Ghosts & Japes

[Resilian]

Damnit !

Okay i fixed the issue, it was a dialogue line on the initial_grab, you can download the kuroda files again and it should work !

Sorry again for the inconvenience >w<

[Resilian]

[

While we will not be opening any Discord servers for our projects or for mod hosting/lists, anyone else is welcome to make unofficial servers for mods, discussions, and whatnot.
(We simply do not have the time or resources to dedicate to moderating such a thing.)

Maybe later this day i will host a modding discord server, something really basic, only for mods and creations.


And thank you again for your kind words, it really made my day >w<

[kotora]

I made another enemy mod!

Please download here!: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/55942883/

[SquishySofty]

Speaking of modding...
I might think about making a mod where you play as a small ghost player.

Ghost on ghost violence

However, since the ghost player will have a different personality, the lines will be different, meaning that it affects all enemies.

The ghost player was a reference of Tsughos' game over scenario, where the player continues as normal.
However, if the ghost player gets caught by Tsughos... The player will eat her instead, and the player need to spit her out before they turn completely corrupted.

Who knows, maybe I'll have the ghost player to eat all enemies the same way?

[Resilian]

Okay, i started a discord for mods and creators, feel free to come, propose and create

https://discord.gg/8CCd5Pd6kd

[leonthegreat]

[size=150]
(It seems like readme.txt is an unfortunate relic of the past...)

I actually liked the Readme.txt. It was nostalgic to sift through it. As for the game itself, I still have tons of fun playing it. I like the personality of the characters, and the gameplay is just hard enough to stay fun when I play it. Honestly, once you get one or two of the stamina upgrades you are basically unkillable so long as you play it carefully with your positioning. I can't wait to see what else you do with the game.

[SquishySofty]

Once you get one or two of the stamina upgrades you are basically unkillable so long as you play it carefully with your positioning. I can't wait to see what else you do with the game.

It's kind of the reason why the stamina upgrades were pricy. Unfortunately, the items are RNG based (It's to be expected for a rogue like game), so you can't really select which of the items would you rather choose to survive.

I choose max health over stamina, granting over 200 health. I should grind more coins to grant me two Stamina potions, and I'll be unstoppable.

[ChibiLucky985]

Rather glad I found this the game rather fun to play.
It was fun getting to see some of the ghost's dialogue and the gameplay loop was satisfying.

[Eniel]

Thank you! I was able to try everything out except for the side1 part. Sorry if this is a dumb question but how do I do side1?

It's a mouse side button.

my ass who has a trackpad:

[Microbastard]

Well, I played through this for a good while and it was a big time! There's not a whole lotta content, but its well made, and i enjoy all the interactions and mechanics. Grouping everybody up and taking out a whole room at once always felt great, and even the movement speed and cooldowns felt perfectly tuned to me. I was gonna say I'd like some sorta dodge roll to get outta sticky situations, but then I realized that's just the lantern, so there's no need. Probably the best part was the writing, I spent a good while goin' through all the options with the ghosts. I tried doing a hardmode run where it was a constant blackout, and it actually got really involved, even with how simple the game is. However, if you're looking for feedback, I do have some things to say:

1. Ghosts... probably shouldn't get stuck on objects. At least some of them. That's the whole thing with ghosts, afterall... Most of my gameplay later on was hiding behind tables and waiting for everyone to get stuck. I know the game would be a lot harder if they could pass through or move around things, but you could fix that by giving the player more control over their movement when pulling against a ghost so they can somewhat dodge, and by giving the enemies more varied interactions and movement patterns (or letting japes vault over obstacles like its mirrors edge, but that may be a touch silly). And... probably making their hitboxes just a touch smaller, too...

2. I know that this is a lot of work, and you probably already want to change it, but almost every ghost currently feels pretty much the same. They move directly towards you constantly, maybe at different speeds, maybe spawn a projectile. There's a good bit you can do here, have the bunnygeist path to objects instead and try to throw them at the player, have two types that always circle at a fixed distance around the player and you either have to look at them or not look at them for a period of time before they get shy or something and can get stunned. Have the other bunny hop around laterally before doing a short hop and charging in a straight line through everything directly at the player. Maybe instead of just plainly being the weakest one, the friend ghost uses that weird acid tail to lay traps a good distance away when the player backs themself into a corner. There's a really good amount of enemies already, but sometimes, it doesn't really feel like it...

