Let me start by saying a plague doctor game such as this is something I've wanted for a while and this project is amazing. I haven't finished the game yet, but there are some issues I'd like to point out.
Firstly, I understand that this game is supposed to be very hard (and it is), but the parry windows for basic enemies should really be a few frames longer. If I end up parrying too late, then I'm pretty much garunteed to get hit again by the next swing. I'm not entirely sure why I'll always get hit a second time and it's definitely at least partially my fault, but either way it feels too brutal for basic enemies at the start of the game (the boss and harder enemies can stay as they are).
To stick with the theme of difficulty, I just really wish there was a checkpoint before the traps. Yes, I'm bad at the game, but I think this would be a good change that still keeps the game really hard.
My other complaints are all very minor, and have to do with polishing. I'm sure you are aware of the incomplete inventory (the "heart piece" doesn't appear anywhere that I could find), and that the pause menu is still missing.
I can't stress enough that these complaints are hardly complaints, but I'm still going to point them out. I found myself wasting a syringe by bumping the f key after taking my left hand off and bumping it when I put my hand back on. A simple fix to this is to just make it so you have to hold in the button for a half second (kind of like focusing in Hollow Knight). You could also make it impossible to use at max health but that's not really neccesary.
Falling through ladders was also slightly annoying to me, I think following the traditional rule of pressing down to go through it at the top would work better. I'm realizing as I type this that you probably made it how it is because you'd want to parry while over a ladder. I'd still prefer to go through the platform, but I understand why it's like that now.
I noticed a few of the jumps including one in the tutorial require coyote jumping. I'm okay with that, but I think the coyote jump window should be a few frames longer so you don't get stuck on a jump so easily.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I really do love the demo and I wish you the best of luck in the development of it.
I have made a lot of progress in the game, and I must applaud you for having such a big demo available to play for free. There were several nitpicky things I could mention, but I'm only going to bring up the things that are really bugging me.
If you try to fire the gun right after moving, it points it straight up and doesn't fire.
Why am I being attacked by books? I don't know why the books keep dealing 2 clicks of damage, I'm assuming it's intentionally hard to avoid, but a little warning would be nice.
More importantly, I made it to the area with the spikes and the skeleton guy I'm supposed to grapple onto with another blue thing after it. Whenever I grapple the skeleton guy, I get stuck in the ceiling, which not only softlocks me if I parry the skeleton, but also makes it so I can't progress. I tried it several times and it keeps happening. (EDIT: Okay, I figured out you're supposed to shoot the skeleton and then continue. Still an easy glitch to pull off though.)
Great job on the game though, it's really quite fun!
The "checkpoint before traps" was a suggestion that others have also put forward. I will add one right before the first trap.
I am not sure what you mean exactly with the heart pieces? In the collectables tab there is a tab that shows you your health (hearts). The heart pieces are apples floating around in the game.
The inventory also pauses the game so thats the "pause menu" as well. Although I should probably do something about the music still going on at full volume when in the inventory.
I'll look into the healing system. Not being able to heal at full health is a good idea.
***ALSO RESPONDING TO THE REPLY HERE*** The gun missfires right after moving? Just to have more info does it missfire when you walk, run or the speed doesnt matter?
You can hit the books when they charge to instantly destroy them. Its meant to teach a mechanic about "weakpoints" that enemies have in certain attacks. There is like a outline around the weakpoint.
SKELETON MAKES YOU CLIP INTO THE WALL?!?! OH GOD THATS REALLY BAD! Thank you for pointing that out, you are a lifesaver!
Also I might need to rebalance the game because its a massive kick in the teeth right from the bat. Would you rather have enemies do less damage or have more health? (or little bit of both?)
Hey thanks for responding! I eventually figured out how the books work, and it makes a lot more sense now.
The gun seemed to missfire when I pressed both the mouse and move at the same time, I don't remember exactly but I think it happened more consistently when turning around. I tried it with the ghost gun that I now have, and it doesn't have the same issue (Also, I think it was when walking).
As a final feedback report, I found a glitch where when I ghost grapple something it went all crazy and made the grapple stuck on. I don't remember where exactly this happened, but it was pretty weird.
