Just beat the playtest build. Let me preface this by saying that I quite enjoyed the game overall: I quite like the art direction, the characters seem fun and varied so far, the puzzles are pleasantly challenging (if a bit touchy at times), and the core mechanic seems quite solid. I currently have the game wishlisted, and I'll definitely consider purchasing it if/when I have the money for it. That said, I have a few critiques/suggestions. First: I spent a bunch of time collecting all(?) of the flowers, but when I got to the end my counter was reset to 0. Now, since there's currently no reward or achievement tied to it, I have nothing to show for the time I spent doing it. Second: it is very easy to softlock yourself out of getting some of the flowers as some checkpoints are past points of no return. Some of these points are able to be traversed backwards by bringing back orbs from later sections (probably not intentional? either way, keep an eye on this), but hitting a checkpoint you've already been to effectively resets your progress back to that point while getting rid of all of your orbs. Please either add a way to travel freely between checkpoints or add some way to return to the previous checkpoint. As it stands, backtracking for missed content is extremely tedious. That said, if backtracking is truly 100% unintended, then consider having doors close behind the player to solidify this. Third: I know the flower puzzles are optional, but some of the puzzles that take up an entire room have checkpoints and some of them don't. The inconsistency feels very odd to me, especially when some of the more finicky ones end up having a run-back. Fourth: on keyboard, why is E used _only_ for interacting? That is, why can't it be used for advancing text or selecting menu options? It feels very awkward/unintuitive to have to press E to initiate dialogue and then press a different key to continue it. Speaking of dialogues: is there an explicit design rationale for the text appearing from the center of the bubble, all in one line? I found it very difficult to parse some of the dialogue because certain text bubbles shift about on the screen as they fill. Please consider changing the bubbles to a more traditional fixed size. Fifth: I love the animations, but the animation of Mae jumping off the rock at the very start of the game appears to play at a noticeably lower framerate than anything in-game. Sixth: I would prefer more clear/visible delineation between bottomless pits and places where the camera simply stops scrolling. For an example of a game that does this perfectly, check out Blasphemous. I understand that this may spoil some hidden puzzles, but reducing it to trial and error is not much better, especially since you appear to be tracking deaths. In a similar vein, I feel like there should be a clearer difference between which surfaces in the town are standable/solid and which are not. Most of the dome-shaped roofs are climbable, but a few of them are secretly just background sprites. Making standable areas more visible/accented will greatly improve UX, provided it's done subtly and consistently. Seventh: I find it a bit silly that some parts of the town have ladders that are unusable to the player. Having town exploration be tied to the shift/swap/tether mechanic encourages players to experiment and familiarize themselves with it, which is definitely a good decision: however, having ladders appear so prominently is distracting. If you have no intention of making them usable, please consider getting rid of them or blending them further into the background. Eighth: I understand the need to tie the swap mechanic to temporary pickups, but the current implementation made exploring the town somewhat tedious. Currently, moving back and forth across the screen transition and grabbing the first orb several times appears to be the fastest and most accessible way to be able to reach far-away areas. I feel like making the orbs more plentiful in the town might alleviate this. Besides, it is mentioned by one NPC that many parts of the town canonically require use of the projection/swap mechanic to traverse: if the other townspeople need to navigate the local landscape in the same way as the player, then why would the orbs be so few and far between? I understand that I may be taking what appeared to be a tongue-in-cheek throwaway line too seriously, but I still feel it's a relevant argument. Lastly: I strongly feel that the part near the end of the tutorial that prompts the player to mash the spacebar to stave off the pain attack _should not be a QTE._ For me, having to mash Space did nothing to add to the tension, nor was it terribly immersive, especially since it was not repeated for the next attack. I honestly had half a mind to see what would happen if I somehow failed. Please consider removing it. Sorry this turned out to be an essay, but as I thought more about my experience with the game, more and more recommendations came to mind. If you have any feedback for my feedback, please do provide your rationale, if you don't mind: I'm currently pursuing a Master's degree in Game Design/Development, so any insights into your thought process would be greatly appreciated, even if it's something I previously disagreed with!
when I pressed 'read more' I got jumpscared. anyways I'll read this now the off screen problem could be fixed like in Celeste, where some rooms have a glow in between them
So excited to try this out! As I've been following these devlogs, I couldn't get it out of my head how satisfying this movement looks. I can't wait to feel it out for myself in a little bit.
