Killing your darlings is the hardest part about being an artist sometimes, but its necessary. Sometimes you cut things, and it adds a lot of clarity so you find a better spot to reintegrate the thing you cut. I think the lesson is that you always need to be willing to iterate in any direction if you want to make the best possible game.
Even with these cuts, I still feel like your game is moving in the right direction! I’ve been searching far and wide for a game like this, so I’m really excited to see where it goes! Keep up the good work!
Using spells when you heal is a great idea! It adds a lot of variety to to weapons too. Now you have to decide between damage amount, range amount, attack speed, heal amount, and the spell on weapon which leaves the player with a lot of agency in weapon choice
I like the idea of spells being cast when you break a weapon. It feels like it will encourage players to use the healing option even more since it also protects while you use it. Which makes the loss of a weapon not feel as bad.
i like the idea of shattering at high health just to do a spell, or waiting at 1hp looking for the perfect moment, it also is somewhat an autobalance a player that takes a lot of hits gets a large attack with little punishment, a player that takes few has to tackle the boss for longer, and also has this area for strategising
Here at the shop (5:02) you could simplify down the experience by just listing the price above/below the item with a gold/currency icon, then just a confirmation window if you want to buy it.
This is one of the hardest and most important parts about creating stuff in general -- a lot don't realize it until too late and then the dread of what they've started poisons their motivation entirely.
Exactly, in risk of rain 2, the final area's opening area is almost as large as one of the starting areas, really giving you a sense of scale as you go up those stairs, and look up.
Scope creep? No I just thought about this new game mode that all must to redo everything from camera to players control, and will take just 20 years, let's go!
I absolutely love how this game has grown and changed. Ive been here since this project started and this has been a large reason I started to learn how to make games myself. Thank you!
I totally feel you man, I’m nowhere as skilled as you, but on my recent project i let my mind travel faster then my fingers. In order to finish the game before the turn of millennium, I decided to cut a ton of mechanics😂
This was EXACTLY the play! I don’t comment much but I remember thinking I preferred the shatter/spell idea. This just sharpens what makes your game so unique!
Very good decision. Games aren't just about interesting mechanics, it's about finding the fun. If the mechanics get in the way of the fun or don't add to it then out they go. Even if they are fun, it's better to have strong core game with tight mechanics and add the extra stuff later if ever. Keep up the awesome work!
Totally correct solution, I was expecting not to recognize Moonshire and was impressed with the simple changes. I would like to be able to go through enemies or projectiles when I don't have a weapon, thinking about the idea of a future difficulty change that would seem excellent to me since I don't see the point of replayability o como se escriba, saludos desde Uruguay 🇺🇾✌️
I think this is an amazing step in refining the game. I really like the spells being tied to shattering, I think it's a more interesting strategy challenge than a separate meter and builds strongly on your core mechanics as it makes both timing and resource management more important, instead of focusing on chip damage so you can cast spells and delay shattering until your hp is low. Instead it's now a question of do I cast a spell now, or cast a spell later and heal later. You need to be more aware of the resources you have on your character, and in the environment, and manage them whilst fighting. To further it, you could encourage quicker, riskier gameplay. Maybe tying some reward to the speed with which foes are dispatched. I think this would make the spell now, or spell+heal later question more impactful.
I just meted your channel, and right here I found a huge amount of tutorials that I've not found easily on UA-cam. Thanks a lot, your project is very impressive, I wish you good work! :)
Was not expecting a Kirby air ride reference haha. But I think that is the right choice removing mana. The destroying weapons to cast spells is not only unique but brings a cool tradeoff to the game.
Your game is really tight, idk how else to describe it. It feels like everything fits together very snuggly, it's such a great feeling seeing that from any game. The cuts you made make sense of course they would be nice but the way your current game is(with the cuts) feels better imo
Just judging based on these few snippets in this video, but the game looks pretty cool, I would play this for sure. Love the dodging, weapon mechanics and art style.
This seems less to me like you're cutting back on good features and more so that you're paying more attention to properly fitting things together. Less complication with tighter design leads to more cohesion and makes the core of the game shine more.
The type of spell cast on item shatter could depend on the color tunic you are wearing. You could also reintroduce custom spells with mixed color tunics. You get more creative control out of spellcasting without having to reintroduce the extra spell button.
I think it's fine to do away with spells and focus on items or abilities that enhance your main three mechanics. There could even be some that come with trade offs. For example, you lose dodge for more walk speed or changes it into a new type of dash or attack pattern, I don't know. I did like the elemental aspect of the game but I think it's fine to keep it simple. I also like the idea to use context based buttons. Nice work.
