Since everything seems to be fine, I think it's safe to release the demo version.
You can download it here:
[Geisterhand Trial]
Aside from several missing sound effects (mainly for the boss),
everything is implemented into the game.
The CG for the boss isn't included, but of course it will be included in the full version.
(it's just that we decided that having 4 out of 13 CG scenes in the trial version, should be enough)
If you're not able to read japanese, you can switch the language setting in the main menu.
Known issues:
- there are some typos in the CG scenes
- on "very easy" there is a bug with the respawn function, but it's nothing critical
(respawn does work, but sometimes you respawn right on the spot)
Taken out of the readMe file:
(there is also a japanese readMe file)
===[Controls:]===
* Arrow keys for movement.
* When you're caught by an enemy or a spider net, randomly hit ANY keys to free yourself.
* Press [Arrow Down] + [Space] to fall through certain platforms.
* Perform wall jumps by pressing [Space] when you're clinging to a wall.
* Press [Arrow Up] + [D] to shoot upwards.
* Press [Arrow Up] + [W] to shoot charged special shots upwards.
[Space] - jump
[A] - bullet time/time alter/slow time
[D] - shoot
[W] - charged special shot (only available after beating one of the bosses in the full-version)
[S] - change ammo type
Btw. clinging to a wall in order to enable wall-jumps does NOT work if you're falling too fast.
This means, if Sheyla starts to drop (losing height) after jumping, or if you fall down into a pit etc.
This is also the case when trying to wall-jump over too long distances.
It's no bug, it's fully intentional the way it is.
(2 out of 10 testplayers wondered about this, so I thought I should mention it)
Simply said: "if you fall too much, you can't cling to a wall."
And yup, this means a broken wall-jump-chain makes you fall all the way down.
Have fun playing the game, and please report bugs and other issues!
P.S:
Just in case someone is bringing the topic up again:
No, the DL link is not broken, I uploaded the trial version on Mega, that's all.
I've read the ToS of several other hosters, but everyone seems to prohibit adult stuff... so yeah...
Mega is the only choice right now.
I'm okay with people uploading the demo version on other hosters, as long as they link to this wegblog.
But I'm not doing it myself, since I don't want to deal with deleted files, blocked accounts etc.
(well, that would be the consequence for uploading adult stuff I guess... at least that's what happened on mediafire last time I did it)
Alright, first impressions.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, much better than your first game in terms of polish. But you're in the domain of platformers now, so I'm not gonna hold back any criticism ;)
-First, make it so you can skip the intro text crawl. No reason not to.
-Make it so you can only dash if you press the same direction twice, not opposite directions.
-Increase the double tap speed for dashing. Right now you give the player far too much time, so much so that the player can't make minor adjustments to their position by tapping without dashing by mistake.
-Next is the control scheme. As it stands, it's a very odd and uncomfortable control scheme, and it's easy to switch weapons by mistake. I'd Make A jump and S shoot, and switch the time function and weapon switch commands to something out of the way like shift and control, since they aren't as central to gameplay as jump and shoot. (which as far as I'm concerned, should always be next to each other)
Also, why not have a charge shot instead of a button for it? For a game where most users will use the keyboard, you use way too many keyboard buttons. (personally, this alone makes a lot of games feel unplayable to me)
-Preventing the player from gripping the wall at a certain falling speed doesn't add anything positive to the game. It's an unnecessary limitation that will only serve to frustrate and confuse players. If you ask the question "does this limitation make the game more fun overall" and the answer is no, then the mechanics needs to go.
-...Why are the bullets blue in the UI but orange in gameplay?
-The trees should scroll vertically as well as horizontally.(it ruins the illusion of depth a bit if they don't)
Also, the parallax trees are too low, and give the impression of being above the forest, rather than in the midst of it. Also, give the "caves" a wall to block out the background in order to give the perception of going below ground level if you don't want to worry about where the trees will scroll.
-Avoid the empty space. Focus the players attention
http://gyazo.com/0c73c5810af662313123f8413172220e
http://gyazo.com/64100aac3670138ae8b37ea0adc74c43
That's it for now. Haven't really played past the first screen or two.
Thank you very much for the detailed feedback and criticism.
DeleteI'll improve most of the mentioned things in an upcoming version.
(which will take some time)
The whole charge-shot issue is a longer story.
Mainly I guess that it's troublesome if a player wants to charge the shot, while jumping and moving into an direction.
(3 buttons need to be pressed at once, which can be an issue on keyboards)
And the other issue would be, that I didn't want to copy the way it was on Kurovadis.
(yeah, I'm hesitant to copy things other people do... lol ^^")
Well, the charged shots also use up energy in Geisterhand, so I would have to change this too.
(not a big deal, but it changes some factors of the gameplay)
The bullet in the UI is also blue, because it's the charged version of the orange bullets.
(it makes sense once the charged shot gets unlocked)
Anyway, thanks for the feedback, I guess this will help a lot in improving the game ^^
(regarding your second comment: we are currently discussing about ingame sprite-sex, but we still haven't decided yet, since this also has a major impact on the gameplay, and people complained on Paperheads, that the grapples slowed the game down too much... originally Geisterhand should be a fast game, but well... we are still dicussing this matter)
Well, I implemented the auto-charge because I liked the way it was done in an H-game called Viocide. If you want to improve at game design, than you need to drop the notion that you have to avoid doing something simply because it's been done before. Especially with platformers. Design is about iterations, taking what works, and making it better along with new ideas.