@@OandCoGames Hi. TetherGeist is such a a great game. We really enjoyed making this video: here's the link if you'd like to watch it: czcams.com/video/VISTCsmvmHA/video.html
Just played through the demo and WOW! I completely lost track of time and had a blast. Everything felt really good. Especially when I switched from toggle to hold for tether mode. The level design is challenging but rewarding. Super excited for the full release!
just played a bit here and i enjoyed a lot :) i think the part that i liked the most was finding secret passages throughout the map and doing puzzles to collect the flowers, can't wait to see more!
I played it and I have to say it's so good. I have two suggestions, the first is about the village at the start, when it was said about going to a temple, I really thought I was suposed to enter some of the houses. Some of them really have too much detail, making me think it was an interactable door leading to another place. The second thing is about the flowers, sometimes the scenario has some red flowers, that look very similar to the ones we have to collect, sometimes these flowers in the scenario were around a lot of spikes, and I had to die to see it was just the flower of the scenario, not really the ones we're supposed to collect. Analysing closely I see the difference, but once I was starting the game and I wasn't familiarized with the game, I got confused many times.These are my suggestions, make the interactable doors and flowers colors pop. Overall, I LOVED the game, I'm sure I'll try to buy as soon as it releases.
I randomly got this video recommended to me and WOW This looks amazing and I will definitely be following its production. Can't wait to help playtest it as man there's just so much I could gush about just from this video alone
This game has so much potential. I haven't enjoyed playing a game this much since I played celeste. The art, music, game mechanics, story telling, and level design were all fantastic. I honestly forgot that it was just a playtest when I was playing it. Seriously can't wait for the full release of this game.
Glad to see a Steam demo ✨ Surprisingly, most players don't know that itch also has a client like Steam to download/install/update the games (they should really push it on the front more).
Wow this looks insane, I have to set this up for my game as well haha, btw I just started downloading the demo and Wish you all the best for the upcoming Steam Next Fest 💌
After following your videos for a while I was quite looking forward to this game, but after playing through the demo now I'm well and truly hyped for it! The fluidity of the gameplay is so satisfying, and the core mechanic is really nicely executed. Really pleased that it's working on my Steam Deck too!
The only suggestion I have is, I would recamend adding a bit more unique mechanics that interact this the main split mechanic, I know obviously this is a demo so it’s not going to have all the mechanics in it, but I just feel for the final version even more unique mechanics could help it stand out more, and I think adding extra mechanics that interact directly with the main mechanics, adds extra depth.
I'm so happy to finally get my hands on this game, it feels amazing! very smooth character movement and intuitive controls. I found myself exploring the hub a LOT and will be going back for another session soon. It's still a work in progress ofc but mechanically the character feels incredible, it will be great to see more detail added to the world over time.
Played it, cool! I very ejoyed moments where you just floating fast through obstacles, using spirit multiple times in row. Sound effect are juicy, and idea with stealth in village was interesting. But, in my opinion, there is some thing that could be better: 1. Camera. Change feom one screen to another is too "sharp" abd fast 2. Read of how much nectar you have now. Show it not in the very corner of screen. It would be nice if you cpuld actually see on character, can she do transition or not. 3. I woukd like if first flower would be easy to spot and catch, so player would understand that it's collectible and how to collect them. 4. Polish on how character behave when she enter/exit spirit state. 5. Some segments of first location are cery tough (well, maybe it's my problem, i'm not very good at platformers 😅) 6. Platforms in village thst you can step on should show it nore clearly (with one color or shape).
