Yeah we got greedy bcos we were already half way making co op by the time the app was finally launched. But apart from the control improvements his points about maps getting boring is valid. We might squeeze in some tweaks addressing fun factor for the update. Hopefully.
Some thoughts... -I feel like a lot of this game's bosses are kind of low-key and mundane, compared to Toon Shooters and Maximus? Nothing as HUGE and awe-inspiring as Skybreaker or Invidious, or as amusingly memorable as Globulus or the Polar Boys. Even Death seems toned down, since the clones aren't really a threat anymore. Instead, bosses like Terrivor and that water boss are kind of a joke, and bosses like Eagle just feel uninspired. -Where are Don Portobello, Regulus, and some of the other missing bosses in BvB? It also feels a lot less exciting now, with bosses like Macabre and Eagle looking more like regular enemies, compared to the screen-filling terrors of Wormulon and Bruticus. -I've only reached Gamer with Clementine so far, so maybe it's not as true for other characters. But er, is it just me or is Gamer mode just WAY too easy with her high-level specials? So yeah, kinda open-ended, pointless complaints, I know. Sorry. I would love to simply see a return of some old bosses as a bonus in boss rush mode or something. Actually, I'd love to see you guys put out a game that's JUST ridiculous over-the-top boss battles, no stages needed at all. Between all three of your big games so far, I've gotten the same sense of wonder that I did with old Treasure games like Gunstar Heroes and Silhouette Mirage, where the stage itself is just a way to kill time before OMGWTF THIS BOSS IS INCREDIBLE.
I actually like the stages. Well since we have to replay them a lot, the ideal solution for this game would be to have 40 of them, which I know is impossible for a dev duo making a game where players won't be spending USD 50. Then again I'd have given a 4.5 for this because I loved it and liked it better than Maximus.
Thanks Tigerpretz and Kioshi once again for the useful feedback, not pointless at all, We began Blackmoor based on what we learned off Maximus, we wanted deeper combat and Streetfighter was the inspiration. We wanted Castlevania style maps but that ended up getting toned down as we couldn't convince ourselves to make big maps where you explore and cant find the way. We didnt want every boss to be huge bcos the inflation would take away the scariness and novelty. I admit there were fewer big bosses this time round tho, perhaps playing the first bunch of bosses we felt that the SF fights were more fun. Bobafett boss was inspired by the second boss of Double Dragon arcade which, altho hes probably the most forgettable boss in history, I really liked the idea, basically a small guy that comes up slowly on a lift, that has all your moves and is (supposed to be) really skillful. I guess we will push out the co-op plus some minor tweaks and see how that does next. Funny you mentioned the idea of bringing back tons of bosses with no stages, we are going ahead with a game thats just a big mash up of tons of big scary bosses and the best characters from our games, a few gay ones too like the Bearadise guys and Daisy.
How about an Exp Booster item? This item will increase the exp you gain. Of course, you'll buy this with real money. Just a suggestion.
The update just got submitted today, I know it's taken waaay longer than usual but that's bcos we got co-op in there! I balanced a few tiny things like envoy's death strike doing less damage, Toby's stronger, and raven and straxarr are easier but still pretty unbeatable. Here's a pic I did for fun and hope u enjoy the update
Thanks Kioshi you beat me to it Worth mentioning you can change your name by tapping on the yellow button with the default name on it under the char portrait... there's a layer glitch when that happens if there's a bunch of rooms active oops, please excuse that for now :X Some info on whats in the update: - Co-op multiplayer (up to 3 people) - Game balance/XP will be adjusted based on how many people there are - Removed pets from multi because we found it too cluttered - When you die you need to wait 10 seconds to respawn, so naturally there are no continues in this mode... just shout at the other players to hang on - In the settings page you can scale the buttons (really meant for iPad) and swap the function of the A+B - Toby's weapon swap/clone crash fixed - Checkpoint before the end of the Colliseum - Ducking/blocking and the duck movement is slightly more rigid It's the first time we plunged into the multiplayer world on this platform, so I hope it goes as smooth as possible, feedback welcome as always ------------------- We're starting up the Smash Boys game now, and I tried asking around developers for some characters and couldn't get much in return so... fate would have it there's a ridiculous chance that we can partner with Capcom and use a few of their Street Fighter IPs (like Combo Crew?)
You guys say 'up to 3 people multiplayer' but I was in a 4 player game (including me): http://imgur.com/2tOkQNB
Oh that happens rarely if you connect at the same time as the 3rd person... so you could have more than 4
The game keeps crashing for me since the update. Running latest iOS on iPad Air, single player. Crashes in land map walking to next stage.
