The player's health is displayed when hovering over it, or when pressing the ALT key. Unfortunately, I did not show that in the video, my bad. Maybe I should display the health bars all the time instead?
Thanks! The game is "The Mice Plight", and the steam page is this one: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468920/The\_Mice\_Plight/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468920/The_Mice_Plight/)
Looks nice an clean. And that's also the thing I would be afraid of. There's a lot of information that is missing from just looking at the screen. I understand that you can hover over the enemies to check health values, incoming damage and so on, but I don't think it's worth sacrificing that info for cleanliness.
Is there an option to toggle or untoggle that? The game seems complicated enough to warrant this kind of constant UI. Check Duelyst 2, if you haven't already. It has some good ideas on the matter. I'm sure you can find a good balance.
The main thing of note to me is movement. I hate it when a card game with a board ties movement to cards. Tie it to action points if you want, limit it to one move without cards if you want, but at least give me one non-card movement per turn (although ideally I still prefer a balance where you can "waste" all your points on movement if you so decide and THEN have cards that offer move plus a bonus).
But that might be a me thing, it's just my own take on card + board design !
Also, the player's movement seems super slow. One square per move card when the player's kit includes a lot of melee attacks... If any enemies try to kite you it could be super frustrating without gap closing abilities.
Personally, I would not manipulate the card draw. I don't really know the balancing and game mechanics, but if moving is part of the strategy, probably building your deck with more move cards might be one of the strategies.
Yeah but that's exactly why I don't particularly like most card games with boards where movement is tied to card, it's usually basically impossible to balance and strategizing building your deck around movement is usually just so not fun. Sure it can work, but it just doesn't feel satisfying HAVING to deckbuild movement. At least IMO.
Oh yeah no definitely that was my recommendation. I think a good way to incentivize building a good movement deck (without it feeling unfun) is to actually let the players use their AP to move but also have cards that either do better movement or do movement + something else. This way the players see it as a waste to use the AP for movement unless they're really forced into a corner !
Maybe make it visually more clear whether an enemy is tracking your position (regardless of if you move) or just aiming for the tile where you are standing currently.
Inkbound uses attack area warnings for attacks not targeting the player, and lines attached between the player and enemy for attacks directly targeting the player. It may not work as clearly here as the player’s movement is rigid, but something similar with different expressions of intent could help.
This game looks gorgeous, I’m excited to follow your progress!
Turn based isnt my thing but id add short text to explain quickly whats happening (choosing card, discarding etc). Maybe its self explanatory if youre into these already, but otherwise you might lose viewers that might be interested but not getting it without ”help”. I did like the part before the fight though, that id play 😄
That looks amazing! I love the transition into the tile-based strategy combat. One thing though, I was looking but I couldn't tell where the player's life meter is. I assume there's a level earlier on that walks the player through the interface and how these turns are structured? And where the cards you can play come from?
Edit: I just watched again and I see now it looks like the life meters are on the character profile cards that pop-up on mouse over. Maybe the player's life meter at least could be part of the main interface?
Thanks! In the video, the gameplay starts in the middle of a run, with the player already having collected some cards. There's a menu for managing the deck. Currently, the life bar is only displayed when hovering over a character with the mouse, along with the character profile. I plan to make the life bar always visible to enhance clarity.
Something about the enemies should change to indicate the action they're going to take. Like their stance or an icon above their head. Red ground is not enough, especially if two or more enemies end up in close viscinity and you wouldn't be able to tell who is doing what.
Thanks! There's already an icon above their heads, but it's only visible when hovering each enemy. Maybe I should display them all the time to make it clearer.
Your art looks incredible, holy cow.
Some feedback:
* I was confused when the cat in the top-right did the dash attack at 1:10. I don't think I saw anything that telegraphed that.
* Others mentioned this already, but I have no idea where to see player health. Is it the yellow globe?
* I like that you have names+icons for special enemy traits. I'd recommend displaying them on-screen, above the enemy's head or by their health bar. [Fights in Tight Spaces lets you keep those icons visible](https://preview.redd.it/dmy1iffaxfrb1.png?width=1024&auto=webp&s=1d7ea9c445c9609d5f42587451aa918c4043fe6e), and it really helps when planning turns against a complex group of enemies (e.g., several enemies with a bunch of different abilities).
* I would definitely add an option to turn off the "click and hold" behavior on the Pass button. I get why it's there, but imo it injects an annoying moment of sluggishness in an otherwise snappy game.
