Heart Slam 2024 OHRRPGCE Game Development Contest

[Feenicks]

bird.gif (1.78 KiB) Viewed 4397 times

I'm done!
Need to run through the game again without the class that makes sustaining oneself through a dungeon basically free and then I'll get it uploaded.

[Feenicks]

And that's it uploaded.

[Spoonweaver]

maxresdefault.jpg (26.84 KiB) Viewed 4242 times

[Dre140]

Kingdom of Misery (Heart Slam demo) is up!

[MorpheusKitami]

The entry me and TheLordThyGod were working on is done:
viewgame.php?t=8448
EDIT: If you already got it within the first couple of hours, there was a game breaking glitch which would happen if you reloaded a save at a few points, which has now been fixed.

[Spoonweaver]

Fantastic!

Voting has begun!
We have a lot of entries this contest:

Stargate SG-2 by MorpheusKitami
A Single Fallen Feather by Feenick
Kingdom of Misery by Dre140
Space Qwerst by Spoonweaver
The Black Cat by Arti
SPONCON by Meredosia
Alpha Bat by Meredosia
fox in the woods by rmz

Post your votes here, or in discord or pm/dm me here or in discord.
Voting lasts until Christmas!

If I have missed your entry please let me know, I apologize in advanced.

[Dre140]

I already posted the ratings elsewhere, but here are the full reviews.

Stargate SG-2
I have mixed feelings about this entry, which is why its review is so long. This is a very ambitious game and a monumental undertaking. There are lots of things to like about it, but some issues hold it back.
The main impression is that SG-2 has a developed and engaging story. While I am not very familiar with the Stargate universe (I caught a few episodes on SyFy and might have seen parts of the 90s movie), the plot never felt overwhelming and there were no assumptions about familiarity with the source material. I like the dialogue and characterisation a lot. The writing is definitely the strong point of the game. There are a few typos and occasional sloppy phrasing when introducing the puzzles. The fact that you are often given dialogue options made the experience much deeper.
The actual "game" part is much weaker at this point. I tolerated many problems mostly because I liked the story so much and wanted to see what happened next. My main gripe is that the game mechanics are very opaque. In addition to battle stats, there are also a bunch of skills that can be levelled up as well (such as Shotgun, Electronics, Charm, World History etc), but only for the main character. These are meant to determine many things, like whether you can avoid battles and how you interact with objects or people. This is similar to Disco Elysium, which is a game I really like. However, there are just too many skills in SG2 and it wasn't obvious what they were affecting. I only managed to see that putting a lot of points into Electronics helped the main character figure out what needed to be done on one occasion. It also wasn't clearly communicated when I gained experience, so I didn't improve any of my skills until over an hour into the game. In essence, a lot of stuff happens behind the scenes, and I think the gameplay could be significantly improved by communicating to the player when their skills are having an effect. It may break immersion, but it would feel a lot more rewarding when a skill check passes.
The game is divided into "missions", though many of them are skipped in order to provide a conclusion to the story. You get to equip your characters at the start of each mission. This format worked really well for the game. Some of the missions are fun and interesting (and full of puzzles, which I liked), and others end as soon as you start them, which can be very underwhelming.
There are stretches where you read lots of text, without many opportunities for interaction (you do get well-written dialogue and fun dialogue options). Sprawling maps and slow walking speed cause are likewise frustrating. This gets slightly better later in the demo.
You spend a lot of time early on in the base. I liked exploring it and it felt like a base. It would be even better if there were some more NPCs and objects to interact with.
Combat is unforgiving early on: you die in one hit in almost every one of the starting battles, and there is no way to revive characters during a mission. You don't really get an opportunity to really learn how battles work until over an hour into the game. Only 3 hours into the game did I start to get a feel for how combat works and that my actions were really meaningful.
Graphics are simple yet serviceable, and everything looks like what it's meant to represent. Portraits are the best part.
The music is mostly all right. I like the background music when visiting some of the alien planets. The track I liked the least was the background music for the base: it was too repetitive. The sound effects are good, but some seemed inappropriate (wolves and aliens grunt like humans when they die).
I encountered a few glitches while playing the game (broken wallmaps and layering; cutscenes that could be triggered more than once), but I didn't feel like it really detracted from the experience. It's amazing that a game this ambitious managed to get completed by the end of the contest, and none of these are critical issues.
A minor peeve is that there are "jump cuts" between cutscenes, which can be disorienting. I prefer screen transitions any day.

