller then this seemed like the best way to do it ie: using less buttons. But if you have another idea, please let me know. Also, not sure what to do different about the efficiency part as this is just the same menu as the title screen menu, again, speaking in terms of using a controller so there's no mouse or such available here.
Sorry that there were too many issues for you to enjoy the game, I try to make it as enjoyable as possible for everyone but sometimes it just does not work.
Anyway, I tried to answer all the issues, if you have any suggestions and such please feel free to tell me.
(also, sorry for the giant reply) ;)
Thanks for the quick reply!
Firstly, its got lots of potential, I can see that, but I think a lot of my technical issues were getting in the way of it. Great job on the demo so far! Didn't want to seem like I was just trolling you or making it seem like you didn't know what you were doing.
Music: Not a problem. I understand its a demo and that music probably isn't a priority at this point. Tweaking mechanics and smoothing out bugs is, and that's probably a good thing. Just saying that a Metroidvania style game has to have great music. :)
Font: No, its not totally unreadable, but my eyes aren't what they used to be. A more standard font / just making the font take up more physical spacing per letter would be a great addition for some of us older gamers.
Controls: When I first booted the game up, it was in "custom" control scheme. I used those keys to map to JoyToKey initially. However, in mapping these keys I encountered some strange things. For clarification the game auto-recognized my SNES controller as "SNES controller" though I have no idea what this ended up doing to the control scheme.
So #1 this auto-detection would happen every single time I swapped windows (I.E. to go back and forth to see what button I needed to map next). This may have been messing with my controls every time it happened?
#2 I then swapped from Custom to Predefined 4. Then I started to experience the next issue, where it kept switching back to Custom.
#3 After I finally got all the keys mapped to Predefined 4, I started actually playing through the game. This was where I noticed that only one of my directional aiming buttons worked (one of the shoulder buttons). The other would simply point straight up. SUGGESTION: perhaps make it so there's instead a button that stops you from moving so that you can use the d-pad/arrow keys to aim?
#4 I'll give the "controller enabled" option a go and see if it fixes some issues.
Graphics: Yeah, my potato of a laptop seemed to not like shaders and I had to turn them off. Any graphical things are my issue for playing on this old hunk of junk LOL. I am playing on Windows 7 BTW.
Okay, this helped me better understand the control config issue.
So what I think is happening is:
You are pressing buttons on the controller, which in turn activates the input in game, but then JoyToKey converts that input to a keyboard input, which in turn also activates in game causing a sort of loop and therefore switching control scheme between controller and keyboard since they are separate.
That's the only explanation I have for it switching control schemes by itself without your input.
So the solution(s) would be:
1. Since the game detects the controller then just use the controller without JoyToKey and bind everything in game, this is of course if the game actually understands the SNES controller, I have no idea about that.
2. Disable controller detection completely with the mentioned "controller enabled" option, this should make it so the controller does nothing to the game and all inputs should be keyboard only, which in turn *SHOULD* make JoyToKey work.
I think I will add a message in the controls menu recommending people to disable controller detection if they are planning to use JoyToKey.
About the suggestion, if I'm not misunderstanding then that option basically already exists, but without the "stop moving" part, since there are dedicated buttons for aiming and not just using the directional keys.
Sure, music is pretty important but exactly as you said, it's not really a priority right now, the priority is actually finishing the game and fixing the most glaring bugs.
Yeah, that's what I thought, the font couldn't be THAT bad. ;) but as mentioned before, hopefully I will fix this issue when I add support for using a more standard font, not sure when this is coming though.
As for the graphics, my suggestion would be:
If the shaders are not auto disabled eg: shows a message that they are "not compiled" and the button does not accept input, then:
Try using the "Low" or "Medium" graphics preset with the "Frame Skip" option turned on in the "Display" options.
This might allow you to play the game with some graphical things turned on.