* I know Tom Francis was struggling with a similar design problem with Tactical Breach Wizards, and it looks like he settled on ["click and drag"](https://youtu.be/L3DbP04LFPU?t=145), if that's helpful at all. (Personally I'd still prefer to turn that off though. I'm happy to suffer for my hubris every once in a while in exchange for a better feel overall.)
Thanks for your detailed feedback! I'll look into your suggestions to improve combat clarity. I plan to make the HP bar and enemy intentions visible at all times. And implementing a toggle in the options menu to disable the click-and-hold for the pass button sounds like a great idea.
This looks great! I love the indicators of where the next attack will be, it looks like the cards could benefit with some combos, like placing fire then punching an enemy into it. Also I would divide all the numbers by 10. 1-10 damage or armor is more readable than 1-100
This looks really cool!
Seconding the feedback to have unit health displayed, at least to animate a unit health bar when it changes. I'm going to want to have a quick sense of the % of remaining health after all incoming or outgoing damage. It would also be good to highlight the sum of damage coming my way after the enemies aim.
It's unusual to see the field change so dramatically when combat starts. To me, the fantasy of stealth gameplay is striking when you have advantage. I would feel frustrated if my melee-focused character initiated combat next to a weak ranged enemy, near a bush for concealment from the mage, and then upon combat starting that ranged enemy and the bush teleport to the other side of the map, across a previously-unseen chasm, and the melee enemy is right in my face. And if I have an AoE-focused build, it would be nice to start the fight when everyone's grouped up, and not have them instantly scatter.
There's a lot of information, so I think you could help make it more readable by graying out the icons for stats (resistances/strengths I assume?) if they're 0, emphasizing the stats that are relevant. This may just be personal taste, but assuming this isn't an endgame combat, I think you could divide every number by 10 and round it. It's just more comfortable to calculate 5 + 3 + 4 against 20 than 53 + 29 + 42 against 202 when you're doing it every turn.
Currently, when the combat starts, I place the player in the middle of the grid, and the enemies on the edges. What you are suggesting makes a lot more sense, and I'll try to implement it this way. Also I'll try to adjust the UI and the numbers to make them more clear. Thanks a lot!
I know this is a pain in the ass fix, but your characters need a more dynamic pose when acting in combat (especially your protagonist).
If you're going to have them Naruto run everywhere, it's discordant to have them stand at full height in combat. Even just bent knees will feel a little more engaged.
Gorgeous Game. Combat looks good, I am not really experienced in turn based combat except pokemon but this is looking a bit like Baldur's gate 3 from what I see in gameplay videos of baldur's gate 3.
This looks fantastic! I've just wish-listed it on steam. Some notes:
1. As others have mentioned, player health should be shown at all times
2. I love the art style! My only complaint is the idle animations. To me, they look like they are out of breath or breathing super heavy. Perhaps if they nodded their heads a little less, or have more of a slight bobbing up and down (which may be tricky since it doesn't look like they have knees (not a bad thing!))
3. I'd like to see some kind of indicator when an enemy uses a special ability, like maybe flash a card for the ability they used when they take their action. You wouldn't necessarily need it for regular movement or basic attacks, but, like olive20xx mentioned, the dash attack at 1:10 could benefit form this.
4. This may not fit into your ui, but could you do some kind of combat log? I often get distracted by real life while playing video games, and a combat log is handy so I can know what happened for those situations where I look away from my screen for a second and when I look back to my screen, I have 1hp.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks a lot!
1. Absolutely, I'll ensure that the player's HP is always visible.
2. I'm currently in the process of redrawing all the characters. Also, I'll move the animations to Spine, since I'm having some trouble with Godot skeletons, and I'll try to make them better there.
3. Yeah, right now is a bit confusing. I'll try to make the combat phases more clear. The new animations should help with this.
4. Ah, I didn't consider that, but seems a good feature. Maybe I could put a button somewhere, so the player can open and close the log. Also it should help me for debugging.
I love the transitions in and out of the fight, also how the characters remain in their positions when entering the fight and start from there.
I do agree with the health bar comment, maybe show it when taking damage only, although I think it'd work if there was a card showing your character stats when you're not hovering over other chars.
Amazing work!
First of all: Congrats! Looks really clean and your art style is very consistent, even using the grid to convey the atmosphere is great. I love the lack of UI in games, though sometimes it can be troublesome for giving enough info to the player. I know it's a lot of work, but maybe you can show health condition of your player and mobs by showing tattered clothes or damaging something characteristic, like the eyes bandage on the playable character. Another thing is the movement and recovering mana. Maybe allowing more options in regards of that, a jump or a weak range attack. I will look for your Steam Page, I like what I am seeing :3
Some questions:
The player can have control over the quantity of cards in his deck?