A very ambitious project. Gameplay and QOL issues prevent SG-2 from being really great, but the high quality of the writing kept me going.
Playtime: 3h 30mins.
Rating: 7/10

A Single Fallen Feather
The harpy game has many similarities to Feenick's False Skies, but with more interesting dungeons and with different party mechanics.
The battles are simple, but remain engaging throughout the game. Your equipment choices matter. The boss battles are a mixed bag and a lot of them can easily be brute-forced. My favourite boss was at the top of the tower near Waltz, and I liked the thief miniboss (I like puzzle bosses). The final boss was not particularly difficult, but the fight and the ending were a spectacle and completing the game was rewarding. The costs of skills and items is balanced well: you rarely have enough money to buy everything, but you have just enough money to be able to make meaningful decisions.
As the game went on, I found myself sticking only to a select few skills in the vast majority of battles. Executor's Overblows are rarely worth it, and the Conjurer's early Tricks stopped being useful very quickly. I felt there was unused potential in making the skills useful. At least I was happy that status effects and buffs remained useful throughout the game.
The game can be roughly split into three parts: introduction, four areas corresponding to 4 elements, finale. The four areas in the middle could in theory be attempted in any order you like, but I found that the game encouraged you to attempt them in a very particular order.
There is a lot of replay value in this game: you have a lot of freedom when it comes to choosing your party and they also have a decent degree of customisation.
The way the gameplay mechanics are communicated to the player could be better. You are immediately given 12 character classes to choose from, and their descriptions will not mean much before you start your first playthrough.
Dungeons have simple gimmicks that don't overstay their welcome and help break up the usual fare of just fighting random battles, and the flying mechanic opens up many possibilities. I encountered a few bugs in the dungeons (a few broken layers, wallmaps, and zones), but that did not significantly detract from my experience. If I have one complaint about the dungeons, it is that they tend to be long, sprawling mazes.
The game's plot is relatively simple, but it is presented to the player in an interesting way.
The graphics are stylish and easy on the eyes. I especially liked the town design. Likewise, the audio is good and well placed.
I appreciated the autosave/Continue feature.

This is a superb RPG with solid gameplay, fun dungeon gimmicks, and excellent presentation. Playing it was enjoyable and completing it was rewarding. I will probably find myself replaying it with a different party.
Playtime: 8 hours
Rating: 10/10

Space Qwerst
A short sidescrolling space shooter game with a fun gimmick that is awkward at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly.
You'll encounter two types of enemies and one boss. The first type of enemy doesn't shoot at you, but might have a wide variety of movement patterns. The second type continuously shoots at you and is difficult to beat without a powerup. The boss can take a lot of hits and has moderately complex behaviour.
There are some unfortunate bugs and issues. Some enemy projectiles don't disappear if you get a game over. The score does not reset to 0 if you restart. You can cheese your way through most of the stage by just hugging the bottom edge of the screen. There are no indicators that the boss is taking damage, so I initially thoughts my attacks were ineffective. There is no button to quit the game (Esc is not used for movement, and this would have been a logical choice). These are all easy to fix and don't detract too much from the experience.

An interesting concept with decent execution. I enjoyed it once I figured it out and could beat it. I probably won't be playing it again unless there is an update.
Playtime: spent 20 minutes on it in total
Rating: 6/10

The Black Cat
I'm a big fan of "RPG Maker horror" style games. I like Poe stories, including the one this game is based on.
This is a very short game that ends as soon as it looks like it will begin in earnest. I don't think there is a way to die and all you can do is pick up a few items that you use once, almost immediately.
The art style is cute and the audio is pretty good. The writing is fine (what is there, at least).
There doesn't seem to be any key to exit the game and the collision detection is a bit iffy.

There isn't much in here other than appealing presentation. I felt like there was a lot of potential that was unused.
Playtime: no more than 10 minutes
Rating: 3/10

Fox in the Woods
A very simple game: you're a fox that hops around collecting leaves, trying to prevent summer from ending. As a fan of autumn, I disapprove of this endeavour. If you catch a leaf, you get some points. If a leaf falls on the ground, you lose points. Once the balance becomes negative, you lose. The fox can jump and double-jump.
That's basically it. It's a very simple arcade-style game. Nothing wrong with that, but there isn't any variety beyond what I described and I quickly lost interest. The object is to maximise the high score, which depends on how many leaves you collected and how long it took you to lose (which itself is correlated with the number of leaves collected, so it's mostly there to make the final score look more impressive).
The control is fluent, which for this kind of game is the most important point. There are no powerups or twists that I am aware of.

