Just finished the game. Some thoughts.

[Erudite Archon Axel]

As the title says, I just finished the game and wanted to list some thoughts and feedback. First of all, wow. There isn't enough space here for me to praise this enough so I'll just say, kudos to such a small team for what you have made here! This feels like so many other great boomer-shooters, while definitely maintaining its own personality. The atmosphere is great, the combat is fast and punchy and satisfying. With some balance changes here and there, and some cleanup to the levels, this one can be almost up there with the greats like Dusk, and that is very very high praise. I can go on and on gushing about this game, but suffice it to say this one really surprised me and I'm generally really impressed with what the devs have made with such a small crew and small budget. Congrats.

My main gripe is some general balance here and there. Some things I noted in my personal experience (others may have had different experiences and may greatly disagree) but these are just my personal thoughts:

Enemy variety and balance feels generally pretty good. However, the Beekeeper obviously just has too much health. The crossbow takes so many hits just to kill him, he doesn't seem to bleed out from the bleed-pistol which also makes him very heavy on ammo consumption unless you want to just treat him like a knight and lob a skull or grenade or gallows at him and be done with it, but as a general enemy they feel very out-of-place. Their bees move pretty fast and REQUIRE you to waste mana to kill them unless you kill him first, which is unlikely given their health pool and the fact that they can't be headshotted, and on top of that, they go through walls. Many times I've been hit by bees from beekeepers I didn't even know were there, which just feels...un-fun. I really like their design and the fact that they were included and are designed like gregorian-era/medieval beekepers, but that dissolves instantly whenever I see one in a level.

The zombies feel too fast and quiet, and attack in hordes of instant-lunging free-damage annoyances. Sure they die very very easily, but even the weapon it feels like is intended to fight them (axe and shield) does NOT deal with them well as you can barely block a horde before your shield is gone. The pistol deals well with them, but I feel like almost every time they are on screen at least one gets a free hit on me before I can actually deal with them.

That is really it for my enemy balance problems though. Everything else feels really well balanced and fun to fight. Except the fire crossbow guys, but that isn't on you guys, that is on me for sucking.

However, with weapon and spell balance I had a few small issues.

I've talked about it on here before, but after finishing the game and getting all the mods and everything, the Crossbow just feels...wrong. It has a slow-moving, arcing projectile, and in its default form has to be charged. With the rapid-fire mod, it feels MUCH more generally-useful, but this still doesn't stop it from feeling like the worst weapon in the arsenal by a long shot. The pistol does EVERYTHING it can do, but cheaper, faster, and more efficiently. The rapid-fire mod makes the climb the weapon has actually noticeable, which further reduces its overall accuracy, and it isn't even good against armor, which I feel would be its only use-case. It is a confusing weapon because it feels accurate, but isn't. It feels strong, but isn't. I am a crossbow and bow simp in almost everything I play. I'll be the first to tell you when a bow or crossbow is good and this one just doesn't feel good.

The Axe and Shield were my best friend and worst enemy. I loved the melee combat, but In almost all cases where I thought I'd use it, guns were a better option. The first couple levels are the only place it really could shine. Later when the zombies came I thought it'd become much more useful, but oh man is it bad versus the zombies. It just feels like all the enemies get free-damage when I'm using it because they all hit so much faster than you, even if you block. And blocking was very limited as well so I basically only used it against the basic villager mobs, and even they hit me all the time when I did.

My only other complaint in the weapon category would be that you don't get to use the "Super Weapon" you get towards the end for longer, but that isn't really on the devs. Oh, and maybe make some of the alt-fire mods consume a chunk of ammo instead of having their own ammo? I was always afraid to use them because of not being able to find more ammo for them, and that was a true shame because they were really really fun to use.

