I know this going to sound weird, but I really liked the lighting. Also, in the overall is quite fun. On the bad side, it's not really clear what sacrificing more health does.

Nice art style :thumbsup:
I agree with @lontrus which I think you should tell the player what happened after their sacrifice!
now I found
1 health - turn 1 of your item into 1damage staff
2 health - increase 2 health limit
5 health - increase 10 health limit

I think the idea is pretty good but the current game is unbalance,
you sacrifice your health for higher health limit but you can only restore your health with health potion which is hard to find! That makes the other sacrifice kind of meaningless because player almost always can't afford the high sacrifice

I also love the lighting in this! It really ties the art style together. I thought the game was overall really well made but there's a little balance missing. I played a few times and the only reason I won is that the maze put the ladders really close to me. I also didn't see any benefit to sacrificing health - the first time I sacrificed the max health and I think I got a mana potion out of it? Didn't seem worth it since there's no way to regain health as far as I know.

Thanks for submitting this game to my Play & Improve series. I've got a few ideas for things I can do and will probably include this game in the series. If I do, I'll try to let you know ahead of time!

@gurbx I've been thinking about this game today and I've decided to try making some improvements to it on my stream! I'll be starting at 6 PM PST tonight [over here!](https://www.twitch.tv/frenchie144)

@lontrus @goldranger @frenchie Thank you all for the feedback! I really appreciate it!

Yea I agree, the sacrifice right now is a bit pointless and unbalanced (not powerful enough buffs) and there should at least have been a simple popup that shows what happens each time. This is something I could have improved on for sure.

@frenchie Awesome thanks! I’m honored! That’s 4 am in the morning in my local time but I’ll put on an alarm :D

@gurbx oh wow no! Get some sleep! I can do yours this weekend when I'm streaming at 12 PM PST if that's better. Otherwise, I'm recording all of the episodes directly on my channel and you can watch yours during the day.

EDIT: Well, you haven't replied so I assume you've gone to sleep. I'll keep it scheduled for tonight so that you don't wake up for nothing! But please feel free to sleep in and catch the recording if you prefer :slight_smile:

@frenchie Still awake actually :)

If 12 pm on the weekend is possible it would be preferable for sure. Sorry for messing up your scheduling.

@gurbx No problem! Just glad you saw this message. Let's plan on 12 PM PST Saturday for now :smile:

Your art never fails to impress me. Keep up the good work!

@gurbx I've had something come up and won't be able to make it to the stream before 1:30 PM PST Saturday. Is that OK? If not, I can stream your game on Sunday at 12 PM PST

Nice game. And a very lovely artstyle :smiley: I also like how polished the game is.

I would enjoy it even more if the movement were a bit more dynamic and the monster spawns feel more fair.

What I mean by that: I get in to an empty room. Suddenly monsters spawn. I don't have the time to asses the situation (they spawn quite close) and with no warning the door close behind me (at first I thought I was bumping in to some collider because after the fight - when I had the time to take a look - they were already gone).

I think I know what you were going for but I ended up mostly fighting in the small corridors with my back against the door - again, less movement for the player

@frenchie No problem! 1:30 PM works perfectly!

@watdowtal Thank you!

@kornel Thank you! Really good feedback! Yes I agree, I see how that can happen and basically spawning the monsters on the player isn’t fun.

How do you think this could be fixed? Maybe closing the doors clearly with a sound first and then having a couple of seconds delay before the enemies spawn? During the wait time the exact spawn position could be indicated with some kind of effect. Also adding a knock-back to the enemies when hit would probably help a bit as well. Or are the rooms just generally too small?

You played my game so you know I struggled with a similar thing (not that I did any better)

The first thing is yes - I think rooms should be bigger. You could also try to "break" them apart. I tried adding columns and walls inside the later rooms in my game (you might have them as well but I didn't see them in the part of the game played). Also 'L' shaped corridors tend to help, I noticed

What I tied was also to activate enemies only then they see the player (and the player, by extension, sees them) - it doesn't work perfectly in my game because it was literary the last thing I've added :sweat_smile:

Door sound (and screenshake?) definitely would help a lot

"Maybe closing the doors clearly with a sound first and then having a couple of seconds delay before the enemies spawn?
During the wait time the exact spawn position could be indicated with some kind of effect" yes and yes! And please add a color to the effect so that player knows what kind of enemy is coming (I think this kind of ahead of time knowledge adds a ton to a combat - it allows you to plan and then try to execute your plan)

When I was making my game (again, not that I succeeded) I tried to give player 2 things: at lease a second or two of a warning (as in the player sees the enemy and has some time to think before the enemy is too close) and the ability (the space) for the player to move around

Sorry, it ended up being a long answer :blush:

Finished the game! I'll echo some of the other comments and add that I really love the art and lighting. I like the basic layout of going from one dungeon room to another in classic roguelike fashion.

I like the decision to lock me into each room until I defeat the enemies or make a sacrifice. This forces the player to deal with the situation rather than running past it.

Enemy design in an FPS is always tricky. I found myself walking in backwards circles a lot while attacking the enemy. Of course, for a game jam it's always hard to figure out what to prioritize. A leap attack that sends the enemy as far as it can in the opposite direction could shake up the combat a bit while still being fairly cheap to implement - though it could have other negative effects such as requiring the player to turn 180 degrees which could be frustrating if that's not the kind of game you're making. Regardless, some enemy behavior variance would add a lot to the moment-to-moment.

I like the pacing of the rooms ending in ladders to the next floor. This also gave me a strong sense of progression. It let me imagine what the game might be like if it was extended out with elements such as those from Binding of Isaac -but in 3D!

Hello again! I had a great time opening up the source code and implementing a boss enemy! It's awesome that you hopped on the stream and even made a new sprite for it! For anyone who wants to see it being developed, [here's a link!](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/346499857?t=01m52s)

[Pull request is up!](https://github.com/Gurbx/Ludum-Dare-43/pull/1)

Your game is really good! I like the artwork and the sound effects all blend together really well. The game seems to me like a mix of classic DOOM and Minecraft(without the crafting part). Some problems with the dungeon I had was:

-The enemies sometimes spawned directly in front of me or directly at my side, making me take damage.

-The constant sacrifice of hp combined with the limited amount of hp potions obtainable in a run makes the game a bit too difficult, I think it would've been interesting to have some kind of random hp drops from enemies. That way the incentive to kill enemies is higher and not only to unlock the doors.

-The first person perspective and the somewhat small enemies that constantly go towards you makes combat a little bit frustrating, enemies that attack you from a distance could've been an interesting challenge (but I realize that would require a bit more work).

Aside from that I really enjoyed the polish here, you managed to get a lot done in time for the deadline!

Good work!

Really fun! I loved the sound the sword made, it was really endearing. I felt that when I was trapped in the room the enemies would instantly be spawned on top of me and I wouldn't have time to react to the damage. It was a great looking game, good job :sweet_potato:

Really FUN! I love the graphics and name of the game :laughing: Also nice SFX!

Impresive artwork. Interesting gameplay - unusual treat of the theme. As an entry which has been created in less than 48 hours, it is really good. I like the pixel aesthetic - colors are gorgeous. I would like to hear a music as background, but overall the mood is freaky. Well done ++