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FATAL ERROR in Vertex Shader compilation
ShaderName: shad_white

D3DXCompile failed - result

at gml_Object_obj_enemy_Draw_0
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:D

@vdogg I think you'll need to update DirectX. Try the links below:
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=35
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34429

If that doesn't work I could try making and uploading a version without the shader.

I love metroidvanias!! This one seems pretty polished and well done. It was quite fun overall, maybe making the enemies a 1-hit kill would make it even more enjoyable?
Congratulations!

overall the game is nice but some places felt like the had too much enemies that did't make the room challenging but rather annoying, especcially enemies near the edge when you have to jump+attack repeatedly. Final long jump was also frustrating. But I must say that the way you used a level design to teach that while running you kill enemies just by touching them was really smart

I really enjoyed the Level designed, as well as for the main idea. Thanks

Animations in this game are satisfying, upgrades are cool, solid combat mechanics, ok game overall.

Wow, so many levels! A really impressive amount of levels. It was so satisfying using the claws. I really loved the character!!

I feel like the background graphics are a bit lacking, but with how many levels and upgrades there are I think that's understandable with the time frame, you clearly worked hard!!

Though it may have looked a bit cleaner if the clouds were removed and the cave backdrops were a solid colour/ just had some small rocks, I feel like the large shapes are slightly offputting/distracting? Just my 2 cents from an artists perspective :)

Overall I hecking LOVED this!!

@javicepa I'm glad you enjoyed it. I agree that some of the enemies are a bit tanky (mainly the stationary ones). I don't know if making them all one hit kills is necessary, but their health could certainly be tweaked.

@lamossus I may be misunderstanding what you're saying, but you can stay in the air if you keep attacking an enemy. You shouldn't need to jump repeatedly. You're probably right that some of placements are a bit annoying, though.

@shubart @goplite Thanks.

@goat-toaster-games It's great to hear you liked it so much. You're right to think the backgrounds look rushed. They were all just a quick "I need to put at least *something* here" sort of thing.

@veralos I totally hear you, it's so hard with the time limit!

Let me just start off by saying thank you for making your download just a plain .exe file instead of needing me to unzip a folder with only one thing in it. That really means a lot to me and I greatly appreciate it.

That aside, this game has a very neat concept, but there are some things that kinda bothered me. The enemies in the game seemed more annoying than anything, and never really posed much of a threat. The graphics were pretty nice, but the backgrounds like you said are a bit rushed-looking (can't really dock you much for that). The level design struck me as one of the strongest points of this game; much thought and testing was clearly put into the map.

Finally, I feel like this game would also benefit from some background music. That's just my opinion anyway, and I think you did a really good job!

That was really fun! The powers feel great you made the metroidvania-style go well with the theme. I also like the level design and the amount of content makes the game feel really complete. Great entry!

@acr515 Did I put thought into the map? Sure. Did I do a lot of testing on it? Ah... not so much.

I totally agree with you on the music. It's the thing I most wanted to put in if I had more time. Making music was originally part of the plan, but you know how these things go.

@silkworm-sweatshop Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

I loved the sprite, had alot of animations. Attacking felt like it had some weight to it. Nice work!

Like metroidvania games. This one isn't polished with visuals but I enjoyed it. Like how you combine metroidvania and beat-em-up. Good job!

I liked the idea, the level design seems well though through.

One thing that didn't appeal to me is enemies being at the edge and having to jump, hit them and fall over and over.

This has a lot of potential, keep it up. I absolutely loved it.

@rubixalchemist @saintheiser Thanks!

@hayzar You don't have to fall over and over to kill enemies on ledges. If you keep hitting an enemy you will stay in the air next to it. This is the second time someone has complained about this so I wonder if there's a way to make that mechanic more intuitive.

There was a good amount of content in this and the level design, for the most part, is quite good and works with the mechanics as they are introduced. Sound is a little disappointing and I'd say the graphics are good but not amazing. The combat mechanics are interesting, as the player sort of hangs when you're in a position to hit enemies multiple times. I would have made the downward attack a bit stronger against enemies as it takes more skill to hit correctly.

Not having a checkpoint when you got the running ability killed this for me though. I kept getting killed on my way back out and never reached a checkpoint, so I had to keep going to get the running ability. That just became too frustrating after repeated attempts. Especially with the bouncing enemies at the end of the ledges. I know you float for a bit when you attack an enemy but where you are already at the height of your double jump, it only takes a moment of non-contact before you drop down and have to repeat the process.

