Author Topic: Son of a Witch: Devlog and general discussion  (Read 218270 times)

bigosaur

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #420 on: February 03, 2018, 05:11:22 PM »
Does the gamble scroll work on the dragon master

Yes. Only, I need to check if he drops the Tar of Akhal (because you cannot finish the game otherwise)

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Can it summon the dragon master to replace other bosses?

No.

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I kind of feel like you shouldn't be able to gamble him away, since he's the final boss...

I though about that, but... there will be more achievements in the game and stuff to unlock. Most notably the Barbarian hero and Hard mode. Some of these will be tied to killing the Dragon Master, so if you gamble or barrelize him, you wouldn't get the achievement.


BTW, the new version with Medusa and Reaper is up.

Jubal

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #421 on: February 03, 2018, 06:54:53 PM »
I had a quick run as the chanter (unusually quick since I used the quick-jump to the catacombs and somehow survived), and beat the medusas... though I had an elven shield & medusa amulet so I was basically perfectly kitted out to beat them!
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bigosaur

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #422 on: February 03, 2018, 11:25:11 PM »
I had a quick run as the chanter (unusually quick since I used the quick-jump to the catacombs and somehow survived), and beat the medusas... though I had an elven shield & medusa amulet so I was basically perfectly kitted out to beat them!

Awesome. There will be an achievement for that (took the shortcut and won the game), so now I know it's actually doable ;)

Jubal

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #423 on: February 04, 2018, 11:50:25 AM »
In today's daily challenge, I checked that "gamble" definitely works on the dragon master fine :) Had the medusas again, one of them shot me but again I had the amulet... I suspect they'd be really difficult bosses without it, but we'll see I guess!
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bigosaur

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #424 on: February 04, 2018, 12:42:20 PM »
In today's daily challenge, I checked that "gamble" definitely works on the dragon master fine :) Had the medusas again, one of them shot me but again I had the amulet... I suspect they'd be really difficult bosses without it, but we'll see I guess!

I tried the Skeleton run (not daily challenge, just a regular run). No problems, used some duplicate scrolls to make 7 darkness scrolls and had 250+ damage per shot for the last two levels. With the bull pet I was able to one-shot many rooms. It felt almost too easy.

I'm starting to think that there would always be some combination of items/weapons available that will make the game easy to beat in the end. Perhaps I should leave it as it is, but address this in the Hard mode: limit powerful scrolls to 1 per run, have Mana Canteen only show up behind some tough challenge like the old catacombs, etc.

bigosaur

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #425 on: February 05, 2018, 08:03:51 PM »


Version 3.1.4 is online with the 4th desert boss: The War Elephant. This is an important milestone, because all the bosses I planned for the first full game release are now in the game.

The initial plan was actually 20 or 21 boss, but as the game has been developed many new ideas came and now we have 24. I do have some ideas for 4-5 more bosses, but those will come after Early Access.

Here's a short roadmap for the rest of Early Access development:

- Barbarian Hero with some special mechanics (faster rage buildup, higher mana cost, combo hit damage bonus)
- 12 special challenge modes to unlock the barbarian
- Hard mode
- 45 more achievements already planned "on paper", maybe more
- there might be some additional pets and items/weapons along the way
- a new trailer for the game

I plan to exit Early Access in May this year if all goes as planned.

There are also some ideas that might be implemented before we exit EA, but most probably afterwards:

- more mounts: baby elephant, horse, deer, green baby dragon (spit poison)
- additional quests and special rooms
- more weapons and items

bigosaur

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #426 on: February 06, 2018, 03:31:10 PM »
I'm preparing stuff for the Barbarian. To unlock that hero, you will have to complete 12 challenges, which basically means beating the game with a special set of rules. For example, one challenge makes the game start in the Castle instead of the Forest.

One of the challenges creates a straight path (similar to Casual mode) with every room having a single type of enemy. This is done once for every enemy type. For example, in the forest you fight with Goblin Berserkers in the first room, then Goblin Shamans in the second room, then Goblin Blaggards in the third room, etc. At the end of the level you fight all the bosses back-to-back. For example, there will be three boss rooms in the forest: Ogre Mama, Golem, Cyclops and then you go to the second level...

