35 replies to this topic

[Maerron]

 

Play the role of a girl who was born as a decendant of a great magical power.

She begin searching for the Four Rings that contains the magical power which belong to her.

 

Advance through the levels, defeat enemy, level up and discover new power and items!

Bonus are rewarded after defeating the game.

The minigame

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

If you have played the previous version (v1.00) here's the changes:

Changes in v2.01

• Super small glitch fixes.
• Fixed a long text graphic error.
• Added sign at Save, HP restore & MP restore point.

Changes in v2.00

• enhanced gameplay (including the minigame).
• added difficulty option, EASY and NORMAL (tweaked original difficulty, and it's actually hard).
• changed some enemies' behaviour & stats to prevent some extreme difficulties.
• changed/added soundfx and bgm.
• added a few save points.
• you can now jump while attacking(will cancel the attack, normal attacks only).
• graphic fixes/modification.
• added/edited several cutscene.
• added new bonus and edited some of the old.
• items' price increased.
• coins now have 3 different value.
• Swift Shot now semi-auto aim. Full manual aim can be achieved by holding X key.
• you can now use health regenerator item before it time runs out.
• ...

 

CONTROLs
Left/Right keys : Move left or right
Up/Down keys : Move camera up or down/Enter cave (Up key only)
Z/Y key  : Attack
X key : Jump/OK
C key : Skills or magic/Cancel
SPACEBAR  : Open menu/Cancel
P key  : View map & pause game

F3 : Scale game screen size to Max/100%/200%/300%
F4 : Fullscreen (no change resolution)
F9 : Take screenshots (saved on \SCREENSHOTS\)
 
DOWNLOADs
GameJolt [9.5MB Zip] [v2.01]
YoYoGames [9.5MB Zip] [v2.01]

Edited by Maerron, 15 December 2010 - 09:18 PM.

[Haunted-toilet]

FANTASTIC!!!!

the graphics and sound are fantastic, the gameplay is great, but the game is a little hard, i still cant get past that big mech boss at the start...

[The Guy 123]

Finally, a game that stands out of most of the others!, this is a very stylish game i must say, the sprites are perfectly drawn, ive only played up to the second boss so far but i will continue to play.
Don't know why this game isn't getting much attention at all. Well done as usual.

[JAk HAk]

Don't know why this game isn't getting much attention at all.

Nor do I. Excellent game. I'm very much enjoying it.

[ChaosMaker]

awesome game *0*
you did the gm lite?

[OldSkoolGamer]

Yes, this game is awesome, just wish it would do full screen even if the gfx are blurry/pixelated.

[gmx0]

I enjoyed it, but ths save files are pretty easy to hack.

[ZacharyKrodel]

This game should seriously be getting more attention. I just finished it, and it was amazing. Highly recommended.

But I only got 75% of the items. What happens if you get 100%? Anything special? And why does it start you at level 1 again after you beat the game? What's up with that?

Other than those two mysteries, I really enjoyed this game.

[Maerron]

For those who are curious about what you can get after finishing the game:
Clear the game once:

Spoiler

Shadow Ring
Boss HP information drawn in number

All item Found:

Spoiler

Start with all recovery items(at least one)

Found all pieces of the picture:

Spoiler

Start with some accessory:
Red Bracelet
Crimson Hairpin
Lemonchiffon E.
SandyB. Necklace
Sienna Ribbon
Turquoise Scarf

And why does it start you at level 1 again after you beat the game? What's up with that?

Well... there's no particular reason for this. It's just that the game will become too easy.

[Yal]

Well... there's no particular reason for this. It's just that the game will become too easy.

Meh. There's fixes for this. May I give you a suggestion?

When you start the game over after beating it, you will keep your level. You will also get an different outfit color to mark that you are playing a "New Game + ". All enemies will get extra tough ("Mania" difficulty) and get extra HP, attack twice as fast as usual, deal more damage than usual, have some new attack patterns...

Shops will also have some new items you couldn't buy on a normal game. Especially some 'fun' items that has zany effects. For instance, how about being able to buy a raccoon that follows behind you (I've made a topic about flawless platform allies) and has no real effect besides being cute?

As well, after beating the Final Boss on a "New Game +", you should get access to a hidden super-super-super-giga-difficult area with more bosses and real difficult platforming with tons of spikes and lasers... Beating THAT area should unlock the "New Game ++", in which you get a third new outfit and play the game again, with your level reverted to Lv 1, with all the enemies from "New Game +" being there with their extra powerful powers. Beating "New Game ++" doesn't earn you anything new, just a new title screen image with some text "You are a master!" shown somewhere or so.

