Any feedback for Pugnacious Wizards?

[Trystan]

I'm the author of Pugnacious Wizards (playable from your browser at http://trystans.blogspot.com/2013/03/pugnacious-wizards-day-7.html) and I'm planning on doing a fuller remake soon. It plays like a fairly traditional roguelike with a strong focus on traps and a unique magic system. I'm going to add more traps and more magic, but I wanted to know if there's any huge usability or gameplay flaws.

What did you think of the traps? Were you able to understand them and use them to your advantage? What about the rooms with floor traps?

What did you think of the magic? Were you able to use it without killing yourself too often? Was anything completely useless or too useful? Did it seem a bit chaotic - like magic has to be wielded carefully? Did you find a spell or tactic that was really fun? (my favorite is Bone-splode)

What did you think of the learning curve and complexity? Does it hold your hand too much or leave you guessing too much? Did you notice any emergent effects like freezing yourself to counter being on fire or setting trees and doors on fire?

[pat]

It seems a bit weird that you need to use vi-keys to move diagonally, is there a reason you can't use the numpad for that?

[Trystan]

It seems a bit weird that you need to use vi-keys to move diagonally, is there a reason you can't use the numpad for that?

Uh, there's no good reason. It doesn't support numpad because I was developing on my laptop and forgot about the numpad. I'll be sure to add that to Pugnacious Wizards 2.

[pat]

Uh, there's no good reason. It doesn't support numpad because I was developing on my laptop and forgot about the numpad. I'll be sure to add that to Pugnacious Wizards 2.

haha, no problem. I program on a laptop as well but mine as a numpad so it's not an issue! I haven't played it enough to give you enough feedback otherwise, but I have given it a go on a couple of times without really devoting too much time to it and it's definitely an interesting concept but I find myself falling over early in the game and not really getting the hang of the complexity of the spells.

[Xecutor]

My only serious complain is turn/time order. It is really odd.
If I stand in front of archer and cast magic missile in his direction, missile will fly and hit him.
Then I make a step and archer dies AND shoots an arrow!
So I DID kill him, but for some reason he died at the start of next turn and AFTER he performed his action.

p.s. And I don't mind having 2x scaled version (probably with scrolling?). It's SOOO tiny on my Full HD monitor

[Trystan]

My only serious complain is turn/time order. It is really odd.

For some reason I never noticed the turn order problem when I was making it. One good thing about a game that's about magic is that I can say "it's not a bug, that's just how magic works." I'll fix it in Pugnacious Wizards 2.

p.s. And I don't mind having 2x scaled version (probably with scrolling?). It's SOOO tiny on my Full HD monitor

It does feel a little cramped compared to most roguelikes. I think you can right click and zoom in since it's a SWF file. Or download it and resize the window. I'll try to find a way to make it less tiny. Optional 12x12 instead of 8x8 tiles or something.

[dscreamer]

What did you think of the traps? Were you able to understand them and use them to your advantage? What about the rooms with floor traps?

What did you think of the magic? Were you able to use it without killing yourself too often? Was anything completely useless or too useful? Did it seem a bit chaotic - like magic has to be wielded carefully? Did you find a spell or tactic that was really fun? (my favorite is Bone-splode)

What did you think of the learning curve and complexity? Does it hold your hand too much or leave you guessing too much? Did you notice any emergent effects like freezing yourself to counter being on fire or setting trees and doors on fire?

The traps were easy to figure out - except for those floor traps. Because they set everything on fire, I never stayed long enough to see a pattern - if they triggered arrows instead I'd have experimented with them.

If one spell is too useful, it's the fire jump. (Healing burst is a close second.)

I had a good experience with the learning curve. I started by trying to fight guards directly, then figured out magic missile. I was able to get through several rooms this way. Then I figured out that fire jumping through rooms is really the way to go, rarely spending 2 turns in a single room.

[Trystan]

The traps were easy to figure out - except for those floor traps. Because they set everything on fire, I never stayed long enough to see a pattern - if they triggered arrows instead I'd have experimented with them.

I'm not too happy with the floor traps either. I had more ideas for the floor traps but not enough time to implement them. Triggering arrows sounds like a good idea.

Then I figured out that fire jumping through rooms is really the way to go, rarely spending 2 turns in a single room.

Yeah, that's what seems to work best. With more spells and effects there will hopefully be more strategies.

[Xecutor]

After watching GameHunter's video about PW, I decided to give it a try once again.
First - it is possible to blink into the bottomless pit and ... live and blink around happily
Second - healing burst is definitely a gamebreaking spell. The game become way too easy if you can heal nearly effortlessly.
Skeletons spawn to rarely and they are too weak to balance it. Than again there is bone spolsion that can clean bones, right?

With healing burst I won the game relatively easy. For some reason I've got win message only after I blinked out of room with last piece.

[guest509]

Oh shit game hunter did a vid of this? Sweeeeeeet!

[Trystan]

First - it is possible to blink into the bottomless pit and ... live and blink around happily

That would be a cool way to die. I'll add that to Pugnacious Wizards 2, which I'm working on now.

Second - healing burst is definitely a gamebreaking spell. The game become way too easy if you can heal nearly effortlessly.

Yeah, it's overpowered and will be tweaked in the next version. I like the basic idea though - maybe it should make a long-lasting healing cloud, blind yourself, or something. Any suggestions?

Skeletons spawn to rarely and they are too weak to balance it. Than again there is bone spolsion that can clean bones, right?

They're intentionally weak. I'll add more skeletons and spells that affect bones.

For some reason I've got win message only after I blinked out of room with last piece.

You have to go back outside with the third piece. it could have been another bug though. There were a lot of weird timing bugs. An embarrassing amount really. That's the main reason why I'm rewriting from scratch.