Small comments I have after trying the game: In the cutscene with the mashing in the tutorial I was mashing the button and ended up skipping dialogue so maybe switch the button that is being mashed to the spirit button instead of the jump button or add a short timer after the mashing section so the dialogue doesn't skip. I think my controller got disconnected on the end screen for finishing the play test. In terms of actual gameplay, overall really good but I had two problems, one was wall jumps feel a little stiff/slow and the other is that some corners it almost feels like the ghost gets stuck. Although this may make it a less precise game it would be nice if the ghost slipped around corners a little more but that might just be me so idk. Also I kinda wish it said their was a hold option for the tether when it first showed the button or something cause I kind of assumed that is how it would be and I didn't really look into the settings at all and I only found out about it through someone else's comment. Maybe I just didn't notice but I also wish there was a visual indicator on the character for how many tethers u have left. Looking into the top left is a little annoying and I feel that the game could take a bit of inspiration with how celeste changes madeline's hair colour with respect to the number of dashes she has left. Overall the playtest 1 demo felt very good and the visuals are very nice. It's also fun when the level design shows a bit of an easier route but there is actually a faster route that exists. Like the room with the pillars where you can just jump from one pillar to the next rather than tethering and teleporting to the yellow orb.
I am going to start playing now, and I think I am also going to record my playthrough, to try to make it as close as possible for you to when you actually watch players play in front of you. I don't know if it's going to be helpful, but it doesn't cost me anything. Now, let's go playing!
Just play tested the game and it was super fun. but when I booted it up the game was in slow motion and than after like a couple minutes it sped up like super fast (faster than I think intended, but it could just be that I got used to the slower movement)it could definitely just be something with my computer but just thought I should let you know if in case it was a reacueing bug. Also I just have to say how much I’ve loved this so far, I’m not very good at playformers and I don’t usually like games I find difficult because they feel unfair, but when playing the play test I found challenging, but in a way that never really felt unfair, and it was amazing!
Thanks for calling attention to this. You're not the only one who's had this issue. I think it had to do with the tutorial chat bubbles. I just hotfixed that issue, so hopefully you'll see performance fixed in that area! I'm glad you're really enjoying the game so far! Difficult but fair is a design pillar for us!
Just realised im one the 0.1% of players to get the “checkpoint, you are a true friend” achievement, think that tell you all you need to know about my skill level in the game lol
Wow this was so much fun to play! My only critiques are that the town seems a bit tedious to traverse, the background music becomes a bit annoying after awhile, and having to press every key to find out that E was the key to talk lol. Other than that great demo.
Sooo I just finished the playtest, and MAN is it cool! Not perfect, but that was to be expected. I'm even more hyped to play the full game, I want to know EVERYTHING! The characters are super cute and the story hook is so interesting. I want to go to the city with the steam engines, like, right now. But I guess I'll have to wait. Well then. Thank you for opening the playtest, and good luck on continuing the game. I think I'm going to join the discord so I can keep talking about it and maybe give some feedback. See you all there!
I finally got around to play the demo. I was surprised to see so much content already there! I clocked in almost 45 minutes playing, which is a lot for a free demo. It definitely feels better than the previous releases. And the art is absolutely gorgeous! It does lag a bit on my machine though (not surprising, considering it's more than a decade old).
heyy i played the whole demo till the end and i looooved it, it will probably be the first game ill spend money on (and i have steam since 2.5years xd)! Just a little thing, the option tab is only available in game but not in the main menu, so i though there was options untill like 3/4 of the game... I just switch from toogle to hold and the spirit speed but this made me instantly better ^^ (and there is a real sens of progression, i really felt like i was getting better even without the magic settings ;) )
Hold for tether mode - banger. Toggle was a lot tougher. Atmosphere - 10/10 But the pathing - ugh. Its way too tight most of the times for the speed and size of the character. Sometimes I still hold the directions from the last action and keep moving forward when I dont want to, or sometimes I need to keep momentum but dont know how much and I either overshoot or undershoot a very narrow pillar. And in the beginning it was odd to me to find out that the moving platform continues to move for a while after I stop my tether so I plummet to my death with the platform being not where I was expecting it to be when I untether. Most likely because the animation of the teleport isnt instant and the platform continues to move after my action. It felt like a stressful game most of the time, like SuperMeatBoy, rather than a relaxing pleasant puzzle platformer like its presenting itself to be.
