Tess

The camera panned too fast? Do you mean it followed you too fast, because that sounds like it would help the player more-or-less, and right now I think it's set to a moderate follow speed.

The camera felt like it was almost always "fixed" to my movement. I don't know how to explain it, but I guess I'm used to it moving a little faster or slower, ie. not moving at the same rate I move, then stopping immediately when I stop. This gives the impression that I'm not really making progress, so to speak, and also makes horizontal movement quite jerky. The only place I had issues with this was the first few areas outside, where there wasn't any up/down wrapping.

I'm not sure why the shoot key froze your movement, but directional locking while shooting is intentional, infact it's a mechanic that was inspired/ripped off from Kero Blaster. It's so that you can shoot while running away from enemies (I'm thinking of making it togglable via the options menu, since some people prefer the Cave Story style of shooting for some reason, even though directional locking is clearly superior). Turning around is easy if you just let your finger off of the shoot key for a second.

I don't think directional locking is bad; I just don't think I've adjusted to it. It only occurred to me during the boss fight, when multiple enemies were being spawned from left and right. I shoot down one enemy, but there's another one coming up fast behind me, and I try to face that other way to kill them, I can't move immediately, or jump (I think). I found I ended up losing a lot of health during the battle because of this. Maybe it's just what happens with one of the weapons (I think the spread shot). I'll try again with another weapon and see if that's also the case.

 

The camera felt like it was almost always "fixed" to my movement. I don't know how to explain it, but I guess I'm used to it moving a little faster or slower, ie. not moving at the same rate I move, then stopping immediately when I stop. This gives the impression that I'm not really making progress, so to speak, and also makes horizontal movement quite jerky. The only place I had issues with this was the first few areas outside, where there wasn't any up/down wrapping.

The camera *is* set to follow the player slower than the player moves though (specifically it uses a focus speed of 13 IIRC). Are you sure it's doing as you describe, because I'm pretty sure it's the opposite.

I shoot down one enemy, but there's another one coming up fast behind me, and I try to face that other way to kill them, I can't move immediately, or jump (I think). I found I ended up losing a lot of health during the battle because of this. Maybe it's just what happens with one of the weapons (I think the spread shot). I'll try again with another weapon and see if that's also the case.

But you CAN move immediately and you do (you'll start walking backwards if you're holding the shoot key), and same for jumping. You won't turn to face the other direction however until you release the shoot key.

 

k wait a minute why were you holding the button with the spread shot

 

k wait a minute why were you holding the button with the spread shot

The spread shot has auto-fire too, it just has a longer delay than the standard shot.

 

Perhaps it just had to do with the friction, or maybe the speed at which Tess walks. It was only noticeable in the hills where I had to defend myself from those...homing bees.

k wait a minute why were you holding the button with the spread shot

I wasn't, at least not consciously. All movement seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second, regardless of how long or short the shoot button was pressed. It only seems to be with the spread shot, the way it pushes the protagonist back for a moment. I may have been confusing this with the directional locking, which I've only realised now I am not used to.

 

Coded a new screen transition effect. Might use it later in the game.

EDIT:
I've released ver 1.0.0.2! You can download it here, and please remember to vote for this in the 2014 Indie Game Maker Contest if you like the game! (links in the OP have been updated)

Changes in this version are below.

Ver 1.0.0.2
+Music is now streamed so music playback is instant
+Graphics are now double buffered so they should be faster on slower systems (they weren't all that slow before but yeah)
-New changes to the graphics seem to cause issues for some users in fullscreen mode, but I can't rep these issues on my machine so I'm having a hard time debugging them
+Some physics tweaks (slightly less gravity, slightly more friction, jump timing made more forgiving)

 

Interesting game. It reminds me of Kero Blaster, but more atmospheric. It really made me think of this R.E.M. song: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v3SSegq9USY. Anyway, good job, and I voted!

 

Interesting game. It reminds me of Kero Blaster, but more atmospheric. It really made me think of this R.E.M. song: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v3SSegq9USY. Anyway, good job, and I voted!

Thanks! And yeah, it's definitely a bit inspired by Kero Blaster's gameplay.



Ver 1.0.0.3 has been released. You can download it here. (op has been updated with the new dl link)

Changes in this version are below.

Ver 1.0.0.3 (July 22, 2014)
+Fullscreen bugs for Win8 tester fixed
+Music issues *should* be fixed now, the ones reported by Will anyways

 

Oh god that transition looks so weird/cool with the game's art style. Since everything is a lot of flat colors, only he edges of things get distorted.

