Demoliton Debs Prototype 2
This is a prototype sonic-style platformer with some ideas taken from Pizza tower, featuring a gay punk armadillo.
In this second prototype, I have fixed several physics bugs, allowing you to finally roll in all 360 degrees. There are now also 3 playable characters with unique abilities.
CONTROLS:
Move - Arrow Keys
Jump - A
"Trick" - S
Special Moves:
Ball Form- If you hold down you will curl into a ball. You pick up speed faster on slopes while a ball.
Mach Speed- If you go fast enough you can smash certain blocks.
Mach Turn- If you press the trick button and the opposite direction to your movement, while at mach speed, you will enter a slide that redirects your speed in a different direction.
Drill Dive (Debs & Nacht only)- Press Down and Trick while airborne. You will dive directly downward at high speed. If you are on a slope this can be redirected into horizontal speed.
Mach Climb (Metal & Nacht only)- If you hit a vertical wall while airborne and at mach speed (while holding trick), you will run straight up the wall.
Homing Attack (Nacht only)- If you are in the air and close enough to an enemy (in this version there's only balloons) press the trick button to be launched directly at them at high speed.
Spin Dash (Metal only) - When stopped, press down and trick, then release down. You will be launched in the direction your facing.
PLAYABLE CHARACTERS:
Harvey N. Debs - A young "direct-action" environmentalist Armadillo with attitude.
OT-HAAArV "Metal" - This robotic rival was definitely not built specifically by the villain to stop Harvey. Metal is fast and accelerates linearly, but can be a bit slippery. The in-game description says that he has a boost, but this is a lie. I disabled it because Metal is already fast enough.
EK-n Naomi "Nacht" - Nacht is bigger* and slower than Harvey, but has a speed-boosting homing attack. He also has a higher jump. Nacht is also trans-masc btw.
LEVEL PARS: (comment if you can beat these times)
Tutorial - 50 seconds
Iguanopolis - 40 seconds
Sunset Showroom - 30 seconds
Notes
- * Nacht's collider is not actually bigger than Harvey's. I will implement this at some point.
- Nacht's homing attack can be spammed, but I'll also fix that later.
Development log
- Prototype Version 2.4May 06, 2023
- Prototype Version 2.3Apr 19, 2023
- Prototype Version 2.2Apr 17, 2023
Comments
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Feels very slow, Here's some tips for momentum based games:
1. add a minimum speed to the characters, or make them accelerate very fast at the start of running. This stops it feeling sluggish when you need to start running
2. Speed. Barriers. When the characters transition from normal to fast speeds (when the characters are able to break metal), The characters should jump up in speed to make the transition feel more impactful
3. Just general fluidity of motion, the characters currently feel very jerky which can be bad for momentum based games. Some jerkiness can be had to emphasize an action but fluidity is generally better
4. Acceleration. The characters need some way to accelerate quickly. this would be the spin dash in sonic or the grab dash in pizza tower. This can help to Make the player feel faster and more in control.
Hope this mini-essay of mine helped at all!
Thank you for this, this is the longest piece of feedback I've gotten so far.
First, I find it interesting that you call it slow, personally I think the player is a bit too fast. Can you elaborate on what makes it feel slow?
1. Interesting, the player already uses an acceleration curve with a very sharp peak at very low speeds- maybe it should be higher.
2. I'll definitely look into that.
3. True. I think some of this needs to be fixed with code, and some of it with animations. For example the mach turn shouldn't just instantly adjust your speed but accelerate toward it. I'll work on that next.
4. I had a feeling while making this that the spin dash was a bit of a crutch for poor level design. (I feel that the drill dive allows the player to interact with the terrain in a more interesting way) Maybe it still has a place.
The sharp acceleration curve certainly helps but when the player first starts It needs to snap up to a minimum speed. The acceleration is great at higher speeds but I don't think the player really needs to walk that slow at the start of the run.
The spin dash and other acceleration methods can help to make the levels flow better and reward skillful play for knowing when to use them and having the risk-reward of burst speed. The drill dive helps but if there are no slopes around or slopes are in awkward places for speed it can be a trouble to use. I feel the Drill dive is a tool to help retain momentum in situations when you need to move directly down, perhaps from a standstill. I see it more as a momentum preserving move rather than momentum gaining. as you are unlikely to use it from standstill.
From standstill the most effective way to get going is to run the opposite direction then mach turn as it gives you a massive boost in speed for some reason