And finally we arrive at spells. They are all in one way or another useful, but do they feel well-balanced? Not really. Mana shard is...fine I guess. It deals with armor well and that is what it is for, but outside that I NEVER touched it because guns were always a better option. Same with Pyre. Pyre feels very weak to me. I never used it on an enemy that wasn't Beekeeper bees. It has too short of range, takes too long to extend to its full range, and costs too much when you combine it with those other two factors. Then you have the Necromancy spell. This one was puzzling as well. On the one hand, you have an invincible melee companion that does good damage and deals with foot-soldier enemies well, but couple its short life with its high cost and then add in how late in the game you get it and it just seemed kind of a shame to me. I would have loved to have had that spell earlier and it may have even helped out the melee combat a bit to have some cover or a companion like that with you. But it definitely needed a longer duration to make it useful even for how short-lived your time with the spell is.

And with that, I think that concludes my thoughts on this game. Again, I want to reiterate to the devs or anyone reading that these are CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS and not just me ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ or complaining because I want to state for the record, /I loved this game./ It is a real gem-in-the-rough, and you can expect to hear more about it in the future when it has had time to get the attention it deserves from all sources. I wouldn't be surpised to see Civvie do a video on it someday. Kudos again to the devs.

[gatorshins]

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

Enemy variety and balance feels generally pretty good. However, the Beekeeper obviously just has too much health. The crossbow takes so many hits just to kill him, he doesn't seem to bleed out from the bleed-pistol which also makes him very heavy on ammo consumption unless you want to just treat him like a knight and lob a skull or grenade or gallows at him and be done with it, but as a general enemy they feel very out-of-place. Their bees move pretty fast and REQUIRE you to waste mana to kill them unless you kill him first, which is unlikely given their health pool and the fact that they can't be headshotted, and on top of that, they go through walls. Many times I've been hit by bees from beekeepers I didn't even know were there, which just feels...un-fun. I really like their design and the fact that they were included and are designed like gregorian-era/medieval beekepers, but that dissolves instantly whenever I see one in a level.

Yeah agreed the beekeeper has too much health overall. You can one shot him in the head with the crossbow but other than that he takes way too much damage, got it on my to-do list for the next patch.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

The zombies feel too fast and quiet, and attack in hordes of instant-lunging free-damage annoyances. Sure they die very very easily, but even the weapon it feels like is intended to fight them (axe and shield) does NOT deal with them well as you can barely block a horde before your shield is gone. The pistol deals well with them, but I feel like almost every time they are on screen at least one gets a free hit on me before I can actually deal with them.

I had to remove the footsteps from the zombies in the last patch as they weren't working correctly and causing performance issues when the zombies were spawned in by the end boss. Going to find a new solution for the footsteps as well as increasing the volume of the zombies alert sounds so the player is more aware of them. I could also make the windup on their attack longer but make them deal more damage if they land a hit, so you have a much better chance of avoiding their attacks but if they do land a hit it will deal more damage.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

I've talked about it on here before, but after finishing the game and getting all the mods and everything, the Crossbow just feels...wrong. It has a slow-moving, arcing projectile, and in its default form has to be charged. With the rapid-fire mod, it feels MUCH more generally-useful, but this still doesn't stop it from feeling like the worst weapon in the arsenal by a long shot. The pistol does EVERYTHING it can do, but cheaper, faster, and more efficiently. The rapid-fire mod makes the climb the weapon has actually noticeable, which further reduces its overall accuracy, and it isn't even good against armor, which I feel would be its only use-case. It is a confusing weapon because it feels accurate, but isn't. It feels strong, but isn't. I am a crossbow and bow simp in almost everything I play. I'll be the first to tell you when a bow or crossbow is good and this one just doesn't feel good.

Yeah the crossbow will be getting a buff overall, less arrow drop as well as dealing more damage to enemy torsos/legs. As well as dealing more damage to armor.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

The Axe and Shield were my best friend and worst enemy. I loved the melee combat, but In almost all cases where I thought I'd use it, guns were a better option. The first couple levels are the only place it really could shine. Later when the zombies came I thought it'd become much more useful, but oh man is it bad versus the zombies. It just feels like all the enemies get free-damage when I'm using it because they all hit so much faster than you, even if you block. And blocking was very limited as well so I basically only used it against the basic villager mobs, and even they hit me all the time when I did.