Ah... we found a really bad game breaking bug thats causing those random crashes to do with when (online) game rooms delete themselves... we've taken the game off the store for now, apologies
I beat Maximus without buying continues. It was a heck of an experience, one that I did tire of over time but that was because I had exhausted all my options. So I picked up Blackmoor, and I did find many similar elements from Maximus crossing over to this game. The main difference aside from the new story was the fact that the game plays in 2D rather than 2.5D-ish. However, Blackmoor is a more frustrating experience due to many reasons, which I will note below. 1.) Your character is a glass cannon. In Maximus, you have some durability, where if you play poorly for whatever reason (new player, end of a long game session, overworked thumbs, etc...), you have a little wiggle room to recover without becoming fearful of death, especially if you have already used all five of your free continues. In Blackmoor, any mistake is punished severely, and the only way to not guarantee a death and either force continues via IAP or restart at last checkpoint is to play perfectly. Playing perfectly can be good because it forces players to bring their A-game. Thus, it presents a tangible challenge that players need to overcome. However, how can players develop A-game skill if they are thrust into an A-game situation without warning? They can't. They end up throwing themselves at the game over and over again, hoping and praying that they figure out a strategy or tip that will allow them to progress. This is not developing skill; this is trying to find the equivalent of a cheat or shortcut that will produce the same result. New players are ignorant players. They know nothing about the game when they first boot it up. They will take the easiest path to victory because they have not yet discovered more effective paths. And if the only path to guaranteed victory is near-perfection, they will abandon the game to play a game that has a smoother difficulty curve. This is one problem with Blackmoor, at least from my perspective. 2.) Not enough checkpoints, bosses require grinding to learn During one level, there were two mini bosses, no checkpoint between them. One mini boss is enough to kill you within a few attacks, they are that difficult. The biggest skill walls are the bosses, mini or otherwise. Defeating just one of them is an achievement. In the above example, let's say you barely manage to beat the first mini boss, and you're low on health. Now, you need to defeat the second mini boss without taking so much as one hit. If this is your first attempt at the level, you will likely die at that second boss. You restart so that you don't waste a continue or purchase one, and find out that you now have to fight that first boss again. In theory, you should be able to figure out a strategy to fight around that first mini boss after a few runs, so that you'll be in better shape for the second boss. In practice, this is easier said than done. Every mini boss has at least one attack that is unblockable, and certain attacks have precise counters/dodges that require skill on the part of the player. At any point a game repeatedly demands a high level of skill from a player for one particular enemy and expects some attempt at perfection from a player's efforts is when a complex and robust fighting system devolves into a grind that is specific to that encounter. For example, one boss can be stun-locked with jump attacks. However, you need to jump attack at the right time, and you need to hope that the enemy isn't jump-attacking as well, because once you're in the air you are committed to the jump and cannot correct a mistake, and you find out through trial and error that the boss's jump attacks cannot be countered. Through trial and error, you find the right timing and manage to defeat the boss. There is little to suggest that a strategy that works for one boss works for another. It might, but at a completely different timing and for different reasons. Or it might be useless, which means you need to learn very specific strategies that are unique to whatever boss you are facing. If you have never faced that boss before, that means blindly throwing yourself at every boss until you learn each boss's tactics. This is not learning skill. This is finding the shortcuts and tips that make victory almost guaranteed. 3.) Stats are not as important as skill. In Maximus, stat increases were significant because of the game's well-tuned difficulty balance. In Blackmoor, you could have fully upgraded stats and still die due to a boss that air-juggles you, or has an unblockable throw move that the boss a.i. spams. This means you need to play well even with fully upgraded stats and equipment, and as we have established, developing skill is a grind in Blackmoor because of how much skill it expects new players to have, which is unreasonable to expect. After all, how can players be experts at a game they have never played before? Previous game experience in similar brawlers is not enough to expect a new player to be an expert at Blackmoor. Of course, this means that gold IAP or grinding is effectively useless. The most gold will get you is the ability to improve all your numbers, and is useless if you don't have the skill to utilize those numbers. Granted, I am one person. The above problems I pointed out may be specific to me and my lack of skill, if I am lacking in skill. I do think, however, that many players, especially new ones, may encounter similar problems like the ones I mentioned above, and that their experience with Blackmoor will be frustrating rather than fun. I'm not asking for a complete change in the game's difficulty. I'm asking for the devs to take a look at this post and ask themselves: "Does this guy's problems with the game make sense?" and to make their own decisions based on how they answer that question. It does pain me to say this, but I cannot see Blackmoor as an indie gem in the same way that Maximus was. This game is not perfect, and its flaws impact gameplay in one of the worst possible ways: it turns a functional, robust and skill-heavy combat system into a grind that does not allow players to develop the level of skill that the game demands without throwing one's self at it over and over again. That works in Rogue-likes, not in brawlers. I would rate this game 2/5 stars. Make of my thoughts whatever you will. Sincerely, Mr. Album
