Devil's Curse by herniewise

[raw]
made by herniewise for LD 39 (JAM)

splash.jpg

Devil's Curse is my attempt to run out of power. :yum:

Classic platform wave-based shooting, but... every wave you have something gone on your mechanics! Shoot, jump, double jump, stop shooting, stomp, and kill the demons.

devil1.gif

Sounds by BFXR Music composed by me through FL Studio. Peach VST plugin for the Nes feel. GraphicsGale and me for those pixels. Hope you like it! Had a great weekend making this. :heart: :heart: :heart:

Cheers

Ratings

Overall 85th 3.964⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Fun 65th 3.927⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 68th 3.891⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Theme 145th 3.944⭐ 56🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 228th 4⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Audio 54th 4⭐ 56🧑‍⚖️
Humor 356th 2.558⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 132th 3.804⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Given 63🗳️ 50🗨️

Feedback

Angela He
01. Aug 2017 · 05:44 UTC
This is really awesome. Literal adrenaline-rushing demon fighting. Pretty polished too. Good job!!

Kinda nitpicky, but I appreciate how you can test out the inputs (jump, move etc) in the beginning before actually starting the game; good for forgetful people (cough me).

I was so impressed I tried to look through your source code but I don't use Construct so XD
CliffracerX
01. Aug 2017 · 18:48 UTC
Pretty solid entry! I suck at these sorts of things so I only made it to Wave 3 before getting wrecked, but it was a solid experience.

No real nitpicks to give, so, just...nice work! :thumbsup:
Carsen D.
01. Aug 2017 · 18:50 UTC
Not sure if my earlier comment posted because the site is being stubborn, so sorry if I double-post!

I really liked this game a lot! The graphics and music/sounds fit very well (the art style reminds me of Downwell!), and the gameplay is really interesting! I like the idea of having more restrictions put upon you as you go to make things more difficult and to force you to change up your playstyle. Things got pretty hard by round 4 though when I couldn't shoot at all!
MEOWStudios
01. Aug 2017 · 19:04 UTC
This is a really fun and fast-paced game, I really like it. I absolutely love your take on "Running out of power"!
GabrielBucsan
01. Aug 2017 · 19:27 UTC
Wow, what a great game. It involkes everything that reminds me of childhood. Loved the art, the 8bit music and sfx, and of course the gameplay. It was hard man!

Congratulations on this one. Had a lot of fun playing this.
PabloDap
01. Aug 2017 · 20:55 UTC
At first I thought shooting was OP. Then... the game kept taking options away from me, so I had to get creative to kill enemies. Interesting way of applying the theme!
Thirsty
01. Aug 2017 · 23:48 UTC
Loved the graphics and audio and it was a cool concept of running out of power(s). Great job from a fellow Construct dev.
GoldRanger
02. Aug 2017 · 10:13 UTC
Really Cool idea! Different with most of the game to let you get stronger by time, your game let player get weaker by time! And it is exactly "Running out of Power"!

I can't pass the wave that you can only jump, I guess that level is not only about skill, it need some luck too :P.

Anyway, really enjoy your game! Thanks!
PNghasemi
02. Aug 2017 · 12:49 UTC
I just wanted to say that I'm gonna play more after telling you that your game is awesome. Well done.
I suggest rewarding the player after each round. or maybe not, it is even cooler without that. just a suggestion.
Zachary Shah
02. Aug 2017 · 19:06 UTC
Nice game amazing in every category!!! please play my game at https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/crazy-power-rush
TheFlyingKeyboard
02. Aug 2017 · 22:11 UTC
One of the best games I've played so far, amazing graphics(I really enjoy whats going on at the background). Unique and interesting mechanics, good controlls and feel of steering. The game seems to be very polished, everything works smoothly, the tutorial is very nice. Great Job!
Kapricorn Media
02. Aug 2017 · 23:17 UTC
This was so much fun! Solid AI and animations. Also love the music and quirky sounds!
Timothy Hoffman
03. Aug 2017 · 00:55 UTC
Nice! I also used FL Studio to make my game's music! The gameplay was smooth, and I loved the mechanic of losing abilities over time!
MatKubik
03. Aug 2017 · 01:13 UTC
Great game ! I like the ideas and the interesting mechanics. That's pretty good ! Great job I had fun on your game !
Don Fouts
03. Aug 2017 · 01:18 UTC
I love the losing power mechanic, awesome job!!
GanbareGamesKyle
03. Aug 2017 · 01:18 UTC
Fun gimmick, I wasn't expecting that. The visuals remind me of Downwell.
UnidayStudio
03. Aug 2017 · 01:42 UTC
I really enjoy the pixel art minimalistic graphics of your game! It fits very well with the main proporsal. My feedback it to try to make a more friendly controls! I don't know that is why I'm not familiarized with 2D games, but I've died a lot of times because I wass trying to jump with the Up arrow instead of Z.