The momentum was too much for me as well but mainly just in the air, I just wasn't expecting to glide so much in the air, it made it feel overly floaty and caused me to overshoot my jumps (especially when coming out of warp). I also feel as though the collider should be slightly shorter on the head because I felt I would die if even a hair touched. Overall, I think it felt great, every game has its formula that the player just gets used to.
i'm in love with the look of this game. i have binge watched a lot of the videos on this channel and am on my way to play test and wish list the game... great work jordan, noah and rae
I'm sure you'd prefer me to write the review in steam, however after struggling for the review to work for half an hour I gave up. The game is mostly good, and has grate potential. I love the core design of the game. The art is stunning, and the gameplay is fun. I just have a few nitpicks or improvements: - First of all, the movement is way too slippery. I died way more than I should have because the character wouldn't stop when I wanted her to. This is probably the grates source of my frustration. I love a grate challenge, but some of the deaths just felt unfair and like it wasn't my fault. A more responsive movement system (or a hidden mechanic preventing this) would be grate for the game. - Sometimes it was hard to know what I can jump on and what is a decoration. This was only the case in the town. - Finally, and most nit-picky is that some of the characters weren't that interesting for me, a lot of them were really same and similar.
I was already excited for this game coming out, but after playing the demo?! GOSH!!! You guys did suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch an amazing job you don't even know! This will become a masterpiece when it's complete! Got a small complaint though, check if you agree. At almost the end of my journey through chapter end I kinda felt a bit sick about how monotonous it felt. Don't get me wrong, I'd replay it countless times. Just think it lacks a bit of variation, maybe an empty room or anything interactable, just to break the rithm.
Just played the playtest. IT'S SO GOOD. I feel the last two rooms were a little hard but that's to be expected. The story is simple and intriguing. the pixel art is incredible and fits very well. Although I do have a couple questions if you could maybe answer them. 1: How chapters will there be? 2: How much will it cost? (I'll pay but I just wanna know) 3: How did you get the idea for TetherGeist? I'm not going to ask when release because as a dev myself using rpg maker, I know how long this stuff takes.
Decided to try it out on my steamdeck and it’s been working great! Laughed when I opened this video again because you start at the point I’m stuck at. That dang flower! Hahaha this has been really enjoyable.
@@OandCoGames I've tried it and really enjoyed my time with it. With more time and polish it would certainly be a great game. Good luck with the demo for the next fest!
This demo was amazing, but halfway through when I exited the game and than came back to continue it gave me a code error and won’t let me play (sorry if this sounds like complaining, I just thought you should know in case it’s a recurring bug, and also I it to get fixed it so I can play more, also as a game dev myself I understand how annoying these things can be)
Look, I'd love to playtest your game.... but I don't think my mind can withstand comparing myself to another indie dev again..... (Yes I know it's petty and unfair, but TELL THAT TO MY FREAKING BRAIN!)
@@OandCoGames I dunno, I mean, maybe. It just not what I wanted to make, I just don't have what it takes to make the kind of stuff I want to make yet. I just.... not gonna lie, I feel a bit demoralized still, everyone there just making bangers after bangers, even solo devs.... meanwhile I struggle to make even the most basic platformer, my games barely feel like games. The most I was able to make is a 2d Godot platformer for a game jam that runs on the browser, but it didn't turn out how I'd like, even for a game jam. (Yet somehow that thing got into the top 10 of that game jam now that I looked at it? I mean sure, that jam didn't have a lot of entries, only 17, but still...)
I like these videos, I didn't like the game. I got the feeling from the discord that you should only give non negative feedback so I skipped that and just unwish listed the game...
Just beat the playtest build. Let me preface this by saying that I quite enjoyed the game overall: I quite like the art direction, the characters seem fun and varied so far, the puzzles are pleasantly challenging (if a bit touchy at times), and the core mechanic seems quite solid. I currently have the game wishlisted, and I'll definitely consider purchasing it if/when I have the money for it.
That said, I have a few critiques/suggestions.
First: I spent a bunch of time collecting all(?) of the flowers, but when I got to the end my counter was reset to 0. Now, since there's currently no reward or achievement tied to it, I have nothing to show for the time I spent doing it.
Second: it is very easy to softlock yourself out of getting some of the flowers as some checkpoints are past points of no return. Some of these points are able to be traversed backwards by bringing back orbs from later sections (probably not intentional? either way, keep an eye on this), but hitting a checkpoint you've already been to effectively resets your progress back to that point while getting rid of all of your orbs. Please either add a way to travel freely between checkpoints or add some way to return to the previous checkpoint. As it stands, backtracking for missed content is extremely tedious. That said, if backtracking is truly 100% unintended, then consider having doors close behind the player to solidify this.