I'm curious to what the ending is... does it turn out you're Satan? (I watched the play-through video on your itch.io page, I was close!)

Excellent level design, great sound fx (this game is begging for bgm), polished mechanics, excellent control. The level design really stood out. Thanks for this and good job!
Also: the game saving feature is a really nice touch.

Nice game you have here. SUPER WELL DONE!

Come check out my game if you like!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/virus-detected

@kodiqi Thanks for the feedback. I'm also disappointed the sound (the lack of music specifically). I agree that the dive ability probably needs a buff.

You probably already know this if you watched the video, but I'll explain anyway: After you get the run ability you're supposed to just keep running, which will allow you to kill all the enemies on contact. If you do this it's almost impossible to get hit at all.

@asilva4000 Hi, I saw you on MrJoshuaMcLean's stream. I'm glad you like the game.

With the way the respawns after death work, saving honestly didn't require any extra effort. I already have save points, I already keep track of the room and abilities, and I already load a state based on those. The only difference is that I'm storing that stuff in an external file instead of some variables.

@illabom Thanks. I usually play the games of anyone who comments on mine so I'll make sure to check out yours at some point.

WOW! I love the gameplay style and the way like U use the theme! Good job!

Very nice! Pretty standard metroidvania, nothing super special here, but you have all the correct elements and most importantly, having the player's maximum health decrease on every powerup unlocked is great and something that more games ought to experiment with (as opposed to having all abilities **and** a large amount of health, which makes endgame a walk in the park).

Some small thinks could be improved here and there as I'm sure you know -- better audio, slightly better level designs in some places, better signalling for the speed booster ability, etc. Still, this is very complete for Ludum Dare. Congrats on a job well done!

Remind me of Castlevania. It's great. The moment of collecting items are exciting. The feel of attack is excellent. Level design needs some polish though as sometimes it's challenging patience. Nice work.

@falak Thanks for the kind words.

@ddrkirbyisq If you liked the main gimmick then I'd consider that a success.

I'm not totally sure what you mean by "better signalling for the speed booster ability". Do you mean that there should be some indication of how close it is to activating?

@yishalee I'm sorry to hear that you found some areas patience testing. Can you recall any parts that were particularly frustrating?

@veralos - well, that would be nice of course, but I was mostly referring to kodiqi who didn't understand that you're supposed to use the speed boost to run through all the enemies after collecting that upgrade. Again, I think it's a minor issue (I understood the intent just fine) but maybe the level design could be tweaked to make it a little more obvious or something (??).

I did also find that doing speed boost runs across screen transitions felt tricky because the screens transition instantly so you very much have to be prepared ahead of time for the next screen. Again, not something that impeded me significantly at all, just a minor hindrance.

@ddrkirbyisq Okay, I see what you meant. Yes, that's certainly something that could be improved.

Solid platformer with appropriate abilities.

There is nice color and background variation in the tilesets, even though some of the backgrouds look like they were made in *Paint*. Some landmark assets here and there would have helped to differentiate the levels as they do end up blending together after a while. Where was that next locked area again? Dunno, better check them all again!

Going through old areas with new abilities is not all bad as you get to dispatch those hapless enemies in new ways. I really like how every ability serves dual duty as an attack and a movement boost (apart from the wings!).

Thematically this isn't quite there. Sure dropping down to one health did make the last set of levels harder than the first few (which were utter cake walks btw), but you aren't exactly worse off as a glass cannon demon. This world is inhabited by nasty black goo monstrosities after all.

Good work!

Overall: *Good (4.0)*
Fun: *Good (4.0)*
Innovation: *Good (4.0)*
Theme: *Above average (3.5)*
Graphics: *Good (4.0)*
Audio: *Good (4.0)*
Humor: *Above average (3.5)*
Mood: *Good (4.0)*

@huvaakoodia Paint? Pfft. Real artists use the built in Game Maker image editor.

I suppose the bits about going through old areas (both the negatives and positives) are inherent in the metroidvania structure. Generally the locks are in the middle areas while the paths to items are on the left and right edges so you don't have to go far down old paths to reach new places. That's not obvious, though.

For the theme I was trying to make having more powers both something to look forward to and to dread, with the corruption thing as context to make the health loss feel less arbitrary. The result is a bit weak, especially with how excessive your starting health is.

Sorry, I'm away on holiday (without a computer) so I probably won't be able to play your game before the rating ends.

Very nice, well made game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 40 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFjCDu50TQs

@jupiter-hadley Thanks for featuring the game. I will definitely take a look.

And thanks to everyone for playing, rating and providing feedback!