3. The compass and light pendant should always be active from the beginning, and the blackout timer should be MUCH shorter. I suppose this is more of a personal preference, but I'd rather be frantically trying to reach a goal before everything goes to hell rather than just kind of blindly stumbling around hoping I eventually find the key... I never got a single blackout without using the debug menu, even when I was spending several minutes messing with the ghost AI in a single room. But if you had the compass and a strict timer, that would change everything. You wouldn't want to camp in the corners because you need to move fast, you wouldn't have to backtrack across half the map just to check and see if you missed something on the other side, and it would just be a more streamlined experience. Plus, if you're good, and can either navigate in a blackout or have a lot of time leftover, you'll be rewarded with extra money and extra upgrades to get further in.

4. I know this is probably just a temporary solution, but... the only way the game gets more difficult is enemy HP... No matter what floor, they always do the same amount of damage, there's always a hard limit of 4 ghosts at once, and the types are randomly selected after floor 1 (as far as I know...) Although, if you did want to have more than 4 ghosts in a room, they'd probably need to be a bit bigger.

5. This is a small one, but when I flash the lantern, I'd like it to light up the place... I mean, I get the light source being dimmer while its recharging, but shouldn't at least the flash let you see a little further? Plus, after getting hit, not being able to see stuff if pretty awful. I guess if you wanted to keep the same light radius when getting hit, though, you'd have to make a different indicator, like a little blue flame sprite on the lantern or over Japes' head.

But those are just my thoughts. The fact that I had this much to say should speak to how much I enjoyed the game, and if you wanted to leave it as-is and go back to what you've been doing, then it wouldn't have been a bad release. I love seein' stuff like this, and if you kept up with development on it, then you'd have something special. <:)

[JapesofGrapes]

However, if you're looking for feedback, I do have some things to say:

1. Ghosts... probably shouldn't get stuck on objects. At least some of them.

2. I know that this is a lot of work, and you probably already want to change it, but almost every ghost currently feels pretty much the same.

3. The compass and light pendant should always be active from the beginning, and the blackout timer should be MUCH shorter.

4. I know this is probably just a temporary solution, but... the only way the game gets more difficult is enemy HP... No matter what floor, they always do the same amount of damage, there's always a hard limit of 4 ghosts at once, and the types are randomly selected after floor 1 (as far as I know...) Although, if you did want to have more than 4 ghosts in a room, they'd probably need to be a bit bigger.

5. This is a small one, but when I flash the lantern, I'd like it to light up the place... I mean, I get the light source being dimmer while its recharging, but shouldn't at least the flash let you see a little further? Plus, after getting hit, not being able to see stuff if pretty awful. I guess if you wanted to keep the same light radius when getting hit, though, you'd have to make a different indicator, like a little blue flame sprite on the lantern or over Japes' head.

But those are just my thoughts. The fact that I had this much to say should speak to how much I enjoyed the game, and if you wanted to leave it as-is and go back to what you've been doing, then it wouldn't have been a bad release. I love seein' stuff like this, and if you kept up with development on it, then you'd have something special. <:)

Thanks for playing, and thanks for the feedback as well!

1: I originally thought perhaps they shouldn't get stuck on objects, but we just ended up going with it.
Although I did think it would be neat if you could jump on top of objects, then ghosts could follow you as well.

2: That is the case, as all ghosts follow the same AI pattern. We just wanted to keep everything really simple for this game.

3: By compass, do you mean the power gauge? The compass' purpose is just if you wind up on the other side of the house, it helps you find the key a bit faster when visiting the other side.
If you collect the key first however, the compass is replaced with gems!
Light pendant could be more helpful being on constantly, as it saves time in general... But it is also very strong. If it were on constantly, I'd likely lower the speed boost it gives.

4: There are also some other stats that increase as well, such as struggle count and struggle damage, but those are less noticeable at times. We are looking into extra difficulty modes however.

5: I like the idea of it temporarily lighting up the room, like the flashes outside the mansion. We were debating whether or not we should make it do that on the inside as well, but decided against it because that wouldn't make any remote sense without any windows...

Much of the design choices with this game were made with the intention of it being a one-and-done sort of game, as it's not our main project. (It was originally just to test out a dialogue system and other features we'd use in our next game.) Nevertheless it turned out to be pleasantly more than we initially anticipated...

[SquishySofty]

I originally thought perhaps they shouldn't get stuck on objects, but we just ended up going with it.
Although I did think it would be neat if you could jump on top of objects, then ghosts could follow you as well.

I'm glad that the ghosts can't phase through walls and objects. Otherwise, all of the ghosts would be very overpowered (+ They track you with perfect precision), and even in the smallest room would feel impossible without it.
Maybe that should be a difficulty thing too, like for Hard mode.

[Mirage70O57]

Technically my first post on the site but i'd like to give my own opinion on the game!