Third: I know the flower puzzles are optional, but some of the puzzles that take up an entire room have checkpoints and some of them don't. The inconsistency feels very odd to me, especially when some of the more finicky ones end up having a run-back.
Fourth: on keyboard, why is E used _only_ for interacting? That is, why can't it be used for advancing text or selecting menu options? It feels very awkward/unintuitive to have to press E to initiate dialogue and then press a different key to continue it.
Speaking of dialogues: is there an explicit design rationale for the text appearing from the center of the bubble, all in one line? I found it very difficult to parse some of the dialogue because certain text bubbles shift about on the screen as they fill. Please consider changing the bubbles to a more traditional fixed size.
Fifth: I love the animations, but the animation of Mae jumping off the rock at the very start of the game appears to play at a noticeably lower framerate than anything in-game.
Sixth: I would prefer more clear/visible delineation between bottomless pits and places where the camera simply stops scrolling. For an example of a game that does this perfectly, check out Blasphemous. I understand that this may spoil some hidden puzzles, but reducing it to trial and error is not much better, especially since you appear to be tracking deaths.
In a similar vein, I feel like there should be a clearer difference between which surfaces in the town are standable/solid and which are not. Most of the dome-shaped roofs are climbable, but a few of them are secretly just background sprites. Making standable areas more visible/accented will greatly improve UX, provided it's done subtly and consistently.
Seventh: I find it a bit silly that some parts of the town have ladders that are unusable to the player. Having town exploration be tied to the shift/swap/tether mechanic encourages players to experiment and familiarize themselves with it, which is definitely a good decision: however, having ladders appear so prominently is distracting. If you have no intention of making them usable, please consider getting rid of them or blending them further into the background.
Eighth: I understand the need to tie the swap mechanic to temporary pickups, but the current implementation made exploring the town somewhat tedious. Currently, moving back and forth across the screen transition and grabbing the first orb several times appears to be the fastest and most accessible way to be able to reach far-away areas. I feel like making the orbs more plentiful in the town might alleviate this. Besides, it is mentioned by one NPC that many parts of the town canonically require use of the projection/swap mechanic to traverse: if the other townspeople need to navigate the local landscape in the same way as the player, then why would the orbs be so few and far between? I understand that I may be taking what appeared to be a tongue-in-cheek throwaway line too seriously, but I still feel it's a relevant argument.
Lastly: I strongly feel that the part near the end of the tutorial that prompts the player to mash the spacebar to stave off the pain attack _should not be a QTE._ For me, having to mash Space did nothing to add to the tension, nor was it terribly immersive, especially since it was not repeated for the next attack. I honestly had half a mind to see what would happen if I somehow failed. Please consider removing it.
Sorry this turned out to be an essay, but as I thought more about my experience with the game, more and more recommendations came to mind. If you have any feedback for my feedback, please do provide your rationale, if you don't mind: I'm currently pursuing a Master's degree in Game Design/Development, so any insights into your thought process would be greatly appreciated, even if it's something I previously disagreed with!
Thank you for the deep dive! We'll definitely be taking all of this into account.
when I pressed 'read more' I got jumpscared. anyways I'll read this now
the off screen problem could be fixed like in Celeste, where some rooms have a glow in between them
So excited to try this out! As I've been following these devlogs, I couldn't get it out of my head how satisfying this movement looks. I can't wait to feel it out for myself in a little bit.
Hi. I was playing it with my daughter and we enjoyed it a lot. Can we make a video about your game in our channel?
Jeah beacuse it would help exspsnd the knowledg of this game 😮👍. 🤫🧏♂️. 🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿
For sure!
Thanks @@OandCoGames I'll prepare the video soon. It's such great game.
@@lasercobra4750 Yeah. You are right.
@@OandCoGames Hi. TetherGeist is such a a great game. We really enjoyed making this video: here's the link if you'd like to watch it: czcams.com/video/VISTCsmvmHA/video.html
Just played through the demo and WOW! I completely lost track of time and had a blast. Everything felt really good. Especially when I switched from toggle to hold for tether mode. The level design is challenging but rewarding. Super excited for the full release!
Thank you so much!
just played a bit here and i enjoyed a lot :) i think the part that i liked the most was finding secret passages throughout the map and doing puzzles to collect the flowers, can't wait to see more!