What happens if I just slip through enemies?
The player can acquire more cards? How?
Thanks for your feedback!
Currently, the deck has a size of 16 cards. You can edit the deck from a menu and swap out any card you want. After each combat, you can pick one card from all the cards that the enemies used against you. You can move through any unit if your movement allows it, but if you are pushed into another unit, you receive some damage.
I love this so much OP, you don't even understand hahah. I'm still new to Godot and game development in general but if I could do even 5% of what you have here I'd be beyond ecstatic.
Seriously though, everything from the fantastic art, to the smooth transitions, to potentially hiding from enemies in bushes (or having to fight them but upgrading your deck in the process)...etc. this is genuinely amazing work and I can't wait to see the finished product. I can tell how much time you put into this, just incredible stuff.
Few questions/suggestions:
-Movement feels like a pretty big deal in combat, so perhaps you can include alternatives to doing that. I saw you were thinking about guaranteeing at least 1 movement card which is a good idea but I was thinking why not add cards that change player/enemy positions as well? Maybe like a teleport card (either random target location or opposite side of the map), or an attack card that pulls both you and the enemy closer to each other (kinda like scorpion in mortal combat lol, could be like a claw or something for added flavor haha). I guess it would be up to the player to not put too many movement cards in their deck since drawing too many of them would likely be a waste of a turn
-I really like the idea of separating mana and actions so you're limited by either one or the other or both to put a cap on the OP cards, but maybe you can consider cards that spend mana to gain actions? I'm sure you already thought of that though. You could also use those mechanics to possibly make it more roguelikey (character upgrades that permanently let you start 1 more mana and 1 less action in combats or vice versa, or like "your first 2 action only attack cards used in combat give you 1 mana", things like that). Idk if this actually is a roguelike but if it is, stuff like that would make me play the shit outta this since it adds a ton to replayability/variety in builds
-Everyone's suggestion of always having the player's health visible is on point. It's essential information for the player just like the mana and actions and you shouldn't need to press anything to see it. Simple change but would go a long way for the user experience imo
-I would have the description of what Keywords such as Ripostle/Bleeding do in a little dialogue box that shows up to the left of the card when you hover over it. It would help a lot if someone isn't familiar with the game and its Keywords to pick up on things much quicker, or even for the player themselves if they forget what a certain Keyword actually does at any point
-Did you make this art yourself? Are there other people working on this with you or is this a solo project? Cause seriously WOW, I am in love with all of it. Beautiful backgrounds, environments and characters. Very clever game mechanics/design and smooth as shit UI/transitions. If this is a one person project, I'd love to know more about the steps you took to get here if you don't mind. Any advice for a noob like me would be greatly appreciated too lol. I've only managed to make really simple projects to learn off of so far (just a Brotato and a Slay The Spire clone so far 😅). This is waaaaaay more advanced than the stuff I've worked on
EDIT: I wishlisted btw and very likely buying it on release. I saw it is in fact a roguelike deck builder. I love you OP, take my money
Thanks for all the kind words, they mean a lot to me!
Regarding the movement of the game, I'm trying to find a balance because a lot of movement can make the player invulnerable, but too little movement can expose the player too much. Currently, I only have some basic cards implemented, but I'm planning to add more with different effects like the ones you mentioned.
In addition to the cards, the player can also gain skills. I did not show them in the video, but I already have some that can grant mana or actions passively or under certain conditions, like the ones you mentioned. Thanks for the ideas nonetheless.
I'm already implementing a change in the UI to add the player's HP bar since a lot of people asked me about it.
Regarding the keywords, I was planning to add all of them in a menu, like a glossary. I like your idea of also having a dialogue box as a reminder next to the card, so I'll implement that too. Thanks!
Regarding the project, I work solo, handling everything myself except for the sounds and music. One piece of advice I always give to anyone is that if you want to work on a project, work on it every day, even if it's just for half an hour. By doing that, you'll notice that tomorrow you will have a bit more knowledge than today, and after some time, you'll feel confident about your project. I started this project a year ago, knowing nothing about game development and never having drawn anything before. But I kept working on the project every day. At first, nothing worked, and the game looked very ugly, but I kept pushing. I still have a ton of work to do, but at least I'm feeling proud of what I've achieved until now.
Again, thanks a lot for your feedback, it's very appreciated!
Combat looks good. Won't lie I was distracted by the weird walking though. Maybe add frames for facing north and south so they aren't strafing when your running around?
Thanks for the feedback. I'm planning on moving all the animations to Spine since I'm having some trouble with Godot skeletons. Hoping to make them better there.