Also, to be honest here, I haven't really tested the game on Windows 7, but it should work the same as on Windows 10, all I know is there are definitely issues running it on Windows XP that's why I put Win 7 as Minimum Requirements. :)
Anyway, thanks for the extensive reply since it (hopefully) helped me find the cause of the control issues.
Also, it did not really seem like you were trolling me or whatever, you said what was wrong and that is what I expect from feedback. :)
(sorry again for the "wall of text" reply)
Hey I thought of an Awesome name for the game ^^v
" Notroid "
Right ^^b It's perfect. Maybe a sub-title.
Yeaaah... that's not going to happen. ;)
XD hey, I suggested the dev to A Robot NAmed Fight rename his game to Meatroid. I like bad puns, what can I say
That's fine and all but I'm pretty sure he declined that suggestion as well. :P
really good game. I dont like how you can get stuck down there.
one example is the entrance to the frost area, where you are basically raped without some high jump or high speed running skill :-/
Hey, thanks for trying the demo.
Well, you're not actually stuck down there but I know what you mean.
So if you are planning to continue playing this is what you have to do:
Start running from the previous room to the left and you should be able to run over the bridge.
This area has been completely changed in a newer version as this was causing issues for some players, so the bridge thing no longer exists.
Demo has not been updated yet as you now know since you played it.
I have plans of updating the demo at some point to better reflect the current state of the game.
Anyway, glad you like the game even with these issues. :)
I personally liked to get stuck here and finally find the solution, reminded me Super Metroid in Brinstar, I guess this is where you found the idea ;)
Yep, that's where the idea came from. ;)
To explain a bit further on why it was removed:
This is the place most people got stuck and there was not enough feedback in the running animation to indicate you gaining speed.
In fact, you were barely gaining speed, all that had to happen was you being at maximum speed when running over the bridge.
This was a bit too confusing and the bridge also felt a bit pointless / unnecessary.
There are probably more issues but at least you got some more information now. :)
ah yeah, true that this speed animation wasn't obvious to notice.
If you need to translate in Korean, please contact to https://badagames.net. It is awesome translator in Korean.
Added to the list in case I ever need it, thanks. :)
I loved this demo, I'm huge metroidvania fan and I can say you nailed it big time. Since you asked stuff to improve and impressions there is one little thing, when you lower the character on her knees, sometimes she stays stuck in this position and walks, it might be a bit confusing sometimes and we don't really know if she's walking normally or get slowered by something. this didn't get me away from the fun though, just a little suggestion. also, is there any newsletter i can subscribe to be warned about the release?
Thanks for trying the demo!
Not sure what you mean with the "stays stuck in this position" part though, there are only two things I can think of:
Either you are crouching or you fell too high causing a hard landing, but the hard landing one does not line up with the next part of what you said "and walks".
So I have to guess you are crouching, there are several issues with the crouching animation in terms of it looking a bit weird, which I've been trying to slowly improve upon.
If this is not what you mean then I'm not sure what it is.
There is no newsletter at this moment and to be honest I'm not 100% sure how and/or the best way to set one up either.
So right now the best way to keep up with the game is either here or on twitter:https://twitter.com/ApapappaGames
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and glad you like the game! :)
thanks for the reply,
yes the second point you mentioned, crouching* was the right term, sorry I'm french haha.
Got you about the newsletter and update, I've followed on twitter anyway and will try to keep checking from time to time.
keep up the good work, and good luck ! you'll get rewarded buy such effort, I know it.
big cheers
Okay well, the crouching issue may already be solved since there are so many changes in my current version compared to the demo.
Especially if you were playing with a controller and using the stick to move.
Otherwise we'll just have to see if I update the demo at some point.
I just need this game to be popular enough to not starve to death, but one can hope. ;)
Thanks for the good luck wishes. ^^
I wish your game (so do you) wont starve haha, have you got a way to put some preorders or donations?
There is no way to donate or preorder right now.
I will be announcing it in a devlog post / on twitter and such if they become available. :)
Is there a plan for support macOS?
If I ever get my hands on a mac computer then I will try to port it over.
