Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG [updated 2017-03-22]

[Soljer13]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

downloaded latest demo. Its password protected.

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

downloaded latest demo. Its password protected.

The password will be aod for all future AoA releases until otherwise noticed.

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

New victory pose after defeating bosses.

I haven't received any bug reports yet but I'd like to know your impressions on AoA so far:-

1. How is the current difficulty of the number of enemy spawns?
2. Were the boss difficulty okay? (especially with the archer boss)
3. How do you find the current skills?
4. Gamepad compatibility so good so far?

A few feedback on skill mechanics I received were:-

1. Rush skill often leads to suicide (falling off the arena).
2. Shield throw payoff not rewarding enough.
3. Double-edge (Lv.3) costs too much HP.

 

[kvier]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Currently I'm finding it too easy to get mobbed, but then again I'm not really putting much effort into it, so take that with a huge grain of salt.

 

[iamnuff]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

New victory pose after defeating bosses.

I haven't received any bug reports yet but I'd like to know your impressions on AoA so far:-

1. How is the current difficulty of the number of enemy spawns?
2. Were the boss difficulty okay? (especially with the archer boss)
3. How do you find the current skills?
4. Gamepad compatibility so good so far?

A few feedback on skill mechanics I received were:-

1. Rush skill often leads to suicide (falling off the arena).
2. Shield throw payoff not rewarding enough.
3. Double-edge (Lv.3) costs too much HP.

First piece of feedback to occur to me, the one blinking pixel at her feet in that victory pose is really bothering me.

It looks like she's bleeding or something, and now i've seen it, I can't unsee it.

 

[Meta1]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Oh god...It's there. Haunting. It cannot be unseen.

 

[iamnuff]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

It's showing off when the animation loop begins/ends.

I mean, it's a teeny tiny thing, but it was the second thing I noticed about the animation. (the first was, "Oooh, cool wind effects")

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Currently I'm finding it too easy to get mobbed, but then again I'm not really putting much effort into it, so take that with a huge grain of salt.

I'll be looking to change that in a bit. Spawning is still not optimal at the moment and the AI is mostly aggressive. Will try to have a controller that adjusts enemy aggression and cunning based on their numbers so they don't mob and end up trailing behind the player.

It's showing off when the animation loop begins/ends.

I mean, it's a teeny tiny thing, but it was the second thing I noticed about the animation. (the first was, "Oooh, cool wind effects")

Yup it tell me the start/end of loops but more importantly, it tell me where the sprite connects with the ground, where the player shadow should be. Of course I should have removed it before posting but I forgot.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[iamnuff]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

I'll be looking to change that in a bit. Spawning is still not optimal at the moment and the AI is mostly aggressive. Will try to have a controller that adjusts enemy aggression and cunning based on their numbers so they don't mob and end up trailing behind the player.


Yup it tell me the start/end of loops but more importantly, it tell me where the sprite connects with the ground, where the player shadow should be. Of course I should have removed it before posting but I forgot.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ahh well.

Actually, if it was there throughout the whole animation it wouldn't even be an issue, it's the whole blinking dot thing that draws the eye.

That said, if it's not supposed to be visible, then just ignore my complaint.

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

So v0.7 just up yesterday. Not too far from v1.0 now and still lots to do!

You must be registered to see the links

Password: aod

Release Notes for v0.7:

1. New bosses for ROUND 30 & 40
2. All bosses now have temporary knockback immunity to avoid being stunlocked to death
3. Rounds go up to ROUND [41]
4. New skills: Seriate & Survivor
5. The Rush skill now able to be cancelled halfway by pressing 'attack'
6. Player now have short invulnerability and damage enemies on wake-up from knockdown.
7. Now only grant HP on filling up the lust bar ONCE per sex engagement to avoid HP exploit.
8. Increased drops pickup speed & radius slightly.
9. Full-screen by pressing F4. I have temporarily disabled ALT + ENTER.

Other notes:

• Nothing happens after ROUND [41]. You will have to restart game by jumping off the cliff or pressing F2.
• Boss animations planned but not yet worked on, will be much later (possibly v0.9).
• Still no BGM! =(

Gotta keep the momentum going.