Yeah the axe becomes more of a fallback weapon though combined with the mana siphon spell you can harvest a bunch of mana and then go wild with the axe heavy attack, taking out a bunch of enemies. You can charge it while holding up the shield as well so you can mitigate taking damage while waiting to get a good charged shot in to one-shot an enemy. It will be better against the zombies when I lengthen their windup for their attack.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

My only other complaint in the weapon category would be that you don't get to use the "Super Weapon" you get towards the end for longer, but that isn't really on the devs.

Yeah there's not much time to use it currently but I will be re-adding the custom game menu soon which lets you replay the game with any weapons/spells you want as well as gameplay modifiers.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

Oh, and maybe make some of the alt-fire mods consume a chunk of ammo instead of having their own ammo? I was always afraid to use them because of not being able to find more ammo for them, and that was a true shame because they were really really fun to use.

I'm going to go through and add more alt-ammo for the weapons since it's quite lacking, that should fix the issue I think.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

And finally we arrive at spells. They are all in one way or another useful, but do they feel well-balanced? Not really. Mana shard is...fine I guess. It deals with armor well and that is what it is for, but outside that I NEVER touched it because guns were always a better option.

The mana shard is great for stunning enemies, combined with the pistol you can do a quick kill on quite a lot of enemies if you stun them with the mana shard then get a headshot. Same with the first charged attack with the mana shard, you can send out an orb which is useful for stunning multiple enemies, leaving them open for a one hit kill with the axe or pistol if you hit them in the head. Even more so if you enable slow mo, you can chain a bunch of kills together quickly. And tbf the second charged attack, it makes very quick work of pretty much any enemy, especially knights. It will eat through them in a second or so.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

Same with Pyre. Pyre feels very weak to me. I never used it on an enemy that wasn't Beekeeper bees. It has too short of range, takes too long to extend to its full range, and costs too much when you combine it with those other two factors.

Very much agreed with this, it's on my to-do list to make it function better. It currently uses particle collisions which I've come to learn are quite inconsistent. I've got an idea on how to fix it so it's range is better and it's collisions are triggered properly so it feels a lot more useful. Also on my to-do list is to make it more obvious when the spell is colliding with enemies, so they'll have an emissive texture fade in, so you know you're cooking them alive 😅

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

hen you have the Necromancy spell. This one was puzzling as well. On the one hand, you have an invincible melee companion that does good damage and deals with foot-soldier enemies well, but couple its short life with its high cost and then add in how late in the game you get it and it just seemed kind of a shame to me. I would have loved to have had that spell earlier and it may have even helped out the melee combat a bit to have some cover or a companion like that with you. But it definitely needed a longer duration to make it useful even for how short-lived your time with the spell is.

Definitely agree with this as well, I'm tempted to move it earlier in the last level so you get more of an opportunity to use it. I initially had plans to have the player able to upgrade the spells so you could improve the length of the undead chaps lifespan, as well as allowing it to regain lifespan when it kills enemies. I might just increase the lifespan overall since these upgrades are no longer in the game.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

And with that, I think that concludes my thoughts on this game. Again, I want to reiterate to the devs or anyone reading that these are CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS and not just me ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ or complaining because I want to state for the record, /I loved this game./ It is a real gem-in-the-rough, and you can expect to hear more about it in the future when it has had time to get the attention it deserves from all sources. I wouldn't be surpised to see Civvie do a video on it someday. Kudos again to the devs.

Nah I'm all for constructive criticism, it really does make the game better overall and helps me focus on what needs to be improved. It's very easy to get tunnel vision when working as a solo dev.

