'First' post and just released a roguelike called Morf
Some of you have seen me argue with everybody in the General forums. But I thought I'd make use of this opportunity to introduce myself. I'm from Pretoria and have been developing games since a very early age. A few years ago I started taking it more seriously and I just released my first full game today.
It's a web-based roguelike and after a few seconds of playing, you'll be able to tell what the main differentiating feature is. Works 'best' in chrome and safari in that they're the only browsers in which the sounds work.
Link to devblog
Link to game
It's a web-based roguelike and after a few seconds of playing, you'll be able to tell what the main differentiating feature is. Works 'best' in chrome and safari in that they're the only browsers in which the sounds work.
Link to devblog
Link to game
Comments
I think I got about 8 levels down before I died. The morph into the creature you've just slain system was interesting, I found myself mostly strategising about it only really when there was a druid or orc around: I'd move around so that I could take out the druid/orc last, that way I could use mana to heal up. It took me a while to figure out what the swoop ability did, only noticed it when a bat seemed to be using it against me. It didn't seem to help when I tried it around an enemy though, they still hit me anyway - I assume that it's a mobility thing then?
I had some trouble with the interface. At first I didn't notice when weapons and armor were breaking (and I couldn't tell what the "X" stat on an item was, having a guide for that sort of stuff would be awesome, especially when you've already got mouse-over hover info, there's a ton of screen real-estate that you're not going to be using during inventory management anyway, put more info there!), then eventually when I twigged what was going on I kept wanting to click on the slot itself to equip a new item there, and I'd zoom halfway across the map instead of opening up the inventory. I'd strongly suggest making an animation for when stuff breaks AND changing the text colour for those messages. That way players will notice the breaking easier - I actually thought that each different form I morphed into had its own weapon/item slots for a while.
Would love to see a grimoire that explained each creature and its special ability in more detail. What's next, sounds? :)
I'm actually working on a new game at the moment which I am very excited about. Details this weekend. But I will release a patch for Morf within the next few months, fixing minor bugs, enhancing the UI, doing a bit of balancing and maybe adding a bit of content as well.
A grimoire would be amazing, thanks for the idea. The art was done by my dev partner Terri Vellmann and I'm sure he'd love doing something like that.
Also, played in FF, hence no sounds. Bugger.
I'm pretty sure if you fix the interface niggles you could easily get this a mention on IndieGames.com and probably /r/roguelikes would dive into it for a bit to give you feedback too.
Glad you feel that way about the game though, it's always nice to get compliments from someone who has 'been there'.
It's a rad game and you've got a neat system going with the morphing. Add the juiciness!
If you'd like to see some of the feedback I got you can browse through this post.
I'd be very happy to hear any other advice you might have for the game, btw.
The graphics are top notch pixel stuff most of the time, some stuff are a bit hard to distinguish but that's pixel art for you.
Oh, something hasn't yet been mentioned, the game perhaps just needs some leading in or reconsidering of some interface elements, they make sense after a while but that learning gets a bit confusing. For example the auto attach exchange thing confused me for a while, I couldn't figure out why the I took like 5 hits in a row. I guess generally it's just needing some prompting and polishing to make sure the player knows their options.
The mechanics are really cool, morphing into enemies you kill is super neat and opens up quite a bit of possibilities in emergent play.
Would love to see more!
That said, I absolutely LOVE the limited durability system, it directly combats the all-too-common problem of "find one weapon and use it for a million years".
Thanks for the feedback!