Son of a Witch: Devlog and general discussion

[Jubal]

Upvoted Are those pet chickens and pigs on the greenlight video? If not, what are they?

(I know I should be more excited by the dragon, but hey, pets!)

[bigosaur]

Upvoted Are those pet chickens and pigs on the greenlight video?

Let's see... in order of appearance ... bunny, pig, blowfish, deer, lizard, chicken.

There are already 20 pets in the game, each with a different effect. Here are some:



Snail slows down enemies, Ram knocks them down, etc.

[Jubal]

Wonderful

Two further questions on this topic:
1. Is that a tiny obese giraffe?
2. Can I have a pangolin?

[ndnninja15]

Very cool art style you have there! I gave ya a thumbs up on the greenlight page too.

[Jubal]

Also I recently succeeded in making poisonous fireballs happen for the first time

[bigosaur]

Two further questions on this topic:
1. Is that a tiny obese giraffe?
2. Can I have a pangolin?

1. Yes.
2. I'll see what we can do about it 

[Jubal]

Yay

[bigosaur]

I have some great news. My Mom is a Witch has been greenlit yesterday. I'm starting to plan for a Steam Early Access release, possibly for Exilicon. Not sure if I'll be able to make it. We shall see.

[Glaurung]

Congratulations, and good luck with the release.

[Jubal]

That's fantastic news, well done!

I've done a fair number (a lot) of playthroughs of the new build now

Thoughts as follows:

• The spear throwers have grown on me as enemies - they're tough but I'm finding them more bearable now. I'm looking forward to seeing a few more different enemies on the battlements which I think will make the level feel more varied, but they work well as enemies for the moment certainly.
• The dragon is a good boss. I think what it needs is possibly a few more options that make the fight easier without being an auto-win; I'm usually beating the dragon by either having infinite rage and a super powerful weapon (Mjolnir, Ice hammer), or by a scroll that more or less auto-wins the battle (Peace, 2x Gamble to turn it into a goblin, or Barrel Roll). I did once beat it with a mage by stacking about four +50% magic boosts and just blasting it whilst on the run, but that's one of the only times I really felt like I was fighting it. A 2-3 battle potion of fire resistance, or a pet that confers fire resistance, would be one example; would mean it was still an actual battle but give the player a significant leg up with it.
• After a lot of testing I still really don't like the fact that archery/magic can't be done by tapping the d key any more. It makes it a lot more difficult to do "mixed" strategies that involve item use or weapon switching because I can't keep my fingers resting on the same set of keys, it makes it miles more likely that I'll accidentally trigger my special ability when I don't want to, the fact I need to hold it down makes it harder to concentrate on running/dodging whilst I'm doing that, and I'm not really sure what it adds. It may well be different when using controllers, but with the keyboard I just find it frustrating and I've almost entirely stopped bothering to pick up bows/arrows when those were my favourite things to use in the older build I had.
• I think speeding up the attacks from the goblin warriors was a good call, I definitely have a rather healthier respect for them as enemies now!

[bigosaur]

That's fantastic news, well done!

Thanks. I won't be able to get the release out on time for Exilicon, so I moved it to November 10th.

I'm looking forward to seeing a few more different enemies on the battlements

Two more planned: The Guard Captain (has a shield like the Goblin Defender, but can move while shielding), and The Wind Mage (I'm still undecided about his abilities, most probably buffing other units' speed and shooting regular magic orbs at players as well).

The dragon is a good boss. I think what it needs is possibly a few more options that make the fight easier without being an auto-win

Actually, I tried hard to make the Dragon beatable with just basic weapons and a lot of dodging. It's mostly safe to stay close to him and avoid fire. He can stomp you, but I nerfed that attack, so it does almost no damage. Here's how I beat him fair and square with the Celestial Smasher:

2x Gamble to turn it into a goblin

Wow. I never considered using Gamble like that. Awesome!

A 2-3 battle potion of fire resistance, or a pet that confers fire resistance

Yes, fire resistance is on my TODO list, so that will be added at some point.

I can't keep my fingers resting on the same set of keys, it makes it miles more likely that I'll accidentally trigger my special ability when I don't want to, the fact I need to hold it down makes it harder to concentrate on running/dodging whilst I'm doing that, and I'm not really sure what it adds.

It was changed during EGX and by watching some players play on YouTube videos. Many (majority) of players didn't figure out that you can move backward and shoot the other way and complained how it was hard to play with a Mage or that it felt awkward that you have to stop and turn to shoot. After the change, everyone figured it out on their own. I think you might be biased because you're used to playing with the old controls. Basically, the D key is now only used for stomping. If you ignore it, everything works the same as before, you just move your index finger one key to the left or right depending on the shooting direction.

It may well be different when using controllers

Actually, it's even harder because you're using your right thumb to control the stick and you have to let it go if you want to press any of the buttons.

I've almost entirely stopped bothering to pick up bows/arrows when those were my favourite things to use in the older build I had.

I'll think about ways to find some better compromise perhaps.

I think speeding up the attacks from the goblin warriors was a good call, I definitely have a rather healthier respect for them as enemies now!

Thanks. I also lowered their HP, so it doesn't take too long to take them out when they start hiding behind the shield.

[Jubal]

I'm getting better at the dragon over time; speed certainly is the key to beating him without special kit, I think. Though I did overdo that in one run and died because my character stacked so many speed boosts I found him too hard to get into the right place!

With the controls issue, I've played enough games (at least 20 or so dead dragons!) now with the new version that I don't think it's just bias from the old controls, I think it's playstyle more than anything else. I really like being able to do tactics that involve very quick weapon switches (fire poison/ice arrow then switch to melee for example), which are less intuitive when you have to hold down X or C to shoot, I guess for players who are more into dodging around but still using one weapon. IIRC the holding is another difference, I think you used to be able to just tap the D key once to start firing the arrow whereas you seem to need to hold X or C down now to draw the bow, though I may be misremembering that?

[bigosaur]

I really like being able to do tactics that involve very quick weapon switches (fire poison/ice arrow then switch to melee for example), which are less intuitive when you have to hold down X or C to shoot

Oh, I see your point now. Being able to use the same key to attack even after you switch weapons. That makes sense, and actually that was the reasoning the game worked like that before.

I think you used to be able to just tap the D key once to start firing the arrow

Yes. And that was actually one of the problems with new players. Once they did that with D, they never tried holding the key down to shoot continuously, and would also never discover that you can back away from the enemy and shoot back at him. See how this player struggles, for example:

https://youtu.be/5FxRsq0VMW0?t=9m02s

He's just an example, I have seen 80% of players on EGX doing the same.

I'm currently thinking to add a hidden counter in the game. Once you fire 20 magic orbs or, say, 10 arrows, the game would enable the old behavior with D key as well. This would solve the problem, but it might introduce a new one - the controls might feel inconsistent and players will think there's a bug in the game...

[Jubal]

Could you just have "enable d key to fire ranged weapons" as an option on the main menu "settings" screen that's disabled by default but which people can turn on if they want to?

[bigosaur]

Could you just have "enable d key to fire ranged weapons" as an option on the main menu "settings" screen that's disabled by default but which people can turn on if they want to?

Looks like that would be the best option. Although, I hate having such things as options, because it usually means that I failed in game design. There must be some other way...