Rogue-like action

[TriggeredChicken]

I uploaded an alpha test of my latest project to Kongregate:

https://www.kongregate.com/games/Zimpzo ... o-have-fun

Unity/HTML5, playable in a browser. I think it's a lot of fun so far, but don't we all when we make something

[JesperSB]

It won't load.

Just keep showing the kongregate sign...

[TriggeredChicken]

Strange, it works from here. Browser?

[JesperSB]

FireFox...

You did release it.?

I'm more of an Itchi.io.
I couldn't get kongregate to work..

[JesperSB]

Now it is working....

Maybe I will play later, again.

[JonathanTheDev]

Hey TriggeredChicken!

Awesome game! I'm not the best at rougue like shooters, but i it was pretty fun

Though I do feel that the movement is a little jaggering. Also, I noticed that when walking diagonally, you walk faster.
This should be pretty easy to fix by simply normalizing your movement vector before applying it

Can't wait to see this develop further.

- Pizzaernam

[jonaz.dk]

@TriggeredChicken Nice! great start! It has a good game feel already! I'm sure you have lots of features planned.

Personally I would to see of the top of my head
- Diagonal shooting
- Proper controller support
- A visual upgrade on all fronts
- Secrets!
- Lots of player weapon types. Currently only one?
- In game audio ambience/music.

Also you should work the theme and pun of the game. 'Ghouls just want to have fun'. It's great! How can you use that for something beyond just shooting undeads?
Lots of rouge-like top down shooters exists obviously.
But how can you make make this game stand out and be something special. Thematically and gameplay wise. Find some sort of brilliant twist to the tried and tested formula.

Throwing random thoughts here. Maybe the protagonist is trying to get a date with an undead? With some sort Tinder spoof integrated into the gameplay. Where you shuffle through weapons/enemies/upgrades in a Tinder-like fashion looking for a match between each map. Each with short written profiles. And then you go on hunting for a date with that enemy/item. Or a boss fight date?
And putting in very short dialog lines on how much of a disaster the date went. With the end goal of finding your undead soulmate.

[TriggeredChicken]

Thanks a lot for your feedback! At the moment I'm pondering where to take it next. All the basic systems are in place (hence the alpha), now it "just" needs content

The biggest problem is graphics. I don't know anyone who want to/can do it, so I'm just buying pieces here and there and using them together :(

[TriggeredChicken]

- In game audio ambience/music.

Didn't you have any in-game audio at all? There should be. No music, though.

[jonaz.dk]

yes there were in-game sound effects from weapons and enemies etc. But no audio ambiance to create a mood.

[TriggeredChicken]

@TriggeredChicken Nice! great start! It has a good game feel already! I'm sure you have lots of features planned.

Personally I would to see of the top of my head
- Diagonal shooting
- Proper controller support
- A visual upgrade on all fronts
- Secrets!
- Lots of player weapon types. Currently only one?
- In game audio ambience/music.

Also you should work the theme and pun of the game. 'Ghouls just want to have fun'. It's great! How can you use that for something beyond just shooting undeads?
Lots of rouge-like top down shooters exists obviously.
But how can you make make this game stand out and be something special. Thematically and gameplay wise. Find some sort of brilliant twist to the tried and tested formula.

Throwing random thoughts here. Maybe the protagonist is trying to get a date with an undead? With some sort Tinder spoof integrated into the gameplay. Where you shuffle through weapons/enemies/upgrades in a Tinder-like fashion looking for a match between each map. Each with short written profiles. And then you go on hunting for a date with that enemy/item. Or a boss fight date?
And putting in very short dialog lines on how much of a disaster the date went. With the end goal of finding your undead soulmate.

Lots of good points

Visual upgrade: Where would you get/buy this? (game is free, so budget is limited. I don't mind paying some, though).

Weapons: I can easily add more weapons. I'm just wondering how to obtain them in the game. There are so many ways to do this.
I'd like to avoid a situation where I add a ton of weapons and most never gets used because a few are seen as superior.

Twist: Bullet-time is actually implemented, you just can't activate it right now. I was thinking of having this as a defining mechanic, where you stop time to get out of dangerous situations. And by the way, when ghouls have fun they eat people! The cultural differences might be too severe for a dating-sim.

[jonaz.dk]

Regarding the visual upgrade. Probably won't be easy. But it's a big world. There are quite a few online forums and FB groups focusing on pixel art. Asking around and offering a partnership and/or money might do the trick? Or piss people off if you are asking for free work. you never know where it might go.