I've made it to what I THINK is the final boss (Wieduch), and the repetitive projectile attack is giving me troubles. I've only been able to succesfully parry every projectile once, so a slightly larger parry window for that would be appreciated.
Edit: Forgot to mention that if you stand below Wieduch on the ground stage, and then parry the dead man's volley attack, they can't deflect back. It's nice for difficulty purposes, but I'm assuming unintended.
Doors that were locked from the other side still have the "this door is locked from the other side" message if you press W at the right time while falling by a door.
There were several typos/grammatical errors I found throughout the games dialogue, I'd recommend going through it either with a writing tool or by hand.
I think that's everything, looking forward to Iridescent's full release!
So I beat Wieduch, and left with the ghost. I went back to City of Cables, because I wasn't really sure where to go. Is this the end of the demo or is there something more to do? Either way, I found another glitch. If you talk to the mustache guy in the cabin, he'll give you the gun again. So now I have both the Lady's Friend and the ghost gun. This allowed me to figure out when the misfire glitch happens. If you aim too low while walking or running (and by low I mean directly in front of you), and shoot the gun, it misfires. What's weird is this isn't entirely consistent, if I shoot close to the character then it won't always misfire.
Edit: Just found out I can grapple the other side of the bridge and now I feel stupid lol.
Ah yes the grammatical errors... I need to go and read all the dialog again to catch all the mistakes. Its something on the "to-do" list for quite some time. Same thing with the grapple freaking out sometimes. I can't seem to replicate that glitch but I am hunting for a solution.
For the projectile attacks, parrying the multi-projectile version is supposed to be a high level tactic. The projectiles are slow enough that you can just run past them and still hit the boss with your weapon. Oh and also with the Volley. Whats happening is that you are so close to the boss that he parries and you instantly parry back because you are still in a parry state in the ripost animation. It wasn't intentional but I think its a cool way to speed up the fight.
I will check out the doors and... wait Willstash gives you another gun?!?! I thought I fixed that already. Thank you so much! Without playtesters like you I would probably never catch something like this!
When it comes to the parry windows I think it would be most obvious if created an effect for failed parries just like successful ones and it would also help if the character changed directions he's facing based on the mouse just have him face the direction he's moving unless you want to add a backwards walk and run animation. And the reactive combat is great but maybe you could add a tool that allows for more proactive combat.
I saw a video of this game on youtube and I played it. Overall it's a really well made game with great mechanics. But I would like to have some more freedom when it comes to the base combat, your responses are very dependent on the enemy and I like some more options when it comes to what you can do instead of exclusively dash or parry. And I'd like it to be more clear when you're in the lag frames after a parry because they confuse me sometimes.
Thank you so much for playing! I'll look into adding more options but the whole game is build on reacting to attacks so doing drastic changes is going to be difficult. Good idea about the more clear parry windows. Maybe something like an outline when you are in the parry state that dissappear when you are in the recovery?
I am going to think this through. Again Thank you for playing and the great feedback!
Hi! I found your game on twitter and fall in love with the art style! I love this so much I can't even explain. My brain just explode when I saw the NPC's and monsters. I love the plot as well. At first I though it's gonna be a very basic, cliche thing about dark ages doctors but I was never expecting something so deep and intryquing! Every cutscene give me goosebumbs, especially that one in "Cable City". And unfortunately there I rage quit my game.
I figured out how the fighting is working, be able to dash every sword attack but the guy with the gun will haunt me in my nightmares (I can't kill him and I've tried multiple times!)
• Fighting It's so well done! Movement is very smooth and when you get use to it it's easy to kill mobs with swords. I don't know how to use the skill which is on "R" key and I missed the part where there was an explaination what does this light blue circle mean (i guess its connected to the R which I have no idea how to use). But i'm gonna figure it out.
The trouble is when I kill mobs easy for me to kill (sword users) there is only the hard one's left. Dodging the gunman shot's is very hard, he is too fast. I was trying to get the ladder and go upstairs cause I saw a easy to kill mob there but I simply can't pass that gunman.
So I have only the mob in the well left and the mob in the next room. They are so strong I've figured out they must be bosses. And well killing them is litterally impossible. With only 2 heal potions, not knowing how to use R skill it's impossible.
