The Journey Of Salem
Game made for Dbr Jam 2020.
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Controls:
A,D: Move
K: Attack
Space: Jump
Left Shift: Dodge
M: Open map
Left control: travel between checkpoints
Backspace: Menu - pause
Credits:
QbStorm: Code, lvl Design.
KaitsuHitsuri: Art
Music:
Matthew Pablo
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Comments
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I definitely see potential, but there’s a couple tweaks I desperately needed.
The controls feel very unresponsive, I think you need to be able to attack while running. Also animation canceling, I need to be able to attack and roll right when I press the button, not when the current animation ends
If you want to keep instant death spikes, I would include more checkpoints.
also, the map colors don’t have enough contrast. The background should be lighter or the room outlines darker.
otherwise, I think it would be a lot of fun!
I hope you keep working on this game. It is really cool. Your art looks pretty fantastic and your movement controls are pretty solid.
I would consider tweeking other than that I really think you have something really special here
I wanted to like this game so much.
Positives:
The art style, character designs, and music are all great. Your jumping is also spot on (though I personally would add a shorter jump on tap).
Negatives:
I felt the game's combat was too unbalanced. Your spear skeletons need a lot of work. They attack too quickly and with little telegraphing, giving me no time to react. They also dealt damage just as their animations begun, I wound up having to jump and dodge past most encounters. As there's no incentive to fight the skeletons, I actively avoided them.
My suggestions:
Add the ability to run and attack at the same time. Redo your skeletons' attack animations and make them easier to react to. Add the ability to block/parry. Finally, please add the Mouse Left click attack. I think Keyboard + Mouse should be the default.
Can't wait to see what this game has to offer, I see potential.
Can't play the windows version. Did you upload the Linux zip 2 times?
Hi thanks for letting us know, the windows version has been updated, now you can download the correct version.
Ty
Thanks
As others have said, the controls could use a rethink:
- Why do I need to click to use the sword? There's no directionality, so it could easily be bound to key
- Why can't I jump with the up/W key?
- Why is dodge a double tap of A/D? There's nothing more frustrating that trying to inch forward and rolling off a platform or into some spikes.
It's also worth taking a look at the checkpointing system. A large part of the difficulty at the moment is that they're spaced quite far apart, which is fine I guess, but tends to lead to lead to frustration when you have to repeat a large section. I'd definitely rethink the checkpoints before levers, as there's nothing fun about triggering a checkpoint and then discovering there was no danger ahead and now you're going to have to backtrack through the same section again and again, especially when you respawn all the enemies.
Given the metroidvania-type map, you could consider creating a shortcut for the player back to a hub after they've pulled a lever, so that the forward momentum can be maintained. Or allow fast-travelling between discovered checkpoints.
This game was made for a game jam event where the limitation was to use only 4 buttons, so we adapted the character's actions only on those buttons.
Regarding the distance from the checkpoints, I think that because the game is small, there is not much priority in facilitating the character's save over short distances, thus making the small game a little more difficult to finish.
And in relation to placing the checkpoint next to the lever, let's say it was a joke we did. we know that returning by the same route and something frustrating then...
We just made a new update in the game, where we added new buttons for each action of the character. And we added the teleport between the portals already activated, when you are near a portal just press the button (Ctrl) to interact with the menu of available portals.
I hope you like the new updates.
Thanks for the feedback ...
this game looks amazing only thing is the rolling is kinda hard maybe you can try binding it like shift a/d instead of a/d x2 as if you use shift it would be faster to avoid attacks and you wont get stuck in the stun lock only a suggestion. stay safe and have fun ^^
Thanks for playing! Yes in the next update we will change the controls.
sorry for the very late responce but no thank YOU! you or you and your team worked very hard on this amazing game ^^ keep up the good work and thank you aswell for changeing the roll button it is much more fair. stay safe have fun and a amazing day ^^
Thanks :)
Looks very cool! Nice work!
thanks! glad you enjoyed it!
needs some kickback in addition to stun (enemy hits currently create an inescapable loop of restunning the player before the previous stun has run its course)
we are aware of this, but thanks for informing us, we will work on it to provide a better experience for players...
Any chance of a download version?
Yes, soon we will put the download option...
Nice