Star Dogs: ****Demo Now Available!****

[LostFonDrive]

Is it bad? My battle system relies on key input. Think DDR or Step Mania. I can type 120 words per minute. It's near impossible for me to judge who is going to be good at hitting keys quickly and who cannot. Hence why I really like people giving me feedback and testing the game out.

(Sorry for the double post. Mistake on my part..)

I meant how you said "elevate" the frustrations, i.e. making them worse

But yeah, 120 words per minute is insane, 2 per second.

 

[heroscratch]

Yeah. On those typing tests where I just have to copy what I see, I get between 115-120 wpm. XD

*****Also Note******

When I decided to shorten the message for the 'Easy Mode' client's save system (using a phone booth), I was dumb and forgot to change the even from 'below player' to 'same level', so the save points on the Easy client uploaded on 4-5-2015 are broke. I replaced the link as soon as I found out. The current link on the main page reflects the fixed version. Sorry for any inconvenience. 

 

[Kes]

Okay, played 30 minutes of the demo.  That didn't take me very far in because I was clicking on everything to see what would happen.  The following are notes that I made as I went along, slightly stream of consciousness stuff.  Therefore impressionistic.

The music works well.  Nice choices.

The window skin is an interesting choice, but it is a little hard to read.  I’m wondering how people with less good monitors will manage.  Also I'm wondering why I have this window skin that goes the full width of the screen, but the text never goes more than about half way, often therefore giving me several lines of text instead of just one or two.

How is the player to know that the telephone booth is the save point?  I knew because I’d read your post about it, but if I hadn’t there is at least a chance that I would not have discovered it.  And why is the default ‘No’?  it feels disrespectful towards your player and their choices, as if you’re slightly finger-wagging at them for choosing easy to save.  I have never seen 'No' as the default on a save point before.

Oh no, dashing is disabled.  Why?  What good reason is there to force the player to drag around at that clunkingly slow pace?  This is dreadful!

By the end of the first house, the player is thoroughly trained to assume that there is no point in exploring.  No door on any of the 4 floors opens, no items can be interacted with.  It is, therefore, most unlikely that many (any?) players will do those things again.  Is this what you intend?  If there is zero exploration in the game, then fair enough.  If, however, there is some, then I think you need to reconsider making this such a barren experience.

In the pawnship all the NPCs are on stepping animation (I personally dislike that, but it’s not my game) except one, the blond guy near the entrance.  He doesn’t speak either, just twitches if you click him.  Seems odd that he neither steps nor speaks.  I like the way you’re handling giving out the info, both here and the guy outside who tells you about the pawn broker.

I find it odd that when I’m inside the house and the pawnbroker, the ground tile beyond the door is grass and when I’m outside the building the ground tile is a paved area.  The grass option looks strange, imo.  I’ve now discovered it’s the same for all the buildings.  I personally don’t think it works. 

Found the punk, did the fight training.  I could do all 3 settings, but only because I effectively memorized the keys needed.  I think I’m good at typing, but even so, it was a struggle.  For anyone who has to look down to find the key, they are going to sink.  I think fewer and fewer people are used to using WASD, as for most games it’s mouse control, and/or arrow keys so unless they are touch typists, they are not going to be comfortable finding those keys without looking.  In fact, I can think of a lot of players who only use mouse control.  Me, I hate mouse, so I’m fine, but I suspect I’m in the minority.  I think a lot of players might end up hating the system, irrespective of the speed.  And the speed is high, even on easy.  Now, this is your design choice, and you are aiming it at a specific audience (I assume), one which is comfortable with WASD and so on.  I'm all for every niche being catered for, so I am not saying that you shouldn't use this system.  What I am saying is that it is likely to be a minority preference.

Been into all buildings and up to the station.  No items.  Actually, to be honest, I find it boring that exploration provides no rewards.  I have no real incentive to go anywhere, do anything.  Do I need that scythe thing?  I have no idea.  I found the chest with the shards, but I’ve only got 5, so am I going to spend anything on what looks like it might just be a joke item, when I’m fairly sure that I will be needing healing items.  I remember reading a comment in one of your posts that some item or another is necessary to complete the first dungeon.  How are you going to prevent your player spending their money on healing items and so being unable to buy that item (don’t remember what it was now) and so being unable to complete the dungeon?  If you have set it up so that an item is essential for completion, and that item has to be bought, then you are probably setting up a lot of players for failure.  And in my opinion, if a player fails the first dungeon having taken rational choices, then the fault is that of the developer, not the player.  If this item is essential, then I think you need to find another way to get it to the player.  However, I don't know what the item is, or how it is to be used, and I haven't done the dungeon.  I spent the whole time trudging round town.