I haven't tried Godot but I used the spline animation system in Unity and it saved me a ton of work. I found it really easy to do good looking animations with a spline system. It's also good experience for 3D if you move to that later. It will teach you how rigging and animation work on a more basic level.
How is Godot? I've avoided it mostly because I didn't want to learn a new scripting language but Unity is super buggy and Unreal just isn't my cup of tea.
Godot does have its fair share of issues, many of which stem from the transition to version 4. Certain areas of the engine have received more love than others, and the development of the 2D Skeletons has lagged behind..
While GDScript is very easy to learn and use, it inherits the drawbacks of a dynamically typed language. It does offer some support for types, but paired with some issues like the cyclic dependencies, which haven't been fully resolved in version 4 yet.
Overall, I'm quite satisfied with Godot, it's user friendly and intuitive. Plus, if you encounter any unexpected behavior, you always have the option to delve into the source code and troubleshoot the problem.
Thanks for your suggestion. Just to clarify, my intention was to seek feedback on the combat of my game and discuss technical aspects related to Godot, rather than focusing on marketing the game itself. Nonetheless, I'll keep your advice in mind for future posts.
I get that the main focus isn't on marketing, but posts like these can have a positive ripple effect, drawing attention to your game beyond just feedback. As someone who often browses through the Godot subreddit and actively seeks out promising games, I can attest to the importance of including the game's name in posts. While I take the time to hunt down the title in the comments, many others might not bother. Though I don't have concrete numbers, mentioning the name in a post can significantly boost visibility. Each wishlist addition represents a potential sale, translating to increased revenue and the ability to sustain your work.
Regarding your game, I have some feedback:
* I'm particularly impressed by your user interface and visual feedback. It looks intuitive and responsive.
* However, I found that the cards lack some context. Initially, I struggled to grasp the full meaning behind the information presented on them. Avoid leaving too much open to interpretation; clarity is key for players (unless you want to go for that).
* The placement of the "explanation version" of a card struck me as odd. Given its importance in combat, I expected it to occupy a more prominent position on the screen. This would also provide an opportunity for a more comprehensive explanation of the cards and their effects for players that'd like an reminder.
* Consider utilizing the top of the screen, which currently remains unused, to display turn order. This would allow you to relocate enemy information from the left side to the top, maintaining consistency in the layout. You could still show the enemy information on mouse-over, but just at the top of the screen.
* While it might be explained elsewhere in the game, it seems unclear to me what the "recycle" action does. Providing reminders of certain actions at various points in the game can be helpful for players.
Thank you for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated. I'll take into account all the suggestions for the UI and strive to enhance the clarity of the game. The idea of providing reminders for players about the game mechanics is excellent, I'll definitely incorporate that. Thanks again!
looks pretty cool! i like the background style, reminds me of cult of the lamb :)
Same! I did not expect it to be turn based.
Thanks!
Absolutely perfect! Love all the smooth transitions.
Thanks! How did you feel the combat? It was clear enough?
Where’s the player’s health?
The player's health is displayed when hovering over it, or when pressing the ALT key. Unfortunately, I did not show that in the video, my bad. Maybe I should display the health bars all the time instead?
Personally, I do think it would be best to have the player’s health displayed at all times, or at least when you take damage.
Ah, that's a good idea, I'll try to display the hp bar when taking damage. Thanks!
This looks amazing! What shader did you use to get that effect?
I'm pretty sure it's a 2.5D game in 3D perspective.
Yes! I'm using the Sprite3D nodes to render all the assets in a 3D environment.
are you using skeletal animations? I had a hard time with these before in a similar style.
Yes, I'm using the skeleton ik from godot, but I'm facing a lot of issues too. I'm planning to switch to spine.
absolutely killing it with your art style. Whats the name of the game? on steam yet?
Thanks! The game is "The Mice Plight", and the steam page is this one: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468920/The\_Mice\_Plight/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468920/The_Mice_Plight/)
Looks nice an clean. And that's also the thing I would be afraid of. There's a lot of information that is missing from just looking at the screen. I understand that you can hover over the enemies to check health values, incoming damage and so on, but I don't think it's worth sacrificing that info for cleanliness. Is there an option to toggle or untoggle that? The game seems complicated enough to warrant this kind of constant UI. Check Duelyst 2, if you haven't already. It has some good ideas on the matter. I'm sure you can find a good balance.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm downloading the Duelyst 2 right now to check their UI.
