Author Topic: Son of a Witch: Devlog and general discussion  (Read 218125 times)

bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #135 on: December 30, 2016, 05:14:06 PM »
Is the lighting staff affected by orb split potions, or do the bolts not count as orbs?

They do not count, because lightning isn't treated like magic in the game. This also means that increasing/decreasing your magic stat doesn't affect it.

The staff has regular orbs. The lightning attack is only available when you activate it (1/4) and then lasts until the end of the battle, similar to the Fireball staff.

Using a Sorcerer Runestone upgrades both the orb damage and lightning damage. There's also a sword with lightning rage attack, and you can use Sorcerer Runestone to increase the lightning damage for it as well.

Hm, thinking about this, maybe the Fireball staff should do more burning damage as well if upgraded. I need to think about it.

Update: I decided to have a special set of items to upgrade the elemental damage. A different item for fire and lightning damage, and another to extend the freeze duration. The Sorcerer Runestone will be for staves only.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2016, 04:29:22 PM by bigosaur »

Jubal

  • Megadux
    Executive Officer
  • Posts: 35492
  • Karma: 140
  • Awards Awarded for oustanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #136 on: January 05, 2017, 03:53:43 PM »
That works well, good stuff :)

I'm just still being smug about topping the first monthly leaderboard :P
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #137 on: January 05, 2017, 06:10:00 PM »
I'm just still being smug about topping the first monthly leaderboard :P

 :)

BTW, Chapter 3 is ready:



This update brings the castle level, with new graphics and music theme. The goblins and guards are fighting each other while you are trying to reach the dungeon.

Features:

- Executioner boss
- Big Orc enemy fighting alongside the goblins
- The Royal Sorcerer enemy helping the guards
- 4 new pets with new effects
- 3 new weapons
- 15 new items
- lightning based damage
- fire and lightning damage can be upgraded with the new items
- duration of freezing for ice based weapons can be upgraded
- pendants for ice, poison, fire, petrify immunity
- overdose random potion replaced with beer
- orbs can now be upgraded to bounce off the walls
- various reusable items: Magic Map, Magic Chest, Bottomless Bag of Bombs, etc.
- balancing of different weapons, spells, potions, prices
- fixes to enemy AI
- cut scene between chapter 2 and 3 can be interrupted
- other minor tweaks and improvements

Jubal

  • Megadux
    Executive Officer
  • Posts: 35492
  • Karma: 140
  • Awards Awarded for oustanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #138 on: January 05, 2017, 07:49:16 PM »
Mjolnir + Infinite rage potion should possibly be nerfed a bit somehow.

That is to say, just did my first run of level 3 and took the executioner down really very quickly with that combo, it does a lot of damage and then inevitably does it again on the rebound if you use it right. Not that many hits, at range, and any of the bosses can be taken down.

I like the new stuff! :) Will take a while to work out how to use it. With the element boosts I'd make them rarer - there seemed to be quite a few of them around, and my character didn't have any weapons that could use them so it felt a bit flat that there were so many items and "upgrades" I was getting that did nothing. I'd also consider making some of them upgrade the weapon rather than the player?
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #139 on: January 06, 2017, 01:30:28 PM »
Mjolnir + Infinite rage potion should possibly be nerfed a bit somehow.

I could nerf the damage, but if the rage is infinite it would just make the fight a little bit longer, nothing else. The same problem was with the Glacier, but changing Mjolnir megathrow to be mana-based doesn't make much sense. Maybe I should just change the Infinite Rage potion to something else. Maybe make it a Double Rage potion or something like that, so your rage fills up really fast for one battle, but you still need to land a couple of hits to fill it. Since the rage fills up only for melee strikes, that would make the fight more interesting.

With the element boosts I'd make them rarer - there seemed to be quite a few of them around, and my character didn't have any weapons that could use them so it felt a bit flat that there were so many items and "upgrades" I was getting that did nothing. I'd also consider making some of them upgrade the weapon rather than the player?

This is tied together. It's likely that you'll find the upgrade before you find the weapon, and having to drag upgrade items with you is no fun (esp. with limited inventory space). The only upgrade with OP potential is the Ritual Icicle, but it has "Max HP down" effect, so it's a tradeoff - if you don't have an ice based weapon, you'll think twice before using it.

As for the rarity, it will be watered down when more items get added to the game.