It’s got to the stage where this stepping animation on the NPCs is irritating.  I cannot see the point of it.  I suspect it might be connected with all the remarks about retro games, but just because that’s what they did then, that does not mean that it is obligatory to do it now.

As I only downloaded this to try the keyboard thing, I suppose I was not particularly invested in this from the get go, but I was surprised at how little motivated I was to continue on.  In theory there was nothing much wrong with what is there, but in practice it felt slow and labored.  The long pauses in the bits of interaction slowed things down e.g. the gaps between clicking on the doors, then hearing the knocking sound, then waiting, then getting the text, then moving on.  Or the pauses in the dialogues at the punk, and so on.  Tiny in themselves, but the cumulative effect was to make it feel a bit heavy.  It might be that you haven't actually put pauses in and it's something else e.g. a form of lag, but either way, it's not engaging.

Overall this is a very competent piece of work,  Good maps, nice layout, some great bits of dialogue, good choice of music, only one typo that I noticed (something about a doctor's waiting room, and doctor's was missing its apostrophe).  But as I said, for me it all felt a bit slow - except the typing, of course.

 

[heroscratch]

Hey thanks for the reply! I only have a minute, so I'll do a comprehensive reply when I get back via post edit.

As far as itemization goes, I have just the bare minimum in game for the moment. Upon launch, the town will be fleshed out with lots to find. Including areas outside of town too.

As for the no sprint; I have added boots that give you automatic sprint. They are a 1/10 chance rare drop from the first dungeon. After you clear all enemies from an area, the chest will unlock.

I am going to make comprehensive tutorials/information bits that better explain this, as well as phone booths. Via the easy mode client, the player has starting cash, so the 3 chests around town that hold money aren't AS necessary, but a nice find because you can go check out a film at the cinema etc. When the next build comes out with new dungeons etc, there will be a lot more to see and do. For now I'm just considering this a 'polished alpha'. I.e. bare minimums, etc.

Thanks for the in depth reply, and I will definitely read it more thoroughly later tonight and expand upon this! Ty again for checking it out!

 

[Kes]

Okay,  however, my initial reaction to the thought that I might get sprinting boots (which if equipped means that I can't equip something else more useful in battle) if I get a 1/10 rare drop is that this just doesn't cut the mustard.  What is the rationale for preventing players doing something like walking quickly around a town?  That isn't a rhetorical question, I do want to know what it is.  I can honestly say that I cannot think of one good reason for doing this, and I've spent time thinking about it.

 

[heroscratch]

Okay,  however, my initial reaction to the thought that I might get sprinting boots (which if equipped means that I can't equip something else more useful in battle) if I get a 1/10 rare drop is that this just doesn't cut the mustard.  What is the rationale for preventing players doing something like walking quickly around a town?  That isn't a rhetorical question, I do want to know what it is.  I can honestly say that I cannot think of one good reason for doing this, and I've spent time thinking about it.

Honestly you're the second person to mention it, so I'll probably just add dash and remove the boots. But like I had mentioned to the other person as well, I had liked the idea in Final Fantasy 6. People can say times have changed for a lot of things, but some people still love games like shovel knight, so it was a nostalgic bit of gaming history that I figured people from the NES/SNES era might enjoy.

I see countless other games with rare drops, so I didn't think the 1/10 idea was too far fetched.

 

[Kes]

I have no problem with rare drops, and think they can be a great device, it was the use of a rare drop for something as basic as being able to dash that I found less attractive.

 

[heroscratch]

I have no problem with rare drops, and think they can be a great device, it was the use of a rare drop for something as basic as being able to dash that I found less attractive.

I understand. I really appreciate the feedback; I'm doing these tests to make the game as enjoyable as I can

I'll try to figure out another rare item to put in the chest in the next demo, and sprint/dash will be enabled.