Thanks! We worked pretty hard to make the whole I’ve physics thing work. I know I was a little worried at the start, but once we figured out the dash breaking thing it really started coming together.

And you’re totally right about the no input dash thing. I actually noticed it fairly early on, truth be told the only reason it doesn’t work the way you describe is because I couldn’t figure out how to code it in. It’s something I want to fit in the big post-jam cleanup update, but it’ll likely require refactoring all of the dash code and therefore a lot of tinkering to make it feel the same. It’ll be worth it in the end, but it was beyond the scope of the jam for something that was ultimately very easily played around, ya know?

EDIT: So, your comment inspired me to go back into the code, and I managed to fix the dash issue while keeping the speed of the dash the same. Unfortunately I can’t upload the build this very instant because of the jam lockout, but just know that as soon as the voting period ends the new build will have the dash work based on the direction the character is pointing (and therefore not have the no speed dash issue). The solution Godot has built-in actually made the fix really easy and meant that I didn’t need to change anything else in order to keep all the numbers the same. It really shows how much I’ve learned over the course of this jam that this issue that was causing me much pain and grief back when I started was a 10 minute fix now, it’s both encouraging and annoying at the same time.

Don’t worry, you don’t have a skill issue. We may have ever so slightly overtuned the boss, our bad! The upcoming Game of the Century Edition update will be more fair in the later phases. Still, I’m glad you were able to have a good time with it in its current state.

Yea, those rockets will mess you up if you let them get across the screen lol

It really is unfair, thank you for doing your part in fighting this toadtalitarian menace!

I’m glad you had such a good time with it! I know I was a little nervous at the start about trying to make a “slick” bullet hell because I wasn’t sure how slippery movement could be made satisfying in a game about precise dodging, but to toot my own horn a bit I think we pulled it off at least a little bit.

Yea, I think we may have made it a bit too hard. The last phase especially is going to be a little more fair in the post-jam build, but I’m glad you managed to enjoy it despite the balance issues!

That makes sense. We didn’t do a very good job communicating the mechanics, which can make the first few minutes before you figure everything out a little bit frustrating. As part of our post-jam reflection my co-dev and I have gone back and fourth on how we could’ve included a more natural tutorial, and it’s been a tricky problem. Next time we do a jam I definitely want to make sure a clear tutorial is a priority, since I think it makes the gameplay experience far more enjoyable. Game dev is actually kinda hard, who’da thunk it?

I love water striders too! I remember seeing them zip abount on the creek at my grandparents’ cabin and being facinated by how fast they were and how they could just sit on the water’s surface, it’s a shame they don’t get as much representation as they aught to.

I’m glad you had a good time with it! And don’t worry, common consensus (as well as the opinion on my co-dev before we even launched the game) seems to be that we made the last stage a bit too difficult, which is one of the things we’re addressing in the (probably) upcoming Game of The Century Edition. Aside from any hard mode we may or may not include, I feel like by default most people should be able to beat it with some doing, and right now it’s just too easy for bad raindrop rng to kill you in that last phase.

I don’t think it’s a skill issue on your part, I think we made the game a little bit too hard. The missiles will mess you up if you don’t destroy them before they reach the other side of the screen, and while this is by design (another thing for people to juggle and another way to get the player to move around), I think we may have taken it a smidge too far. I’m still glad you enjoyed it though, and for what it’s worth the more polished version we’re releasing once the game jam ends will be a little more fair.

I’m so happy to hear that! The movement was a huge priority for us to get right, since the rest of the game lives and dies off it. For better or worse, we definitely made it a bit on the harder side, but we’re going to fix that and it seems like people are having fun anyways!

That’s probably the highest complement we could receive! As for a no-hit run, we plan on releasing a more polished build once the Jam lockout is over that should make the last phase feel significantly less rng, so depending on how you take it that’s either a reason to stay tuned or a reason to beat it now before it gets easier lol.

That last phase is rough. We actually nerfed the blood rain spawning a little bit in our internal dev version after the jam submissions closed, and I think it makes the game feel less punishing. I’m super happy that the attacks were easy to understand, I know I was worried that since we didn’t have a tutorial the entire thing would be too difficult to grasp all at once.

Thanks! That last phase is still tough even for me.

Thank you so much! What do you mean by variation in the bullets? Currently there’s the rain, missiles (which explode into projectiles on impacting a wall), and a tadpole which bounces around the screen. Do you mean more attacks, or more variety in the way current attacks work?

So, fun fact that we didn’t communicate very well because we didn’t have time to write a propper tutorial: You don’t need any cattails to finish off the frog. All you need is to ram him with a charged dash and that’ll be enough.

I’m glad you thought the difficulty was good, that’s probably the thing we went back and fourth on the most. The rockets were me trying to squeeze bumper car mechanics into the game somehow becaues I felt like the controls suited it, and thankfully for everybody invovled my co-dev shot down my initial (and far worse) idea for how to impliment them. That’s the beauty of working with someone else, you have someone to tell you when your stupid ideas are stupid.

Thanks! The difficulty scaling had a lot of thought put into it, and while it’s still rough around the edges I think we ended up in a pretty good place.

It’s a known fact that moustaches are the most evil of facial hair, I’m glad we we able to communicate this incredibly consequencial reality.

Happy to hear it! Fun and slickness were the primary objectives

While our dev time may have been limited (and some features may have needed to be cut), one of our main priorities is to make the finaly two phases feel like a real bullet hell boss fight, and I’m glad that that vision came across.

Thanks for the kind words! Good to know that your childhood was only saved by the fact that I hadn’t started game dev yet, future generations won’t be as lucky