the thing that impresses me the most about moonshire is how laser focused you are on what you're trying to achieve, you want to provide a fun, simple, streamlined experience for the player and you know how you want to accomplish that which is exactly how things should be. not every game needs to have a huge open world, hundreds of hours of playtime or complex mechanics, and usually when those things are forced into a game anyway it makes the experience significantly worse. cutting things out can feel like a bad thing, but there's absolutely such a thing as too much content. if something isn't adding to the experience then all it's doing is diluting that experience, just go crazy, delete whatever you need to and don't worry about it
I think something that could be fun would be that different weapons could have different effects when shattered APART from the healing. And with that, an ability to store and switch between several weapons that you gathered up (let's say, a backpack that let's you store up to 4 weapons in it) could make for a fun meta where shattering weapons could synergize with other weapons while you are attacking with them (for example, shattering a fire staff would give you a buff to fire damage dealt over time, which would obviously synergize with other fire-related weapons). I'm just throwing out ideas here, but I think that could be fun!
wow moonshire is looking super good! like others said, reeling in scope creep is rough but whenever i do it i also feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders lol
Making cuts to games can make you feel sad because you're getting rid of mechanics that could make your game better, but like you said making cuts can make finishing your game feel more manageable. I like how you mentioned how in Kirby Air ride you can do a lot with just the A button, which I find clever because it makes it so there's no need for extra buttons to be used. It reminds me of a Roblox platformer, Adventure's End, in it you move with arrow keys, use space to jump, and another key for the action, but you can still do a lot like double jump, dive, long jump, backflip, and probably some more stuff. Kirby Air Ride also reminds me of a Super Mario Oddysey Nes style game TeddyRoseKidd made a UA-cam video about. In the video he goes over how he made it. At some point in it he goes over how he can put a lot of the movement mechanics in mario oddysey in an nes style game that wouldn't have as many buttons to use. Kirby Air Ride also reminds me of other games like Kirby Super Star where in it you can make button combinations when you have any copy ability to use different attacks.
I'm a critical consumer. I regard others' entertainment with the same exacting taste with which I regard my own writing, being a novelist. So I like to think it means something when I tell you that this is one of the most polished and entertaining-looking games I've seen among all of the devlogs I've seen. Sure, I watch the Dauphin devlog and a bunch of others, but it's rare that a game makes my fingers itch to try it out. All of the little mechanics and the way they are designed and animated is like video-game crack.
Sometimes we need to lose some features that were important to us but is always for making a good game. Reducing the game scope isn't bad at all, you can pulish the game and making more fun to play. I'm pretty sure that moonshine will be an excellent game, don't give up
My brother and I scope creeped ourselves out of making a game, hopefully we'll return to that game one day. For now, we've made a new game design doc for a new game, much smaller, and more intimate, and that I think will suit us better, especially as it will technically be our first game (excluding game jam games). Good luck with your game, it's looking good so far, and love your thinking.
I feel like if you shatter your weapon at a high enough HP, like at max HP then the spell should do more damage, or be buffed in some way, just to reward players that are skilled enough to not take damage by giving them an extra option. There is still the risk reward factor because you are giving up what could be a healing option, but I think it allows for some nice skill expression. Your game looks awesome, and I can not wait for it to come out. :)
Maybe you can hold down the Attack button to shatter the weapon for the spell only and holding down Dodge shatters it for the heal? It would not add more buttons, but adds an extra choice in combat. Love your Demo so far :)
Every game has at least scrapped some content, especially indie games. But it is wholly necessary for games to become finished and develop past alpha and beta stages
Not sure if you've fully committed to cutting it already but one idea I had of how to make spells work with the weapon shatter system is as you unlock more spells, I liked your idea of when you hold the shatter button then after the amount of time holding it would normally take to shatter your weapon it instead moves on to casting the next spell instead, and progressively getting more powerful, I think it would be a good idea to make heal somewhere on the longer end or maybe even the last one in the order so the player gets used to that long timing from the beginning, so that way you need to actually find a good opening to heal where you can charge up the shatter long enough like hollow knight rather than just instantly getting a full heal. You could also maybe have them use up a certain amount of the weapons shatter durability the stronger the spell to tie weapons and spells even closer together! For example lets say the sword for example has 4 shatter points: 1st fast charge maybe like a quick get off me button like a gust of wind, or an ice shield, something weak but at the cost of a little of your weapon you get something that's a little more reliable than roll timing if there's an attack or situation you really don't think you could get out of and you have enough situational awareness to use your weapon up partially instead. 2nd charge time maybe add a little fire aura around the player so you can tell it's the fire spell, this adds 2 shatter points to the weapon so the sword could do this once, add a fire buff for more damage, and you'd still have enough for another little shield or get off me move whichever you prefer. 3rd charge, add lightning bolts around the player during this charge animation stage so they can tell, get a powerful ranged move when you release for enemies you really don't want to deal with at the cost of almost an entire weapon. 4th charge green calming aura, you get the heal and it uses 4 points of your current weapon so the sword would break instantly if you want something as powerful as a heal. I think this makes the weapon shattering and spells cohesive like you wanted, adds more options while still only using attack and dodge as 2 buttons, adds some complexity and strategy, and fixes an issue I remember you mentioning earlier where you couldn't find a way to make it worth to do offensive shatters over something as powerful as a heal, because in this case offensive ones could be used a few times where as heals would fully break it. You could actually do a lot with this system, like give different weapons more durabilities than each other so maybe the ones with more attack damage have less casts, but the weak ones like a wand maybe can use lots of spells. You could make some special weapons like a fire sword and maybe that one has an effect where using the fire spell on it only counts as one durability so you could do a full damage buffing build. I also kind of like the idea of being able to go over the limit on the final cast that actually 'shatters' the weapon. Like Say there's a 5 shatter points weapon, you could use the fire buff twice, it's on it's final point now but you can still use a heal as the final spell that breaks it even though it's 4 points. This way you'd have to kind of think based on the weapons remaining points how to optimize the most spells you could use before you go for that big heal shatter at the end and if you get hit too much and have to use the heal right away you're like "ugh no I still could have used a lightning bolt first" kind of as a punishment for heal spamming. Or have some weapons that don't even have enough points to cast certain spells so you're like "wow the axe is really strong, but if I want to be able to use lightning for this enemy that's weak to it I should bring something else. You could even add a few secret or hard to unlock at the shop end game spells that go PAST heal in the order and even the really durable weapons get one shot if you want to use them Idk I know this is a lot I just randomly had the idea today and had to come back to this to tell you haha 😅
I liked the jewlery system, I think it fit pretty well and led to some fun customization additionally, spells being tied to the jewlery could lead to spells that activate in other conditions
Maybe for your weapons does something different after holding the attack button, like a different move or maybe that’s how you cast a spell without breaking the weapon, but it’s much weaker than the shattering spells. But I do like where the game is going.