But okay.. I'd spent some time trying to learn the new controls, and then, the game gets very interesting! Much more that I've experienced at the first time! This is haard! And I've liked this! So, very solid and fun entry! I'm kinda impressed!

Good job!
🎤 herniewise
03. Aug 2017 · 02:26 UTC
Thanks for playing + comments! :heart: If someone manages to beat the last wave of enemies where you can only jump in place (I swear this is possible) the game restores your powers and gives you an extra heart to continue, buuuut, more enemies get involved. With more time, I could tweak the difficulty a little, in fact, i've done a lot of adjustments after prototyping but it wasn't enough xD
Godot35
03. Aug 2017 · 03:32 UTC
The game definitely has a great mood that it builds up with its graphics and music, it feels both slightly eerie and arcade-y. The controls are tight and the gameplay is frantic. I liked how you can test out the controls before beginning the first stage.

Overall, a fun game with a great mood.
Dolash
03. Aug 2017 · 06:29 UTC
Very well done, very good execution, and very polished - you have a simple, solid, and well-scoped idea and you implement it! The look of the thing manages to be quite moody and retro without looking crude or sloppy, the simple sounds work great. Possibly the only wrinkle is that gameplay-wise it's a little too easy to exploit the game mechanics to win in most circumstances, mostly because the enemies can't reliably get up the platforms and your shots go through them. Sitting on one of the top two platforms and firing in near-complete safety is almost always viable. A few tweaks to enemy stuff like that though and you'll have a really great game!
NOFUEL
03. Aug 2017 · 18:08 UTC
Yeah awesome game! Had a lot of fun playing it :D
Great pixel art and animations. Good sound effect and background music.
The game played very good!
I also like the tutorial menu so that you have the chance to test the skills of the character.
My only suggestion:
I was able to shoot through platforms which makes it a bit too easy
On my keyboard X and Z are too far away which made it a bit hard to control.
Overall very good entry! :)
ghust1995
03. Aug 2017 · 18:27 UTC
I really liked the concept and use of the theme, nice idea, I wished it explored the thing even furhter by removing more powers, such as ability to acquire points, ability to see, etc. I also dont like the health system a lot, punishing me in the future for past mistakes. Other than that very nice idea, would recomend. =)
mortus
03. Aug 2017 · 19:23 UTC
Great! Has a nice Castlevania vibe to it. I really like the background. Unfortunately, most of the levels are too easy - you can just climb to the top platform and stand there spamming X, but it gets quite interesting when you lose your ability yo move, I totally didn't expect that. Could be interesting to try removing random abilities for a level and then giving them back, or to have power-downs that fly around the level and that you can avoid which will take one power from you if you touch them.
christina-antoinette-neofotistou
04. Aug 2017 · 03:39 UTC
OK, this was excellent!! Super fun, lovely NES graphics, heart-pounding music, the gameplay idea *and* execution is great!

I second @mortus' suggestion of adding back random abilities. It would be very Downwell, and add expectation for the next waves, and the joy of discovery.