 

[iamnuff]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Ok, finally got time to play this demo, and i'm having trouble.

How the hell do you break out of a grapple/sex-animation?

There's three buttons, (sword, person(?) and hearts, but I have no idea which button corrisponds to which button on the keyboard.

I've tried mashing A/s/d/z/x/c and nothing has happened.

I can't seem to escape the grapples at all.

edit: arrowkeys, duh.

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Ok, finally got time to play this demo, and i'm having trouble.

How the hell do you break out of a grapple/sex-animation?

There's three buttons, (sword, person(?) and hearts, but I have no idea which button corrisponds to which button on the keyboard.

I've tried mashing A/s/d/z/x/c and nothing has happened.

I can't seem to escape the grapples at all.

edit: arrowkeys, duh.

Whoops sorry about the confusion. I gave some thought on the button indicators, and designed it as such. Damn my interface design sucked balls. I could try replacing the arrows with actual keyboard arrow key sprites, which will likely clear the confusion.

Thanks for finding the time!

 

[iamnuff]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Whoops sorry about the confusion. I gave some thought on the button indicators, and designed it as such. Damn my interface design sucked balls. I could try replacing the arrows with actual keyboard arrow key sprites, which will likely clear the confusion.

Thanks for finding the time!

I finally realized because of the position of the buttons, I never noticed any arrows on them, or if I did, it just looked like arrows pressing the button down, rather than directional arrows.

 

[Mistah F.]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Compact and charming mechanical and visual style. Good on you for postponing a lofty first project to get experience with something simple, I mean it.

I think aiming skills should have the direction/cursor move steadily but swiftly to the direction the player is inputting. That would make transition from movement to aiming seamless and intuitive while also allowing more directions for anyone using arrow keys or directional buttons.

I also think, for skills with confirmation or cancelling, that you should allow the button the skill is assigned to to allow confirmation and cancelling as well as the attack button. I'd like to be able to double tap a skill when I think I'm already facing the right way to succeed with it and want to basically skip the aiming process.

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Compact and charming mechanical and visual style. Good on you for postponing a lofty first project to get experience with something simple, I mean it.

I think aiming skills should have the direction/cursor move steadily but swiftly to the direction the player is inputting. That would make transition from movement to aiming seamless and intuitive while also allowing more directions for anyone using arrow keys or directional buttons.

I also think, for skills with confirmation or cancelling, that you should allow the button the skill is assigned to to allow confirmation and cancelling as well as the attack button. I'd like to be able to double tap a skill when I think I'm already facing the right way to succeed with it and want to basically skip the aiming process.

I was very reluctant to halt Labcoax dev but I couldn't continue to the grind. Almost like digging a hole with bare hands. Over time, bad code design piled up and when I have to add a function, I have to sieve through the pile. Ability did not keep ambition in check. Ambition killed enthusiasm in cold blood. Maybe do Labcoax justice next?

Anyways, the current aim mechanics already aims toward player input but maybe not swiftly enough. Also, only the charge/rush skill is cancelleable and can only be cancelled after the running starts. Overall the aiming thing is still wonky as hell. I'll try and improve it further

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

So v0.8 just up! Apologies for taking so long. In v0.8 you get a 3rd new H-animation position (unlocked by beating ROUND [30]). To see it, you must be knocked-down facing the south to south-east direction and can allow up to 3 enemy participants.

Again, I'm still experimenting with BGM so I haven't put them in. Was also building up the Gallery functions and making small changes to the UI.

You must be registered to see the links

Password: aod

Release Notes for v0.8:

1. New 3rd player H-animation.
2. New enemy Brute.
3. Rounds go up to ROUND [41]
4. Enemy spawn progression tweaked. Spawning should make sense following the round levels now.
5. Change in Pause Menu UI.
6. You can now 'Restart' and select rounds with Pause Menu (ESC).

Other notes:

• Nothing happens after ROUND [41]. Restart via Pause Menu (ESC).
• Still no BGM! =(
• When hit during spawning, shielded enemies may appear unshielded until they die or lose shields.

