Hey, really enjoyed the demo, am trying to 100% it now, am currently at 93% map with 8/8 key items, have spent a lot of time trying to find what I missed but can't seem to find any unexplored paths that aren't covered by the yellow blocks. I don't have access to the middle teleporter in the list, seems like that's probably where I'm missing stuff. How do I get there?
Would it be possible for you to send me a picture of your current map, aswell as the teleporter list? That way I can be certain in telling you which parts of the map you're missing!
Here's a screenshot, went for the right side of the map as it seemed like that was where I was missing something, and the map won't fit in one screenshot.
Hello! You're still missing some secret rooms in the Temple of Loathing, specifically in the middle road. there's also the secret room that exists in the construction area if you go a certain way in the main bridge. Sorry for the late reply and good luck!! It's so heartwarming to see you love the demo so much as to 100% it...
Can't seem to find the missing rooms in the Temple of Loathing, have rubbed up against every wall in the middle and nothing. Are the statues near the crossroads anything to do with it? They seem like they might be meant to correspond with the hidden shrine clues but can't see how. Also is the secret room in the construction area the one with someone sleeping on a bench when you exit out of bounds in that are?
Some entrances are blocked off if you don't have the statues in a certain state, so try playing around with it! And yes, that's the one. Either way, I'm checking to see if perhaps there's something faulty with the code to calculate the map precentage, so i'll let you know!
what I say may sound harsh but I genuinely see potential in the game and want it to be better so I'm gonna say everything negative I have about it first
the jump is very clunky both too high and too floaty but I get it if you keep it by now cuz I assume you planned the game around it and it would be very hard to change
wall jump is very annoying to perform cuz you need to mash + I had trouble with jumping away from the wall
the enemies are just there to be there they aren't interesting at all (an exception is the dark red place and those are okay) and barely do anything from a combat perspective they were more annoyances than anything (includes the two bosses I got to I beat them both on the first try without any trouble)
charge up for the slash may be too long but if you plan on giving upgrades that shorten it then it's fine
the slash itself is too short you need to get extremely close to an enemy to hit them or you need to charge up which like I said is too long
while it's great that you have nonbinary characters you shouldn't have the pronouns of every character in the dialogue box it makes no sense from a story perspective that when the main character meets new people she already knows their pronouns + it interrupts immersion (this is just a bit annoying and I wouldn't actually care if it's changed or not just my piece of mind)
this only happened to me in the assist room but you need to make sure that the dialogue box stays on screen cuz when I was to the far left I couldn't read anything on it
now to the good parts
both the music and art are great
the ability to jump from a dash to get a further jump is great
the UI is very good (maybe make it possible to zoom on the map but not necessary
the story is interesting and I am engaged and want to know more
the secret shortcuts are great (I only found one but assume there's more)
Hello! Thank you for the feedback, it's very much appreciated! I've taken notes of these, and I'm gonna see what I can do (though there will be stuff I won't change like the jumping mechanics, as like you said, those are pretty integral to the game). I'm really glad you enjoyed your time with, and that the story and direction got you engaged. If you haven't already, I recommend reopening your save after the Verona fight. The demo goes further, and offers new areas, aswell as new weapons and bosses!
I have and I went into the mall a bit and haven't gotten far but I plan on continuing soon
a thing I forgot to mention and just remembered is that you should make some alternate dialogues for some things
there were some characters in the construction area that I only met after I beat the boss and they sounded like they knew me already which I assume is a continuation from if I talked before but it doesn't really make sense
Very cool! Excellent graphics and sound. I like the what I've seen so far of the setting and the premise is promising. Good luck as you continue working!
If you don't mind sharing, did you build your own engine for this or are you using some middleware? Either way it's very cool!
