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Reviews for "Forest Shack"

Pleasantly surprised to see the game's actually done! Since it's your first real finished product I'll go ahead and give some feedback to keep in mind for the next one.

1. The vibe's dark mysterious and esoteric, which is neat as a vibe. But this should not transfer to things like the player's feeling of progression, short-term goals/reward or general gameplay. A real goal or motive should be made apparent sooner rather than later to help hook the player and give them purpose. There's several systems, like the bone and totem things, and screens that appear that are not immediately apparent what they are or what they're for. If you're opting to not explain these things immediately, then they need to at least be quickly intuitive, and figured out in a way that is BEFORE the player can lose interest. Real talk, a ton of people drop games after 5-10 minutes, faster if they don't know why they're there. Assume that you have like three minutes to hook someone and give them a reason to stay interested.

2. My first point also applies to the control scheme. There's too many buttons at play for no real reason. The entirety of the gameplay loop -- every mechanic -- could've been done with the mouse alone and been far more straightforward, and possibly more fun. The simpler the gameplay loop, the fewer buttons you should ever be using for it.

3. Visual/audio feedback could be stronger to differentiate core mechanics. The character builds mana to periodically attack, but you can ALSO press Q off a cooldown to engage the same type of attack. In this case, the more involved version of the attack should look and sound (MORE obviously) the part, if not be an entirely different attack altogether. A single action happening both automatically AND manually is going to wildly confuse people as to what they're actually doing; a numerical difference in strength is pointless if the player can't literally feel that difference.

4. HUD consistency/intuitiveness. The Q icons counts upward on a timer, while the icons for limited resources right next to it count downward as they're used. Comparatively, this one's a nitpick, but still, it likely contributes to that sense of players not gripping what they're doing.

Also, make sure you're referencing other games for the "how" and "why" of your mechanics. From the games I've played, the Xenoblade series comes closest to what this game's loop goes for: auto attacks with manual commands occasionally given to give the player some strategic agency in a fight. Of course I'm not saying try to inject AAA-grade gameplay into your first or second project, rather getting an understanding for why other games' mechanics work will help legitimize your own.

Overall, your first game is always going to be your worst one, so props to getting this one out and having it be fairly decent. Best of luck on your future ones!

HatiValcoran responds:

ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ❤

Got to simplify the process for attacks. Why not just hold down the space bar to charge your shot and release it to fire. For picking targets or making decisions on which path to take, why not use the A and D keys instead of clicking the mouse. A to go left, D to go right, Spacebar to select. The S key is fine as is so long as I don't have to take my hand off the keyboard to move my mouse. Number pad to use items.

Probably a good game, but I'll just stick to watching someone else's playthrough for the time being.

HatiValcoran responds:

I have changed the controls a little, I liked the idea of using spacebar. Couldn't use release to fire because of later skills, but I implemented a hit space to aim hit space to shoot that should be far more comfortable.

Thank you for your feedback. ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ✎❑

hmm, the controls are a bit difficult to grasp. I found the tutorial prompts confusing, and i wasn't sure what timer or prompt was for what during combat. the visuals and sound design are lovely, and this has a lot of potential! i think it definitely needs some polish for the actual gameplay part. maybe even introducing each button and what it does at a slower pace, letting the user get used to click+q a few more times before introducing timing with hitting space and the other in-depth mechanics. Excited to see how this progresses!

HatiValcoran responds:

I have improved the tutorial! I have improved the controls! I have made it *significantly* easier to learn to use the S prompt by slowing the monsters that use it in the tutorial area to a crawl!

Thank you for visiting forest shack, don't forget to leave your name and the score you gave us in the ledger so a forest representative might reach out during the next toll of the midnight bell. ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ✎❑

cool atmosphere also i shit myself

HatiValcoran responds:

I'm happy you enjoyed your visit, wanderer. ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

interesting, i cannot understand what im doing

HatiValcoran responds:

That's okay! When I started making it I had no idea what I was doing either. ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ✎❑