So for me and my gaming skills this game is deffinitly too hard. For people like me who comes cause of art and stays for the story I request easy mode so I could go further and explore the world which catch my attention.
Things which I love:
- plot
- pixel artstyle
- fighting mode
- item and story explaination under the 'I' button
- gameplay is not boring and made you wanna know about the world more
- sneaking lvls (when you have to hide cause elders are walking or mobs)
- characters style. I love how this dude looks like. You did really an amazing job with the style!
Things which I don't like:
- not enough save points and they are in moment's which are far away from enemies so you have to run too much and kill every mob once again
- while fighting inside the well, you can't go through the bucket but the enemy can so running from enemy is extra difficult
- complicated controls in menu. Well I might be whining right now but as a player who always play on keyboard I was so used to 'WSAD' moving my menu. It's really hard to get used to it. Movement in game is not a trouble tho.
- Menu is not on "ESC" it's pretty confusing and I was looking very long to find where the menu was hiden.
- The cursor being always on screen make you believe you can use it but you can't. It's confusing as well.
- healing is very slow and I can't count how many times I died because of it.
- character is very weak at the beggining what causes troubles in fighting with mobs which are strong from the very start
- Only two potions, I would request more or the character healing while doing nothing. I know you can receive some heal by using "R" but as I describe above I have no idea how to use it.
I'm playing on computer, using normal keyboard, on full screen. Game never shut down without any sense, everything runs with amazing quality.
I can't believe I could play game this well done for free and I'm gonna try my best to kill those mobs which are making my progress stuck. I'm gonna upload more though's then. Thank you, please work hard and believe in this project cause it's gonna be fire!
Oh I just killed gunman using "R". But new trouble appear, you can't climb to the platform if you take the upper mob agro before cause he can fight with you when youre still on the ladder and you can't dodge it.
Hello. I added an easy mode so if you are struggeling and don't mind replaying a few bits then you can re-download the game and play it with a lot more health and potions!
I think you mean "S"? I am pretty sure I haven't put anything on "R". S is a parry move, every attack can be parried (as long as there is no red sign above your head). If you press S without pressing A or D you parry, if you press S while pressing A or D you do a grapple. When you see those blue circles you can walk up to the enemy and grapple them for big damage. Thats also how you fight the gunmen, just parry their shots back at them.
Thank you for playing the demo so far. Glad you like it!
EDIT: For attacks you have to watch for the red star. You need to press S at the moment the red star breaks. You might want to practice on the rats at the beginning. For projectiles like bullets just press parry right before the bullet is about to hit you. Good luck! I believe in you. I also will take the feedback to heart!
Thank you soooo much for easy mode! Well it didn't help me kill the guy in the well and any other boss or bigger mob but I'm finally able to endure the gunman shots. I figured out how the sneaky ninja killing works (I have this on R cause I changed my controls) and I LOVE IT! It's so relaxing and pleasant, deffinitly my favorite type of killing there.
I was able to explore the map furhter and now I understand why the city has a name "City of cables". I lost myself there so many times and never know where I actually am. But when you're used to jumping it's so easy to speed run every location which I did very often. I achieve the 3th save point which is this mustache guy and now I have troubles with those two gunman on the way for the key.
And I found a bug! I recorded it so you gonna see what happen. I'm gonna explain what I did to achieve the bug:
I climb the ladder very slowly cause I didn't want gunmans notice me. When I went to this room before I notice the doors become closed when gunmans are fighting so I was checking out when It's happenin. Somehow, while still being on the ladder I got their agro but still the door was open, so I went down and there my character stuck. I couldn't do anything, I've tried every key but nothing work. So I load the game once again.
I also found another thing when you try to jump on ropes and accidentialy start to speak with the Dead Care Taker. You can't move, he is speaking and you're falling down.
It was my first time hearing sounds from the game and I must say I love it! They are so well choosen and not annoying at all! Amazing work!
Gonna try kill those gunmans, please wish me luck!
and oh I made a meme which explain my struggles. SOMEDAY YOU GONNA BE DEAD MONSTER FROM WELL I PROMISE YOU
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Let me start by saying a plague doctor game such as this is something I've wanted for a while and this project is amazing. I haven't finished the game yet, but there are some issues I'd like to point out.