First the positives:
- The mechanics are solid, they are well balanced and feel decently responsive even if they can be clunky sometimes such as the vacuum cone being a bit wonky every now and then on the peripherals
- The game is decently challenging with enemies that complement each other very nicely along with a good kit for the player, aside from Endgame you never feel too weak but never too strong either making it an engaging struggle all the way through!
- The artstyle and the scenes are great I love the pixelart used in the game it's awesome!
- Short simple sweet despite the difficult learning curve the gameplay loop is quite engaging it's fun seeing how far you can make it!
- Kaishi!

The negatives:
- The AI is very easy to exploit: either stick behind a table or make sure they all spawn together and you can clear entire rooms in one flash to fix this i'd recommend simply stagering enemy spawns a bit so not everyone spawns at once and to make herding more difficult and add an enemy type capable of phasing through objects for those happy campers!
- Content is a bit limited as many people have said but if i were to guess it's where mods come in but for a fix here you could do if you have time and are willing, adjusting certain AIs adding more ghosts and unique room layout and floor mechanics could go a long way to make it heaps more replayable. Maybe even a boss fight if you're feeling adventurous :3

Overall it was an enjoyable albeit short game with heaps of potential for modders! I'm impressed with how well rounded this mini-project ended up being.

I'm gonna guess you're mostly done with the game for the foreseable future but I've had my share of fun with it regardless now I'm just gonna jaunt over to that discord I've seen pop up for those sweet, sweet mods
I wish you luck on your future endeavors.

[Venerate]

I definitely second the idea of allowing ghosts to move over terrain/furniture. Perhaps at a slower speed or something?

I absolutely adore this game, but my two current gripes are
1: the furniture in most rooms makes it incredibly easy to abuse and avoid the ghosts effortlessly.
2: as soon as you get one or two struggle upgrades, the game becomes completely trivial in terms of difficulty.

I'd absolutely love a harder mode to the game. I seem to be in the minority here but as soon as I figured out how the AI works, or how to stack the ghosts, the game became nearly impossible to lose. I got to floor 40 before giving up on my second run because of it.

[empatheticapathy]

Definitely my favorite vore game in a long time.
I love how much unique dialogue you can get out of one enemy type, and that the enemies start gaining HP after defeating you (and you can gain HP by draining them) - it really drives home that you're fighting over the same resource, AND makes it immediately clear how they benefit from digesting you. Plus the fact that you can be a willing prey is just amazing.

Since people are talking about having the ghosts go through objects, I'd actually like to say it's a good thing that they can't. The player being able to exploit the terrain to their advantage is absolutely a positive, since it rewards being attentive and planning ahead, and makes different strategies possible. Plus if enemies did go through walls/objects, it would make every room feel just a little more samey, and given how repetitive this game can get after a while, that should be avoided at all costs.
That said, I could see one new enemy type being added that can go through things might help spice it up. I'm just not in favor of having any more than that, let alone making all the existing ones do so.

[Catvs]

Unsure if this has already been stated, but the window for the screen is extremely small.
Anyway to fix that?

Can be adjusted in the pause menu, press ESC.

Thank Uuuuuuu!

[SteveFloyd]

I really like this game, so I'm gonna mek uh epig gid. In order from Most Danger to Least Danger

Dangerous Tier:

Spoiler: show

Purple Slime & Cat Ghost

Mid Ghost Ahh:

Spoiler: show

Witch Ghost, Big Ferret & Snek Blud

Baby Shee:

Spoiler: show

Illiterate Dinosaur, Needy Firefly, Care Bear & Rabbit Chan & Drowsy Noob

Weak Links:

Spoiler: show

Squidward & Stupid Angel

Pro Tips:

Staying close to an enemy and backing away give 2x suck
If you are surrounded(unlucky) Flash the Strongest enemy, suck, and sprint into them. Better than being eaten.
You only have to keep ONE enemy close to you in order to gain the suck bonus.
Use weak links like squid and angel to give you an edge over the purple slime bastard. You normally can't suck the purple slime bastard alone, but get him with others and you'll get the suck bonus and won't instantly be pulled in by your own suck. The squid is the best to use this for. He is terrible at escaping and you get a TON of suck value off of him, so if the squid is near, try to get him to be sucked with the purple bastard.

[SteveFloyd]

I think a good neutralization of the furniture camping would be a ghost type that can go through objects(Or teleports you with a portal underneath you to prevent camping)? Like uhh, it spawns in, doesn't move, but like once every 5 seconds it spawns a portal under you that teleports you to it, giving you 1-2 seconds to move away before it appears.
Also a side note, the CERTAIN enemy that gives 2 effects is BY FAR my favorite! Adds a TON of additional interactions to the game! Also, I think the ghosts aren't too similar, as some have spells, different movement speeds, reach, pull power ESPECIALLY their personalities! Obviously 2, 3, 4, 8 & 9 in my above tier list are the best while 1, 10, 11 & 12 are the WORST(imho). Not in that order btw!