I had the exact opposite experience. I wasn't able to beat Maximus without continues oh my first time through it, mostly because enemies often come at you from difficult angles to cover, or because the stage hazards were just too hard to avoid unless you had the stage memorized. Certain bosses (Bearwolf, Globulus) also make LIBERAL use of their invincible frames on their attacks, which makes killing them largely a matter of luck. The only times I needed any continues in Blackmoor were against Raven and Straxarr, and they're clearly special cases. Everything else in the game is easily manageable with pure skill, and a tiny bit of trial and error. Yes, letting Clementine's knights attack the banshee is a bad idea, next time you know better. But thanks to generous checkpoint locations, continues are never really necessary. I will agree that some of the mobs in Gamer mode are a bit ridiculous. Particularly in Castle Blackmoor, the Pawns can keep you locked down forever. But otherwise, enemies can't punish you all that severely. Once you get knocked down, you have a LOT of invincibility after you get up. Hell, against some bosses (specifically EG-1101X), it's advantageous to just walk into a hit, because it protects you from the entire rest of the onslaught. Also, invest in defense. It REALLY helps. This IS developing skill. Identify patterns, practice reaction times to react accordingly. The way the AI works, there are pretty much no bosses that can be "triggered" to react the same way every time, like you could do in the old Megaman games, so it's not about trial and error and there are no shortcuts. The bosses fight like actual characters here, and you need to learn to fight back. I think you're exaggerating a bit here, since the game gives you PLENTY of chances to take hits and keep on going. As long as you reach the next checkpoint, that's all that matters. There are a few difficulty spikes that could be smoothed out though... -Messenger of Death is brutal on Normal mode, before you've unlocked double jumping. He becomes much easier on Hard/Gamer though. -The second half of Butterfield Prison is far too cramped to fight the Vivibears and Garyboys fairly. The only way I've been able to beat it is to walk along the roof, avoiding the battlefield altogether. -Giant Owl really needs a checkpoint. Abigail is far too difficult a miniboss to come RIGHT before Buldur, especially since you can't juggle him against any walls. I'd rather move Abigail closer to the beginning, so you can have a checkpoint halfway. -I actually really love the Sabrewuuf/Don Portobello back to back fights, but I can see how it'd be frustrating for some people. Sabrewuuf's invincible headbutt comes out too fast to dodge, making the fight a bit luck reliant. Honestly, having a miniboss before the real boss is one of my favorite aspects of the game. Shishima>Eagle flows nicely and Sabrewuuf>Portobello flows nicely. The Werebear seems a bit random, but whatever. All three of those minibosses should eventually become no challenge at all, once you learn your character. You might get blindsided the first time you face a boss, but that's the case with pretty much every game like this. How many people beat Megaman or Gunstar Heroes bosses on their first try? Still, once you've learned your character's tactics, every boss does become a unique test of skill. Every boss you fight should require a different strategy, and the strategy will also change depending on which character you use. That's the best thing about the game; no fight is exactly the same. This is why the game gives you Normal mode first. You have plenty of time to master your basic skills and to learn enemy patters before the game starts throwing a real challenge at you in Hard/Gamer. Enemies are so weak and fragile, there's really no reason to die in Normal mode except against a few of the tougher bosses. The power increases aren't as noticeable here as in Maximus, that I definitely agree with. But the extra HP you gain as your character grows makes a HUGE difference I think your problem is that you're playing Blackmoor like a brawler. This is not Maximus, you cannot win by running around and spamming your basic attacks. Because you're limited to a 2D plane now, it's more important than before to take the time to learn your character and master all of their little tricks and quirks. Maximus was basically Golden Axe; a really simple brawler that didn't require much mastery of your character, just mastery of the stage itself. Blackmoor is much more comparable to either Megaman or Street Fighter (depending on which character you pick), where you actually have to pay attention and learn to use your character. I've gone through and beaten Gamer with Clementine and Raven now, and I'm thrilled to say that it felt like two totally different games. Same enemies, sure, but you can't approach any of them the same way because your tools are so different. I haven't decided yet if I'm doing Scarlett or Nameless next, but I think it'll be fun either way. Other final thoughts: -Sea of Greyguild just isn't fun. It's easy enough now that I've memorized the layout, but it's just not enjoyable. -I still don't understand why Boba Fett is in this game. Not just a similar bounty hunter, but literally Boba Fett. I like the idea of a boss with your own abilities, but not the direct copy/paste art. Besides, isn't that the point of Raven? -Envoy of Death and Don Portobello are my favorite new bosses. Sabrewuuf, Regulus, and Macabre are all cool minibosses too. I think they're on par with the best of Maximus, at least. Also, one final question. Can someone please spoil this for me? Spoiler Is there a way to unlock Azuron and Lrrr? I've beaten Straxarr and Raven on Gamer, but there's still nothing at the Pond, Crucible, or Feasting Pit. Am I missing something?