Firstly, I understand that this game is supposed to be very hard (and it is), but the parry windows for basic enemies should really be a few frames longer. If I end up parrying too late, then I'm pretty much garunteed to get hit again by the next swing. I'm not entirely sure why I'll always get hit a second time and it's definitely at least partially my fault, but either way it feels too brutal for basic enemies at the start of the game (the boss and harder enemies can stay as they are).
To stick with the theme of difficulty, I just really wish there was a checkpoint before the traps. Yes, I'm bad at the game, but I think this would be a good change that still keeps the game really hard.
My other complaints are all very minor, and have to do with polishing. I'm sure you are aware of the incomplete inventory (the "heart piece" doesn't appear anywhere that I could find), and that the pause menu is still missing.
I can't stress enough that these complaints are hardly complaints, but I'm still going to point them out. I found myself wasting a syringe by bumping the f key after taking my left hand off and bumping it when I put my hand back on. A simple fix to this is to just make it so you have to hold in the button for a half second (kind of like focusing in Hollow Knight). You could also make it impossible to use at max health but that's not really neccesary.
Falling through ladders was also slightly annoying to me, I think following the traditional rule of pressing down to go through it at the top would work better. I'm realizing as I type this that you probably made it how it is because you'd want to parry while over a ladder. I'd still prefer to go through the platform, but I understand why it's like that now.
I noticed a few of the jumps including one in the tutorial require coyote jumping. I'm okay with that, but I think the coyote jump window should be a few frames longer so you don't get stuck on a jump so easily.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I really do love the demo and I wish you the best of luck in the development of it.
UPDATE!
I have made a lot of progress in the game, and I must applaud you for having such a big demo available to play for free. There were several nitpicky things I could mention, but I'm only going to bring up the things that are really bugging me.
If you try to fire the gun right after moving, it points it straight up and doesn't fire.
Why am I being attacked by books? I don't know why the books keep dealing 2 clicks of damage, I'm assuming it's intentionally hard to avoid, but a little warning would be nice.
More importantly, I made it to the area with the spikes and the skeleton guy I'm supposed to grapple onto with another blue thing after it. Whenever I grapple the skeleton guy, I get stuck in the ceiling, which not only softlocks me if I parry the skeleton, but also makes it so I can't progress. I tried it several times and it keeps happening. (EDIT: Okay, I figured out you're supposed to shoot the skeleton and then continue. Still an easy glitch to pull off though.)
Great job on the game though, it's really quite fun!
First of: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PLAYING!!!
The "checkpoint before traps" was a suggestion that others have also put forward. I will add one right before the first trap.
I am not sure what you mean exactly with the heart pieces? In the collectables tab there is a tab that shows you your health (hearts). The heart pieces are apples floating around in the game.
The inventory also pauses the game so thats the "pause menu" as well. Although I should probably do something about the music still going on at full volume when in the inventory.
I'll look into the healing system. Not being able to heal at full health is a good idea.
***ALSO RESPONDING TO THE REPLY HERE***
The gun missfires right after moving? Just to have more info does it missfire when you walk, run or the speed doesnt matter?
You can hit the books when they charge to instantly destroy them. Its meant to teach a mechanic about "weakpoints" that enemies have in certain attacks. There is like a outline around the weakpoint.
SKELETON MAKES YOU CLIP INTO THE WALL?!?! OH GOD THATS REALLY BAD! Thank you for pointing that out, you are a lifesaver!
Also I might need to rebalance the game because its a massive kick in the teeth right from the bat. Would you rather have enemies do less damage or have more health? (or little bit of both?)
Hey thanks for responding! I eventually figured out how the books work, and it makes a lot more sense now.
The gun seemed to missfire when I pressed both the mouse and move at the same time, I don't remember exactly but I think it happened more consistently when turning around. I tried it with the ghost gun that I now have, and it doesn't have the same issue (Also, I think it was when walking).
As a final feedback report, I found a glitch where when I ghost grapple something it went all crazy and made the grapple stuck on. I don't remember where exactly this happened, but it was pretty weird.