Just had a lot of criticism lately which is mostly just people wanting the game to be entirely different and built specifically for them. Which pisses me off majorly as it's not about one singular persons experience and tastes. This feedback you have left is spot on, it highlights what's wrong with the game without you asking me to make the game into something else entirely. So it's very much appreciated, so thank you <3

If Civvie did a video on the game I think I could die happy 😅 Thank you for playing the game and again, thank you for the feedback.

[Erudite Archon Axel]

Originally posted by gatorshins:

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

Enemy variety and balance feels generally pretty good. However, the Beekeeper obviously just has too much health. The crossbow takes so many hits just to kill him, he doesn't seem to bleed out from the bleed-pistol which also makes him very heavy on ammo consumption unless you want to just treat him like a knight and lob a skull or grenade or gallows at him and be done with it, but as a general enemy they feel very out-of-place. Their bees move pretty fast and REQUIRE you to waste mana to kill them unless you kill him first, which is unlikely given their health pool and the fact that they can't be headshotted, and on top of that, they go through walls. Many times I've been hit by bees from beekeepers I didn't even know were there, which just feels...un-fun. I really like their design and the fact that they were included and are designed like gregorian-era/medieval beekepers, but that dissolves instantly whenever I see one in a level.

Yeah agreed the beekeeper has too much health overall. You can one shot him in the head with the crossbow but other than that he takes way too much damage, got it on my to-do list for the next patch.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

The zombies feel too fast and quiet, and attack in hordes of instant-lunging free-damage annoyances. Sure they die very very easily, but even the weapon it feels like is intended to fight them (axe and shield) does NOT deal with them well as you can barely block a horde before your shield is gone. The pistol deals well with them, but I feel like almost every time they are on screen at least one gets a free hit on me before I can actually deal with them.

I had to remove the footsteps from the zombies in the last patch as they weren't working correctly and causing performance issues when the zombies were spawned in by the end boss. Going to find a new solution for the footsteps as well as increasing the volume of the zombies alert sounds so the player is more aware of them. I could also make the windup on their attack longer but make them deal more damage if they land a hit, so you have a much better chance of avoiding their attacks but if they do land a hit it will deal more damage.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

I've talked about it on here before, but after finishing the game and getting all the mods and everything, the Crossbow just feels...wrong. It has a slow-moving, arcing projectile, and in its default form has to be charged. With the rapid-fire mod, it feels MUCH more generally-useful, but this still doesn't stop it from feeling like the worst weapon in the arsenal by a long shot. The pistol does EVERYTHING it can do, but cheaper, faster, and more efficiently. The rapid-fire mod makes the climb the weapon has actually noticeable, which further reduces its overall accuracy, and it isn't even good against armor, which I feel would be its only use-case. It is a confusing weapon because it feels accurate, but isn't. It feels strong, but isn't. I am a crossbow and bow simp in almost everything I play. I'll be the first to tell you when a bow or crossbow is good and this one just doesn't feel good.

Yeah the crossbow will be getting a buff overall, less arrow drop as well as dealing more damage to enemy torsos/legs. As well as dealing more damage to armor.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

The Axe and Shield were my best friend and worst enemy. I loved the melee combat, but In almost all cases where I thought I'd use it, guns were a better option. The first couple levels are the only place it really could shine. Later when the zombies came I thought it'd become much more useful, but oh man is it bad versus the zombies. It just feels like all the enemies get free-damage when I'm using it because they all hit so much faster than you, even if you block. And blocking was very limited as well so I basically only used it against the basic villager mobs, and even they hit me all the time when I did.

Yeah the axe becomes more of a fallback weapon though combined with the mana siphon spell you can harvest a bunch of mana and then go wild with the axe heavy attack, taking out a bunch of enemies. You can charge it while holding up the shield as well so you can mitigate taking damage while waiting to get a good charged shot in to one-shot an enemy. It will be better against the zombies when I lengthen their windup for their attack.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

My only other complaint in the weapon category would be that you don't get to use the "Super Weapon" you get towards the end for longer, but that isn't really on the devs.

