Asthalis
First off, the feedback I gave was so little that I did not expect to be mentioned in the game... so I appreciate being mentioned in the "thanks" list. Really, thanks! As for the automatic screenshots, I am currently using the itch.io version, so I think I cannot access the screenshots... but I am planning on downloading the game on PC (I'll try to take a screenshot of the final boss in the game 🙂 )... But, would my progress be saved? If there is a way to carry over my progress to PC Windows, please tell me how. I think it is nice to have a website for the game, and it helps encourage people to come back to the game and be part of its community (I mean, even the website gives a "classic" or "retro" feeling, which I think is a good thing considering the direction you're going!) By the way, it's impressive your son got to level 16 (the game is not that easy)!
I think that your game as it is, seems pretty much complete. The content is pretty much satisfying, and there are hardly any game-breaking bugs to speak of! The level design is awesome, and the gameplay itself is even more impressive... the game deserves good things, and I think it can shine brightly even in today's crowded environment of games.
Answering your questions as a beta tester:
- I am using the itch.io version
- Yes, the game showed the basic screen for choosing the language.
- Yes, it was easy to figure out (the option to save appears at the end of each level, I don't think anyone can miss that).
- Yes, I read the entirety of the HELP menu trying to get help (pressing CTRL should be a cool mechanic for those playing when they are supposed to be working).
- Nope, I didn't try it.
I wanted to mention that I entered a room using one of the codes scattered... It does feel a bit tiring to take a pic of the code, and then write it down to access the secret room, but I have to admit: the process helps add to the joy of "YES! I FOUND A SECRET!"... and it helps it feel "classic" in a way (a game I love and played several times from my childhood was Tiny Toon Adventures on Sega Genesis, and it required typing a password to get back to your progress).
As for where to publish your game, I'm not exactly experienced in that field, but I do have something of a plan that might work. First, release the game on Google Play (20$ to create an account where you can publish as many games as you want), and integrate Google ads to earn money from the game (releasing it paid would be strange, as the full game is already available for free, but integrating a non-intrusive ad system to your game should be alright). After that, once it gets enough attention (you might want to do some marketing to get attention for your game), you can release it on Steam using the money you earned from ads. Releasing it directly on Steam is quite pricey, so I do not think it is the best investment for your first game.
I have a suggestion for the game: maybe make the UP and DOWN keys for moving the camera up and down, because the deaths I talked about feeling unfair were from enemies that were usually too high up to see, and you have to use a "bouncy thing" to jump pretty high up, feeling like a leap of faith. You can add a limit to how much the camera moves up or down (maybe implement it in a way similar to how it is implemented in the first Sonic the Hedgehog game on the Genesis).
A few minor bugs I found:
- Sometimes, I get stuck on a wall with many collisions happening simultaneously... though I am not sure how to trigger it, and it never affected my gameplay significantly.
- If you are close to the "bouncy thing" but you still haven't touched it properly, it plays the "bounce" animation... so it would bounce twice. I remember encountering this during the beginning of Godotron's fight.
- In most menus, you can spam "Enter" and the "fade-out transition animation" keeps replaying, until I stop spamming the Enter key to finally actually transition to the next menu. It does not have any real effect, but is not pleasant to have. The fix is simple though: just take away control from the player while the fade-out animation is being played.
I will take my time playing the game, and maybe I'll start sending you screenshots sometime in the future. Your game is awesome, so thank you for making it! Good luck with publishing your game!
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(do you know you should NEVER use your own product !) maybe the worth curse for a game developer I guess. Does it worth it ? I don't think so.