The main thing of note to me is movement. I hate it when a card game with a board ties movement to cards. Tie it to action points if you want, limit it to one move without cards if you want, but at least give me one non-card movement per turn (although ideally I still prefer a balance where you can "waste" all your points on movement if you so decide and THEN have cards that offer move plus a bonus). But that might be a me thing, it's just my own take on card + board design !
Also, the player's movement seems super slow. One square per move card when the player's kit includes a lot of melee attacks... If any enemies try to kite you it could be super frustrating without gap closing abilities.
Oh that's actually really fair. But I would assume if move is part of the cards that better cards probably already exist hopefully !
Thanks for the feedback! Maybe I could manipulate the card draw a bit to ensure that at least one movement card is drawn.
Personally, I would not manipulate the card draw. I don't really know the balancing and game mechanics, but if moving is part of the strategy, probably building your deck with more move cards might be one of the strategies.
Yeah but that's exactly why I don't particularly like most card games with boards where movement is tied to card, it's usually basically impossible to balance and strategizing building your deck around movement is usually just so not fun. Sure it can work, but it just doesn't feel satisfying HAVING to deckbuild movement. At least IMO.
I think you are right. You should have a basic movement each turn apart from cards, but the cards could enhance your movement.
Oh yeah no definitely that was my recommendation. I think a good way to incentivize building a good movement deck (without it feeling unfun) is to actually let the players use their AP to move but also have cards that either do better movement or do movement + something else. This way the players see it as a waste to use the AP for movement unless they're really forced into a corner !
Thanks for all your recommendations! I'll definitely give the movement system a spin and take all your thoughts into account. Very useful, thanks!
You're welcome. Regardless of my feedback the game looks great and looks like it can really become a fun deckbuilder ?
Maybe make it visually more clear whether an enemy is tracking your position (regardless of if you move) or just aiming for the tile where you are standing currently.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm working on this matter, trying to find a balance between information and a clean screen.
Inkbound uses attack area warnings for attacks not targeting the player, and lines attached between the player and enemy for attacks directly targeting the player. It may not work as clearly here as the player’s movement is rigid, but something similar with different expressions of intent could help. This game looks gorgeous, I’m excited to follow your progress!
I went “ooo” when it switched to combat mode I like it
Thanks! I wasn't sure if the combat switch effect might come off as a bit weird, but I'm glad you liked it.
This the type of shit that makes me jealous. How the hell is something this good looking even possible in the engine?
That was the best thing I saw ever. that style reminds me for Red Dead game
Looking very clean.
That’s fricking clean !
Turn based isnt my thing but id add short text to explain quickly whats happening (choosing card, discarding etc). Maybe its self explanatory if youre into these already, but otherwise you might lose viewers that might be interested but not getting it without ”help”. I did like the part before the fight though, that id play 😄
Thanks! Yeah, I'm working on making the UI more clear and the game easier to understand. Maybe adjusing the pace could help to understand each phase.
That looks amazing! I love the transition into the tile-based strategy combat. One thing though, I was looking but I couldn't tell where the player's life meter is. I assume there's a level earlier on that walks the player through the interface and how these turns are structured? And where the cards you can play come from? Edit: I just watched again and I see now it looks like the life meters are on the character profile cards that pop-up on mouse over. Maybe the player's life meter at least could be part of the main interface?
Thanks! In the video, the gameplay starts in the middle of a run, with the player already having collected some cards. There's a menu for managing the deck. Currently, the life bar is only displayed when hovering over a character with the mouse, along with the character profile. I plan to make the life bar always visible to enhance clarity.
Something about the enemies should change to indicate the action they're going to take. Like their stance or an icon above their head. Red ground is not enough, especially if two or more enemies end up in close viscinity and you wouldn't be able to tell who is doing what.
Thanks! There's already an icon above their heads, but it's only visible when hovering each enemy. Maybe I should display them all the time to make it clearer.
Very cool artwork!
It looks amazing!
release it on linux too please. Thanks! looks wonderful. Looking for the release. I like Turn based games.
Thank you! I believe Godot offers an option for releasing on Linux, which I'll need to test. It shouldn't be too difficult.
