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Hi! I'm Bart Bonte, a Belgian independent game designer and bontegames.com is where I blog about new interesting browser and mobile games. My own games are all in the left column (or at the bottom of this page on mobile). More info about me and my games on bartbonte.com.
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September 17, 2019

elengrad [browser]

Destroy all evil and return peace to the land of Elengrad in this metroidvania-style platformer by Xiris.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way too much dialogue.

Anonymous said...

I like it!

veewee said...

how do you get out of the treasure chest to keep moving on in the game?

Xiris said...

You close the treasure chest pressing esc :)

Anonymous said...

I am not skilled enough to finish this.

Anonymous said...

Seems that all the games you post lately are impossible to play, like this one, even though they look like nice games. There is no way to get anything but a sword that soon breaks and after that you can´t pick up anything I found a key but can´t pick it up even if I already tried all the keys. Would you please explain the controls? Thanks

Anonymous said...

Meh, gave up once I got to the second boss. The last save point is like 2 screens away, and trying to get back without losing any health is extremely tedious. The game looks great, and the platforming and movement is mostly pretty good (except for some invisible walls), but the combat is just awful. Adding some knockback to your hits would make all the difference, but having to run up, hit, run away, run back up, hit again, etc. doesn't make for fun play.

Rebecca said...

I am stuck trying to find where the guy hung himself to the west of town. There's the screen with the forest god, and nowhere else to go from there; if I go east one screen I can jump up between the wolves and walk off screen to the west again, but then I think a bug happens and I get a grey screen. I hear sound effects as if game play were still occurring, but can't get rid of the grey screen until I reload the page and restart from the checkpoint. I've tried going that way several times and always get the same bug. Is that the way I actually need to go? Am I missing something in the forest god screen?

Xiris said...

Hello Guys,
here's Xiris, developer of the game. Please notice this is Game Jam version of the game and a lot of improvements will follow up.

Regarding the comment about sword:
- Yes, the sword breaks as soon as you leave the tutorial zone. THE FIRST QUEST in the game after that is about getting a sword. This allows you to get good grasp of the control. The sword does not break after that.

Regarding the second boss and checkpoint being faraway - you are completely right. This is poor design and FIRST update to the game will add a campfire just next to the boss.

Regarding the combat - the combat is also one of the first things to improve. This is probably the weakest part of the game. Combat not only will be improved but also there will be a ranged weapon which will be hidden in one of the new areas. The knock-back is actually amazing idea and I will surely implement it! Thank you so much for this valuable feedback :).

Rebbeca, regarding your comment. Just east of the village you can go 2 ways - top and down (choosing down way - you end up being next to the statue of the Forest God). If you want to get up, you need angelic boots which appear in the Goblin King throne room. They will allow you to double jump.



Xiris said...

Rebbeca, *west of the village (my previous comment had a mistake) :)

Rebecca said...

Hi Xiris,

Thanks for your comment! I do have the double jump boots which I am using to get to the upper path, but when I take it I get the grey/black screen, like the game just crashes. I'm playing in Chrome.

Xiris said...

This is interesting, none of other players reported that issue. I also personally tested the game on at least 4 machines. I do have several questions:

I am afraid this may be due to the lack of RAM. The game is not very demanding but this particular level contains a lot of particle effects which can cause a bit higher CPU/RAM usage.

Can you please during the gameplay press CTRL + ALT + DELETE. Then if you do not see CPU and Memory usage click on "More details", then choose performance tab. If CPU or Memory is over 90% this may be cause of the issue.

I am not able to test the performance of the game on weaker machines unfortunately. The solution could potentially be playing the game in Edge (as Chrome is very memory heavy). However I cannot promise at this moment that this will solve any issues.

I am noting done the issue and I will keep it in mind when preparing other optimization! Please feel free to follow me up on Itch. That will make sure you can an update information. :) I am very sorry for the inconvenience. It is one of my first games, so there is still a lot I need to learn!

Anonymous said...

I know some people had complaints but I really liked this. Aside from the aforementioned campfire situation, the difficulty was good. There was a good variety of enemies and platforming that kept it interesting and the second boss really took some practice and thinking. Really enjoyed this one.

Unknown said...

Where is the house on the hill to the east? I can't find those herbs.
Other than that: Great game!

Anonymous said...

It's past the cemetery area. Just keep going left

Unknown said...

@Anonymous
That would be WEST, then. Got it. Many thanks!

Unknown said...