It's a cute game to play for a few minutes and see how high of a score you can get. More variety would improve its staying power.
Playtime: 5-10 minutes
Rating: 5/10

SPONCON
I enjoyed SPONCON. It's stylish and challenging. The concept works well: shoot an infinitely-spawning torrent of people (including Santa Claus, stilt-walkers and some curly-haired nerds), then take pictures of their corpses (rendered as tombstones) to get money (???), which you can then spend on upgrades.
Who exactly pays you for the pictures of the people you murder?
The game is tough, but fair. It was fun getting the upgrades and becoming noticeably more powerful. You need to get cash quickly, or else you will be swarmed by enemies too strong to beat. After a few attempts, I figured out that I should try to get the Rambo powerup ASAP, and then I developed my strategy from there.
After a while, you will acquire all of the powerups and the store will only sell some items to keep you going. Ammo is dirt cheap and there is almost no risk of running out of it at this point. Healing becomes very expensive. At this point, it's just a question of surviving the onslaught; no new enemy types appear. I may play SPONCON again to see if I can beat my high score.
Playing with a gamepad is a must! The keyboard controls are awful (just like in the games that clearly inspired SPONCON). Otherwise, the game runs smoothly (with the exception of slightly dodgy collision detection for some enemies near the end, it seems).

SPONCON is fun, just make sure you play it with a gamepad. Once you've mastered it and acquired all of the upgrades, it becomes all about surviving long enough to beat your high score.
Playtime: ~15 mins, spent ~40 mins in total
Rating: 8/10

Alpha Bat
Alpha Bat game has great visuals and rocking music. I like the concept. The control is smooth. I noticed subtle differences between the four playable characters (who have really good designs), which was a nice touch. I don't know what the purpose of the "bite" stat is, though.
The overall winning strategy seems to be to pick up the powerups as soon as possible and establish a clear lead, as well as memorise the layout of the stage. You are then almost guaranteed to win. 20 laps are not really needed: you usually know if you won after 10 laps and almost nothing can then affect the outcome (unless you really screw up). If you're not in the lead after 10 laps, you're almost guaranteed to lose.
I found the game to be easier when played in a window than when played in full screen mode.
The other bats' AI is programmed really well: it's neither too dumb nor perfect. They stumble initially, just like the player, and figure out the stage later on. Beating them is doable, but not always easy.
Stages A, B, C were brilliant and I wished I could play them in an arcade with friends.
Stage D is the first really annoying stage because of the kites. It becomes a luck-based mission, since the first few laps are what matters the most. If this stage is kept, I would probably place it slightly later.
Stages E-I are a lot easier and a lot of them can be cheesed: once you get your lead, you can just stick to a fixed Y coordinate and wait until you win (there will be no obstacles in your way).
I enjoyed it, thanks in large part to the speed, art style and music. However, only had the patience to play it for 30 minutes before quitting at Stage J.
Playtime: ~30 minutes until I quit
Rating: 7/10

No rating for my own game, Kingdom of Misery.

[MorpheusKitami]

the plot never felt overwhelming and there were no assumptions about familiarity with the source material. I like the dialogue and characterisation a lot. The writing is definitely the strong point of the game.

This was very much the intention, so if there's anything that unclear about the setting in-game, that wouldn't similarly be unclear in the show, I'm curious.

For instance, the alien death sound comment, Jaffa, the aliens you fight outside of wolves and natives, are basically human. Is any aspect of that not clear?

However, there are just too many skills in SG2 and it wasn't obvious what they were affecting.

Also clarifying, shotgun and charm aren't two skills you don't know what they're affecting, right? Since the former is tied into a weapon and the latter is in the dialog checks you're actually told about. Just checking to see if I need to make that more obvious.

You don't really get an opportunity to really learn how battles work until over an hour into the game. Only 3 hours into the game did I start to get a feel for how combat works and that my actions were really meaningful.

Interesting, I was trying to make the combat work in such a way that the player would understand, despite the difficulty of early combat. (Jaffa were set up to be tough fights, since that's how they were in the show) I guess in that regard I failed. I think I'll be able to fix that though.

(for the record, most of the issues you mentioned are ones I wasn't able to address for the demo, couldn't determine how to fix at the time or things that are tied into the source material or the vague realism I was aiming for, but those are excuses and that doesn't change what the game currently is)

[Dre140]

For instance, the alien death sound comment, Jaffa, the aliens you fight outside of wolves and natives, are basically human. Is any aspect of that not clear?