Making enemies attack faster and deal more damage, as well as making new character outfits, aren't very hard to do (it's much more work making entirely new enemies). If you did that, I'm pretty sure your game would be even better. I haven't tried it, but it looks so beautiful and fun that I have to test it!


Maerron, I think you would get more attention if you were more active at the forum. Myself, I spend a lot of time giving people ideas in the Game Design Ideas forum. Then they start to worship me, and that's when I tell them to try my games

I'll help you out by linking to this game in my signature too. This is likely one of the games I like.

EDIT:
In fact, I feel that the Engrish that pops up everywhere adds to the feeling of this game, it doesn't deduct from it. "'Only working in some area', printed at top of the device."

Edited by Yal, 20 January 2011 - 03:46 PM.

[Maerron]

@Yal
Wow...O_O Increasing the enemies' stat is the only thing that comes to my mind. Thanks for the suggestion! Maybe I'll use them in my next project!

[Yal]

Maybe I'll use them in my next project!

I think a lot of people would prefer if you included them in Artilerry F 3.0; giving the game more replay value will make it even better (and it will take less work than doing an entire new game).

The "bonus dungeon" doesn't have to be related to the plot. Look at the Hell zone of Doukutsu Monogatari, where you basically stumble into the lair of an ancient wizard who is the hidden final boss of the game. You could do something similar to have the secret dungeon after the final boss in Artilerry F: when you've beaten the final boss, instead of the normal ending, a gigantic tower (9000 floors or so ) rises from the ground by responding to the four magical rings. Perhaps the tower was sealed in the center of the earth to prevent an evil laser giant from destroying the planet 4000 years ago? Obviously the protagonist goes into the tower to kill said super-evil guy before bad stuff happen... And that's where the bonus dungeon starts.

Anyway, I would really like to see a "New Game + " where your level isn't set back to zero (it feels like a punishment to the player to just take their level away) but rather all enemies get more difficult so that you almost need to be at Lv 100 to stand a chance of surviving. (Perhaps the maximum level should be 150 or 200?)

[Captain Ricco]

i Love the style on this game, awesome art.
The only thing that bugs me is that it is too little story driven for an exploration game, and also the game really needs a "load last saved file?" when you die, it takes ages to get back into actio after you get killed. The load screen is also veeery slowish

[Zeddy]

This is really nice-looking! It starts out like you playing Megaman Zero only you can't dash (yet) and only have the z-saber (in the beginning) and you're not a robot so there's no excuse for not being able to crouch and hit those low-laying arseholes 100% of the time instead of occasionally missing them for no good reason. But the music is nice, the graphics are nice and you get some pretty cool powers pretty quick. I'm hoping there's a thing you get later that gives you regenerating MP, because not having that is kinda lame.

And hey, unlike Symphony of the Night, you can jump while you're attacking! NAViGaTR would be so proud (at least when the sequel where Artilerry has breast cancer arrives). [/memetic tangent]

Seriously though, I think the attack jump adds a lot. The ability to greatly increase and your rate of attacks by properly timing slight jumps while attacking is exactly the kind of thing that always make videogames put a giant grin on my face. I'm kinda annoyed at the tiny field of view at the moment, but I'm sure I'll get over it.

also the game really needs a "load last saved file?" when you die, it takes ages to get back into actio after you get killed. The load screen is also veeery slowish

Also this. I generally enjoy games the harder they are, but only if the game over process is quick and painless. Preferably instant. Isn't the very fact that I haven't shut the game off a 100% surefire indicator that I probably want to keep playing on my current savefile?

-What's up with the first skill being named "Skill 1"? Videogame attack names aren't hard to come up with. Here:
Diagonal Blade
Vector Gust
Uppercut
Air Slash
Sonic Boom
Projectile Slash

-Swift Shot isn't a bad move. Incredibly weak and pretty much useless for killing something (except for those low-laying, poison-spewing nimrods by that boss-dude), but the secondary property of making you hover could prove really useful.

-How come this flying dude looks like he has an 19th century beard on his sprite when his cheeks are spotless on the avatar?

-Heavy Google? I think I found a typo?

-Minutes was ridiculously easy. For some reason she doesn't hurt you on contact unlike every other thing in the game. Makes sense story-wise, I guess.