Hey, dookie happens. I really enjoyed how you made it open world, but it’s all good. You should definitely keep the flower checkpoints tho! That was incredible!
Here is an idea: why dont you make portals that are scattered around the map, and you pay to go to a certain spot (each portal takes you a unique place)
I've been also making my dream game since 2017. I have few questions if you don't mind answering: Q1- What game engine do you use? Q2- Do you draw your sprites, backgrounds, items, and props yourself.. or "borrow" some from the internet? Q3- Did you thought about adding feature "Multiplayer"? PvP and Co-op? Q4- How many levels and bosses you're aiming for? If you're interested, I'll share a private link with you to test my game if you would like
It feels weird that a player who doesn’t take any damage is punished by not being able to cast spells. Maybe you can still break a weapon even with full health? Maybe the more health you have the more damage the spell does? This way a good player is now rewarded for not taking damage by doing more damage with the spell.
Cutting content also makes your game easier to understand and play, which is huge for me. I never understood why a Pokemon game needed berries and secret hideouts. It feels like they had too many developers.
i think that changing back the spell system was a good call. i did like hollow knights but i think that in moonshire the wepond systom is versitile enough and adding complexity is jus going to make it less intuitive
Honestly I prefer the original spell mechanic, depending on the balancing and the effect of the spells i guess. Either way, keep up the awesome work man
You said you've got 3 main mechanics (dodging, attacking, shattering) and you want every mechanic to feel connected to it, i think a solution for the spells can kind of be an extension of what you did with the lightning on shatter and heal. you can have like 3 spells that you unlock through the game, and you tie each one to a seperate one of these 3 mechanics. so on shatter you get lightning(after the spell is unlocked) then maybe you get the superheated weapen on attacking, like after 3 consecutive hits it will now superheat the weapon. Then, you could add another spell that activates on dodging that you get later, maybe some sort of wind force that drags enemies in to where you dodged from, or something else. you would want it to always be positive and not obstructructive so that it feels like a dodge upgrade instead of an annoyance if it would automatically activate. a game spell system that i was reminded of, having seen you describe over the last few devlogs what you keep toying with, is crosscode. how the spells work in that game is that they are tied to a key, and the spell that is cast depends on how long you hold the key as well as what action you are currently performing. So, if you are holding the block button and then press the spell key, it might create a protective bubble, or if you hold it longer then it createss a protective bubble that damaged enemies on contact. It has more options and complexity but you can kinda integrate that on a smaller scale and just have an unlockable spell tied to each action and that will give you some meaning ful uprades that change up the pace of the game, while also not adding any extraneous mehanics that feel disjointed
FYI: I havn't kept upt with devlogs so idk if things like this have been addressed one thing to play around with in regards to the new way spells work (using shattering) is making spells somewhat powerful and not just a bonus for shattering, adding incentive to waste your current weapon on a spell to try and clutch a fight. i feel like the only problem with this system is balancing making spells powerful and its own choice but not too far to the point where healing off a shatter now becomes "the bonus"
Spells could just be something you can only do when you have no weapon equipped and shattering a weapon to heal would also "heal" your mana making it possible to use the spell one more time. The cooldown would essentially just be reset by shattering a weapon and you would have an extra option for when you don't have a new weapon right away and would also use the same button.
3:06 Does it make sense for the little light energy balls to be casting shadows? Could you maybe put a glow there instead to keep the impression of depth?
I will echo everyone and say bravo on cutting. Learning when enough is enough is more difficult than adding more. However I will say on my part that I think that if the problem with spells is that combat was too quick, either adding bigger monsters or a large quantity of monsters that encouraged large AoE attacks could have alleviated this.