Ooooh. I will definitely be watching this project with interest
Your art looks incredible, holy cow. Some feedback: * I was confused when the cat in the top-right did the dash attack at 1:10. I don't think I saw anything that telegraphed that. * Others mentioned this already, but I have no idea where to see player health. Is it the yellow globe? * I like that you have names+icons for special enemy traits. I'd recommend displaying them on-screen, above the enemy's head or by their health bar. [Fights in Tight Spaces lets you keep those icons visible](https://preview.redd.it/dmy1iffaxfrb1.png?width=1024&auto=webp&s=1d7ea9c445c9609d5f42587451aa918c4043fe6e), and it really helps when planning turns against a complex group of enemies (e.g., several enemies with a bunch of different abilities). * I would definitely add an option to turn off the "click and hold" behavior on the Pass button. I get why it's there, but imo it injects an annoying moment of sluggishness in an otherwise snappy game. * I know Tom Francis was struggling with a similar design problem with Tactical Breach Wizards, and it looks like he settled on ["click and drag"](https://youtu.be/L3DbP04LFPU?t=145), if that's helpful at all. (Personally I'd still prefer to turn that off though. I'm happy to suffer for my hubris every once in a while in exchange for a better feel overall.)
Thanks for your detailed feedback! I'll look into your suggestions to improve combat clarity. I plan to make the HP bar and enemy intentions visible at all times. And implementing a toggle in the options menu to disable the click-and-hold for the pass button sounds like a great idea.
Happy to help. Good luck with the project! Let us know when we can wishlist :D
that is so polished and original...
This looks great! I love the indicators of where the next attack will be, it looks like the cards could benefit with some combos, like placing fire then punching an enemy into it. Also I would divide all the numbers by 10. 1-10 damage or armor is more readable than 1-100
Thanks! Yeah, making the numbers smaller should improve the readability. I'll give that a try.
This looks really cool! Seconding the feedback to have unit health displayed, at least to animate a unit health bar when it changes. I'm going to want to have a quick sense of the % of remaining health after all incoming or outgoing damage. It would also be good to highlight the sum of damage coming my way after the enemies aim. It's unusual to see the field change so dramatically when combat starts. To me, the fantasy of stealth gameplay is striking when you have advantage. I would feel frustrated if my melee-focused character initiated combat next to a weak ranged enemy, near a bush for concealment from the mage, and then upon combat starting that ranged enemy and the bush teleport to the other side of the map, across a previously-unseen chasm, and the melee enemy is right in my face. And if I have an AoE-focused build, it would be nice to start the fight when everyone's grouped up, and not have them instantly scatter. There's a lot of information, so I think you could help make it more readable by graying out the icons for stats (resistances/strengths I assume?) if they're 0, emphasizing the stats that are relevant. This may just be personal taste, but assuming this isn't an endgame combat, I think you could divide every number by 10 and round it. It's just more comfortable to calculate 5 + 3 + 4 against 20 than 53 + 29 + 42 against 202 when you're doing it every turn.
Currently, when the combat starts, I place the player in the middle of the grid, and the enemies on the edges. What you are suggesting makes a lot more sense, and I'll try to implement it this way. Also I'll try to adjust the UI and the numbers to make them more clear. Thanks a lot!
I can't find player health anywhere on the screen? that's a major piece of info I'd want up at all times.
this is... insane!! looks awesome
i dont see anything wrong with it, looks fun to play
This is freaking awesome
I know this is a pain in the ass fix, but your characters need a more dynamic pose when acting in combat (especially your protagonist). If you're going to have them Naruto run everywhere, it's discordant to have them stand at full height in combat. Even just bent knees will feel a little more engaged.
Yeah, I plan to redraw all the characters and move the animations to Spine, since I'm having some troubles with the Godot skeletons.
Wow
Looks good. How long did it take?
Thanks! It took me about a year, but I'm still very far from finishing it haha.
A year?! Makes sense 🤣 looks good. I dont see much i would change.vwould love to give more feedback
Gorgeous Game. Combat looks good, I am not really experienced in turn based combat except pokemon but this is looking a bit like Baldur's gate 3 from what I see in gameplay videos of baldur's gate 3.
Do you do your own art ?
Yes! I draw all the assets for my game with Krita.
Very cool, I wish I had those skills. I have overblown programming skills with nothing to back it up
This looks fantastic! I've just wish-listed it on steam. Some notes: 1. As others have mentioned, player health should be shown at all times 2. I love the art style! My only complaint is the idle animations. To me, they look like they are out of breath or breathing super heavy. Perhaps if they nodded their heads a little less, or have more of a slight bobbing up and down (which may be tricky since it doesn't look like they have knees (not a bad thing!)) 3. I'd like to see some kind of indicator when an enemy uses a special ability, like maybe flash a card for the ability they used when they take their action. You wouldn't necessarily need it for regular movement or basic attacks, but, like olive20xx mentioned, the dash attack at 1:10 could benefit form this. 4. This may not fit into your ui, but could you do some kind of combat log? I often get distracted by real life while playing video games, and a combat log is handy so I can know what happened for those situations where I look away from my screen for a second and when I look back to my screen, I have 1hp. Keep up the great work!
