Unfortunately keeping the demo up to date with the main game became a bit of hassle. The download numbers for it were down too, and at this moment we’re only spending time on HANA for bug fixes when someone reports something.
I bought your game via Catalog and have found a series of bugs. Specifically with exits creating a locking loop where you can't go back or continue further without restarting the game. I also feel that the save mechanic should also save your keys but I realize Pulp is limited. So far there are two regions where the exits trap you. I've gotten all the way to chapter three where combat begins to feel cheap as you can't attack enemies from time to time without them side stepping and attacking you in really cheap ways. Some would argue that this just makes the game challenging but I'd suggest it to be more of something to check into as It almost feels broken.
Over all, I enjoy the game and the story is quite interesting, but the sudden change in battle mechanics adds more frustration than enjoyment on my end. There's a lot of unique features here that I haven't seen in other pulp games and I give you props for that.
Image below is where the exits lock the player and you can't advance. Player is located in top right exit:
thanks for the feedback! Honestly we don’t get enough of it, and since this project was just done by one person, there’s a lot one person can miss that others will find right away, so I appreciate it. I’ll see if I can get fix uploaded within the next day. Catalog might take longer since panic needs to approve it, but they’ve been quick so far.
You said there are two regions where you got stuck in a loop. I see the photo of one and will look into it. Do you remember where the other region was?
As far as keys go, that was a deliberate change I made since Pulp can easily save which items you have, but not who dropped them, meaning that one could farm unlimited keys, taking their value away, and making it too easy. That last segment of the game is supposed to be a lot harder, though there are hidden checkpoints you can make it to, and hidden items to make combat easier.
As far as combat itself goes, I also deliberately added a lot of recovery frames after making and attack that way players couldn’t just mash attack and destroy the AI. Pulp has severe limitations for real time/actions gameplay, one of which is that enemies and the player can only move in 4 directions (holding diagonal just inputs 2 really fast). Because of this I tried to make it where the player needs to make ever hit counts, like in Demons Souls or a fighting game, and also made it where the enemy will sometimes try to fake you out and dodge back the other direction.
Enemies will move every few frames, but until then they sit still. Most of them only attack if they detect the player is in the spot they’re trying to move to.
It’s difficult, but it won’t take long to return to your location if you die, and if you find the hidden items you can heal mid battle, move faster, and fire projectile attacks.
I’ll take a second look at the difficulty though, just in case. Your concerns are heard for sure, but I just thought I’d let you know where I was coming from.
Once again thanks for playing and even more so for providing great feedback. This will help make the game better for everyone, for sure!!
Sorry for such a late reply. I appreciate the in depth response and look forward to the update. I am developing my first game on the Playdate via Pulp and decided to message you directly via discord. I figured that was better suited than here! If you're in need of testers I'm happy to help. I do not mind.
Regarding enemies, it could just be that I suck at it but felt it necessary to voice the concern. I am curious to hear your thoughts after you do a second look. 🤔
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Hi there, has the demo been removed?
Unfortunately keeping the demo up to date with the main game became a bit of hassle. The download numbers for it were down too, and at this moment we’re only spending time on HANA for bug fixes when someone reports something.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
All good, just wondered where it had gone!
I bought your game via Catalog and have found a series of bugs. Specifically with exits creating a locking loop where you can't go back or continue further without restarting the game. I also feel that the save mechanic should also save your keys but I realize Pulp is limited. So far there are two regions where the exits trap you. I've gotten all the way to chapter three where combat begins to feel cheap as you can't attack enemies from time to time without them side stepping and attacking you in really cheap ways. Some would argue that this just makes the game challenging but I'd suggest it to be more of something to check into as It almost feels broken.
Over all, I enjoy the game and the story is quite interesting, but the sudden change in battle mechanics adds more frustration than enjoyment on my end. There's a lot of unique features here that I haven't seen in other pulp games and I give you props for that.
Image below is where the exits lock the player and you can't advance. Player is located in top right exit:
thanks for the feedback! Honestly we don’t get enough of it, and since this project was just done by one person, there’s a lot one person can miss that others will find right away, so I appreciate it. I’ll see if I can get fix uploaded within the next day. Catalog might take longer since panic needs to approve it, but they’ve been quick so far.
You said there are two regions where you got stuck in a loop. I see the photo of one and will look into it. Do you remember where the other region was?
As far as keys go, that was a deliberate change I made since Pulp can easily save which items you have, but not who dropped them, meaning that one could farm unlimited keys, taking their value away, and making it too easy. That last segment of the game is supposed to be a lot harder, though there are hidden checkpoints you can make it to, and hidden items to make combat easier.
As far as combat itself goes, I also deliberately added a lot of recovery frames after making and attack that way players couldn’t just mash attack and destroy the AI. Pulp has severe limitations for real time/actions gameplay, one of which is that enemies and the player can only move in 4 directions (holding diagonal just inputs 2 really fast). Because of this I tried to make it where the player needs to make ever hit counts, like in Demons Souls or a fighting game, and also made it where the enemy will sometimes try to fake you out and dodge back the other direction.
Enemies will move every few frames, but until then they sit still. Most of them only attack if they detect the player is in the spot they’re trying to move to.
It’s difficult, but it won’t take long to return to your location if you die, and if you find the hidden items you can heal mid battle, move faster, and fire projectile attacks.
I’ll take a second look at the difficulty though, just in case. Your concerns are heard for sure, but I just thought I’d let you know where I was coming from.
Once again thanks for playing and even more so for providing great feedback. This will help make the game better for everyone, for sure!!
Thank you!!
Sorry for such a late reply. I appreciate the in depth response and look forward to the update. I am developing my first game on the Playdate via Pulp and decided to message you directly via discord. I figured that was better suited than here! If you're in need of testers I'm happy to help. I do not mind.
Regarding enemies, it could just be that I suck at it but felt it necessary to voice the concern. I am curious to hear your thoughts after you do a second look. 🤔
I’ve done another update. Let me know if it’s still too hard
This surely deserves to be included in Catalog
It's a question of when, not if. :)
But thanks!
looks amazing！but the price is a little expensive（ ｉ _ ｉ ）
Thanks!
Theres a free demo now, if you'd like to try it.
We've also since split the release into 2 halve if you'd like to just try half for 4.99, instead of the free demo.
Save a penny if you split the purchase!