Yeah there's not much time to use it currently but I will be re-adding the custom game menu soon which lets you replay the game with any weapons/spells you want as well as gameplay modifiers.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

Oh, and maybe make some of the alt-fire mods consume a chunk of ammo instead of having their own ammo? I was always afraid to use them because of not being able to find more ammo for them, and that was a true shame because they were really really fun to use.

I'm going to go through and add more alt-ammo for the weapons since it's quite lacking, that should fix the issue I think.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

And finally we arrive at spells. They are all in one way or another useful, but do they feel well-balanced? Not really. Mana shard is...fine I guess. It deals with armor well and that is what it is for, but outside that I NEVER touched it because guns were always a better option.

The mana shard is great for stunning enemies, combined with the pistol you can do a quick kill on quite a lot of enemies if you stun them with the mana shard then get a headshot. Same with the first charged attack with the mana shard, you can send out an orb which is useful for stunning multiple enemies, leaving them open for a one hit kill with the axe or pistol if you hit them in the head. Even more so if you enable slow mo, you can chain a bunch of kills together quickly. And tbf the second charged attack, it makes very quick work of pretty much any enemy, especially knights. It will eat through them in a second or so.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

Same with Pyre. Pyre feels very weak to me. I never used it on an enemy that wasn't Beekeeper bees. It has too short of range, takes too long to extend to its full range, and costs too much when you combine it with those other two factors.

Very much agreed with this, it's on my to-do list to make it function better. It currently uses particle collisions which I've come to learn are quite inconsistent. I've got an idea on how to fix it so it's range is better and it's collisions are triggered properly so it feels a lot more useful. Also on my to-do list is to make it more obvious when the spell is colliding with enemies, so they'll have an emissive texture fade in, so you know you're cooking them alive 😅

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

hen you have the Necromancy spell. This one was puzzling as well. On the one hand, you have an invincible melee companion that does good damage and deals with foot-soldier enemies well, but couple its short life with its high cost and then add in how late in the game you get it and it just seemed kind of a shame to me. I would have loved to have had that spell earlier and it may have even helped out the melee combat a bit to have some cover or a companion like that with you. But it definitely needed a longer duration to make it useful even for how short-lived your time with the spell is.

Definitely agree with this as well, I'm tempted to move it earlier in the last level so you get more of an opportunity to use it. I initially had plans to have the player able to upgrade the spells so you could improve the length of the undead chaps lifespan, as well as allowing it to regain lifespan when it kills enemies. I might just increase the lifespan overall since these upgrades are no longer in the game.

Originally posted by Erudite Archon Axel:

And with that, I think that concludes my thoughts on this game. Again, I want to reiterate to the devs or anyone reading that these are CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS and not just me ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ or complaining because I want to state for the record, /I loved this game./ It is a real gem-in-the-rough, and you can expect to hear more about it in the future when it has had time to get the attention it deserves from all sources. I wouldn't be surpised to see Civvie do a video on it someday. Kudos again to the devs.

Nah I'm all for constructive criticism, it really does make the game better overall and helps me focus on what needs to be improved. It's very easy to get tunnel vision when working as a solo dev.

Just had a lot of criticism lately which is mostly just people wanting the game to be entirely different and built specifically for them. Which pisses me off majorly as it's not about one singular persons experience and tastes. This feedback you have left is spot on, it highlights what's wrong with the game without you asking me to make the game into something else entirely. So it's very much appreciated, so thank you <3

If Civvie did a video on the game I think I could die happy 😅 Thank you for playing the game and again, thank you for the feedback.

Thank you for what you have made here for a seemingly-undeserving crowd. I am sorry to hear you have been receiving so much unhelpful criticism lately, and I want to state again, what I loved about the game VASTLY outweighed what criticisms I did have for it. Never did I find any of the balance issues I had with the game ruining or majorly bringing down my experience. I can just see that with some tweaks and re-balancing, this game can go from excellent to almost perfect.

