Mark of the Beast Demo

red moon

Member
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QyinxtB7OIFjGqmU_-scnfQzmGDVZYo1
I am finally at a point where I am comfortable sharing the Mark of the Beast demo!

It took a little over 4 months to reach this point and I will continue to fix and add things over the coming weeks. I would love to get some feedback from those of you that play the demo.
This would really help me improve the demo as it stands and what sort of features/improvements could go into the full game. The areas I need feedback are:

DIFFICULTY:
LEVEL DESIGN:
TOTAL TIME TO REACH THE FINAL BOSS:

Thank you, any feedback and bugs are helpful.

The list below consists of areas of the game I did not get a chance to address for the demo but hope to incorporate into the full game!
⦁ 2 way scrolling (right/left, with ladders to travel up and down)
⦁ Changing your form without rebuilding the screen
When it comes to changing to the Beast form, it is best to do it when you are in a screen with no enemies (since defeated enemies will respawn) or when you first enter a new screen!

Also, I want to figure out a way to keep these objects from respawning every time you re-enter a previously explored screen-

⦁ Treasures
⦁ Breakable blocks
⦁ Plants/Torches
⦁ Bosses

Be sure to look over the manual and search for hidden rooms and passages! Collecting treasure and earning extra lives is necessary to make it all the way to the end!

I want to take a minute to thank everyone who has been supportive, and especially Dale for offering his time to help me with many aspects of the game play and functionality.

If anyone has any ideas of how to keep tiles from respawning, please let me know! I would love to keep the treasures and breakable blocks from coming back!
 

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Bucket Mouse

Active member
Uh, I tried your demo and.....the attack button did nothing; the select button did nothing; there wasn't much I could do.

I don't understand what that room in the back is for -- there's a thing that breaks if you touch it, but it's surrounded by two spiky statues that hurt you? What is the point of that room?
 

dale_coop

Moderator
Staff member
Maybe a wrong demo version shared? I tried too, the screen where we start is not the one I am used to... This one is very hard, too many monster, no way to fight them or avoid them.
 

Mugi

Member
i was able to get to the weapon and few screens further from that but gave up after due to the fact that killing enemies takes so many hits and you only have like 6 bullets with no chance to refill, after that it's back to the good old fashioned avoiding.
im also not really a fan of the cryptic walking through walls. If this is a homage to castlevania, please dont go that way, no one liked it. :p
There should atleast be some cues as to where you can move.

i could propably get a little further but the whole trial and error to see enemy placements in order to be able to avoid them is just a redundant mechanic really.

sans that, as always i love your graphics work, the game has a nice atmosphere and with a little work could turn into a really neat game, and the supplemental material is amazing.
 

red moon

Member
Thanks for letting me know guys! I have updated the file. I had been fixing the crystal room and had grabbed that version accidentally!
Now, it should be set to the beginning where you start and get the sword.

Thanks for the feedback too Mugi, please give it another go! If the hidden walls are too much of an issue I can add a cracked wall variant. As they are, they are all extra content and not part of the main path.
And you pickup shard dropped from fallen enemies to refill the meter.
 

red moon

Member
Thanks for letting me know Bucket Mouse and that was the wrong version, it has been corrected! Those were weeds, you can cut them down or shoot them down. Please run the updated file.
 

red moon

Member
Thanks for the kind words too Mugi, hopefully the experience is better now since you will start from the correct position.
 

Mugi

Member
i'll give it another go at some point.
im fine with the whole walking through walls if it's for bonus content really, i man, some stuf is supposed to be hard to find, my comment was mostly geared towards that earlier build of the rom you had up where you had to find such a pathway in order to progress at all.
 

red moon

Member
My mistake, there...

I was fixing the crystal in that area and then reset everything and saved without running the exe to reset the build. You just happened to start in a secret area which you would not have under normal circumstances.

I did consider your feedback and made black doorways to all secret areas so you can easily spot the way in or out. But only once you are within the secret area.
 

Mugi

Member
i gave it another go and aside the usual nesmaker stuff (wonky ladders etc) theres couple bugs i found,
- spamming buttons while colliding with a checkpoint completely tilts the character sprite.
- you can "slide" while crouching and spamming attack button, which is kinda funny but sorta feels like maybe it shouldn't be there.