All in all, amazing entry, can't wait to see your ratings <3
rosypenguin
04. Aug 2017 · 04:45 UTC
Loved the concept. It got pretty evil once I lost my ability to move left, wasn't expecting that! Very arcade-y and fast-paced and fun. Great work!
Strega
04. Aug 2017 · 05:01 UTC
Nice use of the theme and good music and sounds! The platforming felt good. I could see how this could be expanded. It would be interesting if when you lost your powers you had to creatively use the enemies to kill each other or environment elements, etc.
roguenoodle
04. Aug 2017 · 10:54 UTC
Great entry! Managed to survive 14 waves. There seemed to be a few areas where the enemies would rarely go, so I took advantage of those a bit. Once you're down to stomping in one spot though it gets really tricky. I hope you decide to take this idea further :)
Askbackwards768
05. Aug 2017 · 01:24 UTC
wave 6 Woooo!Amazing entry!
superpokeunicorn
05. Aug 2017 · 01:57 UTC
This game has an excellent interpretation of the theme. Taking away all of the player's abilities one by one ramps up the tension over time, as the player has fewer means of dispatching the enemies. The gameplay itself is simple, but fun and served the main mechanic well, though I did notice that monsters had trouble getting you at the top of the screen. The visuals are really great and serve to set a mood of despair. I particularly like the graveyard background and the weather effects. Overall, I found this entry to be particularly innovative and really enjoyable.
sinclairstrange
05. Aug 2017 · 17:21 UTC
Very clever use of the theme, might of been a bit too easy I felt but man I sucked more time into this than I thought I would. I really dig those retro graphics which fits extremely well with the game play. Overall top notch stuff! :)
Yetman
05. Aug 2017 · 23:30 UTC
I took some time trying to figure out how is this related to the theme but by then I found out that I have been running out of "powers" xD The concept is fun and creative but the most of the game is really easy (psst, the upper right platform is the best strategic location I've found in the game). Also, thumbs up for the retro art and audio. Overall, that is a great game.
saintheiser
06. Aug 2017 · 12:29 UTC
Good one! Love the game idea to lost powers!
pkenney
06. Aug 2017 · 17:00 UTC
This is really nicely done. It has a great retro feel that's really consistent across the art, music, and those great sound effects like the crunchy kill sound. So it's retro, but has none of the baggage. The controls felt nice, and I enjoyed the little touches like the intense flash letting me know for sure that I got hit.

The only thing I struggled with was the button choices. It wasn't immediately natural for me to jump and shoot because I'd get mixed up about which button did which. I really wished that the up arrow button jumped, and then I could have had movement on one hand, with a button for shoot on the other. I think then I never would have gotten confused. Eventually I adapted though.

The eroding powers thing fit well with the theme and added a nice game arc and some strategic thinking.

Great entry!
Shell Pirate
08. Aug 2017 · 09:21 UTC
Very good entry! The artstyle was retro but it didn't lack a good amount of polish. I particularly enjoyed the white characters and tiles set against the dark backdrop; it really made them pop. The music was nicely done and had much the same charming retro feel. The sounds were great and crunchy and they really added to that NES audiovisual aesthetic. The gameplay was simple, yet a good deal of fun and there really isn't much to critique outside of adding more content in the future. The main mechanic was a nice spin on the theme, but adding more abilities for the player to lose would give it more variety is what I mean. Another thing it could possibly benefit from is some screen shake and freeze to really give it that extra punch. All in all though, very good work!
wowods
11. Aug 2017 · 16:25 UTC
This idea and mechanics of the game is really awesome. The art and music also feel so great and suitable for the game. The graphics is kinda looks like Downwell, I like it!
AWESOME!
mrerdalural
14. Aug 2017 · 09:00 UTC
Simple and awesome! I really liked everything in this game! Thank you for making it.
Belga54
14. Aug 2017 · 11:17 UTC
I really liked the idea and the concept. So much fun in this game. Beautiful graphics and the audio also is great! Good entry ! A+
jaimuepe
19. Aug 2017 · 14:11 UTC
Very cool mechanics! Haven't seen any other game like this in the jam. Loved specially the music/sound effects. Good job man.
ruerob-hyky
21. Aug 2017 · 21:41 UTC
Very very nice game! I like that you lose your powers one after another! Haha! The first rounds I jumped on the right platform and just hit shoot or jump, but the last two stages were really hard and fun! haha! :0)
Thank you for your game! :0)