Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

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na_th_an
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by na_th_an »

Understood. I got an idea which Will make a better game for the cart, thanks
na_th_an
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by na_th_an »

Following the ideas reported in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=32&t=15494&start=15 I've updated the game a bit for the multicart:

- I've changed the way jump physics are handled. Now the curve is smoother and jumps are easier controlled.
- I've corrected the "displaying the map resets the enemies" issue.

There's still some things I'll be changing for the cart, though.
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gauauu
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by gauauu »

I haven't played enough with this new build to know how it works with the various room layouts, but it feels a lot more natural to me.
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by FrankenGraphics »

Played through the new version and tried to vacuum the areas for potential layout problems in the process. WARNING SPOILERS INSIDE ZIP.
cheril.zip
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pic 1: Slight difficulty making the jump up the shaft to the direct right of cheril because of headbump into the ceiling. It was there before, but might be slightly more pronounced than before.
pic 2: Staying on this moving platform for too long leads to an unexpected dropthrough because it goes too close to the ceiling, which feels a little like a symptom of evil dungeon master/cheap death syndrome.
pic 3: slightly difficult jump for what i percieve as the wrong reasons. Same thing as with pic 1.
pic 4: extremely difficult jump to make without superpower; however half the trouble is not bumping against a block on the x axis, so i think it was the same before. Here, i think the difficulty might potentially be appropriate for skilled speedrunners.
pic 5: not being able to reach here without super power feels a bit cheap, considering the path to get there and that this is the final screen before completing the course. Maybe there should be a stair formation, stepping stone, or <3<3 statue right there?

Game is overall slightly easier to play through, but for all the right reasons this time. I feel like i am in control to a much larger extent.

The enemy reset fix worked like a charm.
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by FrankenGraphics »

Yet another mini-observation: Completing the game and selecting 'continue' afterwards sets the lives to 3 and super power charges to 0 regardless of what you managed to complete the game with

And a random thought: The player could feel a sense of accomplishment if the max number of super power charges were increased for every solved puzzle. It would also make the game progressively easier as it stands, so it would be a significant change to the game balance. Besides altering the difficulty curve it would also change the psychological aspect of the player deciding in which order to go for the tokens and temples. </ rant on hypothetical design >
na_th_an
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by na_th_an »

Thanks a lot for your time. Will check everything out and fix those spots. I will think about the increase of the amount of charges you mention.

The multicart version will be much better thanks to your input. I'm very thankful.
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Banshaku
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by Banshaku »

The new jump feel better than the previous one. It did improve game play.
na_th_an
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by na_th_an »

Besides correcting some dark spots in the map and moving some enemies, plus changing and adjusting a few bits, as suggested, I've changed the way the game starts.

I wish this makes learning the basic gameplay dynamics easier and the game more intuitive.

First of all, every interactuable spot where you can press "B" comes with a nice bouncing arrow, so the first thing you see when you start a new game is this:
image_2017-02-24_14-02-08.png
image_2017-02-24_14-02-08.png (10.13 KiB) Viewed 15903 times
(the arrow only appears when you actually can interact. For example, it won't appear over teleporters if you don't have enough charges).

Once you use the pedestal and recharge your powers, cheril says something. Just this once, of course:
image_2017-02-24_13-32-45.png
image_2017-02-24_13-32-45.png (10.53 KiB) Viewed 15903 times
The balloon won't go away until your activate your powers, and you need to do so to actually start the game.

I have a couple more things to polish before I can post a new (definitive) version. Just wanted to know what you guys think about the changes.
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by FrankenGraphics »

Looking good! I appreciate the extra effort you're doing post-compo.

I'm a little bit concerned with how the thin text ("super powers") will present itself on hardware; ntsc and pal. Let me know if you want me to test it on PAL.

*If* it doesn't hold up, maybe there's a way to formulate something meaningful in fewer letters.
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rainwarrior
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by rainwarrior »

If you want to be minimal about it I don't think it even needs to say SUPERPOWERS at all. The point is to learn to press UP + B, and doing so should clarify what it does.
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by tepples »

Text with that much contrast ($0F ink on $2x or $3x paper) will have no problem showing up on a TV.

In any case, here's an alternative:
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say_ability.png
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na_th_an
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by na_th_an »

Thanks for the input.

I think my favourite idea would be the most simple: just the symbols. I agree with rainwarrior.
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by na_th_an »

I've polished many things, lost count. The beginning of the game has changed, as explained. I've played to the end several times and moved stuff around. I think this may be it.

Enjoy!
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mojon-twins--cheril-the-goddess--v1.2.nes
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na_th_an
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by na_th_an »

Sorry, lidnariq has discovered a glitch in the scrolling I though I had fixed and I'm working on solving it. I've changed a bit the way the scroller works, for the better.

Bear with me. I'll post a new version soon.
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Re: Progress Thread: Cheril the Goddess

Post by tepples »

na_th_an wrote:There are three temples: the temple of Stone, the temple of Scissors and the temple of Paper. Guess which object you need to beat each ;)
You appear to have left out two temples. I assume Rainwarrior and Konami are handling those :p
This is a minimap you can access pressing SELECT. It shows where you, the temples, and the objects are located. Its looks will improve
And here's what it looks like in 1.2:
Minimap looks very monochrome
Minimap looks very monochrome
mojon-twins--cheril-the-goddess--v1.2-0.png (832 Bytes) Viewed 15679 times
Is there a key to this map? The icons and walls are hard to see as such, particularly without any color. I figured you couldn't make it any bigger because the territory is 20 by 4 screens. Perhaps if I had a full-scale map of all 80 screens, as might be found on VGMaps, as well as what each existing cell represents, I could try figuring out how to design a clearer in-game map.

When I include a game in an Action 53 compilation, one of the first steps is to find which address ranges in the game are unused so that the builder can add an exit patch and possibly include other games' compressed CHR ROM and screenshots. Based on my analysis of 1.2, it appears I have about 5 KiB ($B900-$BFFF and $F200-$FFBF) to work with. That's enough for a full pattern table and nametable, even without any compression; if I add compression, it's also enough for several sprites to break up the grid.
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