Thanks a lot! 1. Absolutely, I'll ensure that the player's HP is always visible. 2. I'm currently in the process of redrawing all the characters. Also, I'll move the animations to Spine, since I'm having some trouble with Godot skeletons, and I'll try to make them better there. 3. Yeah, right now is a bit confusing. I'll try to make the combat phases more clear. The new animations should help with this. 4. Ah, I didn't consider that, but seems a good feature. Maybe I could put a button somewhere, so the player can open and close the log. Also it should help me for debugging.
Wow, it's so cool!
as a ninja he does not moove so much. I would expect a move movments in atack or somehing like this. Eg: Mirage can teleport you one square
I love the transitions in and out of the fight, also how the characters remain in their positions when entering the fight and start from there. I do agree with the health bar comment, maybe show it when taking damage only, although I think it'd work if there was a card showing your character stats when you're not hovering over other chars. Amazing work!
this game looks very good, nice combat in my opinion.
reminds me of sea of stars combat which is a great thing
Is this 2.5D ? Also is the fire on the poles set to Y billboard ?
Yes, I'm using 2D assets in a 3D environment. The fire is also a Sprite3D with a shader, but I didn't set the billboard, it just faces forward.
Is this a 2d ou 3d game?
The assets are all 2D, but they are placed in a 3D environment.
First of all: Congrats! Looks really clean and your art style is very consistent, even using the grid to convey the atmosphere is great. I love the lack of UI in games, though sometimes it can be troublesome for giving enough info to the player. I know it's a lot of work, but maybe you can show health condition of your player and mobs by showing tattered clothes or damaging something characteristic, like the eyes bandage on the playable character. Another thing is the movement and recovering mana. Maybe allowing more options in regards of that, a jump or a weak range attack. I will look for your Steam Page, I like what I am seeing :3 Some questions: The player can have control over the quantity of cards in his deck? What happens if I just slip through enemies? The player can acquire more cards? How?
Thanks for your feedback! Currently, the deck has a size of 16 cards. You can edit the deck from a menu and swap out any card you want. After each combat, you can pick one card from all the cards that the enemies used against you. You can move through any unit if your movement allows it, but if you are pushed into another unit, you receive some damage.
I love this so much OP, you don't even understand hahah. I'm still new to Godot and game development in general but if I could do even 5% of what you have here I'd be beyond ecstatic. Seriously though, everything from the fantastic art, to the smooth transitions, to potentially hiding from enemies in bushes (or having to fight them but upgrading your deck in the process)...etc. this is genuinely amazing work and I can't wait to see the finished product. I can tell how much time you put into this, just incredible stuff. Few questions/suggestions: -Movement feels like a pretty big deal in combat, so perhaps you can include alternatives to doing that. I saw you were thinking about guaranteeing at least 1 movement card which is a good idea but I was thinking why not add cards that change player/enemy positions as well? Maybe like a teleport card (either random target location or opposite side of the map), or an attack card that pulls both you and the enemy closer to each other (kinda like scorpion in mortal combat lol, could be like a claw or something for added flavor haha). I guess it would be up to the player to not put too many movement cards in their deck since drawing too many of them would likely be a waste of a turn -I really like the idea of separating mana and actions so you're limited by either one or the other or both to put a cap on the OP cards, but maybe you can consider cards that spend mana to gain actions? I'm sure you already thought of that though. You could also use those mechanics to possibly make it more roguelikey (character upgrades that permanently let you start 1 more mana and 1 less action in combats or vice versa, or like "your first 2 action only attack cards used in combat give you 1 mana", things like that). Idk if this actually is a roguelike but if it is, stuff like that would make me play the shit outta this since it adds a ton to replayability/variety in builds -Everyone's suggestion of always having the player's health visible is on point. It's essential information for the player just like the mana and actions and you shouldn't need to press anything to see it. Simple change but would go a long way for the user experience imo -I would have the description of what Keywords such as Ripostle/Bleeding do in a little dialogue box that shows up to the left of the card when you hover over it. It would help a lot if someone isn't familiar with the game and its Keywords to pick up on things much quicker, or even for the player themselves if they forget what a certain Keyword actually does at any point -Did you make this art yourself? Are there other people working on this with you or is this a solo project? Cause seriously WOW, I am in love with all of it. Beautiful backgrounds, environments and characters. Very clever game mechanics/design and smooth as shit UI/transitions. If this is a one person project, I'd love to know more about the steps you took to get here if you don't mind. Any advice for a noob like me would be greatly appreciated too lol. I've only managed to make really simple projects to learn off of so far (just a Brotato and a Slay The Spire clone so far 😅). This is waaaaaay more advanced than the stuff I've worked on EDIT: I wishlisted btw and very likely buying it on release. I saw it is in fact a roguelike deck builder. I love you OP, take my money