I realised they were some sort of humanoid, but I thought they were not exactly human. This does explain the death sound for the Jaffa, and it also helps me gain more understanding of the text (given the references to Danicken and "ancient aliens").

Also clarifying, shotgun and charm aren't two skills you don't know what they're affecting, right? Since the former is tied into a weapon and the latter is in the dialog checks you're actually told about. Just checking to see if I need to make that more obvious.

Those two have a clear purpose (in theory). I didn't understand the point of Travel, Track, and Marksmanship. Earth History and Earth Languages mostly seem to make dialogue more interesting in a few places. I could not guess what skill factored in whether I could find a path with no enemies.

For Shotgun, I didn't feel that powering it up noticeably improved either the damage dealt by or the accuracy of the M500 (maybe Marksmanship is the one that helps here?). For Charm, I had no idea how big it needs to be to be helpful: will 7 be sufficient for most occasions? maybe 15? 20?

I think making the stat checks explicit (e.g. "Observation: SUCCESS", "Electronics: FAILURE", maybe with some numbers) would help communicate to the player what's happening that is currently mostly behind the scenes. Adding a "Skills" sub-menu under "Information", just like for "Major Characters", would help.

Interesting, I was trying to make the combat work in such a way that the player would understand, despite the difficulty of early combat. (Jaffa were set up to be tough fights, since that's how they were in the show) I guess in that regard I failed. I think I'll be able to fix that though.

It's mostly about whether the various moves you have are worth using against the enemies you face. The unwinnable battles were actually the best opportunity I had early on to experiment with different attacks and equipment (until I faced the wolves, who are much weaker). Otherwise, I just tried to stick with weapons what I knew would instakill Jaffa (e.g. M40 for Woodsworth).

I agree that this is fixable. I think Mission 1 (or Mission 2? The one where you first place the claymores) is too unforgiving. Battles go from "unwinnable, so you don't worry too much about making errors" to "winnable, but there is no room for error". Some easily winnable battles would be good to have before you have to win against the Jaffa.

(for the record, most of the issues you mentioned are ones I wasn't able to address for the demo, couldn't determine how to fix at the time or things that are tied into the source material or the vague realism I was aiming for, but those are excuses and that doesn't change what the game currently is)

It's impressive what you and TheLordThyGod have achieved so far. I liked a lot about the game. I don't think anything fundamental is bad and the main issue is how the mechanics are communicated to the player.

[MorpheusKitami]

For instance, the alien death sound comment, Jaffa, the aliens you fight outside of wolves and natives, are basically human. Is any aspect of that not clear?

I realised they were some sort of humanoid, but I thought they were not exactly human. This does explain the death sound for the Jaffa, and it also helps me gain more understanding of the text (given the references to Danicken and "ancient aliens").

It clearly needs to be explained more at the start then, since there's confusion and those are the guys who drive most of the conflict in the game.

Those two have a clear purpose (in theory). I didn't understand the point of Travel, Track, and Marksmanship. Earth History and Earth Languages mostly seem to make dialogue more interesting in a few places. I could not guess what skill factored in whether I could find a path with no enemies.

For Shotgun, I didn't feel that powering it up noticeably improved either the damage dealt by or the accuracy of the M500 (maybe Marksmanship is the one that helps here?). For Charm, I had no idea how big it needs to be to be helpful: will 7 be sufficient for most occasions? maybe 15? 20?

Travel, oddly, is the only skill that actually has explicit skill checks, since that determines how fast enemies move in some missions. Track doesn't get much use in the demo, but it does have one use. Marksmanship is the one I'm most worried about not being understood. Because I could have sworn that I had something mentioned where that increases accuracy by one point, and the weapon you're using increases it by two points, in addition to adding combat "spells". Perhaps when I'm adding in that skills menu, I should add one for combat. Charm, on the other hand, well, that's supposed to be the point of the persuasion system.

I think making the stat checks explicit (e.g. "Observation: SUCCESS", "Electronics: FAILURE", maybe with some numbers) would help communicate to the player what's happening that is currently mostly behind the scenes. Adding a "Skills" sub-menu under "Information", just like for "Major Characters", would help.

Some skill checks could stand to be more obvious. I'm guessing you didn't have Earth Languages high enough to see one mission, so making that one explicit would probably be wise; observation checks maybe not. (after all, a failure at observing something is still telling the player to be on the lookout) Something that changes a dialog box probably isn't going to get a check.

