The Curse of Il'andri'iel (version 0.1)

Have anyone reached the first boss yet?

Oh yeah my bad, I'd reached the end of the demo. The boss was a resprite so I didn't have a lot to comment on.

 

I have just finished.
WHAT I LIKE:
*the secrets in torture room
*the gas sprite
*the exp 'n' health farm - Demon spawners
WHAT I DISLIKE:
*the boss
*the Laser Handgun puzzle - I did it by Try 'n' Die method
*the fake spikes

OTHER:
*I had 30 HP after getting the LH - there was Life Capsule music, but not text
*When going to Castle from the Gates, there is door sound
*FAO in the torture room

Overall 6/10

 

*the Laser Handgun puzzle - I did it by Try 'n' Die method

The puzzle in the Castle with the Life Capsule (near a death trap) has the four symbols which are required not to die.
At the top right of the room, there's a list of numbers -> symbols.

Spoiler

But if you really want to know the combination...
It's 3 7 0 5.

*When going to Castle from the Gates, there is door sound

Oops. I always forget about the door sounds.

 

I'm gonnna review and type as I play.


I'm stuck in this f*cking darm room. Restarting game.

Pressed down immedeatly this time, in room where weird people stand there for a brief second, and what? This dialogue with the other two Curlys is a bit too lacking in context and cryptic for the beggining of a game.

A joke about long names, nice? I'm having a hard time grasping any of these characters. Tiles here are okay, but I would like mroe variety, or level design that actually looks like whereever their supposed to be.

Chapter 1:


Oh God! I can't tell which tiles are solid or not! Why are they the same color? More dialogue, trying to add some mystery I see, I would have not mentioned the fiend at all until later. Make the sister thing more mysterious, the beggining of the game needs that.

Sparkle and Last Cave Music?

This enemy placement makes very little sense. Half don't present a challenge, and the ones that do present a challenge do it in cheap ways. It looks like you built the level without thinking of where to place the enemies until after you have the structure.

Go through door, fall through tile because of thing to the right. Somewhat clever, but the enemy on the bottom is rather poor design and mean.

Suffocating in clouds? Neat I guess.

Only the wise eh? Well The thing went up before I realized what it was, and I had to reload the map. I would have made it a bit less subtle.

Why the hell is the puzzle interupted by another path? It makes no sense and is very confusing. Also it killed me because of the timing that they activate. I can see why the part to the left is there no, but the level design has so many unnessecary things in it that I didn't take it seriously. No save before that puzzle, back to my level 1 blade and the start then!

At this time I question why some objects follow NES color palette and not others.

Finished the puzzle I think, see a bat and jump over it and... fall through a wall that's the same color and tone as the solid objects.

Too frustrated to play any longer.

Watch these: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/show/extra-credits

 

Okay, as I'm posting this, I'm playing through the mod just to see whether some of the glitches and stuff appears similar on my PC.

I'm stuck in this f*cking darm room. Restarting game.

Jump and move to the left, the terminal to remove the darkness is there.

Pressed down immedeatly this time, in room where weird people stand there for a brief second, and what? This dialogue with the other two Curlys is a bit too lacking in context and cryptic for the beggining of a game.

The protagonist and one of the "antagonists" disappear. I guess I'll have to do that before the fade-in.

A joke about long names, nice? I'm having a hard time grasping any of these characters. Tiles here are okay, but I would like mroe variety, or level design that actually looks like whereever their supposed to be.

Blame the joke on my full name.
As for the level design and stuff, the mod takes place in a world that is beyond normal, and looks weird. For example, a forest with trees growing on the walls.

Oh God! I can't tell which tiles are solid or not! Why are they the same color? More dialogue, trying to add some mystery I see, I would have not mentioned the fiend at all until later. Make the sister thing more mysterious, the beggining of the game needs that.

The tiles are supposed to be different colours o_O
The solid tiles are, well, solid. The fakes are supposed to be either slightly darker or slightly lighter in colour. The slightly darker ones are in the background, the slightly lighter ones are in the foreground.

Sparkle and Last Cave Music?

I forgot to make the sparkly sparkle disappear, and the Last Cave music is temporary.

This enemy placement makes very little sense. Half don't present a challenge, and the ones that do present a challenge do it in cheap ways. It looks like you built the level without thinking of where to place the enemies until after you have the structure.

I tend to mention it in the next version of the mod, before the protagonist wakes up.
(yes, Chapter 1 is a dream)

Go through door, fall through tile because of thing to the right. Somewhat clever, but the enemy on the bottom is rather poor design and mean.

Yeah, I kinda forgot to move the enemy.

Only the wise eh? Well The thing went up before I realized what it was, and I had to reload the map. I would have made it a bit less subtle.

Only the wise can obtain the upgrade.

That relates to the puzzle of obtaining the Life Capsule.

Spoiler

The dais under the deathtrap makes the tile under the Life Capsule solid. Said deathtrap is fake.
The other dais creates a deathtrap, but it's an instant kill and not a fake.

Why the hell is the puzzle interupted by another path? It makes no sense and is very confusing. Also it killed me because of the timing that they activate. I can see why the part to the left is there no, but the level design has so many unnessecary things in it that I didn't take it seriously. No save before that puzzle, back to my level 1 blade and the start then!

Are you referring to the puzzle to obtain the Laser Handgun?
Also, I probably should add a third save point in the castle, near that puzzle.

At this time I question why some objects follow NES color palette and not others.

Finished the puzzle I think, see a bat and jump over it and... fall through a wall that's the same color and tone as the solid objects.

NES color palette?
If said bat was at the top part with the fake spikes and red bricks, I don't understand how it can be the same colour and tone. The two tiles look different to me.
In the castle, fake spikes are next to red bricks.

Too frustrated to play any longer.