I disagree. I find Blackmoor a tough game, not a casual one. Normal mode was quite easy for me (never used continues), Hard mode is like SNES or some PSX games where I died a ton until I learned bosses patterns down to a science. Gamer mode seems over the top for me (li,e I doubt I'll ever finish it), but Normal reminds me of any non casual game and Hard, most console games. I also see this game as a premium experience for 1.99 (coin doubler). I was able to buy gear and upgrades at a satisfactory rate.
Wow three big posts by game connoisseurs with differing insightful opinions! I find it hard to believe that blackmoor could be worse overall than maximus since we designed it based on what we learned off maximus, but Mr album is not the first to point out that the tougher difficulty made it less relaxing and enjoyable. There is something there and maximus seemed to get better reviews and less complaints of controls and difficulty. I also agree the underwater stage is a bit boring. Personally I have soft spots for both streetfighter and golden axe and if your taste leans towards golden axe then u will prefer maximus, I prefer the depth of combat in SF. Yeah probably we shouldn't have made Eagle look so much like Bobafett, but he still needed to be a boss that appears around middle of the game as opposed to raven who is supposed to be like the ultimate AI grandmaster with same moves and very human tactics. In the update I took his damage and HP right down so that it's a better fight (he didn't need the unfair advantage) Luckily inspite these things Blackmoor has done better than all our games in the first month, the multiplayer came out but with bugs. I did enjoy playing in a group of three YOLOing bosses for a while but the overall coop experience was far too unstable and we sadly have to remove it till its much smoother. Azuron and Lrrr artwork and stage has been made and intended to go in as secret bosses but its yet to be decided what we do, first we should see how coop turns out. They might share the same fate as Raven, originally designed as a secret boss for Maximus but was moved over to the next game.
Brawlers like Golden Axe, Final Fight and Maximus have you facing a ton of weak enemies and overpowering them. Plus, they have bosses that usually repeat the same patterns. Blackmoor is something else. I see it kinda like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry 3, where you can get completely owned by 2 or 3 normal enemies if you don't pay attention, and also the bosses actually react to you (that's why I compare this game to Street Fighter). Despite the genre difference, I can relate this game's difficulty to the superb Wayward Souls, where if you get cocky in a room with three stupid little slimed after owning 5 difficult dungeon floors, they can kill you in seconds. That's what makes me like Blackmoor so much. Although I do understand others' complaint about difficulty (not even sure I'll handle gamer, I'm finishing hard with other characters). But it does remind me of strategic and quick thinking games. And yes like in all games in the history of gaming, the underwater level sucks
Aww, I'm really disappointed about the other two secret bosses. That whole last section seems like a lot of wasted space, since it takes up like half the world map, but only has two stages. Really hope they come in a future update! I can't decide which I liked more between Maximus and Blackmoor. On one hand, I really love the way Blackmoor controls. The characters all feel unique because they handle differently, and mastering your movement options and combos really gives you a sense of pride. The boss battles are also a ton of fun, since the complex battle system makes them a lot more skill-based. On the other hand, I thought Maximus had better stages and better boss design for the most part. I also liked the more subtle Golden Axe and Toon Shooters references, compared to the very in-your-face Star Wars and Street Fighter references in Blackmoor. Either way though, I definitely enjoyed both, and will happily buy your next game. If I had one request, I think it would be an Altered Beast reference- a character whose super is turning into a super-powered animal monster. =D Oh, minor glitch/exploit. Since there's no timer on the continue screen, pets can keep attacking, and if your pet kills a boss after you die, you still beat the stage. It's especially easy to abuse with Blossom, since her attacks cover the whole screen and don't cause any knockback. She can kill any boss after you die (except the underwater one) by herself.