- the first boss (i think it's the first boss atleast, picture below) can be completely cheesed by standing on top of the tree and just shooting a projectile at him everytime he jumps.

also, this can happen on the same boss:
MOTB-1_000.png

on a side note; i think leaving this boss room is a bit silly, that you're just supposed to know you can break the tree and get to the ladder, it kinda feels like one of those things that should be more obvious, especially considering that you're stuck in the room until you figure it out heh.
 

red moon

Member
Thanks for firing it back up and giving it another go. I imagine it is far easier to reach the werewolf with the sword properly unlocked.

The feedback helps greatly, I will look into the crouch sliding and sprite issues tied to the checkpoint and see what I can do about that for sure.

The feedback about the sub boss is helpful, I had originally placed that tree top to stand and shoot at him, but it does make it a bit too easy for sure.
I have adjusted the room to show a clear exit and removed the trees:
 

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Atarath

Member
I love the artwork Red Moon. The booklet info looks great.

I also really like the artwork in the game. The statue where you get the projectile reminds me of the chozo statues in Metroid.
That said, when I died after getting the projectile, I no longer had it, and the room where you get it was triggered. I will give it another go soon.
 

red moon

Member
Thank you Elarath, I really appreciate it!
I really enjoyed doing the booklet and hope to do those for future demos of other games as well!
I am indeed influenced by Metroid (I always loved those statues) Castlevania and Soul Reaver.

As far as not having the projectile; It's unlocked. Once you unlock the shard ability you always have it. When you die and restart at a checkpoint, it returns you and retains the amount of ammo you had at the time of death. In this case, you must have been at 0 shards. Defeating enemies drops little glowing shards that fill the meter.

Let me know what areas you found too difficult!
I am interested in seeing what players think about the density of enemies and their hit points to see if its too easy or too difficult!

Thanks for playing and if you die again and start empty, just destroy some enemies to fill it back up!
 

red moon

Member
I have already made several improvements based on the feedback give so far, so please keep it coming!
Changes made over the last few days:


- sub boss room adjustments made for better clarity and exiting the screen
- altered the weeds by redrawing elements, animating the weeds and changing color so they stand out/look more threatening
- changed the presentation of secret areas so passages out would be far easier to read
- added additional loot in secret passages to reward the exploration
- lowered hit point value for jumping "cave dweller" to lower the difficulty in the dark cave area
- player palette hud adjustments
- title screen palette adjustments

I will be updating the file listed here and in the WIP thread

I just updated this evening (the new version is MARK.nes) so anyone who ran the previous version (MOTB.nes) will be able to tell the files apart.
 

red moon

Member
Additional changes and fixes to the demo.

- Pause feature added (start button)
- Ladder fix added
- Art and tile fixes to Temple Ruins
- Art and tile fixes to Deep Caves
- Art and tile fixes to Chamber of Darkness

The updated file is "MARK2.nes" so its easy to tell them apart.
 

baardbi

Well-known member
Wow! This is so cool. I love the instruction manual, and the graphics in the game looks great as well. I really enjoyed playing this demo.
 

red moon

Member
Hey thank you Baardi! I really appreciate it. It was interesting to redraw all the sprites as individual drawings afterward for sure, and it helped make it go faster. I am glad you enjoyed the demo too! Still some things to fix here and there, I hope you were able to play without too many issues. I had a great time working on it and communicating with everyone on these forums for sure.
 

JollyShadow

Active member
Just got a chance to play this finally! Great use of colors for the sprites, the music is awesome and the gameplay controls are very smooth!
 

lubone

Member
red moon, these are my favorite game climates ... Moreover, your demo is the first Nesmaker game I have played and it made an electrifying impression on me! Is there a chance that you will finish the project and publish the full version of the game? Greetings!
 

rav25go

New member
i was able to get to the weapon and few screens further from that but gave up after due to the fact that killing enemies takes so many hits and you only have like 6 bullets with no chance to refill, after that it's back to the good old fashioned avoiding.
im also not really a fan of the cryptic walking through walls. If this is a homage to castlevania, please dont go that way, no one liked it. :p
There should atleast be some cues as to where you can move.

i could propably get a little further but the whole trial and error to see enemy placements in order to be able to avoid them is just a redundant mechanic really.

sans that, as always i love your graphics work, the game has a nice atmosphere and with a little work could turn into a really neat game, and the supplemental material is amazing.
 
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