But the thing is, you absolutely can make the game of your dreams, nothing but time is stopping you. And it's a passion project then why not just spend that time making the game as you want it.
I was watching your video, the one called: enhancing my games pixel art, and I had one suggestion: in the starting area, where there is rainy weather, it feels a bit strange for there to be torches to use to fight, and for the guards/soldier things to be holding torches. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s just a little suggestion
You could even implement a special attack type of spell that is linked to the weapons. Similar to Runescape. Special attack is built and used in full or half dependent on the weapon used.
this is my first devlog of yours i have seen, but maybe you can make it so you can upgrade the shattering and choose between more healing effect, attack speed, attack damage or choose more powerfull spells, so you can choose what you want. better spells but less healing, more healing but less powerfull spells or you can balance it. makes the game feel more personal and adds more variety and replayability.
I think you should have a dedicated button for spells, but rather than casting the spell it'll cycle it. It can pop up a wheel or bar and each time you press the button it highlights the next spell, then when you shatter an item and heal it casts the selected spell.
Hey I got a idea for you, the mana system recharging on dealing damage, if you ask me, its less oppotinuity for fun and if you just make dealing damage to any entity, it will be kind of boring to kill something around you to regain that mana and the only option left would be consuming your weapon. You can make it kind of balanced by adding some items which make them balanced like regaining some of your mana for x steps. You can also add some potions which are traded or obtained through chests. I know not very original but hey, its a good idea
*"Looking back on these original plans it seems obvious now that they were just to ambitious. This is a common mistake the developers make while working on their projects. It's call scope creep."* Scope *creep* (key word) isn't when your initial plans are too ambitious, it's when scope keeps growing during development, far beyond the initial plans, often blowing up budgets and schedules. You're actually doing the opposite: reducing scope as you go, below your initial plans, in order to keep things manageable. *"Wasn't finding many opportunities to cast my spells, the encounters were too quick."* Maybe the spells are too big. You said you have three main actions: "attacking dodging shattering". What if the spells were _modifiers_ on these core abilities, rather than totally separate skills: you burn mana to add an effect to one of the existing abilities. Like a dodge could leave a flame trail, or be twice as long, or cause knock back, etc. You'd be able to find new spells, but only choose one per slot. You'd choose the one (per slot) that best fit your playstyle. Don't know if that's practical given your existing control scheme (which I don't know), but some kind of modifier/key button, like holding shift when you attack or dodge. That would give you 3 spells without having to have 3 buttons for spells. Side note: these videos are a super effective marketing scheme. I'm planning to get the game (as soon as I switch to my gaming partition) because of them.
Eu joguei o jogo e cara, sem dúvidas é um dos melhores jogos indies que eu já joguei!! passei quase 2 horas para completar a demo (sim, eu sou um jogador péssimo haha), mas durante essas duas horas eu me diverti muito!!! experienciei alguns poucos bugs (como o da tela de morte, onde ainda é possível mover o personagem e a cor não é a mesma do personagem também), mas nada que atrapalhe a gameplay. Boa sorte para terminar o jogo! Poderia traduzir o jogo para português (se possível, claro), os brasileiros iriam adorar jogar este jogo ainda mais se fosse traduzido.
Might be cool if casting spells vs healing affects a weapon's durability in different ways. Weapons break after 2 magical uses or something like that and showing it visually.
You should have a weapon that acts like those Russian dolls where every time you break it a new slightly different smaller weapon was hidden underneath! This way you can give the player the option to cast spells without loosing their weapon.
Killing your darlings is the hardest part about being an artist sometimes, but its necessary. Sometimes you cut things, and it adds a lot of clarity so you find a better spot to reintegrate the thing you cut. I think the lesson is that you always need to be willing to iterate in any direction if you want to make the best possible game.
Even with these cuts, I still feel like your game is moving in the right direction! I’ve been searching far and wide for a game like this, so I’m really excited to see where it goes! Keep up the good work!
Is there not already a game like this among the hundreds of indie games released every year?
Using spells when you heal is a great idea! It adds a lot of variety to to weapons too. Now you have to decide between damage amount, range amount, attack speed, heal amount, and the spell on weapon which leaves the player with a lot of agency in weapon choice
I like the idea of spells being cast when you break a weapon. It feels like it will encourage players to use the healing option even more since it also protects while you use it. Which makes the loss of a weapon not feel as bad.
i like the idea of shattering at high health just to do a spell, or waiting at 1hp looking for the perfect moment, it also is somewhat an autobalance a player that takes a lot of hits gets a large attack with little punishment, a player that takes few has to tackle the boss for longer, and also has this area for strategising
Love the Kirby’s Air Ride reference. I didn’t notice how many things you could do with one button in that game!!
Here at the shop (5:02) you could simplify down the experience by just listing the price above/below the item with a gold/currency icon, then just a confirmation window if you want to buy it.
This is one of the hardest and most important parts about creating stuff in general -- a lot don't realize it until too late and then the dread of what they've started poisons their motivation entirely.