They are not really within my budget right now so it will probably not happen in the near future, if at all.
That's the only answer I can give you at this moment. :)
Well, no problem.
If you release Zordak on Steam, I must buy one, and give someone for gift :)
The game will more than likely be on Steam at some point.
I'm going to be posting a devlog about this some time in the future with a couple of questions and such, not sure when though.
So keep an eye out for that, then you would get more information and maybe you could give your opinion as well. :)
Very nice game. Enjoyed it alot! Looking forward to this
Thanks, glad you like it. ;)
I played ten minutes Zordak.
crouch key is little bit uncomfortable when using xbox 360 controller. but everything is fine :)
---
After I got energy blaster, I stucked in this room
After watching the video I assume you mean that the crouch button is easy to press on accident.
Not sure what to do about that though.
And you are not stuck in that room, it's just a bit hard to see what to do in the demo version.
I have made it easier to see what to do in a newer version.
Thanks for trying the demo and making a video. :)
Hope you like the game. ^^
Thank you for watching :)
I am not professional youtuber, just normal player. crouch button should have deadzone!
No problem, I always watch videos people make if I find them. :)
Assuming you used the controller stick for movement and not the D-pad.
There's a controller stick deadzone option in my current version, not sure if it's in the demo or not though.
I could separate left/right and up/down deadzones so one could have a low deadzone for movement and a high deadzone for crouch and standing up.
Thanks for the feedback. :)
Anyway I can contact you personally via email maybe?
Sure, my email is shown here on my twitter profile:
https://twitter.com/ApapappaGames
(not posting it directly to reduce spambots picking it up)
Looks incredible and plays really well. Very promising. Patiently waiting till it goes for sale! Will this go up in early access or can we expect it to release when it's done?
One thing I thought worth mentioning: in the room where you get missiles, it took me a good ten minutes to find the block I was supposed to hit. Maybe it's worth placing it in a more visible or accessible spot than that corner? It could also be that I'm just not that perceptive!
More of a QoL thing: some way to remind yourself to return to a room like being able to add a marker on the map would be cool. Or perhaps an indicator like in RE2 Remake that the room is not yet fully explored/completed.
Hey, thanks for taking a look at the game!
To be completely honest, I don't really have any plans for early access at this moment.
I'm more into the release when done method.
I'll take a look and see if I can make the missile room a bit easier to figure out, added to the to-do list. ;)
The marker on the map idea is a really good idea, I don't know how I didn't think of that already, definitely added to the list, thanks. :)
I'll add the resident evil map thing to the list as well and we'll see if I do anything with that.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback and glad you like the game! ^^
that missle locking room ( and a few others with similar objectives to get out ) aren't telegraphed well enough. maybe exclude all the light sources, and have one shine on the spot you're spposed to hit, or maybe have your suit tell you abnout it, point it out and act as a tutorial, so the player knows to keep an eye out fot things to shoot and reveal the paths.
other than that, this is fantastic - i can see the metroid influence, but it didn't feel like I was playing metroid - which is a good thing.
Yeah, I know what you mean about the missile room, this has been made easier to spot in a newer version.
I might steal your idea with the lights though to make it even easier to spot. ;)
And that's pretty much how I want the game to feel like when it is done.
Thanks for trying the demo! :)
i ended up playing more than i was supposed to :D
BTW if you hold down and up at the same time you lose all animations and will just be doing the standing animation even when moving
Thanks for trying the demo, hope you liked it. ;)
And that bug has now been fixed, thanks. ^^
(not fixed in the demo)
Yeah the game was fun :D hope to see more of it
Well, glad you liked it then. ;)
I'll be posting more devlogs so you can take a look in there if you want to see more things.
I would buy this game just for the lighting. Keep up the great work man.
Thanks, glad you like it. ^^
Bumpity bump; Can't wait for the full release. Finish it and take my damn money, and awesome job so far.
Thanks, I'm working on it. ^^
By the way, is your screen name an Avatar TLA reference?