I played it and I have to say it's so good. I have two suggestions, the first is about the village at the start, when it was said about going to a temple, I really thought I was suposed to enter some of the houses. Some of them really have too much detail, making me think it was an interactable door leading to another place. The second thing is about the flowers, sometimes the scenario has some red flowers, that look very similar to the ones we have to collect, sometimes these flowers in the scenario were around a lot of spikes, and I had to die to see it was just the flower of the scenario, not really the ones we're supposed to collect. Analysing closely I see the difference, but once I was starting the game and I wasn't familiarized with the game, I got confused many times.These are my suggestions, make the interactable doors and flowers colors pop. Overall, I LOVED the game, I'm sure I'll try to buy as soon as it releases.
Just finished the playtest and wanted to say congrats! You’ve got something super special here
Congratulations on the playtest build!!! The game looks fantastic, the art is beautiful and the gameplay seems super fun! Definitely trying ASAP 😆
Congrats! Can’t wait to check it out later today
SUCH an exciting step. I'm so excited for y'all and IM so excited to play it when I'm free!
I randomly got this video recommended to me and WOW
This looks amazing and I will definitely be following its production.
Can't wait to help playtest it as man there's just so much I could gush about just from this video alone
Awe shucks thanks :)
This game has so much potential. I haven't enjoyed playing a game this much since I played celeste. The art, music, game mechanics, story telling, and level design were all fantastic. I honestly forgot that it was just a playtest when I was playing it. Seriously can't wait for the full release of this game.
Thank you so much for the kind words!!
Glad to see a Steam demo ✨
Surprisingly, most players don't know that itch also has a client like Steam to download/install/update the games (they should really push it on the front more).
Wow this looks insane, I have to set this up for my game as well haha, btw I just started downloading the demo and Wish you all the best for the upcoming Steam Next Fest 💌
I’m so hyped for this game, you don’t even know!
After following your videos for a while I was quite looking forward to this game, but after playing through the demo now I'm well and truly hyped for it! The fluidity of the gameplay is so satisfying, and the core mechanic is really nicely executed.
Really pleased that it's working on my Steam Deck too!
That's so good to hear!
The only suggestion I have is, I would recamend adding a bit more unique mechanics that interact this the main split mechanic, I know obviously this is a demo so it’s not going to have all the mechanics in it, but I just feel for the final version even more unique mechanics could help it stand out more, and I think adding extra mechanics that interact directly with the main mechanics, adds extra depth.
Yup! On our roadmap to have unique mechanics in each chapter.
Very exciting! I'll have to check it out!
I'm so happy to finally get my hands on this game, it feels amazing! very smooth character movement and intuitive controls. I found myself exploring the hub a LOT and will be going back for another session soon. It's still a work in progress ofc but mechanically the character feels incredible, it will be great to see more detail added to the world over time.
Thank you so much!
Played it, cool! I very ejoyed moments where you just floating fast through obstacles, using spirit multiple times in row. Sound effect are juicy, and idea with stealth in village was interesting. But, in my opinion, there is some thing that could be better:
1. Camera. Change feom one screen to another is too "sharp" abd fast
2. Read of how much nectar you have now. Show it not in the very corner of screen. It would be nice if you cpuld actually see on character, can she do transition or not.
3. I woukd like if first flower would be easy to spot and catch, so player would understand that it's collectible and how to collect them.
4. Polish on how character behave when she enter/exit spirit state.
5. Some segments of first location are cery tough (well, maybe it's my problem, i'm not very good at platformers 😅)
6. Platforms in village thst you can step on should show it nore clearly (with one color or shape).
Played it through! the game is really well polished and feels great!
Small comments I have after trying the game:
In the cutscene with the mashing in the tutorial I was mashing the button and ended up skipping dialogue so maybe switch the button that is being mashed to the spirit button instead of the jump button or add a short timer after the mashing section so the dialogue doesn't skip.
I think my controller got disconnected on the end screen for finishing the play test.
In terms of actual gameplay, overall really good but I had two problems, one was wall jumps feel a little stiff/slow and the other is that some corners it almost feels like the ghost gets stuck. Although this may make it a less precise game it would be nice if the ghost slipped around corners a little more but that might just be me so idk.