I cannot decide what name to give to this challenge. My ideas include "Collection", "Theme park" and "Compendium". Which one you think is the best?

Thanks.

Jubal

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #427 on: February 09, 2018, 11:54:00 PM »
I quite like "Compendium". I'd also consider "Bestiary" which I think works quite well for a mode where you get all the different monster/enemy types?
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bigosaur

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #428 on: February 10, 2018, 11:46:37 AM »
I quite like "Compendium". I'd also consider "Bestiary" which I think works quite well for a mode where you get all the different monster/enemy types?

Thanks.

I know of use of Bestiary in RPG (I even own one of the D&D books of such title), but it somehow feels like it's more about "non-human" creatures to me? And there are many human enemies in the game. I think I will stick to Compendium then.

I finished programming for all the 12 challenges a few hours ago, but now I need to do A LOT of playtesting. It's hard to assess if all the challenges are fair beatable - many are not really "fair"  ;D I don't want the players to beat them all on the first try, but I also don't want to make it impossible because it unlocks a playable character, so it isn't optional.

So, I'm not sure when this new version will be available. I still need to add Steam achievements for every challenge and I need to make the Barbarian character, in case someone is really good and manages to beat all the challenges quickly. I will probably release the challenges into "beta testing" branch only. And then the whole package together when the barbarian is in.

Jubal

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #429 on: February 10, 2018, 05:22:00 PM »
Let me know when they're up on the beta testing branch and I'll take a look :)
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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #430 on: February 10, 2018, 11:24:43 PM »
Let me know when they're up on the beta testing branch and I'll take a look :)



It's online now. Version 3.1.5.

The Steam achievements are uploaded, so if you manage to beat some of the challenges it will be unlocked. Once I add the barbarian character, he should be playable immediately, you won't have to unlock the challenges again.

I have played a bit today with varying success. No surprise as these are meant to be the most difficult part of the game (so far).

I managed to beat "One shot", "Drink all potions", and "No backtracking". I feel like those are pretty well balanced. "One shot" gets really easy if you manage to get some Blood Runestones early on. It took me least tries to beat it.

I managed to get to the Dragon Master boss fight while playing "Poison". And IIRC I reached the Ice Level boss fights with the "King" and "Compendium" challenge.

On others, I would usually die on the Dungeon boss fight or somewhere in the catacombs. Maybe it's the problem that I played too many different challenges today, so I sometimes got mixed up on the rules and made tactical mistakes like drinking wrong potions or using wrong items.

This version will be in beta for a week or two until I finish the animations and programming for the Barbarian character.

I'm looking forward to see how will you fare. BTW, if you notice any bad wording/grammar in the challenge descriptions, please let me know.

« Last Edit: February 10, 2018, 11:59:51 PM by bigosaur »

bigosaur

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #431 on: February 11, 2018, 11:46:19 AM »
After playing the "Master Blaster" challenge a couple of times today, I'm starting to think that the player should start with Explosion Immunity (a new status effect I plan to add). I find that I often get killed by my own bombs, esp. if I get some of the upgrades that make you launch more bombs.

I would be interested in your thoughts on this as well.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2018, 11:58:45 AM by bigosaur »

Jubal

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #432 on: February 11, 2018, 10:39:33 PM »
I've now tried and failed at all 12 challenges - I suspect they're all do-able, but they'll all take a lot of runs/practice to complete I think. The furthest I got was in "trolling" where I got killed by the elephant boss. I think for several of them it's going to be very largely luck - "I am the King" pretty much requires you to get the mana canteen early for example - and you often need a good deal of luck with bosses. Stomp attacks seem to be super important in IatK and the Bomb-throwing one, but unless you're carrying a voodoo doll everywhere (and you rarely have the inv space) then the boss battles are horrible to deal with unless they're human-size bosses.
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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #433 on: February 12, 2018, 12:05:23 AM »
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I've now tried and failed at all 12 challenges

That was my first impression as well. So, it isn't too easy, which is good. When I made them and started testing I felt like it was impossible.