Any suggestions for the final boss? Can't seem to make any progress.

Xiris said...

Suggestions before there is the extra campfire:
1. Don't rush it. Learn the pattern. There are only 2 attacks + one important mechanics (the torches).
2. Always as soon as possible extinguish the 4 torches. Then if you have flame attack - try to stay as far as possible (easier to avoid). If you have the 'spirits' attack - this is perfect time to attack Luvio. You smash it as much as possible.
3. If you fail - don't try to come back normally, fighting monsters etc. You can skip any fighting trying to jump over the 'dead mages'. You should be able to return to boss without health loss.

Anonymous said...

Just gonna wait for the new updates/release to come out...final scene is driving me crazy....lol

Xiris...any idea when that'll be?

Xiris said...

Hey, the first update is ready however I am not able to upload it until the official rating on the game jam finishes. They promised to rate the games until end of the weekend! :)

Anonymous said...

Finally passed the game!! Great graphics. Can't wait for the update and to play it again.

Nat R. said...

The real problem with the second boss isn't that there isn't a checkpoint right there on that side (although there should be, just because it would help with getting through the graveyard). It's that after you talk to Luvio, trigger the fight, die and respawn, you can't get through to the nearby checkpoint on the OTHER side without beating him. To fix this, just make it so that you have to talk to him again every time you restart the boss.

Otherwise the game is OK so far, I don't find there's too much story, and once knockback is added it'll be much better!

Nat R. said...

NEW PLAYER TIP

DO NOT talk to Luvio's ghost without having the checkpoint to the right of his area! Ever!

Xiris said...

Hello Guys, thank you soooo much for your engagement and support! It turned out that Elengrad won the game jam. This is really huge success for me.

The rating has been extended for several days in order to select the Community Choice game. This means that I may not be able to upload the updated version of the game until the election is finished.

The good news is that the update is ready, so as soon as the upload is on, I will be able to provide you new version of the game!

Bart said...

Congrats Xirit!

Anonymous said...

I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING THE UPDATED VERSION!! Ha ha. Congrats on the win.

Xiris said...

Thank you so much guys! :) I will drop a message here as soon as the new version is out :)

Anonymous said...

Any updates on the updated version?

Xiris said...

Anonymous, what a timing! The new version of the game was released literally few minutes ago!

Thank you all for your patience and support.
You can read about all the changes:
https://xiris.itch.io/elengrad/devlog/101402/major-update-v-093
and you can play the game here:
https://xiris.itch.io/elengrad/

Anonymous said...

Loved the updated version...much smoother playing, attacks are great and can't wait for version 1.0!!

Anonymous said...

How do you move something into the chest? My inventory is full.

Xiris said...

Pressing up arrow when you are in the first raw will move the "active" marker to the items you hold. Then when you select the item you want to put down you press "x".

Anonymous said...

Thank you. That helped. Now I can't figure out for the life of me how to defeat the second boss. S/he slaughters me quickly every time.

Xiris said...

Mr. Bonte, please remove this comment if links are not allowed.
I thought I will post my speed run (of the previous version of the game). That way you can see how to go through every element of the main story including second boss.

That means - SPOILERS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WycDVE3cFeY

Anonymous said...

WHEN IS VERSION 1.0 COMING OUT?!!!

Xiris said...

Hey Guys,
my apologies for the bad news.
I need to postpone the release of the v.1.0.

More details here:
https://xiris.itch.io/elengrad/devlog/108924/delay-of-the-v10

Anonymous said...

Hey Xiris

Any update on version 1.0? Can't wait.

Anonymous said...

Is there an update on this game?

Xiris said...

Hi,
currently I am working on scripts that could be potentialy used for the game. At this point the scripts that are ready:

- full platformer movement with abilities like double jump.
- full dialogue system. Very configurable. Able to fullfil the games requirements.
- minor systems like health.

Currently in progress is inventory system.

Unfortunately all those systems are not developed in the context of Elengrad.

There is however minor game that I developed for a jam recently:
https://xiris.itch.io/whatshewants

Anonymous said...

Has there been any updates since the last post 2 years ago??

Xiris said...

Hey, unfortunately no updates - for a simple reason. The game has to be 'redone' completely. It has been done using Construct which completely killed maintanability and extensibility of the game. Currently looking at my art direction and skills, I don't think the game will ever be extended in the form it exists now. There is much bigger chance for a completely new version which will be inspired by the game rather than 'extended version'.

 

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