Vorpal Florist - Playtesting thread

Maybe don't announce that you're playing a game?

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Mega Tact v1.1
Super Penguin Chef
Wizard Blocks

I'm using whatever the default backends are when you run game.exe in Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. I also playtested a handful of other games, and so far no slowdown. It's only with Vorpal Florist I've noticed this. I tend to alt+tab a lot to answer IMs while playing games, which is why I ended up noticing this.

He'd been messaging me for about an hour at that point and I figured maybe if I told him I was doing something else with my keyboard he'd leave me alone for a bit.

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Remeber: God made you special and he loves you very much. Bye!

Z and X work already! Did you try them? :)



Whoa! That sounds like an engine bug.

My first guess is that it is backend related. The zip file I posted defaults to the gfx_directx backend. You might be using the gfx_sdl backend? Do you remember deleting or renaming gfx_directx.dll from your main ohrrpgce installation?



Sorry about that! I have not gotten around to making the title screen

After you have saved tour game once, it will take you back to the load game screen instead of exiting.



I recommend ducking under the stone, then running up and hitting them before they bring the shield back up.... or just jumping over and running away. The carrot demons can be tough to beat, but they are fairly easy to just bypass.

Glad I got the awkward staircases right :)

Oh my god, I feel stupid now. Thanks!

I could never find a place to save. The things that shoot their petals at me always killed me.

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Remeber: God made you special and he loves you very much. Bye!

Behind the spoiler tag is the world map so far



The yellow room represents the flower shop where you start. The green rooms represent the save points

I plan to add an item that will give you in-game access to the map, and will show you which rooms you have already visited

This is super cool!

I am struggling with the first boss.

The tree ladies with the big clubs have a very nice timing window! They feel dangerous but its predictable and fair.

I agree with what people have stated earlier about too many enemies showing up too quickly, especially this early in the game. And also about the environment not being twisty enough-- especially with these cool enemies. I want to see the different challenges they can pose when paired together and with different terrain! Maybe you are keeping it straight-forward for the early-game, which makes sense.

The first flower who screams and jump/lunges at you should be encountered somewhere where you are far enough away that it happens. Although it is kind of cool that its like 'oh, this enemy is super easy' and then they surprise you later. The sound they make is perfect!

Something about trying to 'jump in-attack-move backward in air' feels clunky. Maybe my timing is not great, but she usually attacks after turning around. I've only pulled it off correctly once or twice. Was wondering if it processes movement before attacking? That may make a difference in pulling off something twitchy like that.

I saw that one of the stats is 'Knockback.' Interesting...

I agree that you should introduce enemies in a safe environment before throwing the player into combat with them. Egoraptor talks about this kind of thing in his Sequilitis videos, about how the intro to Megaman X perfectly eases the player into the game.

For example, the hole where all those flowers that lunge at you in that funnel-like area, it's easy to just drop down and the flowers will go just above your head. If you introduced the first flower that way, the player would see that "Oh, some enemies will lunge at me," but not have to suffer any damage because they didn't know.

I think the enemies that drop down on you as you walk by are similarly tough. They really caught me off guard when I first played because I couldn't even see them and suddenly I was being dive-bombed. You could introduce them by having them drop down, but be blocked by a wall of some kind, so the player can see what they do before having to experience what they do.

I think this game is incredible, there's already so much to it. It is really difficult, though. I'm assuming this is mostly because it's still early in development, but there is so much there all at once and it's hard to take in. I mean, there are a lot of enemies in Mario, but you start out only fighting goombas and koopas.

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My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife

Thanks!

I suppose part of the reason that I introduce enemies too fast is that creating them is probably my favorite part of making this game.

I do plan to go back and add some more side-branches to the excessively-linear areas. I have a few plans for items that you will be able to collect, so that going the wrong way will not be a fruitless dead-end.

Good suggestions on introducing the diving butterfiles and pouncing roses more gently. I play these enemies over and over again while testing, so I tent to become blind to how they might appear to someone facing them for the very first time.

My thought was more about using novel combinations of enemies and environments. Those first 'chain chomp' enemies are ridiculously easy, but if they were to show up in a platforming segment, or defending an enemy with a projectile attack, they could become a part of a fairly tricky area.

Even with just the enemies leading up to the first boss, I think you could have a lot of new, interesting content just by thinking about how enemies could 'work together' with the environment to test the player.

Down, Down-Forward, Forward, Attack = Fireball!

Progress going nicely. I have Normal/Hard/Nightmare difficulty implemented, I re-did the save/load screens, and did a bunch of small tweaks, mostly to make difficult enemies a little more fun, and I added a nifty Map feature.

I am also working on special moves like the fireball attack that you will be able to unlock by spending your collected flowers like experience points.

Amazing!

Very cool. Other moves that I would suggest because they will make the game more fun:

• Heel kick: Like Chun Li's bounce move or Link's downslash. Later Castlevania games implemented this as a move that makes you fall faster and at an angle. They also reset your double-jump when you bounced off an enemy.
  
• Roll: Either as a forward roll with invulnerability frames or a quick backdash. This can raise the skill ceiling, and speedrunners will like it. You could also implement this as an attack move (tackle/slide).
  
• Bionic Commando: Webswinging action is hard to implement without some sort of sprite rotation. Failing at this, a vertical zipline (like Mega Man 4's Wire) or horizontal hookshot would also be a fun movement tool.

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Mega Tact v1.1
Super Penguin Chef
Wizard Blocks

Yes! I love the Heel-kick idea!

I already plan a slide similar to the roll idea, with an upgrade that turns it into an attack.

I'll have to think about the bionic commando swinging idea, It would probably affect level design too much

Other ones I have planned besides the basic fireball are:

* Uppercut attack - Small vertical jump combined with a strong short-range attack, guard damage from the front (upgrade for extra height)
* Slide - slide along ground with a tiny hitbox (upgrade for damage while sliding)
* Dash-through - dash through enemy (but not walls) without damage, end facing backwards with a regular attack with equipped weapon (upgrade for damage while dashing)
* Fireball - Throw a fireball attack (upgrade for the ability to steer the fireball up and down)
* Homing Fireballs - Throw a small fireball that homes in on a target. Upgrade to throw 3 fireballs
* Power kick - normal attack with huge knockback

Some of those may require cooldown times to avoid spamming them (especially the homing fireball)