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I suspect they're all do-able, but they'll all take a lot of runs/practice to complete I think

Now that I played a lot more (approx. 40 runs so far I think), I feel like they are beatable, just require much more tactics and thinking than the regular game (because you have less options than before, and a single missed item/scroll could make a difference between win and loss). Also, choosing a right hero could make a huge difference. And I find that I have to pick different weapons/items to bring to the next level compared to the regular game.

Stomp attacks seem to be super important in IatK and the Bomb-throwing one, but unless you're carrying a voodoo doll everywhere (and you rarely have the inv space) then the boss battles are horrible to deal with unless they're human-size bosses.

I discovered today that it's much easier if you play as a Druid. Just poison the bomb stick/imperial scepter, hit the boss once and watch his HP drain. Now your goal is to maximize the Magic skill to have as strongest poison effect as possible (and maybe Duplicate some Cheese Wedges if possible).

As for the inventory space problem, you can carry a voodoo doll for the Hornet Queen and leave it afterwards, or just repeat the run if you're unlucky to meet her without the doll. You could play as an archer (ditch the bow and arrows for extra inventory space), but I feel like poison is too important and the Snake Staff is the only poison weapon whose poison effect scales with hero skill.

I managed to beat the "Master Blaster" one by getting a bunch of "Money is Power" potions and deliberately allowing a Skeleton Mage to give me Avarice x10 so I can stack up a lot of coins and make the poison super powerful. No need for mana canteen. The only real problem was the Dragon Master because of poison immunity, but by the time I got to him I had enough upgrades to survive. One of the important things was "Drop bombs when hit". I had a lot of HP (around 230) so I just stood in front of his dragon and let him spit fire at me while the dragon master cast his "spear" spell. But even without that, I found a lot of runestones to upgrade the stick and my Melee skill was so powerful, I dealt about 100 damage per hit with that stupid bomb stick.

In a couple of other runs I got the "Bomberman" potion, which makes you throw more bombs. With the Ice Bomb (and optionally Icicle) it makes the whole run almost trivial as you can keep dropping bombs and freeze everything to death. The only problem are the ice-resistant enemies. I usually skip the Ice boss fight with Escape scroll or use Gamble. Of course, if you have poison, it becomes much easier.

I need to test IatK more, perhaps it would really be difficult without Mana Canteen. I have only played it once or twice, so I'm still not sure about that one.

BTW, I managed to reach the Desert boss fight with the "Survival" one. Had Gold Diet (so no problem with hunger) and just stacked potions all the time. I did have to play the whole game with Hypochondria though as I got it early and I didn't want to drink the Dragonfire because it would remove Gold Diet. This was my first time actually fighting the War Elephant in the game (beside testing while development), so he managed to surprise me with his wide ranged attack as I forgot about it  :o .

Jubal

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Re: Son of a Witch: Castle Crashers meets Isaac
« Reply #434 on: February 12, 2018, 12:37:13 AM »
I finally just beat One Shot :) I think it's probably the easiest of them, as long as you find some blood runestones then it actually ends up being slightly easier than the regular game in some ways (and clearing out the catacombs on one-shot is pretty fun). 11 of them to go...

EDIT: Also now done Drink All Potions with my elf archer. I didn't have too awful a set of potions (bloodlust, appetite, clairvoyance, tracker delusion, hiccup, barbarian's friend, tremor, telepathy) so it was OK once I got the hang of the tactics - the desert was horrible and I had to walk into the dragon master fight with zero health... but I was also walking in with a handy gamble scroll, a seriously well runed up golden bow and a bunch of ice arrows, and once the dragon master had been transformed into a hornet then things were rather simpler :) I gambled the ice boss fight and the first desert boss as well, so I got to fight Salamis instead of the elephant and the Butcher instead of the Yeti Elder - in fact, I didn't do much fighting the Butcher, I dodged around and let the ice wizards get on with the job...
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 05:59:17 PM by Jubal »
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...