-The description for the Rocket Dash is false. It claims that I must (a) hold up in order to use the dash and ( that the dash releases magical energy that hurts enemies. I just double-tap the jump button and do jack diddly to enemies.

-The B Card room is incredibly exploitable. I have a friend who would easily enter and exit that room like a hundred times to farm the level-up thingy. That's no fun, though, so I won't do that myself.

-I have no idea what one's really supposed to do with that giant gunship thing, but I did suicide jumps into the engines, chipped its health down with the optional Swift Shot and drank some of my eighty million potions.

-This minigame might be the least challenging thing I've ever played. (Next to the Comp 06 Winner. How the hell did that win with competition like Artilerry? This game's way better.) It's pretty-looking and I like the music, though.

Edited by zeddidragon, 23 January 2011 - 08:55 PM.

[Maerron]

-Heavy Google? I think I found a typo?

Yes it is.

-The description for the Rocket Dash is false. It claims that I must (a) hold up in order to use the dash and ( that the dash releases magical energy that hurts enemies. I just double-tap the jump button and do jack diddly to enemies.

It makes you go higher if you hold up.

-This minigame might be the least challenging thing I've ever played. (Next to the Comp 06 Winner. How the hell did that win with competition like Artilerry? This game's way better.) It's pretty-looking and I like the music, though.

My game that I submitted for the Comp 06 is version 1.0, not this version. And there are differences, like you can't jump while attacking.


Looks like i'll be making updates for this game, like Yal said, Artilerry F 3.0.

also the game really needs a "load last saved file?" when you die, it takes ages to get back into actio after you get killed. The load screen is also veeery slowish

Also this. I generally enjoy games the harder they are, but only if the game over process is quick and painless. Preferably instant. Isn't the very fact that I haven't shut the game off a 100% surefire indicator that I probably want to keep playing on my current savefile?

And I will add this.

Edited by Maerron, 24 January 2011 - 05:31 AM.

[Yal]

This is really nice-looking! It starts out like you playing Megaman Zero only you can't dash (yet) and only have the z-saber (in the beginning) and you're not a robot so there's no excuse for not being able to crouch and hit those low-laying arseholes 100% of the time instead of occasionally missing them for no good reason. But the music is nice, the graphics are nice and you get some pretty cool powers pretty quick. I'm hoping there's a thing you get later that gives you regenerating MP, because not having that is kinda lame.

[/b]
May I emphasize two suggestions in this post?

- Make it possible to crouch / duck when holding <Down> and make it possible to attack when crouching / ducking (but perhaps without making comboes). (As well, Artillery could look upwards when you hold <Up>) During the first boss battle, I was surprised to find out that it was impossible to crouch, especially since the boss really encouraged you to do that if you were near it when it shot those 3 blue spheres at you.

- Make MP be restored all the time, but more slowly than when on a Shiny Spot. And make skills remove more MP. It is very annoying to have to go back a long distance to refill MP because you ran out of Double Jump or Dash when trying to jump to [that one platform]. Perhaps you could make double jump / dash not damage enemies at all and not drain MP? It is a bad design decision to have moves needed to move around be limited in supply.

Both of those suggestions would make the game feel a lot more smooth to play. I fully agree with them.

~

Oh, and some sort of intro sequence would be nice. It takes a lot of time before the story starts. How about seeing Artillery riding a hoverbike over the vast, side-scrolling landscape, and some words appear, like:
"For all those years I believed it to be a legend...
...but now I know it. It is my fate."
An partially transparent image of all the rings appear.

Artillery starts to move faster and exits the right-hand side of the screen.
*Switch to the tutorial room, which has been made a little longer*
Artillery enters the room on the hoverbike, brakes it and jumps off it right at the place where she'd normally start the game.

Edited by Yal, 24 January 2011 - 07:56 AM.

[Zeddy]

Perhaps you could make double jump / dash not damage enemies at all and not drain MP? It is a bad design decision to have moves needed to move around be limited in supply.

This has already been done with the jump. Now I get why the description was wrong.
Edit: Actually, it still hurts enemies. I didn't notice at first because I tried jumping directly into them, but ended up getting hurt back when the dash ended. The trick is, of course, to jump besides them. Graze them, if you will.

An aside:
My brother walked in while I was playing this. He immediately identified it as being like Sonic, and asked if it was a Mega Drive game. Only a couple of minutes later did he add "Huh, it looks kind of like Castlevania too, I guess". I struck me how correct he was. The musical instruments, sound effects and enemy design makes this game really seem Sega-ish. The robotic enemies, Sonic the Spider in particular and also those spiky press things are obvious homages/inspirations. It'd be more accurate to call it a Mega Drive-quality game than a SNES-quality game. Now I can't remember where I saw it called that, but I do remember seeing it.