(Zero judgement on my end regardless of engine choice or how much/if you are coding. I was just curious cause I mostly do 2D games myself and am always looking to learn about new tools. 🔧)
I found a bug. I wanted to sit on a bench so I dashed into one quickly then my character sat besides the bench, she was floating, it kept sitting and getting up but I couldn't control her. It also didn't heal her. I'm sorry I tried to explain it as much as I can, English is not my first language
Also maybe you can add more dialogue options with characters? For example that girl who wanted us to find her sister, we can tell her when we find her sister? I know that's like a side quest but it would add more fun, so it's not really necessary
I loved this game a lot! That secret rooms make me wanna explore more, they were chilling. The soundtrack and art is so pretty! I don't know how to criticize a game, I hope I helped somehow
Thank you for playing! Don't worry, more dialouge options are planned for the characters!
As for the bug itself, I can't seem to make it happen so I can see what went wrong, but I'll keep trying and hopefully solve the bug.
I'm so happy you enjoyed it, and you helped a lot! I'm currently still working on the rest of the game, and if you want to see that, you should head over to the game's official twitter, where I post new stuff from the game as soon as I make them: https://twitter.com/CYCLE_en
I saw you at Harukon. I was wearing the Gyro Zeppeli costume in purple and green. I wanna try the game, but the demo is a RAR file, and I have a mac. Do you think you'd port the game to mac and linux sometime in the future?
I certainly hope so! Porting the game to mac and linux requires having a computer with mac and linux installed, which I currently don't have.. but I'm planning on porting it in the future!
Literally made an account so I can comment, lol. Hi!
First of all, I am incredibly proud of you. The game is really fun, and shows the love that was poured into it, as well as the potential. Your eye for colour palettes as well as your unique visual style fit this game, as well as your inspirations.
I played this game in two sessions, the first was when I was feeling sick and irate, and decided to stop so I could be level headed and give a fair criticism, please forgive me if I forget anything.
The X slide is extremely fun, I want it in every game from now on. Maybe further upgrades in the full game could have Lana slide in mid air as well, for better mobility?
the attack is a bit on the short side, which took a bit to get used to, especially against the drill enemies and the miniboss, but getting the upgrade helped with the attack range problem. It might be a personal preference, though, and I'm certain it's again one of those upgrade-over-time things in the full game.
The writing, although brief from what we got, feels good. Characters feel like people, and there's a sense of a greater mystery under the surface. The enemy design is also great. (My favourite is the forklift enemy)
The levels can be a bit overwhelming at first brush, but that's just the trapping of the genre and my anxiety speaking, so I can't blame you much for that. Thought I should at least mention it though.
Some of the hitboxes on some of the platform types can be a bit iffy, they're designed in a way that makes it look like you can jump right through them, but their hitbox is the standard rectangle, and it is slight jarring. It took me out of the world when that happened.(pictured below: example of the platform im talking about)
Speaking of hitboxes, a few of the ladders have an iffy one. I've especially had problems with the one in the bottom left of the first room of the construction zone, near the save point and the drill enemy, and the ladder in the side room with the weight enemy/breakable blocks puzzle, with the drink treasure chest at the bottom. I hope that is a specific enough description!
To sum up, I've really enjoyed playing the demo for cycle, even though the secret boss kicked my butt (im a fake gamer gurl...)
I'm insanely proud of you for creating this, and continuing to create this, and I am behind you every step of the way
Good job, I can't wait to see the finished product <3
Thank you so much for playing! It's really cool to see you play it!! Unfortunately, you actually got to the secret boss before the actual boss.. If you keep exploring up you'll get to the demo's actual boss! The secret boss is a lot more harder, though the reward for beating it is definetly worth it! \
Damn did you really just delete my comment? You need to learn to deal with criticism better, man. The game's a buggy mess as it is. If you release it like this you'll be dealing with a lot worse than one bad comment.
Hey! I deleted your comment because while I felt there was some apt criticism placed in it, it was very mean-spirited. As you may or may not know, we're currently a two-person team, and I've been working on this game for over a year and a half. I feel like calling it a "buggy mess" is unjustified and unneccesarily mean and rude. Either way, I am not charging anything for this demo (I didn't even give the option of paying what you want) and it's been out as a way to test the waters. Either way, I DO have your comment saved and will improve on the points you said, and if you want to have a better conversation about this, you can talk to me privately.