That tends to happen a lot in most of my mods.

 

That tends to happen a lot in most of my mods.

You should work on that. It tends to be your fault and not the player's.

 

"Finished" the mod blind.

Got the Laser Gun, the red symbols were a giveaway to me.

Rode the 2 Block Elevators to the top.

Purposefully used a bat to skip over what I presume is deadly spikes (-10 HP) via invincibility frames.

"Spoilers" below

Spoiler

Entered a door, cue 2 of the 3 final boss fights in Cave Story. (Includes Undead Core, the Doctor changed the BG along with some extra dialouge "This will kill you.....or I will. I dunno"

Get called skilled for beating the Doctor, Hulk mode, and the entire Undead Core with 30 HP and a Level 2 Blade. (I've beaten it on Hard Mode in CSWii sooo, I guess I'm kinda skilled?)

Get a Booster from whats-her-face

Get trapped in the "Escape" sequence from Cave Story since the exit from the door I entered in the first place was in mid-air and the exit was blocked

The End

Also when abusing the invincibility frames, I noticed most spikes that lead to a dead end, covered with spikes, did not damage at all until I reached the area of spikes under the 3 pits and bats.

Overall the whole thing feels unfinished and somewhat random, which is expected, since this IS version 0.1

 

You should work on that. It tends to be your fault and not the player's.

I'll try to...

Got the Laser Gun, the red symbols were a giveaway to me.

Intentional. The red symbols are near the first Life Capsule of the Castle, too.

Rode the 2 Block Elevators to the top.

There were three "elevators" last I checked.

Purposefully used a bat to skip over what I presume is deadly spikes (-10 HP) via invincibility frames.

Said spikes were fake: if the spikes are above or under a red brick, it's fake.

"Spoilers" below

Spoiler

Entered a door, cue 2 of the 3 final boss fights in Cave Story. (Includes Undead Core, the Doctor changed the BG along with some extra dialouge "This will kill you.....or I will. I dunno" Get called skilled for beating the Doctor, Hulk mode, and the entire Undead Core with 30 HP and a Level 2 Blade. (I've beaten it on Hard Mode in CSWii sooo, I guess I'm kinda skilled?) Get a Booster from whats-her-face Get trapped in the "Escape" sequence from Cave Story since the exit from the door I entered in the first place was in mid-air and the exit was blocked The End

Oops, I think I forgot about that.
Also, I can't even beat the Doctor with 30 HP and the Level 3 or 2 blade, so that's the most likely reason why I forgot.

Also when abusing the invincibility frames, I noticed most spikes that lead to a dead end, covered with spikes, did not damage at all until I reached the area of spikes under the 3 pits and bats. Overall the whole thing feels unfinished and somewhat random, which is expected, since this IS version 0.1

Yeah...


Just one problem: I'm cancelling this mod (and all my other existing mods) until one of three things happen.
(1) Someone volunteers to help me with the ASMing of the mods (pretty much nobody will)
(2) I learn ASMing (which is impossible for me because it's... even more complicated than I thought)
(3) I find a way around everything that requires ASMing (somehow).

 

Welp

 

(1) Someone volunteers to help me with the ASMing of the mods (pretty much nobody will)

I'm dead

 

(3) I find a way around everything that requires ASMing (somehow).

You don't nessecarily needs hacks to make something fun. You need to have good design. Try copying things from games you've player before. And I don't mean gimicks. I mean level design and structure. Draw a map before you make it, decide where each enemy will go, what the player will have at the time, what type of challenge they present. I hope you watched those videos.

 

This mod is no longer cancelled because I was heavily depressed when I cancelled all of them.

You need to have good design. Try copying things from games you've player before. And I don't mean gimmicks. I mean level design and structure.

I'll try my best.

Draw a map before you make it, decide where each enemy will go, what the player will have at the time, what type of challenge they present.

I'd draw the maps but for some reason it just vanishes mysteriously.
I drew the maps for the next version of Shadow of the Stars in a book, and now the book's gone.
It'll probably come out when I don't need it anymore.

I hope you watched those videos.

I tried, but none of my web browsers will allow me -_-
Internet Explorer and Google Chrome both can't find that webpage, which means that I wasted time downloading Chrome. :/

 

Glad you're feeling better. Do your best :3

 

Glad you're feeling better. Do your best :3

Thanks, and I'll work on version 0.2 to the best of my ability.

Anyway, I'll continue work on this mod tomorrow.
Here's a list of things that I have to fix (a reminder to myself, ha ha).

Spoiler

- Change starting room to correct place and not torture room
- Fix music glitch when obtaining Laser Handgun
- Add message about Life Capsule when obtaining said gun
- Make the Misery boss easier, or change it somehow, and use it for a different place*
- Add signpost that gives a hint about the puzzle
- Add a hint about how to identify fake spikes in the castle part
- Remove door sounds from passages



*^{_{I hope nobody minds that I changed the name of the boss to a white colour to hide it >_<}}

If there's anything I forgot, please notify me.

For the curious who is wondering what I'll do for version 0.2:

Spoiler

- Add Blackout City as the next point of the chapter
- Allow access to the Forest areas that should come before the Castle of Il'andri'iel
- Annoy someone in hope of getting ideas for enemies*
- Change the music
- Find another free image hosting site :/
- Think of a reason for why a Super Inhuman 5 spriteset exists in MyChar.bmp, underneath Darcy's school uniform spriteset




* _{^{Nobody's laughing. But trying to make jokes work anyway. Although I do get random ideas from stuff. Being called a forum ghost led to such an enemy being sprited, after all.}}

If anyone has suggestions and stuff...
You know what to do

Also, if I forgot anything, the same.
Oh, and feel free to suggest a new first boss, if you want to. The current first boss is probably a bit hard.