Edited by zeddidragon, 24 January 2011 - 05:01 PM.

[Zeddy]

Wait, the final boss took exactly one hit to kill? I hope I found a bug.
Edit: Most likely, yeah. He starts with the lifebar empty.

At any rate, I don't really mind reverting to level 1 on the NG+ save. The proper way to treat NG+ is to remove the levels and let the player keep all their previous equipment (and, perhaps, skills). Unlockable stuff, such as in Metal Gear Solid and this game are also acceptable means.

I got 64% of the items, apparently. There was some stuff where I had no idea how to jump high enough to reach. You mentioned that holding up let you jump higher, but I didn't see any effect from that. The only thing determining jump-height seems to be how long you hold the jump-button, and that still doesn't get me nearly high enough for some places.
Edit: After quaffing some level-ups, I now get it.

Clearly, I'm not done with this game yet.

-Also, are the lasers in the room before supposed to be invisible? I mean, I realize that real, actual laser-tripwires aren't really visible, but it's a real dick move. I had no idea what insta-killed me the first time I walked in there.

-Pff, yeah, give me the exp-doubling thing after I've reached level 55 and don't really care anymore.

-Currently, I'm missing the thing that gives me 50% Luck and three picture pieces.

I couldn't find it behind here. All I could find... was my doom! So yeah, I got stuck. No biggie. Recently saved.

Edited by zeddidragon, 24 January 2011 - 07:35 PM.

[Maerron]

Wait, the final boss took exactly one hit to kill? I hope I found a bug.
Edit: Most likely, yeah. He starts with the lifebar empty.

Critical bug! I forgot to set it's hp to it max. So you play the in normal difficulty... I will updated now(only this, and a few more like the typo).

I got 64% of the items, apparently. There was some stuff where I had no idea how to jump high enough to reach. You mentioned that holding up let you jump higher, but I didn't see any effect from that. The only thing determining jump-height seems to be how long you hold the jump-button, and that still doesn't get me nearly high enough for some places.
Edit: After quaffing some level-ups, I now get it.

So after I take a look back at the game, I realized about the false info. I'll fix it in the minor update.

-Also, are the lasers in the room before supposed to be invisible?

You can see them while wearing something.

Will be fixed.

Edited by Maerron, 24 January 2011 - 09:58 PM.

[Nin10doman]

Just downloaded and am enjoying it thus far. A bit tough, but overall a very nice game. Right now I'm in the "cave" part, right after beating the first boss (Not very far, I know).

Some notes:

1. This one would likely be rather difficult for you to implement, but it would be nice if there was a way to "quick" save. Stepping on the save spot, then selecting my file, then confirming, then having to hit space twice to exit...It's a bit tedious for something a player will do frequently in the game (Maybe I'm just being nit-picky). It would be nice if it just automatically saved to whatever file I have loaded, no questions asked.

2. Similarly, a "quick" continue would be nice, and probably easier to implement. After dying, instead of simply going back to the starting screen, it could ask "Continue?" and then load the save file again. That's what I'm probably going to be doing anyway, so it would save me some time and impatience-induced frustration. (Yeah, I'm impatient. I admit it. While these features would not be necessary, I feel that they would still improve the design.)

3. The Escape key should prompt. I forgot for a moment that I was playing a game, and accidentally pressed Escape to leave the pause menu. Much to my surprise, the game simply ended and I had to start over from my last save. An "Are you sure you wish to quit?" would have saved me some trouble.

4. The shop should sell anti-venom (poisonme or whatever it is called). I only have 3 right now, and the little green guys don't want to give me any more out of spite, it seems. So I went back to the shop to buy some, only to find she doesn't have it.

5. The Dash move doesn't seem to hurt the poison-spewing floor guys. Maybe it's not supposed to, but I feel like it should.

6. There seems to be a bug with the first skill (the diagonal slice one). It says you have to hold up and press Z to use it. However, if you press up and then Z, even if you wait a long time and do other things in between the presses, it will use this ability instead of a regular attack. This can be a bit frustrating because I may not actually want to use it at that moment.

Anyway, I'm liking it so far; great job. Feel free to disregard my whiningscomments if you so choose.

Thanks for the game,

-Nin10doman