 

The transition is cool but should only take up 1/2 the time that it does.

 

Oh god that transition looks so weird/cool with the game's art style. Since everything is a lot of flat colors, only he edges of things get distorted.

Yeah it's a neat little effect that works well with the game's graphics. It's been tweaked a bit more since I made that gif though.

The transition is cool but should only take up 1/2 the time that it does.

It's not any slower than the current screen transition for maps(unless you're using an older version of internet explorer or something, which means the gif will play slowly).



Ver 1.0.0.4 has been released. You can download it here. (op has been updated with the new dl link)

Changes in this version are below.

Ver 1.0.0.4 (July 22, 2014)
+Made the game less focus-greedy
+Canvas's background color was set to black which makes fullscreen transitions less jarring

 

I was looking at the new transition on Chrome...meh. Still a cool game, and best of luck in the contest!

 

There's less than 24 hours in the voting period for the 2014 Indie Game Maker Contest, so if you haven't already, please vote for Tess!

(Here is a post explaining how to vote in case you need help.)

Voting is over, thank you to everyone who voted.

 

Since it's the last day of voting... I finally got around to voting...

I played it when you first announced it, but don't think I ever posted my thoughts.
It's a well crafted piece of work. While not my personal favorite theme or art... I can definitely appreciate how well the art, music, and story flow together to bring Tess to life, and it sets it apart from the other entries I looked at.
Kinda reminds me of a game like Yume Nikki... (with a... happier ending?).

Excellent boss and normal gameplay too, though I thought it was a little unnecessary and a little distracting from the story, at the very beginning... (Kinda wish the battles started after you fell...)

Anyway, congrats on the submission, you deserve more votes! You are close to the top 10!
People vote!

EDIT: That pic is awesome GiR... <3
PEOPLE VOTE!

 

Since it's the last day of voting... I finally got around to voting...

I played it when you first announced it, but don't think I ever posted my thoughts.
It's a well crafted piece of work. While not my personal favorite theme or art... I can definitely appreciate how well the art, music, and story flow together to bring Tess to life, and it sets it apart from the other entries I looked at.
Kinda reminds me of a game like Yume Nikki... (with a... happier ending?).

Excellent boss and normal gameplay too, though I thought it was a little unnecessary and a little distracting from the story, at the very beginning... (Kinda wish the battles started after you fell...)

Anyway, congrats on the submission, you deserve more votes! You are close to the top 10!

Thanks for playing and voting! It's supposed to be sort of like Yume Nikki or OFF in terms of mood/feel, but with gameplay similar to Cave Story or Kero Blaster to complement it.


Version 1.0.0.5 has been released. This version has been released to fix a minor bug and a few minor changes to the game. The OP has been updated with this new version.

Ver 1.0.0.5 (August 2, 2014)
+Got rid of the "turning" state for the player, which would make it so that you couldn't jump for a frame after pressing a directional arrow key
+Made jump timing slightly less forgiving (1 frame)
+Added "+1" to HP bar when you level up/increase your max HP


Version 1.0.0.6 has been released. The biggest change in this release is that all the languages/translations are now in 1 game, so that the other localizations of the game can benefit from the recent engine upgrades the game has been getting.

Ver 1.0.0.6 (August 29, 2014)
+Graphics Engine optimized further, should be faster
+All languages are now in one download, can select language from options menu
+You can press keys to skip text scrolling now

With this new version I’m going to be taking down the download links for the separate language versions.

You can grab the new version here. Links in the OP have also been updated.

 

I saw this the other day, tried to pirate it and learnt it was free.
yay

 

redd why didn't you like
learn more about it before trying to pirate it

also I still need to beat it
I'll get on that later

 

"I tried to steal from you but it turned out I didn't have to!"

Sometimes you should just keep your mouth shut.

 

"I tried to steal from you but it turned out I didn't have to!"

Sometimes you should just keep your mouth shut.

I got the impression I should, yeah.

 

Well. . .I finally beat Tess.

Spoiler

When I first saw the Angel (not sure if he has a name or not) I saw the loop around his neck and was like "holy shit he could totally use that as a hoolahoop" and I was disappointed when he didn't ; ;

But otherwise I loved it! It was great and I only died like 7 times!

Hidden text highlight (or click) to view:

Tess/10 would die again