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A jam submission

StrongHoldView game page

A Rhythm Shooter game, were each magical spell is unlocked by counting the beats
Submitted by TomOak, Lilian Cartellier — 5 hours, 5 minutes before the deadline
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StrongHold's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Audio#5903.7333.733
Creativity#13683.9333.933
Enjoyment#21153.4673.467
Artwork#37043.2673.267
Narrative#51152.3332.333

Ranked from 15 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
You play as a Count, casting spells by counting the beats in time with the music and releasing at the right moment. Warning! This is a rhythm game with precise timing, so please avoid using a bluetooth headset or mouse to avoid audio and input latency.

(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
See description for full credits

(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Tom Duchene & Lilian Cartellier

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Comments

Submitted

This is a clever idea without making it too complicated. I'm a bit rusty with rhythm games so it took a few attempts before I got in the groove. Once in the groove it was very addicting, having the spells fire on beat also made their SFX mix with the music quite well. One thing I missed from similar games is a more clear beat indicator, makes it less likely that I fall into an off-beat spree, 

The game runs without issues on Linux via Proton, so that's a plus! 

Developer

You didn't like our chicken metronome? ^^' Jokes aside you're right, the challenge you mention has been one we have tried to improve since the beginning, and we're not 100% there yet (the staff changes color on beat too, if that helps).

Very glad you found the groove!

Submitted(+1)

Unique and fun game! I really like that there is a kind of risk reward factor for going for longer spells. I also really liked that some of the chicken formations required larger spells so you had to take that risk. The timings were a little hard to get used to but once I got it it was really fun! 

Developer

Risk/Reward is one of my favorite game design tools ;)
We have found a way to improve the timing accuracy (by about 0.5 frames) yesterday, I hope it will be enough to fix the issues for the post-jam version.

Thanks a lot for playing, glad you had fun!

Submitted(+1)

Really unique Idea really, you struggle at first but when you get good at it its lovely, the rythym and flow of the game is nice. I literally can't give you any feedback hahah its really fun and I think this is the most creative entry so far. Really really well done man congratulations!

Developer

We've found out yesterday that the timing precision is off by about 0.5 frames, so that might come into play.

I'm very glad you pushed through and you found your flow, thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

Wow! This is something unique! I even tried all difficulties. I bet with different types of enemies and more types of spells this could become a whole fleshed out game

Developer

Thanks a lot, glad you had fun <3

More enemy types would be very fun, we had the idea on the back of our mind to include an enemy that would partially mute the music for a few seconds to challenge players to keep time for example :)

Submitted (1 edit) (+2)

WOW! I liked your game SO MUCH! The idea is very creative, you've met the theme perfectly, but most importantly it's so fun! it just feels so nice and there are a lot of diferent spells and each one has a perfect place to use it, it feels so satisfying to hit those beats and switch between tempos at the right times. The people in the comments say it's too hard, but I guess either they're just noobs or I am pretty good 😏. (I don't know why, but at this point my comment turned Bold style for some reason and I can't turn it off, it must be a bug help) oh and know when I just finished writing that it's magically off again wtf? I swear I am not doing it on purpose. ANYWAY, the game's awesome, I only had difficulties with the beat at the second level for some reason, it was harder for me than insane level. 

I had great fun with your game, what an entry, GOOD JOB. 

PS: I got to score 816 for the insane level, I hope that's good :)


Developer

Thank you very much, 816 is indeed an excellent score, congrats!

Submitted

It's a very innovative idea. I think it has great potential. But for me, it's difficult to find the right timing for clicking and releasing. Maybe visualizing the rhythm would be better?

Developer

Thanks ! The count's staff changes glow on beat, maybe we could bring more attention to that

Submitted

I liked the concept and execution very much, very unique. Would be fun to put a bit more comedy to it as the chickens are already quite comedic. When playing (not very well) I thought that there should be an indicator of the beat and then noticed the chickens...

A lot of the time I had problems noticing the missing text and sometimes it felt like it didn't recognize my click (maybe I clicked to quick after previous spell or miss?). For some reason I did better on Insane than on Hard, probably because I knew the music :D

I liked how everything worked well together

I think the idea is super fun and well executed but even with a headset on the beat timing was waaaay too hard to get reliably :c

Developer

Yeah, it's not very forgiving and there seems to be small imperfections in the timing sometimes which can make it harder (that, or our code has a bug ^^')
Can you confirm that you played with a wired (not bluetooth), just to be sure?
You can also play in Easy mode, the music is slower so the hit windows are wider.

(+1)

I get it it must not be easy to get it right. I played with a wired jack headset yeah

Submitted(+1)

Really cool game! The concept was super unique. Getting into a rhythym and hitting your spells was super satisfying. Great job!

Developer

Thank you very much, I'm glad you found the flow!

Submitted(+2)

I gotta be honest, I really liked your game! It took a while to get used to it but once you get going a rythm it feels really rewarding! Really well done :)

Developer(+1)

Thank you very much! My biggest fear is that it might be hard to get into, so if you have any kind of suggestion on this front I'll take it :)

Submitted

I don't really know how it was coded but my best would be shortening the "Missed" bit. I think it makes your attack go in a bit of a cooldown. And you could also make the, I think it was this, short burst 1 second instead of 1.5 because I felt that made me go out of the rythm when I wanted to chain cast it.  Didn't mention but I loved the spells, especially Death Ray. I though it was supposed to reveal itself once I play a little, turns out I was supposed to discover it. Again really cool concept.


Out of topic, the unresistible urge to spam Zoltraak.