OUTBUDDIES - a 16bit style metroidvania (with alpha demo!)

[Julian82]

Updated the demo to v3.35R! Thanks for your awesome and helpful feedback so far

Change log: Bug fixes in the physics engine, improved tutorial section, new enemy sprites, rebalanced plasma gun with charge indication
Your old save data will be fine!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dud51y7d7...lHxMYkAKa?dl=0

Also my brother Tobi contributed some great cover art in the style of 70s Sci-Fi magazines! Thanks a lot bro, good to have you on board!

[nim]

Thanks, I'll check this out too! Now that you mention it... where is the save data?

[Julian82]

C:\Users\(yourname)\AppData\Roaming\outbuddies. The AppData folder may be hidden in your default windows config.

The command line for saving data there using the file object is: AppDataDirectory$( "File" ) + "\gametitle\"

[Del_Duio]

WOW wtf how did I miss this???

It's like Metroid and Blaster Master had a baby, this looks great Julian82!
I haven't tried the demo yet but I hope to when I get some extra time.

[Julian82]

@Del_Duio: Thanks Your Blaster Master comparison is funny - I actually had plans to implement a mech-like combat suit (like the Big Daddy in Bioshock); you would need to leave it and explore narrow corridors and caves now and then in a vulnerable state. Finally I dropped it, as I would have needed a zoom feature for that and zooming with a pixel shader was too resource heavy next to the complex AIs I´m running. I also had a look at Equin and dropped you a vote, looks really great!

[Del_Duio]

Cool thanks for your vote!! I think it'll get through it'll just take a bit. I don't care as long as it goes through in the end

Maybe it's a good thing you didn't have the guy get out of the suit, because that's probably all you'd hear: "OMG IT'S BLASTERR MASTURR 2.0!!!"

There's a ton of great projects you guys have been up to (this, Jarvis, some others) that I can't wait for. And best of all the more good games that are made with MMF the more people will want to give it a shot themselves and become ONE OF US. Dunn dunn duunn!!

[Del_Duio]

Okay I tried the alpha demo out the other day and thought it was pretty good BUT I actually ended up dying in the tutorial haha.
Maybe have it so you can't die in the tutorial?

Also there's really no direction at all as to where to go about halfway through it (the tutorial stage I mean). I love LOVE LOVE Metroid so this might be what you're aiming for however it might be something people nitpick about later.

I like the font too. Is it the default text blitter font image?

[Julian82]

Yes! The font is text blitter default!

Thanks for playing! Too bad you died quickly;( Getting the difficulty right at the start of the game seems to be a difficult task. I´ve seen some players rush through the whole thing and beating the boss without a scratch and others already struggle in the first rooms.

Did you die of fall damage? The fall damage is something that really polarizes. I was inspired by the Souls series and one of my favorite SNES games Flashback when implementing it. I wanted to force the player to move more carefully through the environments and adapt to the climbing mechanics early in the game.

At the moment I´m working on a new build with more different enemy types and a slightly higher difficulty level, will post it when it´s ready

[Del_Duio]

I get some flack for Just a Cleric also having fall damage in it, I feel ya'

I think if you're going to have fall damage in Outbuddies maybe there should be a way to look down too? I noticed the guy can look upwards to see what's above him but (I don't think) he can look down to see what's below him. I like how you can scale mossy walls but sometimes I found it tough to tell the difference between a mossy wall and a regular non-climbable wall. Also is the steam roll as OP as it seems? If you can use it as a dodge roll type of move with so many iframes it's really strong. You might want to keep it that way of course- I haven't seen all this game's enemies so there might be some that take advantage of this mechanic.

[Julian82]

You have some good points here!

I´ll probably work out a looking down mechanic. In the build I´m currently working on the player will be able to kneel down besides the already implemented crouching mechanic. I could combine this with a camera shift downward when kneeling at a cliffs edge.

I´ll also add options to customize the games difficulty by letting the player deactivate fall damage and choosing the respawn point (last save point vs the room you just died). I think there are basically two types of metroidvania players: The Explorer-guy that wants to enjoy the experience and doesn´t like to die at all VS the Hardcore/Souls-guy that loves iterate after being punished by rushed steps or wrong enemy approach. The game should be enjoyable for both. I myself rarely spend time on games that punish me with a throwback, I just have no time left to play anymore;(

And: You´ll need the dodge roll badly, trust me:P