[JapesofGrapes]

I really like this game, so I'm gonna mek uh epig gid. In order from Most Danger to Least Danger

Dangerous Tier:

Spoiler: show

Purple Slime & Cat Ghost

Mid Ghost Ahh:

Spoiler: show

Witch Ghost, Big Ferret & Snek Blud

Baby Shee:

Spoiler: show

Illiterate Dinosaur, Needy Firefly, Care Bear & Rabbit Chan & Drowsy Noob

Weak Links:

Spoiler: show

Squidward & Stupid Angel

Pro Tips:

This is one of the best things I've read this week lmao

Glad you're enjoying the game!

Cool idea with the teleporting projectile, I had that sort of idea while developing/an enemy that teleports to it's projectile location after a short time, but thought it may end up somewhat unfair.

[SquishySofty]

Dangerous Tier: Purple Slime(Maw) & Cat Ghost(Tsughos)

I can agree, especially the latter who always gets me by the time they spawn.
Although even though Maw has 5 Attack stat, and practically a harder version of Illiterate Dinosaur(Ghostplain), I don't think he's worthy to become THAT dangerous, since I've never had any issues against him (I hardly get grabbed by him). His struggle stat is 28, which is less than Angello (30), meaning that he's VERY easy to escape compared to some other enemy with 40 struggle stat. In my opinion, he would be Mid Ghost Ahh tier, just not enough to be dangerous if you know to keep your distance (Or if you have higher max health to tolerate his 5 attack stat).

Mid Ghost Ahh: Witch Ghost(Magi), Big Ferret(Spookobold?) & Snek Blud(Spiriserpent)

As much as Magi being my favorite ghost (Personality AND mechanic wise), I think Magi should be up to Dangerous Tier, because 1. They can shoot homing projectiles at the player that go through walls/obsicles, and 2. There's no way to defend yourself from it, other than escaping the range.
And if you're in a tight room, you're 100% guarantee to get hit by it, either a shrinking spell, or a love spell. Shrinking spells are objectively the worse thing you'll encounter, because you can't do ANYTHING while you're small, + The slow movement really doesn't help in your survivability, especially near one of the Dangerous Tiers. They're REALLY annoying if there's multiple of Magi's, depending on map generation.
Same as Magi, Spiriserpent should also be Dangerous. As previously mentioned, their struggle stats are the highest (40), a guarantee run killer if not dealt with. It's a fortunate thing that Spiriserpent's projectiles does not track, since you can easily dodge it, and their speed is under Angello's, but above Maw's. However, you really don't want to get caught by their love spell.
I assume the Big Ferret is Spookobold, since they are annoying to deal with by escaping them. However, you know what's the funny thing? Spookobold and Bunnygeist has almost the same stat, hence their speeds are the same. The only difference is that Bunnygeist has higher health, and Spookobold has higher struggle stats (Hence why they're harder to escape from them, similar to Spiriserpent, who's struggle stat is higher than Spookobold).

Baby Shee: Illiterate Dinosaur(Ghostplain), Needy Firefly(Friend), Care Bear(Ghostnaru), Rabbit Chan(Bunnygeist) & Drowsy Noob(Lulla)

I never have any issues with any of them, so I agree with this list. Though, I think Lulla should be in the Weak Links, since they're the easiest to escape (Same struggle stat as Angello).

Weak Links: Squidward(Serapth?) & Stupid Angel(Angello)

Seraph should DEFINITELY be the higher tier, because their oil placement can slow the player down if contact. Though, since their damage is pretty weak, and is relatively easy to escape their vore move, they should be in the Baby Shee tier, but not close enough to become mid.

If you are surrounded(unlucky) Flash the Strongest enemy, suck, and sprint into them. Better than being eaten.

To clarify, it's better to suck and get hit by the sucked enemy to grant you invincibility frames that way, instead of letting a nearby enemy grabbed you and using your mouse to get hand cramps from escaping. Though, this one is not recommended if you have very low health, so only use it wisely to escape from a group of enemies.
Alternatively, you can just flash at the enemy, and escape by passing through them. The enemies won't grab you if they're stunned.

Use weak links like squid and angel to give you an edge over the purple slime bastard. You normally can't suck the purple slime bastard alone, but get him with others and you'll get the suck bonus and won't instantly be pulled in by your own suck. The squid is the best to use this for. He is terrible at escaping and you get a TON of suck value off of him, so if the squid is near, try to get him to be sucked with the purple bastard.

... Or you can just group all 4 enemies, flash them and suck them all at once, which I started doing to speed up the progress.
Maw isn't that hard to dealt with if you know how to strategize, but I guess that everyone has different experiences.