Not really, it's a combination of two swedish words - "Apa" and "Pappa", which basically means "Monkeydad". ;)
Please please please please please please please please I NEED a full version of this game!!!
You're going to have to wait some time I'm afraid, but I'm working on it.;)
I hope you sell this, it's a good game
Thanks for the comment, I will sell the game when it is completed. :)
Nice work!! I like the atmosphere. Works fine on my ubuntu 18.04.
Keep the good work!!
Thanks, good to hear that it works on ubuntu. ;)
nice game, I like it
Thanks! ;)
You need to get better in map design, one of the most important principle of metroidvania is impossible to get stuck in certain areas!
It should not be possible to get stuck anywhere, so please show/tell me where you got stuck as I'm almost 100% certain you are not stuck.
The section between core and frotz, if you don't go another way to get the item in the cystal section( sorry for not remember the name of it ), you are stuck there unless commit suicide.
If you mean the place with the long breaking "bridge", then you were not stuck. It's the only place I can think of that someone could think they were stuck.
I'm also stuck at this spot, and I've spent half an hour shooting everything to no avail.
Okay so.. This room has been reworked in future versions as it was causing problems for people and the bridge felt a bit pointless as well.
So here's what you have to do:
Start running from the previous room to the left and you should be able to run over the bridge.
Quite an improvement from the last time I played your game! The HUD is clean and smooth, the map has the perfect size to it and the atmosphere is top notch quality! I'll add some helpful tweaks though, like making the cracks of the places you can break more noticeable (they are hard to spot when there's grass in front of it) and add some shortcuts to improve interconnectivity between areas. The rest is still great, so amazing job and keep on devin'!
Sure, visibility issues can (and probably will) at some point be improved, one thing though, the tells I'm going for are not always cracks and such but I do understand what you mean.
Shortcuts are definitely a good idea which I've not thought of that much before, will look into this, I might not be able to add many shortcuts though, but some.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback! :)
And this makes three Zordak videos to date. :) The boss battle is more sneaky in this build, visually it's even more impressive (really detailed, even the grass moves when you shoot?) oh, and I really like the the color coding for different areas. :)
Left a big comment on youtube as usual, thanks for the feedback! ;)
Played the demo, and it was incredible. I already feel absorbed into this world! The powerful color effects really stand out and the environment feels "real" in a way that makes me want to explore every tiny nook and cranny. The user interface is gorgeous and feels really solid, and it contributes to the feeling that this game is a retro-futuristic cross between Metroid and Alien.
I appreciate that my non-Xbox controller is not treated as second-class, although it would be better if I could simply tell the game which style of buttons I have (cross, square, etc.)
Fantastic work, I am looking forward to the game's release.
Hey, thanks for trying the demo. I'm glad you like it. :)
I have put "controller button style" on the to-do list and I will try to add it, but knowing which controller button does what is a bit of a pain, they always have different IDs on each controller I've tested, so it might not work out.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback!
Hey, watched the video and unfortunately I can't comment on what you said because I can't speak spanish.
I'm glad you seem to like the game and I'll watch part 2 of the video if you release one. :)
I used google translate for the message you left here so sorry if something got lost in translation.
Do not worry, i finished it and it was very good.
i look forward to the final version.
:D
Very nice the game but i have a crash in the tutorial, when you hit the wall to discover a new path because the door is broken.
Any guess what would be?
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in Vertex Shader compilation
ShaderName: sh_VertexBuffer
D3DXCompile failed - result
at gml_Object_o_TileFader_Other_20
############################################################################################
_____________________________________________
PS: Which engine you use to develop the game?
Hey, looks like there is another missing shader compilation check.
The only reason this would happen is if your computer can't compile the shader so I guess your computer does not support it or something.
You're going to have to wait until I update the game, sorry about that. I'll try to get that done as soon as possible. (hopefully today)
I'm using GameMaker: Studio 1.4 to create the game.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the game once you get it running. :)
Edit: The game has been updated.
Uau game maker , ok thanks