It's mostly about whether the various moves you have are worth using against the enemies you face. The unwinnable battles were actually the best opportunity I had early on to experiment with different attacks and equipment (until I faced the wolves, who are much weaker). Otherwise, I just tried to stick with weapons what I knew would instakill Jaffa (e.g. M40 for Woodsworth).

I agree that this is fixable. I think Mission 1 (or Mission 2? The one where you first place the claymores) is too unforgiving. Battles go from "unwinnable, so you don't worry too much about making errors" to "winnable, but there is no room for error". Some easily winnable battles would be good to have before you have to win against the Jaffa.

Ah, at least part of my plan worked, regarding attack moves. Regarding the battles against the Jaffa that are easier to win, the game did give you hand grenades, right? If it did, the game clearly should have communicated that well enough to be understood.

It's impressive what you and TheLordThyGod have achieved so far. I liked a lot about the game. I don't think anything fundamental is bad and the main issue is how the mechanics are communicated to the player.

Thanks, I was hoping for interesting, seems like we did better than I hoped!

[Dre140]

Marksmanship is the one I'm most worried about not being understood. Because I could have sworn that I had something mentioned where that increases accuracy by one point, and the weapon you're using increases it by two points, in addition to adding combat "spells".

I think it's mentioned once that Marksmanship is meant to help with accuracy, but the main character very rarely missed. I definitely don't remember anything about it helping you get the additional techniques.

The game does communicate some of these things in some way, but you only ever get to see it once and it's surrounded by a lot of plot-relevant text. That's why I think an in-game "manual" would help.

I'm guessing you didn't have Earth Languages high enough to see one mission, so making that one explicit would probably be wise;

That might explain why Mission 3 was so short. I thought I was doing something wrong when it ended with a party member getting shot by an arrow in his butt.

Regarding the battles against the Jaffa that are easier to win, the game did give you hand grenades, right? If it did, the game clearly should have communicated that well enough to be understood.

The game communicated it and I ended up using them, especially in some of the encounters when there were way too many of the Jaffa (i.e. more than 3) and it was guaranteed I would otherwise lose at least one party member. I did this a few times in the last mission before the Senator interviews you.In my playthrough, he shut down the department, but I suspect it's possible to avoid this outcome by improving Charm.

[MorpheusKitami]

Marksmanship is the one I'm most worried about not being understood. Because I could have sworn that I had something mentioned where that increases accuracy by one point, and the weapon you're using increases it by two points, in addition to adding combat "spells".

I think it's mentioned once that Marksmanship is meant to help with accuracy, but the main character very rarely missed. I definitely don't remember anything about it helping you get the additional techniques.

Clarification, Marksmanship doesn't get you any techniques, it's the weapon skills that do.

That might explain why Mission 3 was so short. I thought I was doing something wrong when it ended with a party member getting shot by an arrow in his butt.

Hmm...No end of mission briefing? Strange.

The game communicated it and I ended up using them, especially in some of the encounters when there were way too many of the Jaffa (i.e. more than 3) and it was guaranteed I would otherwise lose at least one party member. I did this a few times in the last mission before the Senator interviews you.In my playthrough, he shut down the department, but I suspect it's possible to avoid this outcome by improving Charm.

FYI, those fights should be easier because of the situation that mission puts you in. And it is indeed possible to avoid the department getting shut down.

[Feenicks]

Lazy only-one-rating-per-title rating this time around:

Kingdom of Misery - 9
SPONCON - 8
Alpha Bat - 7
The Black Cat - 6
Space Qwerst - 5
Stargate SG-2 - 4
fox in the woods - 3 -
A Single Fallen Feather - Abstaining [for obvious reasons]

Words:
misery.rpg - LIke the sorta openendedness here; having arrows be a limited resource feels like it could cause problems for unlucky players; also I haven't seen an RPG use the LTTP dungeon wall look or the LTTP dungeon walls for that matter in a long time, if ever.
sponcon - Should actually come back to this with a controller. Like the aesthetic and the gameplay is a neat twist on the usual twin-stick style.
alphabat - Racing game with a lot of extremely short tracks. Happy there's a lot of tracks but I kinda had my fill after a half dozen, if that.
the black cat - Spooky and quick, but it is ultimately a game where one actual event is threatened but never actually takes place.
who makes a shmup where you can only move diagonally - I wrote 'gimmicky' in my notes and I'm staying with that.
Is this stargate fanfiction or just stargate episodes - Really ambitious feeling, but I don't like the art and the mapping makes me feel this should've been a menu-based story game. Got to the third mission and dropped it after walking around a base for 10 minutes wondering where the next event was.
fox in forest game - Docking a bunch of points because this is a rerelease of a game you made two years ago, and a short/simple one at that. Also the jump doesn't feel that great.