Jubal

  • Megadux
    Executive Officer
  • Posts: 35492
  • Karma: 140
  • Awards Awarded for oustanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #140 on: January 08, 2017, 02:42:11 PM »
That could work, though I don't think infinite rage is overpowered on any of the non-throwing weapons or bows, it's the speed with which you can pump out weapon throws (just hitting the special attack on mjolnir or throwing axe is often as effective as a bow, lower damage but you deal it so much faster) that seems to be the worst issue... maybe make some distinction there? Would it be possible for it to only allow you another throw after the previous throwing weapon has disappeared, because that would fix it I think? I think I'm definitely finding the mjolnir the most powerful weapon at the moment, though that may just be me.

Also, a tactic I've worked out which you might want to think on whether you want to counter it: potions like super rage and blur run out after one battle, but the game only triggers the battle end when you're in a given room and all the creatures are dead. SO, if you have a bomb or escape scroll, you can drink your potions, start a battle, continue until you're leaving one enemy just alive, then walk off by blowing/opening a door and still use the same potion effect for more or less another whole battle somewhere else, rinse and repeat if you have enough bombs/escape scrolls to do so. Something to think on whether that's something you're OK with players being able to do :)
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #141 on: January 11, 2017, 02:27:37 PM »
Quote
I don't think infinite rage is overpowered on any of the non-throwing weapons or bows

Ice Sword and constant dashing is OP against all enemies. Even the dragon is kept frozen most of the time. Lightning sword is also a killer due to huge lightning damage. With gold arrows bows are also OP. The hammers are mostly useless though.

Quote
I'm definitely finding the mjolnir the most powerful weapon at the moment

Me too. But it's Mjolnir, a divine weapon afterall :)

I considered using a slower animation for throw thus slowing the rate, but it wouldn't be so much fun anymore.

I also considered lowering the thrown damage (i.e. keep 25 damage for melee attack and have something like 10 for thrown Mjolnir), but I feel like it would only make the battles longer while the player will still keep doing the same thing (evading enemies and throwing it around). I feel like it wouldn't make the battle more challenging, just boring.

I think I'll just leave it as it is. As more weapons are added to the game, you will be less likely to get Mjolnir often, so those runs when you do will feel special.

Quote
If you have a bomb or escape scroll, you can drink your potions, start a battle...

Actually I hope more players discover and use that. It's a fun, creative way to use the game and bombs are so valuable for other things you can never get too much of them. Escape scroll is really rare and drop count is limited.

BTW, I envision the final game to be more like The Binding of Isaac or Spelunky than old-school roguelikes. I.e. a skilled player should be able to beat it 90% of the time, but the real challenge will come from achievements and quests - some of which will be really difficult. And speedruns.

The other thing is that levels should get harder after the castle (which is mostly easy due to goblins and guards fighting each other). On the next level (dungeon), you will have a horde of escaped prisoners (thieves, rogues) on your hands, and after that come the catacombs with really dangerous skeleton mages and a necromancer.

Jubal

  • Megadux
    Executive Officer
  • Posts: 35492
  • Karma: 140
  • Awards Awarded for oustanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #142 on: January 16, 2017, 02:56:36 PM »
I'm still finding the castle hard enough - most rooms are fine, but the rooms where you get say 2 mages, 6 guards, and no goblins are exceptionally difficult - even if I have a scroll I'm often dead before I can use it, taking on large numbers of speed-boosted guards on your own is very tough.

And yes, that's fair enough, look forward to seeing some more weaponry :) A couple of thoughts I had - the crossbow as a one-off archery boost is cool, but it also feels odd that the crossbow isn't a weapon in itself. Could a quiver or bracers be used as the "boost" item instead, that would feel like it made more sense?

Also with staffs for the wizards, I'm finding I always just keep using the poison staff in preference to others. The lightning staff takes ages to recharge its special ability, which I find isn't even *that* good (it's OK early on, but if I've managed to upgrade the poison staff properly I'd much rather be pumping out 2-3 10-damage poison globes at a time from that), the fire staff is too much of a liability if everything's happening fast - I might use it in the very, very rare case that I was fire immune but not otherwise, and I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) that there's much point in using the life staff on solo runs.
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

Phoenixguard09

  • Megas Domestikos
    Voting Member
  • Posts: 3617
  • Karma: 23
  • Spiffy Haired One
  • Awards Awarded for outstanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #143 on: January 16, 2017, 03:35:47 PM »
I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you Bigosaur on your work. I have enjoyed several hours of gameplay now, and intend to enjoy several more when I get the time.

Excellent work. :)
The Norbayne Campaign Instagram page. Give us a cheeky follow if you like. :)
By the power of Ga'haarr I command you to vanish! VANISH!
I CANNOT BE KILLED BUT WITH FIRE!
(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

Crazier than a crack-head cat and here to make sticky treats out of your vital organs.

