mauve
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 30
Registered: 11-29-2021
IP: Logged

So I've been a bit hesitant to link this here as I don't really peruse these forums, even though I've been a DROD player for a decade. Seeing as how I've been recommended to do so a couple time and that it's already been linked elsewhere on the forums already anyhow...

Addlemoth Demo Link!

You can play it in a browser, supports gamepads too.

This is a game that started life as a flat DROD clone I hacked up over a weekend on a whim, I brought it back later as something to learn to draw pixel art with (seriously I could not draw for beans when I got started on this for realsies), and eventually found its own identity after a lot of iteration over the years.

It does still have DROD sword as a thing, if remixed a bit. I'd been debating removing it but decided to commit to keeping it.

There's three chapters in here, with 33 puzzles in total, and the optional challenges are purely just for people who really wanna challenge themselves.

I'd actually be really curious to hear the opinions from people who avidly play DROD.

If this link is a problem I do apologize.

____________________________
Cohost / Mastodon / Addlemoth

Gordius
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 91
Registered: 12-16-2008
IP: Logged

Don't have time to give this a more thorough look right now, but I got as far as 1-8 before deciding I'd need to give some real time to thinking the level through. Fun and interesting so far, especially the parry mechanic.

Kalin
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 185
Registered: 01-25-2016
IP: Logged

I was going to start a thread here, but was waiting to see if Karl or Erik would do so.

Very good DROD clone. Difficulty ramps up fast, and some mechanics aren't explained until after they are needed for challenges. I spent forever on the second map because I thought I needed to face the enemy to parry.

It does have a problem with some browsers not accepting the cookies used to save progress (happened to me with Firefox). So check that before you get too far in. Chrome worked fine for me.

I think the term "Conduct" is confusing, since most of us are used to calling them "Challenges".

A very good game, I've unlocked the ch 1 bonus level, but am struggling with several levels in ch 3. I hope to see a full version someday with a level editor.

mauve
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 30
Registered: 11-29-2021
IP: Logged

Firefox on strict cookie settings appears to prevent saves from working, yeah. There's really nothing much I can do about this, it's an itchio thing because it hosts the game on a separate cdn server.

I've been informed, by quite a few people, that 3-4 is very out of line difficulty-wise with everything else in the game. That's a big oops on my part. I'll be toning it down a little, I think.

A user facing level editor is definitely planned. Already have support for it, even! But there's a whole lot of logistical reasons why it wasn't going to show up in the demo.


____________________________
Cohost / Mastodon / Addlemoth

Kalin
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 185
Registered: 01-25-2016
IP: Logged

3-4 was actually my favorite level. It's 3-7, 3-9, and 3-10 that made me quit the game (for a bit, I'll go back). If you make it easier, try to do it in a way that lets you keep the current solution as the challenge. (The current challenge is much easier than actually solving the map.)

Gordius
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 91
Registered: 12-16-2008
IP: Logged

Okay, I've made it through some of chapter 3 and unlocked, but not solved, the chapter 1 bonus level. So far the two main things I've discovered are (1) that the default keyboard settings really don't work for me, but I haven't quite figured out what would be better; and (2) I really don't enjoy the more complicated log rolling puzzles. There's nothing wrong with them; they just aren't my cup of tea.

Other than that, I'm really enjoying it. There are some places where it relies heavily on "Oof, you've mostly played DROD RPG for years now, but you remember how to fight roaches efficiently in this kind of space, right?" and others where it's a completely new kind of play.

One minor note: When you get the sword, it would be nice to have something (either in the dialogue about how heavy it is or as a note) to explicitly point out that you can't parry anymore. If there was something, I missed it, and was surprised the first time I died when I expected to stun a hound.

Also, I'm playing on Firefox with pretty aggressive security settings and haven't had any problems with my savegame.

kolbesag
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 34
Registered: 02-02-2021
IP: Logged

Beat the Demo and have been going back to do some of these challenges, man you are devilish.

Parry's a good game changer to keep up with the smarter roach (I mean wolf) pathfinding, and learning you can .

The midi soundtrack is perfect, gives the game such a vibe and is excellent puzzle music.
Art's cool too, game-play's sprites nice and readable and it's great to see effort put into the world map and UI.
Only thing that needs work are those character portraits (feel kinda funny talking character design on the drod forums), honestly it put me off engaging in the story when all the characters have this stiff gaumless look about them. Say what you want about Beethros face but that character design has character!

I'll be poking through the rest of the challenges evenutually, fitting DRODs full range of movement on arrow keys is also pretty ace, feels really effortless to control.

---

[Last edited by kolbesag at 12-04-2021 11:44 PM]

mauve
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 30
Registered: 11-29-2021
IP: Logged

I love the music, hits all those PC-98-ish Etrian Odyssey vibes that my brain is all about. Heavy Viper did a fantastic job with it! It is a bit of a short loop and I kind of wish there were more variants around, though.

The art has been a lot of me learning as I go, really happy people are digging the environment/spritework!

Though, believe it or not, the character art used to be _considerably_ worse. I'm not satisfied with it in its current stat either, but I need more practice to draw better. (or find someone else to do it, ahaha)

The logs seem a bit hit and miss with people, I'll be keeping that in mind. Likely redoing progression a little bit for the full thing.

I absolutely should have a note about being unable to parry, for some reason it just slipped my mind and most people seemed to just trial and error past it once. An "Oops, well, guess I can't do that like this. Moving on!" sort of thing.

Smooth/responsive control is very important to me, so I spent a fair bit of time iterating on it to make sure it's easy to control with whatever you use. Rebinding's an important feature to have to please use whatever's comfortable. (I should probably put a note in that numpad 5 only works if you have numlock on though. thanks html5...)

Appreciate the feedback! It helps, and glad people are enjoying it.

____________________________
Cohost / Mastodon / Addlemoth

ErikH2000
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2794
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

I'm on Chapter 3, and it feels properly hard now.

There've been quite a few levels where I nearly gave up and then got my "a-ha" moment.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
IP: Logged

I found it cute and fun. Not too difficult, but I probably do have some skills left from my years of playing DROD.

I like the graphics, the puzzles, the story. I didn't really like the challanges. To me they kind of seemed more tedious than dependent on a cool lynchpin, or being a little extra efficient.

mauve
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 30
Registered: 11-29-2021
IP: Logged

wow it's been one full year since the demo came out!

Just want to give another round of thanks to people who played it. Whether you enjoyed it or gave feedback or decided you hated it and thought it should be scorched from the earth, I really appreciate it.

I've been super ultra swamped this year so progress has not been as swift as I would have liked but there has been progress nonetheless. If you're curious I did a bunch of development updates. Itch, of course, doesn't have an easy way to browse a user's posts/devlogs, so...

https://mauve.itch.io/addlemoth/devlog/455067/addlemoth-dev-update-november-2022 latest one, and check the sidebar for the others if interested!

Most of the things I want to change from the demo are things like fixing visual issues, adding indicators for when stepping on a tile will 'wake up' something, and hard nerfing 3-4. I'm actually pretty happy with the pacing and structure otherwise!


____________________________
Cohost / Mastodon / Addlemoth