Absolutely awesome game! I loved exploring the area and was super impressed by the art. I really liked the two main bosses, they were both very fun and I managed to beat them both on my second attempt. The secret boss however... Is complete B.S. I've tried for ten minutes, and haven't landed a single hit without being hit back. Not sure what's up with that, but I absolutely cannot beat that boss. It felt like I was attacking that boss underpowered; there wasn't time to dodge most attacks and some felt ridiculous even with the foresight of what they were about to do. I've been using the charge shot (which is really useful!) but am still finding myself getting rekt. One mechanic I haven't used is the 'dash', which is triggered by X. This button is in a strange place for me, and wasn't really usable in the heat of battle, so perhaps that's what I was missing? Another thing, I still don't know how to use items, so that is probably something I'm missing? One last nitpick is that I wasn't sure what a lot of the stuff was that I was picking up, I guess money? Would be nice if some indicator came up to show how much money I'd picked up, or if a money total was shown on the main game HUD.
Anyways, this is a really cool game, awesome metroidvania vibes. I really look forward to seeing where this game goes =)
EDIT: Just figured out you can remap controls, I've persisted and got up to the second phase, which is even more ridiculous!
Thank you so much for playing!! The secret boss is a lot harder than the rest of the game, but i believe you can do it!! Using the dash can certainly help, and it's a matter of getting to know their patterns. I'll take note of the items and the money, and I'll hopefully find a nicer and more understandable way to implement them! All in all, I'm really happy you enjoyed it... it really warmed my heart to see such a detailed review!
I came back and beat that boss (sorta). I went to the shop and stocked up on 30 healing items, making the boss an absolute cake walk. The boss was doing all of this crazy stuff, but I had an endless supply of healing items. tbh, it kinda cheapened the boss, and you might want to put some cap on how many healing items you can hold. The 30 healing items weren't even that expensive.
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Is this still a demo?
Hi, yeah! Hopefully the full version will release soon enough, but there's sadly been some inevitable delays.
Hey, really enjoyed the demo, am trying to 100% it now, am currently at 93% map with 8/8 key items, have spent a lot of time trying to find what I missed but can't seem to find any unexplored paths that aren't covered by the yellow blocks. I don't have access to the middle teleporter in the list, seems like that's probably where I'm missing stuff. How do I get there?
Would it be possible for you to send me a picture of your current map, aswell as the teleporter list? That way I can be certain in telling you which parts of the map you're missing!
Here's a screenshot, went for the right side of the map as it seemed like that was where I was missing something, and the map won't fit in one screenshot.
Hello!
You're still missing some secret rooms in the Temple of Loathing, specifically in the middle road. there's also the secret room that exists in the construction area if you go a certain way in the main bridge.
Sorry for the late reply and good luck!! It's so heartwarming to see you love the demo so much as to 100% it...
Can't seem to find the missing rooms in the Temple of Loathing, have rubbed up against every wall in the middle and nothing. Are the statues near the crossroads anything to do with it? They seem like they might be meant to correspond with the hidden shrine clues but can't see how. Also is the secret room in the construction area the one with someone sleeping on a bench when you exit out of bounds in that are?
Some entrances are blocked off if you don't have the statues in a certain state, so try playing around with it! And yes, that's the one. Either way, I'm checking to see if perhaps there's something faulty with the code to calculate the map precentage, so i'll let you know!
what I say may sound harsh but I genuinely see potential in the game and want it to be better so I'm gonna say everything negative I have about it first
the jump is very clunky both too high and too floaty but I get it if you keep it by now cuz I assume you planned the game around it and it would be very hard to change
wall jump is very annoying to perform cuz you need to mash + I had trouble with jumping away from the wall
the enemies are just there to be there they aren't interesting at all (an exception is the dark red place and those are okay) and barely do anything from a combat perspective they were more annoyances than anything (includes the two bosses I got to I beat them both on the first try without any trouble)
charge up for the slash may be too long but if you plan on giving upgrades that shorten it then it's fine
the slash itself is too short you need to get extremely close to an enemy to hit them or you need to charge up which like I said is too long
while it's great that you have nonbinary characters you shouldn't have the pronouns of every character in the dialogue box it makes no sense from a story perspective that when the main character meets new people she already knows their pronouns + it interrupts immersion (this is just a bit annoying and I wouldn't actually care if it's changed or not just my piece of mind)
this only happened to me in the assist room but you need to make sure that the dialogue box stays on screen cuz when I was to the far left I couldn't read anything on it
now to the good parts
both the music and art are great
the ability to jump from a dash to get a further jump is great
the UI is very good (maybe make it possible to zoom on the map but not necessary
the story is interesting and I am engaged and want to know more
the secret shortcuts are great (I only found one but assume there's more)
Hello! Thank you for the feedback, it's very much appreciated!