And try not to feel too pressured or rushed. As they say 'let them cook'. I definitely believe in the sentiment that game devs are people too and given time can produce amazing products like this one. You keep killing it and we'll keep playing.

[Guantanamo Bae]

The crossbow being strong against armour, especially at full charge, would do a lot to redeem it in my mind. I'd also considering buffing the benefits for flaming arrows.

I feel like spells currently feel a bit weak- bullet time is almost always a better use of your power. Either allow for more mana recovery from corpses (encouraging us to use spells more, making it less risky to expend mana), or buffing the spells themselves. I feel like magic is fun, but we're constantly discouraged from using it because it runs out so quickly, and while it doesn't achieve all that much in most situations, getting attacked by armoured enemies is not fun when you don't have mana and often results in game over. So of course, we don't use our spells in combat, except against armoured enemies.

It might be worth considering adding mana regeneration up to a certain amount, so that we always have enough to cast one volley of mana crystal.

Otherwise, this game is amazing, it feels like a genuine classic in the making, and I do agree with a few tweaks this game could definitely be up in the pantheon with Dusk.

[gatorshins]

Originally posted by Guantanamo Bae:

The crossbow being strong against armour, especially at full charge, would do a lot to redeem it in my mind. I'd also considering buffing the benefits for flaming arrows.

I feel like spells currently feel a bit weak- bullet time is almost always a better use of your power. Either allow for more mana recovery from corpses (encouraging us to use spells more, making it less risky to expend mana), or buffing the spells themselves. I feel like magic is fun, but we're constantly discouraged from using it because it runs out so quickly, and while it doesn't achieve all that much in most situations, getting attacked by armoured enemies is not fun when you don't have mana and often results in game over. So of course, we don't use our spells in combat, except against armoured enemies.

It might be worth considering adding mana regeneration up to a certain amount, so that we always have enough to cast one volley of mana crystal.

Otherwise, this game is amazing, it feels like a genuine classic in the making, and I do agree with a few tweaks this game could definitely be up in the pantheon with Dusk.

I've just spent this morning buffing the crossbow, it now does much more damage in general and a tonne more against armored enemies.

Will look into making mana more plentiful as well.

Thanks for playing and for the feedback :)

[iamgeorge82]

Originally posted by gatorshins:

Originally posted by Guantanamo Bae:

The crossbow being strong against armour, especially at full charge, would do a lot to redeem it in my mind. I'd also considering buffing the benefits for flaming arrows.

I feel like spells currently feel a bit weak- bullet time is almost always a better use of your power. Either allow for more mana recovery from corpses (encouraging us to use spells more, making it less risky to expend mana), or buffing the spells themselves. I feel like magic is fun, but we're constantly discouraged from using it because it runs out so quickly, and while it doesn't achieve all that much in most situations, getting attacked by armoured enemies is not fun when you don't have mana and often results in game over. So of course, we don't use our spells in combat, except against armoured enemies.

It might be worth considering adding mana regeneration up to a certain amount, so that we always have enough to cast one volley of mana crystal.

Otherwise, this game is amazing, it feels like a genuine classic in the making, and I do agree with a few tweaks this game could definitely be up in the pantheon with Dusk.

I've just spent this morning buffing the crossbow, it now does much more damage in general and a tonne more against armored enemies.

Will look into making mana more plentiful as well.

Thanks for playing and for the feedback :)

The mana recharge GB suggests is a great idea. Wolfenstein new games had a similar system with health so it could automatically recharge to 20% giving you chance to get out of a bad situation

[gatorshins]

Originally posted by iamgeorge82:

Originally posted by gatorshins:

I've just spent this morning buffing the crossbow, it now does much more damage in general and a tonne more against armored enemies.

Will look into making mana more plentiful as well.

Thanks for playing and for the feedback :)

The mana recharge GB suggests is a great idea. Wolfenstein new games had a similar system with health so it could automatically recharge to 20% giving you chance to get out of a bad situation

Aye I'm looking into this today.