I've made it to what I THINK is the final boss (Wieduch), and the repetitive projectile attack is giving me troubles. I've only been able to succesfully parry every projectile once, so a slightly larger parry window for that would be appreciated.
Edit: Forgot to mention that if you stand below Wieduch on the ground stage, and then parry the dead man's volley attack, they can't deflect back. It's nice for difficulty purposes, but I'm assuming unintended.
Doors that were locked from the other side still have the "this door is locked from the other side" message if you press W at the right time while falling by a door.
There were several typos/grammatical errors I found throughout the games dialogue, I'd recommend going through it either with a writing tool or by hand.
I think that's everything, looking forward to Iridescent's full release!
Okay, ACTUALLY last thing (maybe?):
So I beat Wieduch, and left with the ghost. I went back to City of Cables, because I wasn't really sure where to go. Is this the end of the demo or is there something more to do? Either way, I found another glitch. If you talk to the mustache guy in the cabin, he'll give you the gun again. So now I have both the Lady's Friend and the ghost gun. This allowed me to figure out when the misfire glitch happens. If you aim too low while walking or running (and by low I mean directly in front of you), and shoot the gun, it misfires. What's weird is this isn't entirely consistent, if I shoot close to the character then it won't always misfire.
Edit: Just found out I can grapple the other side of the bridge and now I feel stupid lol.
Ah yes the grammatical errors... I need to go and read all the dialog again to catch all the mistakes. Its something on the "to-do" list for quite some time. Same thing with the grapple freaking out sometimes. I can't seem to replicate that glitch but I am hunting for a solution.
For the projectile attacks, parrying the multi-projectile version is supposed to be a high level tactic. The projectiles are slow enough that you can just run past them and still hit the boss with your weapon. Oh and also with the Volley. Whats happening is that you are so close to the boss that he parries and you instantly parry back because you are still in a parry state in the ripost animation. It wasn't intentional but I think its a cool way to speed up the fight.
I will check out the doors and... wait Willstash gives you another gun?!?! I thought I fixed that already. Thank you so much! Without playtesters like you I would probably never catch something like this!
When it comes to the parry windows I think it would be most obvious if created an effect for failed parries just like successful ones and it would also help if the character changed directions he's facing based on the mouse just have him face the direction he's moving unless you want to add a backwards walk and run animation. And the reactive combat is great but maybe you could add a tool that allows for more proactive combat.
I saw a video of this game on youtube and I played it. Overall it's a really well made game with great mechanics. But I would like to have some more freedom when it comes to the base combat, your responses are very dependent on the enemy and I like some more options when it comes to what you can do instead of exclusively dash or parry. And I'd like it to be more clear when you're in the lag frames after a parry because they confuse me sometimes.
Thank you so much for playing! I'll look into adding more options but the whole game is build on reacting to attacks so doing drastic changes is going to be difficult. Good idea about the more clear parry windows. Maybe something like an outline when you are in the parry state that dissappear when you are in the recovery?
I am going to think this through. Again Thank you for playing and the great feedback!
Hi! I found your game on twitter and fall in love with the art style! I love this so much I can't even explain. My brain just explode when I saw the NPC's and monsters. I love the plot as well. At first I though it's gonna be a very basic, cliche thing about dark ages doctors but I was never expecting something so deep and intryquing!
Every cutscene give me goosebumbs, especially that one in "Cable City". And unfortunately there I rage quit my game.
I figured out how the fighting is working, be able to dash every sword attack but the guy with the gun will haunt me in my nightmares (I can't kill him and I've tried multiple times!)
• Fighting
It's so well done! Movement is very smooth and when you get use to it it's easy to kill mobs with swords. I don't know how to use the skill which is on "R" key and I missed the part where there was an explaination what does this light blue circle mean (i guess its connected to the R which I have no idea how to use). But i'm gonna figure it out.
The trouble is when I kill mobs easy for me to kill (sword users) there is only the hard one's left. Dodging the gunman shot's is very hard, he is too fast. I was trying to get the ladder and go upstairs cause I saw a easy to kill mob there but I simply can't pass that gunman.
So I have only the mob in the well left and the mob in the next room. They are so strong I've figured out they must be bosses. And well killing them is litterally impossible. With only 2 heal potions, not knowing how to use R skill it's impossible.