I've taken notes of these, and I'm gonna see what I can do (though there will be stuff I won't change like the jumping mechanics, as like you said, those are pretty integral to the game).
I'm really glad you enjoyed your time with, and that the story and direction got you engaged.
If you haven't already, I recommend reopening your save after the Verona fight. The demo goes further, and offers new areas, aswell as new weapons and bosses!
I have and I went into the mall a bit and haven't gotten far but I plan on continuing soon
a thing I forgot to mention and just remembered is that you should make some alternate dialogues for some things
there were some characters in the construction area that I only met after I beat the boss and they sounded like they knew me already which I assume is a continuation from if I talked before but it doesn't really make sense
I'll consider it, but please don't say things like "you should make <x>". While I appreciate the support, it feels very demanding.
sorry didn't mean for it to sound like that it's your game after all and you can do what you want with it
Very cool! Excellent graphics and sound. I like the what I've seen so far of the setting and the premise is promising. Good luck as you continue working!
If you don't mind sharing, did you build your own engine for this or are you using some middleware? Either way it's very cool!
Thank you so much!!
I'm using game maker studio to make CYCLE, but I'm doing all of the programming myself!!
Ah, I see! And thanks for letting me know 🙂
(Zero judgement on my end regardless of engine choice or how much/if you are coding. I was just curious cause I mostly do 2D games myself and am always looking to learn about new tools. 🔧)
I found a bug. I wanted to sit on a bench so I dashed into one quickly then my character sat besides the bench, she was floating, it kept sitting and getting up but I couldn't control her. It also didn't heal her. I'm sorry I tried to explain it as much as I can, English is not my first language
Also maybe you can add more dialogue options with characters? For example that girl who wanted us to find her sister, we can tell her when we find her sister? I know that's like a side quest but it would add more fun, so it's not really necessary
I loved this game a lot! That secret rooms make me wanna explore more, they were chilling. The soundtrack and art is so pretty! I don't know how to criticize a game, I hope I helped somehow
Thank you for playing! Don't worry, more dialouge options are planned for the characters!
As for the bug itself, I can't seem to make it happen so I can see what went wrong, but I'll keep trying and hopefully solve the bug.
I'm so happy you enjoyed it, and you helped a lot! I'm currently still working on the rest of the game, and if you want to see that, you should head over to the game's official twitter, where I post new stuff from the game as soon as I make them: https://twitter.com/CYCLE_en
I saw you at Harukon. I was wearing the Gyro Zeppeli costume in purple and green. I wanna try the game, but the demo is a RAR file, and I have a mac. Do you think you'd port the game to mac and linux sometime in the future?
I certainly hope so! Porting the game to mac and linux requires having a computer with mac and linux installed, which I currently don't have.. but I'm planning on porting it in the future!
Amazing game! Im so thrilled about it :)
Literally made an account so I can comment, lol. Hi!
First of all, I am incredibly proud of you. The game is really fun, and shows the love that was poured into it, as well as the potential. Your eye for colour palettes as well as your unique visual style fit this game, as well as your inspirations.
I played this game in two sessions, the first was when I was feeling sick and irate, and decided to stop so I could be level headed and give a fair criticism, please forgive me if I forget anything.
The X slide is extremely fun, I want it in every game from now on. Maybe further upgrades in the full game could have Lana slide in mid air as well, for better mobility?
the attack is a bit on the short side, which took a bit to get used to, especially against the drill enemies and the miniboss, but getting the upgrade helped with the attack range problem. It might be a personal preference, though, and I'm certain it's again one of those upgrade-over-time things in the full game.