[MorpheusKitami]

Kingdom of Misery
Very tightly designed and made. I really liked how I had to make the most of my resources, even if everything outside of chests respawned. It's very rare for money to actually be a useful resource in a RPG, and that deserves some praise here. I don't know exactly how you did it, but the moving combat encounters are the best I've seen in this engine. Add some nice stealth elements. These combined, make each dungeon pleasantly risky.
Problems, fleeing doesn't always work, which I would expect in a game like this with on-map encounters, but then, you actually give the option. Sometimes fleeing from an encounter would freeze the game. All the backdrops felt phoned in. Human characters could stand some improvement. I also missed the bit explaining how spell levelling worked at first, so I went a few levels expecting to get new skills. I'd also say some explanation of what each status effect does out of combat would be nice. Not being able to save in towns feels like a weird choice.
8

A Single Fallen Feather
Tonight's episode, the author's barely disguised fetish. I guess you can make that work, but when everything else seems to have been made intentionally ugly for no reason, it's not a good look. You're not even trying to make that contrast work.
As an actual game, from what I played, relies exclusively on the flight gimmick and gimmick characters to distinguish itself rather than actually good encounter design and dungeons. When they're working, anyway. Writing ranges from bland to somehow making random townsfolk obnoxious. Generally very bland and forgettable.
3


The Black Cat
I'm not going to say you can't use the name Lenore in your obviously Poe-inspired game, but it's a little too on the nose when you start your game with it.
The pixel-based walking system going on here feels like an unnecessary attempt to reinvent the wheel. It's slow, and I think some of the triggers weren't working properly because of it. It's unnecessary work when you could have spent that on content. I also have to wonder if a lot of stuff going on in this game isn't just here because it's similarly trying to reinvent the wheel. Listen, if something seems different from you average OHRRPGCE game, could you include a readme telling us the controls?
This is quite possibly the OHRRPGCE game with the nicest graphics and sound period. Even if there's only one tileset and you got all the sound and music from somewhere, it's still put together so far above everything else it doesn't matter. That said, I think that while the polish of it is fantastic, it fails at what it's trying to do outside of that. I don't know if this was supposed to be a game or an art piece, but there's too much getting items and using them on things for it to be an art piece, too little actual gameplay for it to be a game. It's the first act to a game that doesn't exist.
(also the MC acts a bit too underwhelmed by some of the horrifying things she reads about)
5

SPONCON
I don't know if this is supposed to be some Postal-style satire or if the developer is having a mental breakdown. Visually, I can see the wisdom in self-challenging oneself to make something good with CGA...if you actually did that. Even the edgelord CGA with blood red, because there are occasionally colors which aren't any of those on-screen. I get what was trying to be done, make it intentionally ugly to mimick the world of news photography or something, but man, getting another intentionally ugly game after that Feather game is really testing my patience. What if your game is actually good and people don't want to go blind playing it?
Which is kind of true here. You got a solid foundation, but I would have liked the ability to rebind keys. Space is awkward for the camera and having the shop button next to your shoot buttons is weird. Were I reviewing this for my blog, I would probably rate it favorably against games from the '80s, but not much higher than that. Which is to say, nice, but not really something I would go out of my way to play.
5

Space Qwerst
There's probably a lot of wisdom in making an otherwise unremarkable shmup with a gimmick that seems to be the only thing changing it from the hordes of other shmups that most people wouldn't play if you placed it in front of them. Playing well really seems to depend on how well you can get into a rhythm of typing keys that don't end up in a three letter loop, even if the game seems to account for the high number of shots you can fire at once. If I had one complaint that didn't stem from my disinterest in the genre, it would be to make enemy shots more obvious.
4

Alpha Bat
I'm of two minds on this. It's very impressive that you made a racing game in OHRRPGCE, even if it's a weird side-scrolling one. (Not the most impressive, since I know there's an Outrun-style one around) On the other, it's not very good as a racing game. I never felt like I was in any danger whatsoever of not getting first, and despite each lap being incredibly short, 20 per track felt excessive since usually by the tenth I was so far in front that none of the AI opponents had any chance of ever beating me.
4

Fox in the Woods
Didn't play, don't feel like going out of my way to play another implementation of an arcade game I didn't enjoy in the past. Sorry.

[charbile]

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