Having small areas is good because it means you can make a few big areas for dramatic effect
Exactly, in risk of rain 2, the final area's opening area is almost as large as one of the starting areas, really giving you a sense of scale as you go up those stairs, and look up.
Scope creep? No I just thought about this new game mode that all must to redo everything from camera to players control, and will take just 20 years, let's go!
I absolutely love how this game has grown and changed. Ive been here since this project started and this has been a large reason I started to learn how to make games myself. Thank you!
quality over quantity!
Tell that to triple A games
@@ZnakezTvif only EA could read this
Even gow 2018 had a lot of unnecessary stuff added that felt like it was tacked on
I totally feel you man, I’m nowhere as skilled as you, but on my recent project i let my mind travel faster then my fingers. In order to finish the game before the turn of millennium, I decided to cut a ton of mechanics😂
This was EXACTLY the play! I don’t comment much but I remember thinking I preferred the shatter/spell idea. This just sharpens what makes your game so unique!
This guy gets me. The Xenoblade music -> Kirby Air Ride reference is peak UA-cam content for me. Love the vids
Very good decision. Games aren't just about interesting mechanics, it's about finding the fun. If the mechanics get in the way of the fun or don't add to it then out they go. Even if they are fun, it's better to have strong core game with tight mechanics and add the extra stuff later if ever. Keep up the awesome work!
I played the demo recently and it was INCREDIBLE, the combat is great and I look forward to what else you have in store for us Challacade.
My jaw dropped when you talked about using the act of breaking a weapon to cast a spell. Genuinely an incredible idea
nice , happy to see the game is getting along
Totally correct solution, I was expecting not to recognize Moonshire and was impressed with the simple changes. I would like to be able to go through enemies or projectiles when I don't have a weapon, thinking about the idea of a future difficulty change that would seem excellent to me since I don't see the point of replayability o como se escriba, saludos desde Uruguay 🇺🇾✌️
I think this is an amazing step in refining the game. I really like the spells being tied to shattering, I think it's a more interesting strategy challenge than a separate meter and builds strongly on your core mechanics as it makes both timing and resource management more important, instead of focusing on chip damage so you can cast spells and delay shattering until your hp is low. Instead it's now a question of do I cast a spell now, or cast a spell later and heal later. You need to be more aware of the resources you have on your character, and in the environment, and manage them whilst fighting.
To further it, you could encourage quicker, riskier gameplay. Maybe tying some reward to the speed with which foes are dispatched. I think this would make the spell now, or spell+heal later question more impactful.
I got huge respect for your decisions, very well done
It's looking great btw!
I just meted your channel, and right here I found a huge amount of tutorials that I've not found easily on UA-cam. Thanks a lot, your project is very impressive, I wish you good work! :)
awesome devlog, its really cool to see how you re-prioritized everything, haven't really seen a devlog about that before.
I always keep an eye for your work, so much inspiring!
I feel like making spells part of the healing mechanic is the best decision❤
Looks really good and these decisions are very mature. It's hard to let go of something
Was not expecting a Kirby air ride reference haha. But I think that is the right choice removing mana. The destroying weapons to cast spells is not only unique but brings a cool tradeoff to the game.
Thanks for sharing this story! I appreciate it.
Your game is really tight, idk how else to describe it. It feels like everything fits together very snuggly, it's such a great feeling seeing that from any game. The cuts you made make sense of course they would be nice but the way your current game is(with the cuts) feels better imo
Your game is really awesome bro. I am definitely going to buy it on steam.
Dude, this is great, love your thought process!
Your game will reach a great success. You'll get more people to implement your wishes, just keep going like that.
This is the only devlog series where it feels like the game might actually come out some day
Just judging based on these few snippets in this video, but the game looks pretty cool, I would play this for sure. Love the dodging, weapon mechanics and art style.
Challacade never fails to mention a nintendo game in his videos
This seems less to me like you're cutting back on good features and more so that you're paying more attention to properly fitting things together. Less complication with tighter design leads to more cohesion and makes the core of the game shine more.
The type of spell cast on item shatter could depend on the color tunic you are wearing. You could also reintroduce custom spells with mixed color tunics. You get more creative control out of spellcasting without having to reintroduce the extra spell button.
I think it's fine to do away with spells and focus on items or abilities that enhance your main three mechanics. There could even be some that come with trade offs. For example, you lose dodge for more walk speed or changes it into a new type of dash or attack pattern, I don't know. I did like the elemental aspect of the game but I think it's fine to keep it simple. I also like the idea to use context based buttons. Nice work.
the thing that impresses me the most about moonshire is how laser focused you are on what you're trying to achieve, you want to provide a fun, simple, streamlined experience for the player and you know how you want to accomplish that which is exactly how things should be. not every game needs to have a huge open world, hundreds of hours of playtime or complex mechanics, and usually when those things are forced into a game anyway it makes the experience significantly worse. cutting things out can feel like a bad thing, but there's absolutely such a thing as too much content. if something isn't adding to the experience then all it's doing is diluting that experience, just go crazy, delete whatever you need to and don't worry about it
I think something that could be fun would be that different weapons could have different effects when shattered APART from the healing. And with that, an ability to store and switch between several weapons that you gathered up (let's say, a backpack that let's you store up to 4 weapons in it) could make for a fun meta where shattering weapons could synergize with other weapons while you are attacking with them (for example, shattering a fire staff would give you a buff to fire damage dealt over time, which would obviously synergize with other fire-related weapons). I'm just throwing out ideas here, but I think that could be fun!