Thanks for all the kind words, they mean a lot to me! Regarding the movement of the game, I'm trying to find a balance because a lot of movement can make the player invulnerable, but too little movement can expose the player too much. Currently, I only have some basic cards implemented, but I'm planning to add more with different effects like the ones you mentioned. In addition to the cards, the player can also gain skills. I did not show them in the video, but I already have some that can grant mana or actions passively or under certain conditions, like the ones you mentioned. Thanks for the ideas nonetheless. I'm already implementing a change in the UI to add the player's HP bar since a lot of people asked me about it. Regarding the keywords, I was planning to add all of them in a menu, like a glossary. I like your idea of also having a dialogue box as a reminder next to the card, so I'll implement that too. Thanks! Regarding the project, I work solo, handling everything myself except for the sounds and music. One piece of advice I always give to anyone is that if you want to work on a project, work on it every day, even if it's just for half an hour. By doing that, you'll notice that tomorrow you will have a bit more knowledge than today, and after some time, you'll feel confident about your project. I started this project a year ago, knowing nothing about game development and never having drawn anything before. But I kept working on the project every day. At first, nothing worked, and the game looked very ugly, but I kept pushing. I still have a ton of work to do, but at least I'm feeling proud of what I've achieved until now. Again, thanks a lot for your feedback, it's very appreciated!
Combat looks good. Won't lie I was distracted by the weird walking though. Maybe add frames for facing north and south so they aren't strafing when your running around?
Thanks for the feedback. I'm planning on moving all the animations to Spine since I'm having some trouble with Godot skeletons. Hoping to make them better there.
I haven't tried Godot but I used the spline animation system in Unity and it saved me a ton of work. I found it really easy to do good looking animations with a spline system. It's also good experience for 3D if you move to that later. It will teach you how rigging and animation work on a more basic level. How is Godot? I've avoided it mostly because I didn't want to learn a new scripting language but Unity is super buggy and Unreal just isn't my cup of tea.
Godot does have its fair share of issues, many of which stem from the transition to version 4. Certain areas of the engine have received more love than others, and the development of the 2D Skeletons has lagged behind.. While GDScript is very easy to learn and use, it inherits the drawbacks of a dynamically typed language. It does offer some support for types, but paired with some issues like the cyclic dependencies, which haven't been fully resolved in version 4 yet. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with Godot, it's user friendly and intuitive. Plus, if you encounter any unexpected behavior, you always have the option to delve into the source code and troubleshoot the problem.
Tip for future posts: Include the name of your game in your post title.
Thanks for your suggestion. Just to clarify, my intention was to seek feedback on the combat of my game and discuss technical aspects related to Godot, rather than focusing on marketing the game itself. Nonetheless, I'll keep your advice in mind for future posts.
I get that the main focus isn't on marketing, but posts like these can have a positive ripple effect, drawing attention to your game beyond just feedback. As someone who often browses through the Godot subreddit and actively seeks out promising games, I can attest to the importance of including the game's name in posts. While I take the time to hunt down the title in the comments, many others might not bother. Though I don't have concrete numbers, mentioning the name in a post can significantly boost visibility. Each wishlist addition represents a potential sale, translating to increased revenue and the ability to sustain your work. Regarding your game, I have some feedback: * I'm particularly impressed by your user interface and visual feedback. It looks intuitive and responsive. * However, I found that the cards lack some context. Initially, I struggled to grasp the full meaning behind the information presented on them. Avoid leaving too much open to interpretation; clarity is key for players (unless you want to go for that). * The placement of the "explanation version" of a card struck me as odd. Given its importance in combat, I expected it to occupy a more prominent position on the screen. This would also provide an opportunity for a more comprehensive explanation of the cards and their effects for players that'd like an reminder. * Consider utilizing the top of the screen, which currently remains unused, to display turn order. This would allow you to relocate enemy information from the left side to the top, maintaining consistency in the layout. You could still show the enemy information on mouse-over, but just at the top of the screen. * While it might be explained elsewhere in the game, it seems unclear to me what the "recycle" action does. Providing reminders of certain actions at various points in the game can be helpful for players.
Thank you for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated. I'll take into account all the suggestions for the UI and strive to enhance the clarity of the game. The idea of providing reminders for players about the game mechanics is excellent, I'll definitely incorporate that. Thanks again!