The visual state of the art o the category would be something like 'Enter the Gungeon'. It's a very high bar!
But of cause if you just like to play around with some cute side projects. That's all good and dandy without the need to compete at the top indie level. I'm sure less can do.

I wouldn't really call adding bullet time a twist. It's a pretty well know mechanic in an unsurprising combination. I'm just trying to challenge your thinking to go beyond the traditional realm. Doesn't have to be a Ghoul dating-sim hybrid. I'm sure you might come up with something you are more passionate about. But in this day and age you have to come up with something really interesting to have people even slightly care about your game. If you were to turn it into a commercial product beyond hobby learning project.

Eg. 'Crypt of the Necrodancer' is great example of a rougelike with a twist. And it seemed to work quite well for them.
Let's call that well known mechanics in a surprising combination.

But best of luck with the project regardless of where you take it.

[TriggeredChicken]

Its just a fun side project

[TriggeredChicken]

Added a bunch of stuff. Boss fight, leaderboard, quests (just a few for now), weapons, and some more. All still in alpha.

https://www.kongregate.com/games/Zimpzo ... o-have-fun

[JonathanTheDev]

Awesome! This project is evolving fast for a side-project

I am now #2 on the leaderboard! Maybe I can do better another time, would love to be #1!

Can't wait to se what's coming next.

-Pizzaernam

[TriggeredChicken]

"Also, I noticed that when walking diagonally, you walk faster."
Nice find, btw, I hadn't even noticed myself

[jonaz.dk]

Fed update!

Godt med boss fight og mouse aim!

Savner som altid controller support.

Tænker at der er rig mulighed for at bruge destructable environment til noget mere end hvad det er nu. Fx. mine efter gold (dog muligvis på bekostning af pacing). Sprænge sig ind til secrets.
Skabe flankerede veje ind til fjender som måske er en mindre mobil type som at svære at trænge ind til på anden vis.
Har ikke spillet meget Nuclear Throne. Men det virker heller ikke som om at de bruger det til siiiindsygt meget. Men hvad ved jeg?!

Kunne også være fedt med secodary weapon... Måske melee attack med pickaxe?

Der mangler lidt spiller feedback på hvornår weapon cooldown er helt klar til at skyde løs igen.

Og lige nu har jeg fornemmelsen af at man da liiiige godt kan nappe et spil til. Det er et rigtigt godt sted at ligge.

Fin risk/reward når man prikker til døden.

P.S. Jeg er ikke venner med Golem King.

Der er voldsomt meget content der kan hældes i det. Det er bare at klø på!

[Christoffer]

Og lige nu har jeg fornemmelsen af at man da liiiige godt kan nappe et spil til. Det er et rigtigt godt sted at ligge.

Ud fra det quote må jeg også hellere lige tage et spil mere med den nye opdatering så!

[TriggeredChicken]

Fed update!

Godt med boss fight og mouse aim!

Savner som altid controller support.

Tænker at der er rig mulighed for at bruge destructable environment til noget mere end hvad det er nu. Fx. mine efter gold (dog muligvis på bekostning af pacing). Sprænge sig ind til secrets.
Skabe flankerede veje ind til fjender som måske er en mindre mobil type som at svære at trænge ind til på anden vis.
Har ikke spillet meget Nuclear Throne. Men det virker heller ikke som om at de bruger det til siiiindsygt meget. Men hvad ved jeg?!

Kunne også være fedt med secodary weapon... Måske melee attack med pickaxe?

Der mangler lidt spiller feedback på hvornår weapon cooldown er helt klar til at skyde løs igen.

Og lige nu har jeg fornemmelsen af at man da liiiige godt kan nappe et spil til. Det er et rigtigt godt sted at ligge.

Fin risk/reward når man prikker til døden.

P.S. Jeg er ikke venner med Golem King.

Der er voldsomt meget content der kan hældes i det. Det er bare at klø på!

Jeg har også luret lidt på en pickaxe Mht controller support så kræver det vel aim assist? Går jeg ud fra, jeg ville ikke selv bruge controller

[jonaz.dk]

Nej der plejer ikke at være brug for auto aim i top down shooters. Det er lidt mere over i FPS genren det er relevant.

Controllere til PC er amazing! Kommer naturligvis an på spiltypen. FPS, strategisk osv. not so much.
Men mange typer spil egner sig fantastisk. Town down shooters absolut!

Mit personlige PC gaming couch setup klarer begge dele. Men foretrækker som regel controllere.