Like if you have been following this series for a while and are super impressed with how far the game has come! ❤🎉
wow moonshire is looking super good! like others said, reeling in scope creep is rough but whenever i do it i also feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders lol
It's better to do a few things well then many things average. I think you are making wise choices. A game that isn't finished, isn't a game yet.
if you think about it healing is a 'spell' too so I think having different weapon types unleash different spells upon destruction is the way to go
I can't help but like this game. Its style and gameplay are so appealing!
Making cuts to games can make you feel sad because you're getting rid of mechanics that could make your game better, but like you said making cuts can make finishing your game feel more manageable.
I like how you mentioned how in Kirby Air ride you can do a lot with just the A button, which I find clever because it makes it so there's no need for extra buttons to be used. It reminds me of a Roblox platformer, Adventure's End, in it you move with arrow keys, use space to jump, and another key for the action, but you can still do a lot like double jump, dive, long jump, backflip, and probably some more stuff. Kirby Air Ride also reminds me of a Super Mario Oddysey Nes style game TeddyRoseKidd made a UA-cam video about. In the video he goes over how he made it. At some point in it he goes over how he can put a lot of the movement mechanics in mario oddysey in an nes style game that wouldn't have as many buttons to use. Kirby Air Ride also reminds me of other games like Kirby Super Star where in it you can make button combinations when you have any copy ability to use different attacks.
Your artstyle and gameplay gives me Magicka vibes, and I love it.
props to you for doing that, it is really hard
I'm a critical consumer. I regard others' entertainment with the same exacting taste with which I regard my own writing, being a novelist.
So I like to think it means something when I tell you that this is one of the most polished and entertaining-looking games I've seen among all of the devlogs I've seen.
Sure, I watch the Dauphin devlog and a bunch of others, but it's rare that a game makes my fingers itch to try it out. All of the little mechanics and the way they are designed and animated is like video-game crack.
Sometimes we need to lose some features that were important to us but is always for making a good game.
Reducing the game scope isn't bad at all, you can pulish the game and making more fun to play.
I'm pretty sure that moonshine will be an excellent game, don't give up
Your game is going really good, all I think it needs is some more likeable/complex characters to really attach you to the world
Your gane looks amazing. I hope my game looks this good one day
My brother and I scope creeped ourselves out of making a game, hopefully we'll return to that game one day. For now, we've made a new game design doc for a new game, much smaller, and more intimate, and that I think will suit us better, especially as it will technically be our first game (excluding game jam games).
Good luck with your game, it's looking good so far, and love your thinking.
I think it's the right move. You only have so much time, better to truly polish the core than have tons of half baked mechanics.
I feel like if you shatter your weapon at a high enough HP, like at max HP then the spell should do more damage, or be buffed in some way, just to reward players that are skilled enough to not take damage by giving them an extra option. There is still the risk reward factor because you are giving up what could be a healing option, but I think it allows for some nice skill expression. Your game looks awesome, and I can not wait for it to come out. :)
Maybe you can hold down the Attack button to shatter the weapon for the spell only and holding down Dodge shatters it for the heal?
It would not add more buttons, but adds an extra choice in combat.
Love your Demo so far :)
This game still looks like one of the best UA-cam games Ive seen so far...
Go with your original option where when you heal, it activates
Every game has at least scrapped some content, especially indie games. But it is wholly necessary for games to become finished and develop past alpha and beta stages
You’re a legend. Well done sir.
Oh!
I discovered you today, and I watched all of your devlogs
Nice to see there is already a new episode haha !
Not sure if you've fully committed to cutting it already but one idea I had of how to make spells work with the weapon shatter system is as you unlock more spells, I liked your idea of when you hold the shatter button then after the amount of time holding it would normally take to shatter your weapon it instead moves on to casting the next spell instead, and progressively getting more powerful, I think it would be a good idea to make heal somewhere on the longer end or maybe even the last one in the order so the player gets used to that long timing from the beginning, so that way you need to actually find a good opening to heal where you can charge up the shatter long enough like hollow knight rather than just instantly getting a full heal. You could also maybe have them use up a certain amount of the weapons shatter durability the stronger the spell to tie weapons and spells even closer together!
For example lets say the sword for example has 4 shatter points:
1st fast charge maybe like a quick get off me button like a gust of wind, or an ice shield, something weak but at the cost of a little of your weapon you get something that's a little more reliable than roll timing if there's an attack or situation you really don't think you could get out of and you have enough situational awareness to use your weapon up partially instead.