So for me and my gaming skills this game is deffinitly too hard. For people like me who comes cause of art and stays for the story I request easy mode so I could go further and explore the world which catch my attention.
Things which I love:
- plot
- pixel artstyle
- fighting mode
- item and story explaination under the 'I' button
- gameplay is not boring and made you wanna know about the world more
- sneaking lvls (when you have to hide cause elders are walking or mobs)
- characters style. I love how this dude looks like. You did really an amazing job with the style!
Things which I don't like:
- not enough save points and they are in moment's which are far away from enemies so you have to run too much and kill every mob once again
- while fighting inside the well, you can't go through the bucket but the enemy can so running from enemy is extra difficult
- complicated controls in menu. Well I might be whining right now but as a player who always play on keyboard I was so used to 'WSAD' moving my menu. It's really hard to get used to it. Movement in game is not a trouble tho.
- Menu is not on "ESC" it's pretty confusing and I was looking very long to find where the menu was hiden.
- The cursor being always on screen make you believe you can use it but you can't. It's confusing as well.
- healing is very slow and I can't count how many times I died because of it.
- character is very weak at the beggining what causes troubles in fighting with mobs which are strong from the very start
- Only two potions, I would request more or the character healing while doing nothing. I know you can receive some heal by using "R" but as I describe above I have no idea how to use it.
I'm playing on computer, using normal keyboard, on full screen. Game never shut down without any sense, everything runs with amazing quality.
I can't believe I could play game this well done for free and I'm gonna try my best to kill those mobs which are making my progress stuck. I'm gonna upload more though's then. Thank you, please work hard and believe in this project cause it's gonna be fire!
Oh I just killed gunman using "R". But new trouble appear, you can't climb to the platform if you take the upper mob agro before cause he can fight with you when youre still on the ladder and you can't dodge it.
Hello. I added an easy mode so if you are struggeling and don't mind replaying a few bits then you can re-download the game and play it with a lot more health and potions!
I think you mean "S"? I am pretty sure I haven't put anything on "R". S is a parry move, every attack can be parried (as long as there is no red sign above your head). If you press S without pressing A or D you parry, if you press S while pressing A or D you do a grapple. When you see those blue circles you can walk up to the enemy and grapple them for big damage. Thats also how you fight the gunmen, just parry their shots back at them.
Thank you for playing the demo so far. Glad you like it!
EDIT:
For attacks you have to watch for the red star. You need to press S at the moment the red star breaks. You might want to practice on the rats at the beginning. For projectiles like bullets just press parry right before the bullet is about to hit you. Good luck! I believe in you. I also will take the feedback to heart!
UPGRADE 1.
Thank you soooo much for easy mode! Well it didn't help me kill the guy in the well and any other boss or bigger mob but I'm finally able to endure the gunman shots. I figured out how the sneaky ninja killing works (I have this on R cause I changed my controls) and I LOVE IT! It's so relaxing and pleasant, deffinitly my favorite type of killing there.
I was able to explore the map furhter and now I understand why the city has a name "City of cables". I lost myself there so many times and never know where I actually am. But when you're used to jumping it's so easy to speed run every location which I did very often. I achieve the 3th save point which is this mustache guy and now I have troubles with those two gunman on the way for the key.
And I found a bug! I recorded it so you gonna see what happen. I'm gonna explain what I did to achieve the bug:
I climb the ladder very slowly cause I didn't want gunmans notice me. When I went to this room before I notice the doors become closed when gunmans are fighting so I was checking out when It's happenin. Somehow, while still being on the ladder I got their agro but still the door was open, so I went down and there my character stuck. I couldn't do anything, I've tried every key but nothing work. So I load the game once again.
I also found another thing when you try to jump on ropes and accidentialy start to speak with the Dead Care Taker. You can't move, he is speaking and you're falling down.
It was my first time hearing sounds from the game and I must say I love it! They are so well choosen and not annoying at all! Amazing work!
Gonna try kill those gunmans, please wish me luck!
and oh I made a meme which explain my struggles. SOMEDAY YOU GONNA BE DEAD MONSTER FROM WELL I PROMISE YOU
I will look into fixing those bugs. Thank you for the report!