Development has been paused due to life but I am still around and looking for an opportunity to get back at it. The Doberman is playable in Arena mode.
The controls should be the same for both modes and for PC and Mac. I do not have a mac myself though so I do not know if there are any issues with the Mac version unless it is reported
Glad you liked it! Have you tried turning the graphics settings down to low and disabling a few options in the graphics menu? Some older machines will likely struggle until I can nail down some minimum specs.
So I spent the time to take a look through the demo because it was one of the most interesting games shown at GDEX and it was really promising. I was expecting more of a Zelda kind of game but the actual demo makes it seem more like a Devil May Cry kind of game. I think I'm just gonna ramble on some criticisms and suggestions I have on the game's combat, because that's 90% of what the demo focused on:
The combat is pretty solid overall but I feel that having 3 attack buttons is kinda redundant. I never really felt like needing to do more than just spam the light attack button, the heavy attacks seem too slow and not powerful enough to consider using instead of the light attacks, and the slide attack could be accomplished just by having a running start anyway. I think I'd rather just have a single attack button where you have a combo with 3 light attacks and a heavy attack at the end. I like the charged spinning attacks but I think I'd rather just spin the analog stick and press the attack button like in Zelda, and possibly have other moves where you use inputs with the stick/WASD. The special attacks are very clear in their purpose and I can understand you're just simply in the process of continuing to polish the game. I really love that super spin attack. It seemed like you can juggle enemies but it seems really under baked, not sure if you're going to polish that further or it'll just be a special kind of stun for enemies.
The armor pickups and secrets immediately made me think of Doom, which is handled really well but it makes me wonder if the final game is going to be structured with scripted levels or if it's going to be more of an open world experience like a lot of the pathways you can't go down would suggest. I enjoy both types of games, and I'm definitely going to watch this until it's completed.
Thanks for your comments Mayo! The issues of attack variety and utility is actually something I have been diving into just this last week. I have been adding more robust stagger mechanics, in the current online demo things are very simple in that enemies flinch and resume combat .5 seconds later no matter if it was a light or heavy attack. The new system adds stagger damage along with the normal damage number to attacks so enemies can get hit harder and stagger for longer. That way multiple big hits on an enemy can put them out of commission for longer. I am also working on a "Punishing mode" difficulty where staggers will become more more important, enemies wont even interrupt with a single light attack anymore. Its a wip so it may also change.
Also a big factor is numbers getting tweaked with combat polish, its possible light attacks do too much damage for how fast they are.
Also I have started working on enemy's that resist light attacks. in my current dev build the shielding monsters can have their shields broken with heavy attacks, or you can still flank them.
I do feel the light, heavy and bash buttons work well for the game along with all the combos they bring. though it does need adjustment to the attacks and enemies so that combat variety and reaction is the most optimal way to play.
The combat design for hounds of Valor has been more similar to the PS2 God of War games where combat is about controlling larger groups of enemies in a hack and slash way. Dodging incoming strikes while keeping enemies close to you staggered so you can finish before the rest of the horde closes in and not letting yourself get surrounded.
So light attacks should be quick, pure damage that hits enemy attacks in a wide sweep
Heavy attacks currently deal x2 damage and have a bigger stagger animation but are slower and deal damage in a smaller sweep. I have considered upping the damage as I have noticed the dps even on a single target isnt good enough vs light spamming. also the light, light, heavy combo give a good combat option against a larger group you have room to wind up against.
bashing attacks are about dealing low damage but smacking enemies away/down to put them out of a fight so you can wail on them or focus on a more pertinent target on the battlefield, they also allow a lot of movement so you can chain them with other attacks as an option instead of dodging when in danger.
Air combat can be started with a heavy hold+release or jump+any attack button and is meant to allow you to isolate an enemy and combo them in relative safety for a moment.
Action combat is a tricky design but I really do love games with deeper, masterable combat systems with a large variety of options in combat for utility and flash. Thanks for your comment again, its actually helping me think on what needs to be done to really push the combat system.
You're welcome man, my game's combat is a sort of lighter take on that action game genre but in 2D, there was a couple things I noticed that I learned when making my game. I'm really looking forward to trying the punishing difficulty when it comes out then.
I have been continuing development the whole time and a lot of progress has been made to finish the whole first level and a number of important refinements to game systems. I have been unsure of what to include in a new public build so haven't gotten a new build out. I have posted on my twitter but should also make a post here to update things.
The other dogs are not playable as other development has taken priority and there are some technical challenges associated. But thanks for checking in and I will shoot to have a post soon with how things are going with the games development.
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is this game still in development?
Hello my respect, can I make a video walkthrough of this game? <3
Amazing, hope to see it completed one day.
I can't open the game it says there is no available application for it (MacBook Apple demo)
damn this game looks sick! hope that ye still working on it.
Has this project been abandoned? When can we play as the Doberman?
Development has been paused due to life but I am still around and looking for an opportunity to get back at it. The Doberman is playable in Arena mode.
what are the controls for mac? (arena mode)
The controls should be the same for both modes and for PC and Mac. I do not have a mac myself though so I do not know if there are any issues with the Mac version unless it is reported
ok thanks!
