1.She has a pretty good sized box, but I made it purposely so that the enemies have slightly better reach than amber so that you could not just spam attacks and keep the monsters at a distance that would not allow them to attack. This way Amber is always within attack range and the player is forced to use strategy opposed to just button mash.
2.Yup, the little white dots are the splashes. I kept them at only 2 pixels big so that I could use a lot of them. Same with the rain, the drops are a single line that is only a pixel wide. The fire from Part 1 was a pretty large sized graphic, so I think that really helped cause the lag. It was a break in the action though, so I don't mind it too much. With the rain being so small I haven't had any issues with performance so far.
3.That's right, I remember seeing your game before. I was always terrible at the Metroid games, as they were the classic Nintendo fair of fake walls and impossible to figure out without a walkthrough or 100's of hours kinds of stages. It definitely has the look and feel of the Metroid games though. I might put in small tutorials for the doors that need to be shot with rockets to open. Even though it may seem obvious to someone who has played the old Metroids in the past (As there is a rocket pickup and a door and nothing else to really do but use the new item on the door), today's gamers will probably not be so quick to pick up on that cue. It does go against the spirit of classic Metroid, but it could serve the game well for modern gamers.
4.On the note of it not getting much love because of its art style, I don't believe people really care much about that at all. I've seen tons of games here, on Steam, and pretty much everywhere else on the net that look and play like they were ripped right out of the 1980's, and people dig them WAY more than even my game, with its solid controls, full CG cutscenes, an ACTUAL story, professional voice actresses and advanced 2.5D graphic style. What I'm saying is I think if you market your game right, people will be all over it. There is still a HUGE fanbase for the old-school Metroid. You just may not be reaching them.
5.People don't want overly complicated, or "too difficult." They want simple and fun. That's it. The vast majority of gamers today are lazy impatient kids who do not want to take the time to read or figure things out for themselves. They want to be spoon-fed a linear experience that has as few roadblocks or deaths to impede their progress as possible, and tons of checkpoints. "True gamers" still exist, but they are hard to find even in the Indie Market. You'll find more hipsters in this market, who like to claim they know true gaming. Until they rage-quit and prove themselves wrong.
Stick it out. It can be slightly infuriating at times, but the only one who can stop you from making something great is yourself. That's the true beauty of the Indie Market.
1. My problem wasn't with the length reach, it was actually with how wide it was because it happens that I'm staring at the ghouls close enough to kiss them but I'm not landing hits because I'm not aligned properly.
2. I don't mind the lag while the dragon is breathing the flames, it's that there's still lag left over from when he stops and it lasts enough for his next attack. That by itself wouldn't be a problem but it seems at least when I was playing that if there was that lag left over and I was attacking, my attacks would be slower than usual, not by much but enough to miss out on 1-2 attacks before the dragon retracts and starts swinging for another attack.
3.+5. That's where you and me stand together in arms, I'm not one for dumbing down difficulty either. I want to see those nooblets cry!
Besides if I did that, beautiful gems like this would never happen. (Also hope you're not counting me in with the spoon-feeders )
4. I think it's actually more to do with the genre more so than anything else, people see horror games and tend to avoid them. And with good reason, rarely ever that even one of them is good. Dead Space was all jump-scares and turned into an third-person shooter in the third instalment. Amnesia culled a lot of features in the second game that worked really well in the first game (You no longer die, instead are sent to the starting area. No sanity, so you're free to stare at the monsters all you like; eliminating the 'fear what you can't see' factor.")
As for the Old-School Metroid fanbase, that's most Super Metroid, Zero Mission and maybe Fusion. For Super Metroid it's speed-running and custom mods, the other two it's only speed-running. The Prime game's don't get as much love, 2 is all but forgotten and 1 is, despite what I've heard, in fact harder than Zero Mission (Kraid surprised the hell out of me, non-stop attacking, huge damage and lava pits on both sides to fall into.)
Anyway, it's probably due to the stigma horror games carry with them.
Resident Evil turned action in the 4th sequel, now that it's co-op it's practically dead and buried.
I haven't heard of Alone in the Dark in years, I vaguely remember the last game which was on PS3 possibly being really bad.
Already mentioned Dead Space and Amnesia.
Penumbra is finished with 3 games.
Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason is impossible to find, and buggy (but very good).
Etc. etc.
Back to the start of 4.
I think the art actually is a major factor, especially since that's the first thing people, it's the easiest to showcase, it's the only thing they see in screenshots as well. It's easier to make a game seem finished and polished with artwork than by asking people to play a demo to look and get a feel for the mechanics. Not to mention it looks worse on video, you can't exactly showcase using place-holders.
Anyway, you ever think of kickstarter? You have a lot of selling points, and the fact that you've already finished part 1 means that you're even more likely to get funded successfully. I actually thought about it myself, but will look into it more once my game is more complete.
Btw,
[quote:3t7zzgfj] I've seen tons of games here, on Steam, and pretty much everywhere else on the net that look and play like they were ripped right out of the 1980's, and people dig them WAY more than even my game, with its solid controls, full CG cutscenes, an ACTUAL story, professional voice actresses and advanced 2.5D graphic style.
If you apply that logic practically, then a lot of games with pixel art would just disappear.
It's more to do with genre, Metroidvania games tend to have a much, much, much better track record than horror games.
Even if you take games out of the equation, horror itself is a very stereotypical and generic genre with nearly all plots, twists and even lines exhaust. Not to mention that normally all the characters have to make incredibly stupid decisions and actions for the story to even start. I remember one film "The Mangler (1995)", where the only reason a steam press, which was evil and possessed by demons, even killed anyone was because the characters literally climbed into it. That's not evil, that stupidity and a normal steam press.
Anyway, I hope it doesn't sound like I'm destroying the horror genre, my point was that it's just filled with stigma, cliche and stereotypes. If you manage to avoid them, or even use them correctly, you can make something really great. RE4 was incredibly camp, yet incredibly wonderful. Personally I have a lot of faith in Grave Prosperity and hope it does well.
Just an happier end note, about the voice acting, if you end up needing more voices I could do it for free, always wanted to voice act in a game