The writing, although brief from what we got, feels good. Characters feel like people, and there's a sense of a greater mystery under the surface. The enemy design is also great. (My favourite is the forklift enemy)
The levels can be a bit overwhelming at first brush, but that's just the trapping of the genre and my anxiety speaking, so I can't blame you much for that. Thought I should at least mention it though.
Some of the hitboxes on some of the platform types can be a bit iffy, they're designed in a way that makes it look like you can jump right through them, but their hitbox is the standard rectangle, and it is slight jarring. It took me out of the world when that happened.(pictured below: example of the platform im talking about)
Speaking of hitboxes, a few of the ladders have an iffy one. I've especially had problems with the one in the bottom left of the first room of the construction zone, near the save point and the drill enemy, and the ladder in the side room with the weight enemy/breakable blocks puzzle, with the drink treasure chest at the bottom. I hope that is a specific enough description!
To sum up, I've really enjoyed playing the demo for cycle, even though the secret boss kicked my butt (im a fake gamer gurl...)
I'm insanely proud of you for creating this, and continuing to create this, and I am behind you every step of the way
Good job, I can't wait to see the finished product <3
Interesting setting and quite a distinct visual style. I need to practice more for that boss... :)
Thank you so much for playing! It's really cool to see you play it!!
Unfortunately, you actually got to the secret boss before the actual boss.. If you keep exploring up you'll get to the demo's actual boss! The secret boss is a lot more harder, though the reward for beating it is definetly worth it! \
Damn did you really just delete my comment? You need to learn to deal with criticism better, man. The game's a buggy mess as it is. If you release it like this you'll be dealing with a lot worse than one bad comment.
Hey! I deleted your comment because while I felt there was some apt criticism placed in it, it was very mean-spirited. As you may or may not know, we're currently a two-person team, and I've been working on this game for over a year and a half. I feel like calling it a "buggy mess" is unjustified and unneccesarily mean and rude. Either way, I am not charging anything for this demo (I didn't even give the option of paying what you want) and it's been out as a way to test the waters. Either way, I DO have your comment saved and will improve on the points you said, and if you want to have a better conversation about this, you can talk to me privately.
fun game
Absolutely awesome game! I loved exploring the area and was super impressed by the art. I really liked the two main bosses, they were both very fun and I managed to beat them both on my second attempt. The secret boss however... Is complete B.S. I've tried for ten minutes, and haven't landed a single hit without being hit back. Not sure what's up with that, but I absolutely cannot beat that boss. It felt like I was attacking that boss underpowered; there wasn't time to dodge most attacks and some felt ridiculous even with the foresight of what they were about to do. I've been using the charge shot (which is really useful!) but am still finding myself getting rekt. One mechanic I haven't used is the 'dash', which is triggered by X. This button is in a strange place for me, and wasn't really usable in the heat of battle, so perhaps that's what I was missing? Another thing, I still don't know how to use items, so that is probably something I'm missing? One last nitpick is that I wasn't sure what a lot of the stuff was that I was picking up, I guess money? Would be nice if some indicator came up to show how much money I'd picked up, or if a money total was shown on the main game HUD.
Anyways, this is a really cool game, awesome metroidvania vibes. I really look forward to seeing where this game goes =)
EDIT: Just figured out you can remap controls, I've persisted and got up to the second phase, which is even more ridiculous!
Thank you so much for playing!! The secret boss is a lot harder than the rest of the game, but i believe you can do it!! Using the dash can certainly help, and it's a matter of getting to know their patterns. I'll take note of the items and the money, and I'll hopefully find a nicer and more understandable way to implement them! All in all, I'm really happy you enjoyed it... it really warmed my heart to see such a detailed review!
I came back and beat that boss (sorta). I went to the shop and stocked up on 30 healing items, making the boss an absolute cake walk. The boss was doing all of this crazy stuff, but I had an endless supply of healing items. tbh, it kinda cheapened the boss, and you might want to put some cap on how many healing items you can hold. The 30 healing items weren't even that expensive.
Amazing game dev had so much fun playing it :) i hope you enjoy my gameplay
Thank you so much for playing!! I'm really glad you had fun!