Jubal

  • Megadux
    Executive Officer
  • Posts: 35492
  • Karma: 140
  • Awards Awarded for oustanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #144 on: January 17, 2017, 06:19:41 PM »
Another thought - I currently find it too easy to accidentally trigger the new boost items when I don't want to (for example because I'd rather use a replicator scroll on them first); I'd find it easier and have fewer such "accidents" (which can be very annoying if you say trigger the icicle while you're trying to fight remaining guards after a boss drops it) if I took them into my inventory and then triggered them rather than just directly "grabbing" the upgrade.
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #145 on: January 18, 2017, 10:43:15 PM »
feels odd that the crossbow isn't a weapon in itself.

I thought about that, but having to pick up bolts on top of arrows seemed like too much. The other idea was to just make it shoot with unlimited ammo, but I felt like it wouldn't be a very interesting mechanics. 

Quote
Could a quiver or bracers be used as the "boost" item instead, that would feel like it made more sense?

Yes. I never though of that, but I already have some archery upgrades planned, and I was thinking about possible graphical representation, so I could use that.

Quote
Also with staffs for the wizards, I'm finding I always just keep using the poison staff in preference to others.

I'm split between Snake staff and Meteor staff, even though Meteor staff is nerfed it still stuns both the Ogre Mama and the Executioner and I can use it with a voodoo doll to deal decent damage to dragon. And I can still use it to rob all the shops even if my speed goes below default (6).

The lightning staff takes ages to recharge its special ability, which I find isn't even *that* good.

It doesn't do much damage, but it can shoot through walls. It's really useful for some tough rooms on the battlements where you can kill everyone through the fence or behind the rocks. In the castle there aren't any vertical obstacles, so it's mostly useless, but that will change in the dungeon/catacombs levels. It's also a decent off-hand weapon for the Knight because the lightning attack isn't magic based.

Quote
The fire staff is too much of a liability if everything's happening fast - I might use it in the very, very rare case that I was fire immune but not otherwise

That's why it isn't always "on", but you can activate the fire when you needed. When I add more bosses to the game, and there's not always a fire-resistant dragon, it will make more sense. BTW, there's a fire mage character planned that you will be able to play and he would start the game with fire resistance. So, that weapon was meant for him.

Quote
and I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) that there's much point in using the life staff on solo runs.
Quote

Well, if you like risk/reward situations, you can use it to drain HP from the bosses. Stock some mana potions and you can do it multiple times per battle. Not really useful for mages, but as a Knight/Archer you can use it as a good healing item and boss HP drain.

There will be some more uses like petrified statues you can bring back to life and also stopping the petrification process against the Medusa boss, but that's the future...


bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #146 on: January 18, 2017, 10:44:03 PM »
I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you Bigosaur on your work. I have enjoyed several hours of gameplay now, and intend to enjoy several more when I get the time.

Excellent work. :)

Thanks!

bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #147 on: January 18, 2017, 10:58:24 PM »
New content coming soon. Player vs player mode (local only) for 2-4 players. There will be about 15 different arenas - just like regular forest, battlements, castle levels, but without enemies. And items and weapons drop randomly on the ground or pedestals while the players are fighting each other until only one is left alive. Here's the screen showing the results between rounds:



To make it more interesting, a Bushido will spawn at a preset "sudden death" time, and chase the players around.

You will be able to select one of the unlocked heroes or a Goblin Berserker - that's the one with the axe.

And here are some new bows that will be in the next version as well (if you have unlocked the Archer):



P.S. Gold bow + gold arrow + rhino = chance for 280 dmg/shot. ;)
« Last Edit: January 18, 2017, 11:07:02 PM by bigosaur »

Jubal

  • Megadux
    Executive Officer
  • Posts: 35492
  • Karma: 140
  • Awards Awarded for oustanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #148 on: January 19, 2017, 07:48:52 PM »
I'll be interested to see what they do! I like the look of the vine-covered bow :)

And yes, I suppose I rarely find I have the inv space to want an off-hand weapon as the knight (if I do it'll often be a bow or throwing weapon) but I guess there may be some tactics with those staffs.
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

bigosaur

  • Moderator
  • Posts: 520
  • Karma: 2
    • View Profile
    • Bigosaur
    • Awards
Re: My Mom's a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #149 on: January 20, 2017, 05:14:46 PM »
I guess there may be some tactics with those staffs.

It still isn't definite. Maybe I'll make the lightning and fire damage scale with magic skill. We're still a long way from version 1.0. I need to play the game more too, to see what kinds of decisions I would make on 10th or 20th run with similar choices. Currently I'm more focused on adding new stuff than testing (I play maybe 2-3 runs per day).