As always, I'll be counting on you all to help me with the testing!

 

[LucaDiGreg]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Just wanted to drop a line to let you know you're doing a great job, keep it up!

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Just wanted to drop a line to let you know you're doing a great job, keep it up!

Wow your first post nonetheless! I appreciate it! Seriously, thanks!

 

[Bill13]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

Gave it a try through to 40 and it's an entertaining game. Didn't run into any bugs that I recall, but do have a few subjective comments on the gameplay/skills/etc.

First, the twirling barbs are a bit irritating in a few ways. A few times I had one spawn off screen and then spin to win--still from off screen--to knock me off the stage. It's supposed to be a challenge which is fine, but as far as I could tell there isn't any way to actually avoid/evade/stop the twirl once it begins unless you juke the start which is annoying without vision. If the movement speed skill could be equipped--assuming it needs to be--it might give the ability to evade it, but default speed didn't seem to be enough. I didn't test what takes priority between the spin and our charge though. If the charge counters it then my point is mostly irrelevant. Though I dislike off screen attacks, it's the only reason I lost on my otherwise flawless path to 40 so whether it's a good or bad thing might depend on what kind of challenge you're looking to provide. They can also spin immediately on spawn, which can be...interesting...combined with off screen spawns.

The skill that every 5 or so attacks gets you a + 1 damage on the next attack is very often wasted on a parry/block. Isn't really worth using since it rarely works on anything other than archers/alchs. If the final upgraded version were to have that +1 attack and unblockable then it might actually be worth the points.

Quicker response on the shield and charge turning would be nice as well. Also would be nice if the shield could be fired immediately instead of that rather significant delay after startup.

An option to go directly to boss battles you've already beaten would be useful too.

That's all I remember for now. Though short and fairly simple, I enjoyed it. Nicely done.

 

[datanony]

Re: Arena of Audacia (AoA) - Top-down ARPG

...
First, the twirling barbs are a bit irritating in a few ways. A few times I had one spawn off screen and then spin to win--still from off screen--to knock me off the stage. It's supposed to be a challenge which is fine, but as far as I could tell there isn't any way to actually avoid/evade/stop the twirl once it begins unless you juke the start which is annoying without vision. If the movement speed skill could be equipped--assuming it needs to be--it might give the ability to evade it, but default speed didn't seem to be enough. I didn't test what takes priority between the spin and our charge though. If the charge counters it then my point is mostly irrelevant. Though I dislike off screen attacks, it's the only reason I lost on my otherwise flawless path to 40 so whether it's a good or bad thing might depend on what kind of challenge you're looking to provide. They can also spin immediately on spawn, which can be...interesting...combined with off screen spawns.

Yeeeahh that AI can go a little bonkers sometimes. I can see how spinning right off the bat and from off-screen can become annoying fast. I'll balance it by increasing the delay between spins and decreasing their reach.

The skill that every 5 or so attacks gets you a + 1 damage on the next attack is very often wasted on a parry/block. Isn't really worth using since it rarely works on anything other than archers/alchs. If the final upgraded version were to have that +1 attack and unblockable then it might actually be worth the points.

The skills will continually undergo tuning and balancing. That said, I'll go ahead and make that skill unblockable (didn't think of it earlier somehow).

Quicker response on the shield and charge turning would be nice as well. Also would be nice if the shield could be fired immediately instead of that rather significant delay after startup.

Shield throw happen to be the only ranged attack now, I think it's in a good spot now as the last upgrade makes it unblockable. As for the charge, being a 'get-in-get-out' tool, it does seem a little weak. I'll tune it some more.

An option to go directly to boss battles you've already beaten would be useful too.

Hmm good point. I'll note this down, but I gotta think this one through a bit.

That's all I remember for now. Though short and fairly simple, I enjoyed it. Nicely done.

My replies in bold. All feedback go towards improving AoA afterall, so your suggestions definitely helped me greatly. As always, thanks for testing it out!

I should point out however that AoA is not designed to be completed ROUNDS 1-60+ in one go. Instead, multiple tries and farming for gold is intended before proceeding to take on tougher rounds.