2nd charge time maybe add a little fire aura around the player so you can tell it's the fire spell, this adds 2 shatter points to the weapon so the sword could do this once, add a fire buff for more damage, and you'd still have enough for another little shield or get off me move whichever you prefer.
3rd charge, add lightning bolts around the player during this charge animation stage so they can tell, get a powerful ranged move when you release for enemies you really don't want to deal with at the cost of almost an entire weapon.
4th charge green calming aura, you get the heal and it uses 4 points of your current weapon so the sword would break instantly if you want something as powerful as a heal.
I think this makes the weapon shattering and spells cohesive like you wanted, adds more options while still only using attack and dodge as 2 buttons, adds some complexity and strategy, and fixes an issue I remember you mentioning earlier where you couldn't find a way to make it worth to do offensive shatters over something as powerful as a heal, because in this case offensive ones could be used a few times where as heals would fully break it.
You could actually do a lot with this system, like give different weapons more durabilities than each other so maybe the ones with more attack damage have less casts, but the weak ones like a wand maybe can use lots of spells. You could make some special weapons like a fire sword and maybe that one has an effect where using the fire spell on it only counts as one durability so you could do a full damage buffing build. I also kind of like the idea of being able to go over the limit on the final cast that actually 'shatters' the weapon. Like Say there's a 5 shatter points weapon, you could use the fire buff twice, it's on it's final point now but you can still use a heal as the final spell that breaks it even though it's 4 points. This way you'd have to kind of think based on the weapons remaining points how to optimize the most spells you could use before you go for that big heal shatter at the end and if you get hit too much and have to use the heal right away you're like "ugh no I still could have used a lightning bolt first" kind of as a punishment for heal spamming. Or have some weapons that don't even have enough points to cast certain spells so you're like "wow the axe is really strong, but if I want to be able to use lightning for this enemy that's weak to it I should bring something else.
You could even add a few secret or hard to unlock at the shop end game spells that go PAST heal in the order and even the really durable weapons get one shot if you want to use them
Idk I know this is a lot I just randomly had the idea today and had to come back to this to tell you haha 😅
I liked the jewlery system, I think it fit pretty well and led to some fun customization
additionally, spells being tied to the jewlery could lead to spells that activate in other conditions
I think this is the best 2d rgp game i have ever played.
Maybe for your weapons does something different after holding the attack button, like a different move or maybe that’s how you cast a spell without breaking the weapon, but it’s much weaker than the shattering spells. But I do like where the game is going.
So excited for this game!
Hey, dookie happens. I really enjoyed how you made it open world, but it’s all good. You should definitely keep the flower checkpoints tho! That was incredible!
Here is an idea: why dont you make portals that are scattered around the map, and you pay to go to a certain spot (each portal takes you a unique place)
The soundesign is *CRISP*
I'm the kind of player who always forgets to use potions and such so I think this is a great change.
I've been also making my dream game since 2017. I have few questions if you don't mind answering:
Q1- What game engine do you use?
Q2- Do you draw your sprites, backgrounds, items, and props yourself.. or "borrow" some from the internet?
Q3- Did you thought about adding feature "Multiplayer"? PvP and Co-op?
Q4- How many levels and bosses you're aiming for?
If you're interested, I'll share a private link with you to test my game if you would like
It feels weird that a player who doesn’t take any damage is punished by not being able to cast spells.
Maybe you can still break a weapon even with full health? Maybe the more health you have the more damage the spell does? This way a good player is now rewarded for not taking damage by doing more damage with the spell.
Maybe "rewarding bad play" is the right fit here. A comeback mechanic
Cutting content also makes your game easier to understand and play, which is huge for me. I never understood why a Pokemon game needed berries and secret hideouts. It feels like they had too many developers.
i think that changing back the spell system was a good call. i did like hollow knights but i think that in moonshire the wepond systom is versitile enough and adding complexity is jus going to make it less intuitive
Honestly I prefer the original spell mechanic, depending on the balancing and the effect of the spells i guess. Either way, keep up the awesome work man
You said you've got 3 main mechanics (dodging, attacking, shattering) and you want every mechanic to feel connected to it, i think a solution for the spells can kind of be an extension of what you did with the lightning on shatter and heal. you can have like 3 spells that you unlock through the game, and you tie each one to a seperate one of these 3 mechanics.
so on shatter you get lightning(after the spell is unlocked) then maybe you get the superheated weapen on attacking, like after 3 consecutive hits it will now superheat the weapon. Then, you could add another spell that activates on dodging that you get later, maybe some sort of wind force that drags enemies in to where you dodged from, or something else. you would want it to always be positive and not obstructructive so that it feels like a dodge upgrade instead of an annoyance if it would automatically activate.