DeleteAs for slowing the gameplay, the grapple system in Paperheads slowed down the gameplay because it was overcomplicated and time consuming. You can avoid this pretty easily by making it easy to escape. Then it's less of a factor for people who want to speed through the game, but still there for people who are going to lose on purpose to see all the animations anyway. The other options is to just do it the way Unholy Sanctuary did it.
As for the UI, making it correspond to the charged version doesn't really make any sense and is just confusing to the player. They can learn what the charged shot will be by using it.
Also, I don't know if it's just not included in the demo (and I may have said this before), but keep in mind that in-game sex is pretty much main selling point of H-platformers on Dlsite. I don't think it's far-fetched to say that you'd be missing out on a good 80% of the profit you'd be making.
ReplyDeleteThings I concern in H games:
Delete- Drawing style (I love Crescentia's style)
- Resolution of sprites
- The way animations was used
- Diversity of hentai CG
- Gallery mode, cheat mode
A linear system is better for hentai games. Finding keys, jumping platforms, round trip a huge map, they all give player headaches.
Like, the gameplay shouldn't be more complex than Metal Slug series.
I'm not as experienced as Kyrieru in this kind of thing, so I'll focus more on something I'm good at - writing!
ReplyDeleteI do like the game actually having dialogue now. I do notice the occasional typo or misused word... so I might go through and try to write some of those down at some point.
The artwork is really good though, so props to Cresti for it! The gameplay does feel better to me then Paperheads, but I'll admit I'm not that good at platformers to have a good opinion on that kind of thing...
The music also isn't bad either, so props there as well! Also the title words look really neat also.
Thank you for your feedback!
DeleteI'll forward your praise to Crescentia (Art) as well as Illustrious (Music).
I'd really like to play the demo, but I can't download from MEGA. Can you add a Zippyshare mirror?
ReplyDeleteGeisterhand trial v0.71.zip
Deletehttp://www61.zippyshare.com/v/9292203/file.html
I hope Wolfenstahl doesn't mind. Delete this message otherwise.
Played Geisterhand a little and it's looking good! Kyrieru has already pointed out most things, I've got nothing to add except the bullet range. Not sure if it's intentional but I keep hearing my bullets hit something way off-screen.
It's okay, thanks for uploading it.
DeleteAnd yup, the bullet-range is intentional.
There are only a few occasions were enemies can be hit over long distances, but I figured it's better than limiting the bullet range.
(well... it's just my personal opinion, but I felt it's nice the way it is now, though most games do have a limited bullet range, I thought it would be easier for the player, if the range is not limited)
Thanks for the feedback! ^^
For me one thing's better than Paperheads.
ReplyDelete-CGs have text now
But overall, I prefer Paperheads better:
- Higher res sprites with game over animation
- Simple gameplay (like Shinobi girl, H game does't need complex system)
- more diversed CG, little face-swap recycles
But well, you are the boss.
Making games like Paperheads cost you more time and money, and Paperheads wasn't a success. I understand the change.
I really hope this game will succeed, so there will be more Wolfenstahl franchise in the future
Yes, we try to keep things to a minimum, while still making the best out of it.
DeleteIf we make a 3rd game, we will also make bigger sprites for that one.
(twice the size of Geisterhands sprites)
Also there will be hentai sprite animations and stuff.
But well... first we have to finish Geisterhand.
Thanks for your feedback!
i tink that the complex gameplay can be better for the game because there are a lot of simple controled games and more complex games will make some player love this game (players like me xd). I also think that grapes in the game can be really annoying sometimes and the long cg with text are fantastic.
ReplyDeletebut the game can be sometimes really hard and... why the boss don´t have a cg?
ps: sorry for my englisj i´m spanish
ps2: i hate when i have to press all the keys to free miself because of a spider web, i think that pres only the movement keys are a beter way because sometimes you change the bullets whe you get free, you try to shot bunt you can´t or you lose some precious specials bulets with easy enemys
DeleteI think the boss has no CG because they didn't want to give you too many of the CGs for 'free' already. It'll be in the full release.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteis crescentia your girlfriend???
ReplyDeletei mean... two boy and girl working together...
the relationship can be close ~_~
also is she pretty? i have the feeling she looks like the girls in her drawing~
Hey, I'm a big fan of yours, and a fellow video game developer. Is there any way to contact you in private? I can't seem to find your email address or any other contact info on your blog.
ReplyDeletei really love this game and i want to see it get better, i would only add one thing, sprite-sex like what paperheads had (only just make the grapple easier to get free from) but you heard this before lol.
ReplyDeletethe only thing i don't want to see tho is this just being (only) on DLsite, i hate that site myself. (we don't agree with each other best way to put it lol)
that is the only reason (and lack of money) i never got paperheads (that and idk if you went with having no text in gameover CG's, i really like them myself but the "DLsite" thing is the main reason) i would buy this in a heartbeat...just not if it's only on DLsite^^|
I like the narrative feel of the game, this plus the game play can definitely make this into a gem. As far as sprite sex scenes those are always nice but if your going to focus on the CG's i don't think they are necessary. In fact, even though Paperheads had sprite sexual animation, i feel the CG's + narrative make this game the superior H game.
ReplyDeleteAs far as gameplay its pretty awesome. Especially the bullet time which adds a very unique flavor to the game. I would leave the spacebar as jump since that's the default for most serous pc platformers. I notice that alot of H games have A/S as jump but it feels awkward as hell.
With that said i would change the upward shooting to diagonal. Shooting upward it's extremely strange especially in a fast pace plat former like this. There should at least be a way to shoot diagonally as well. Also i agree with other people that the "bullet switch" key needs to be switched, its to close to the shooting key.
As it stands, the game is so good i would immediately buy it depending on the length. Keep up the good work :3.