Well,a intel core i5 works pretty well.The graphics are awesome btw :D
I absolutely luvv this game!! its PAWSOME!
(One question!: how do you use the arrows thingy for skye on arena mode?)
What's new in the newest demo?
v06 patch notes are listed here: https://dogatworkgames.itch.io/houndsofvalor/devlog/195834/demo-v06-update-all-d...
The last v06-1 was a hotfix for some issues that were found.
Oh, okay. Thanks!
I love your game, graphics are awesome, but they are lags.
Glad you liked it! Have you tried turning the graphics settings down to low and disabling a few options in the graphics menu? Some older machines will likely struggle until I can nail down some minimum specs.
So I spent the time to take a look through the demo because it was one of the most interesting games shown at GDEX and it was really promising. I was expecting more of a Zelda kind of game but the actual demo makes it seem more like a Devil May Cry kind of game. I think I'm just gonna ramble on some criticisms and suggestions I have on the game's combat, because that's 90% of what the demo focused on:
The combat is pretty solid overall but I feel that having 3 attack buttons is kinda redundant. I never really felt like needing to do more than just spam the light attack button, the heavy attacks seem too slow and not powerful enough to consider using instead of the light attacks, and the slide attack could be accomplished just by having a running start anyway. I think I'd rather just have a single attack button where you have a combo with 3 light attacks and a heavy attack at the end. I like the charged spinning attacks but I think I'd rather just spin the analog stick and press the attack button like in Zelda, and possibly have other moves where you use inputs with the stick/WASD. The special attacks are very clear in their purpose and I can understand you're just simply in the process of continuing to polish the game. I really love that super spin attack. It seemed like you can juggle enemies but it seems really under baked, not sure if you're going to polish that further or it'll just be a special kind of stun for enemies.
The armor pickups and secrets immediately made me think of Doom, which is handled really well but it makes me wonder if the final game is going to be structured with scripted levels or if it's going to be more of an open world experience like a lot of the pathways you can't go down would suggest. I enjoy both types of games, and I'm definitely going to watch this until it's completed.
Thanks for your comments Mayo! The issues of attack variety and utility is actually something I have been diving into just this last week. I have been adding more robust stagger mechanics, in the current online demo things are very simple in that enemies flinch and resume combat .5 seconds later no matter if it was a light or heavy attack. The new system adds stagger damage along with the normal damage number to attacks so enemies can get hit harder and stagger for longer. That way multiple big hits on an enemy can put them out of commission for longer. I am also working on a "Punishing mode" difficulty where staggers will become more more important, enemies wont even interrupt with a single light attack anymore. Its a wip so it may also change.
Also a big factor is numbers getting tweaked with combat polish, its possible light attacks do too much damage for how fast they are.
Also I have started working on enemy's that resist light attacks. in my current dev build the shielding monsters can have their shields broken with heavy attacks, or you can still flank them.
I do feel the light, heavy and bash buttons work well for the game along with all the combos they bring. though it does need adjustment to the attacks and enemies so that combat variety and reaction is the most optimal way to play.
The combat design for hounds of Valor has been more similar to the PS2 God of War games where combat is about controlling larger groups of enemies in a hack and slash way. Dodging incoming strikes while keeping enemies close to you staggered so you can finish before the rest of the horde closes in and not letting yourself get surrounded.
So light attacks should be quick, pure damage that hits enemy attacks in a wide sweep
Heavy attacks currently deal x2 damage and have a bigger stagger animation but are slower and deal damage in a smaller sweep. I have considered upping the damage as I have noticed the dps even on a single target isnt good enough vs light spamming. also the light, light, heavy combo give a good combat option against a larger group you have room to wind up against.
bashing attacks are about dealing low damage but smacking enemies away/down to put them out of a fight so you can wail on them or focus on a more pertinent target on the battlefield, they also allow a lot of movement so you can chain them with other attacks as an option instead of dodging when in danger.
Air combat can be started with a heavy hold+release or jump+any attack button and is meant to allow you to isolate an enemy and combo them in relative safety for a moment.
Action combat is a tricky design but I really do love games with deeper, masterable combat systems with a large variety of options in combat for utility and flash. Thanks for your comment again, its actually helping me think on what needs to be done to really push the combat system.
You're welcome man, my game's combat is a sort of lighter take on that action game genre but in 2D, there was a couple things I noticed that I learned when making my game. I'm really looking forward to trying the punishing difficulty when it comes out then.
This is really epic
Has this game been abandoned? Last time this was updated was: 27th February 2020, should we start to worry? Is the Doberman finally playable?
I have been continuing development the whole time and a lot of progress has been made to finish the whole first level and a number of important refinements to game systems. I have been unsure of what to include in a new public build so haven't gotten a new build out. I have posted on my twitter but should also make a post here to update things.
The other dogs are not playable as other development has taken priority and there are some technical challenges associated. But thanks for checking in and I will shoot to have a post soon with how things are going with the games development.
Oh, good to know you haven't dropped this game. Can't wait to see what you release next! :)
Alright, I gotta know; do any of the dogs die?
"dieing" in the game is more abstracted showing you more tired and defeated.
This is beautiful news. Thank you!