a game spell system that i was reminded of, having seen you describe over the last few devlogs what you keep toying with, is crosscode. how the spells work in that game is that they are tied to a key, and the spell that is cast depends on how long you hold the key as well as what action you are currently performing. So, if you are holding the block button and then press the spell key, it might create a protective bubble, or if you hold it longer then it createss a protective bubble that damaged enemies on contact. It has more options and complexity but you can kinda integrate that on a smaller scale and just have an unlockable spell tied to each action and that will give you some meaning ful uprades that change up the pace of the game, while also not adding any extraneous mehanics that feel disjointed
Kirby air ride mentioned wooooooo
FYI: I havn't kept upt with devlogs so idk if things like this have been addressed
one thing to play around with in regards to the new way spells work (using shattering) is making spells somewhat powerful and not just a bonus for shattering, adding incentive to waste your current weapon on a spell to try and clutch a fight.
i feel like the only problem with this system is balancing making spells powerful and its own choice but not too far to the point where healing off a shatter now becomes "the bonus"
fighting the starbucks logo looks fun
you what i trust you to make a good game
Spells could just be something you can only do when you have no weapon equipped and shattering a weapon to heal would also "heal" your mana making it possible to use the spell one more time. The cooldown would essentially just be reset by shattering a weapon and you would have an extra option for when you don't have a new weapon right away and would also use the same button.
3:06 Does it make sense for the little light energy balls to be casting shadows? Could you maybe put a glow there instead to keep the impression of depth?
I will echo everyone and say bravo on cutting. Learning when enough is enough is more difficult than adding more.
However I will say on my part that I think that if the problem with spells is that combat was too quick, either adding bigger monsters or a large quantity of monsters that encouraged large AoE attacks could have alleviated this.
But the thing is, you absolutely can make the game of your dreams, nothing but time is stopping you. And it's a passion project then why not just spend that time making the game as you want it.
I was watching your video, the one called: enhancing my games pixel art, and I had one suggestion: in the starting area, where there is rainy weather, it feels a bit strange for there to be torches to use to fight, and for the guards/soldier things to be holding torches. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s just a little suggestion
I can't wait to play this
You could even implement a special attack type of spell that is linked to the weapons. Similar to Runescape. Special attack is built and used in full or half dependent on the weapon used.
this is my first devlog of yours i have seen, but maybe you can make it so you can upgrade the shattering and choose between more healing effect, attack speed, attack damage or choose more powerfull spells, so you can choose what you want. better spells but less healing, more healing but less powerfull spells or you can balance it. makes the game feel more personal and adds more variety and replayability.
Not me embracing scope creep like a long lost child 👀
I think you should have a dedicated button for spells, but rather than casting the spell it'll cycle it. It can pop up a wheel or bar and each time you press the button it highlights the next spell, then when you shatter an item and heal it casts the selected spell.
keep going bro, i wish i could be like you
Hey I got a idea for you, the mana system recharging on dealing damage, if you ask me, its less oppotinuity for fun and if you just make dealing damage to any entity, it will be kind of boring to kill something around you to regain that mana and the only option left would be consuming your weapon. You can make it kind of balanced by adding some items which make them balanced like regaining some of your mana for x steps. You can also add some potions which are traded or obtained through chests. I know not very original but hey, its a good idea
*"Looking back on these original plans it seems obvious now that they were just to ambitious. This is a common mistake the developers make while working on their projects. It's call scope creep."*
Scope *creep* (key word) isn't when your initial plans are too ambitious, it's when scope keeps growing during development, far beyond the initial plans, often blowing up budgets and schedules. You're actually doing the opposite: reducing scope as you go, below your initial plans, in order to keep things manageable.
*"Wasn't finding many opportunities to cast my spells, the encounters were too quick."*
Maybe the spells are too big. You said you have three main actions: "attacking dodging shattering". What if the spells were _modifiers_ on these core abilities, rather than totally separate skills: you burn mana to add an effect to one of the existing abilities. Like a dodge could leave a flame trail, or be twice as long, or cause knock back, etc. You'd be able to find new spells, but only choose one per slot. You'd choose the one (per slot) that best fit your playstyle.
Don't know if that's practical given your existing control scheme (which I don't know), but some kind of modifier/key button, like holding shift when you attack or dodge. That would give you 3 spells without having to have 3 buttons for spells.
Side note: these videos are a super effective marketing scheme. I'm planning to get the game (as soon as I switch to my gaming partition) because of them.
Eu joguei o jogo e cara, sem dúvidas é um dos melhores jogos indies que eu já joguei!! passei quase 2 horas para completar a demo (sim, eu sou um jogador péssimo haha), mas durante essas duas horas eu me diverti muito!!! experienciei alguns poucos bugs (como o da tela de morte, onde ainda é possível mover o personagem e a cor não é a mesma do personagem também), mas nada que atrapalhe a gameplay. Boa sorte para terminar o jogo! Poderia traduzir o jogo para português (se possível, claro), os brasileiros iriam adorar jogar este jogo ainda mais se fosse traduzido.
Might be cool if casting spells vs healing affects a weapon's durability in different ways. Weapons break after 2 magical uses or something like that and showing it visually.
i love your idea
It's tough but you've got to do it to actually release. I hope you're finding it easier and more realistic to develop now.
You should have a weapon that acts like those Russian dolls where every time you break it a new slightly different smaller weapon was hidden underneath! This way you can give the player the option to cast spells without loosing their weapon.
Game looks super cool