Also I kinda wish it said their was a hold option for the tether when it first showed the button or something cause I kind of assumed that is how it would be and I didn't really look into the settings at all and I only found out about it through someone else's comment.
Maybe I just didn't notice but I also wish there was a visual indicator on the character for how many tethers u have left. Looking into the top left is a little annoying and I feel that the game could take a bit of inspiration with how celeste changes madeline's hair colour with respect to the number of dashes she has left.
Overall the playtest 1 demo felt very good and the visuals are very nice. It's also fun when the level design shows a bit of an easier route but there is actually a faster route that exists. Like the room with the pillars where you can just jump from one pillar to the next rather than tethering and teleporting to the yellow orb.
I am going to start playing now, and I think I am also going to record my playthrough, to try to make it as close as possible for you to when you actually watch players play in front of you. I don't know if it's going to be helpful, but it doesn't cost me anything. Now, let's go playing!
Can't wait to check this out
Just play tested the game and it was super fun. but when I booted it up the game was in slow motion and than after like a couple minutes it sped up like super fast (faster than I think intended, but it could just be that I got used to the slower movement)it could definitely just be something with my computer but just thought I should let you know if in case it was a reacueing bug. Also I just have to say how much I’ve loved this so far, I’m not very good at playformers and I don’t usually like games I find difficult because they feel unfair, but when playing the play test I found challenging, but in a way that never really felt unfair, and it was amazing!
Thanks for calling attention to this. You're not the only one who's had this issue. I think it had to do with the tutorial chat bubbles. I just hotfixed that issue, so hopefully you'll see performance fixed in that area!
I'm glad you're really enjoying the game so far! Difficult but fair is a design pillar for us!
Just realised im one the 0.1% of players to get the “checkpoint, you are a true friend” achievement, think that tell you all you need to know about my skill level in the game lol
Wow this was so much fun to play! My only critiques are that the town seems a bit tedious to traverse, the background music becomes a bit annoying after awhile, and having to press every key to find out that E was the key to talk lol. Other than that great demo.
Sooo I just finished the playtest, and MAN is it cool! Not perfect, but that was to be expected. I'm even more hyped to play the full game, I want to know EVERYTHING! The characters are super cute and the story hook is so interesting. I want to go to the city with the steam engines, like, right now. But I guess I'll have to wait. Well then. Thank you for opening the playtest, and good luck on continuing the game. I think I'm going to join the discord so I can keep talking about it and maybe give some feedback. See you all there!
Thank you so much! We'll see you over there!
Let's go! Can't wait to try to get back the WR!!🥳🥳
I finally got around to play the demo. I was surprised to see so much content already there! I clocked in almost 45 minutes playing, which is a lot for a free demo. It definitely feels better than the previous releases. And the art is absolutely gorgeous!
It does lag a bit on my machine though (not surprising, considering it's more than a decade old).
Yeah we’ve definitely got some optimizing to do still. It shouldn’t lag so bad or even at all in future builds.
heyy i played the whole demo till the end and i looooved it, it will probably be the first game ill spend money on (and i have steam since 2.5years xd)!
Just a little thing, the option tab is only available in game but not in the main menu, so i though there was options untill like 3/4 of the game... I just switch from toogle to hold and the spirit speed but this made me instantly better ^^ (and there is a real sens of progression, i really felt like i was getting better even without the magic settings ;) )
Great call out. Definitely on the road map to let players adjust options in the main menu!
i will be there no matter what
Hold for tether mode - banger. Toggle was a lot tougher.
Atmosphere - 10/10
But the pathing - ugh. Its way too tight most of the times for the speed and size of the character. Sometimes I still hold the directions from the last action and keep moving forward when I dont want to, or sometimes I need to keep momentum but dont know how much and I either overshoot or undershoot a very narrow pillar.
And in the beginning it was odd to me to find out that the moving platform continues to move for a while after I stop my tether so I plummet to my death with the platform being not where I was expecting it to be when I untether. Most likely because the animation of the teleport isnt instant and the platform continues to move after my action.
It felt like a stressful game most of the time, like SuperMeatBoy, rather than a relaxing pleasant puzzle platformer like its presenting itself to be.
Yeah... it's definitely more on the challenging Celeste/Meatboy side of things.
The momentum was too much for me as well but mainly just in the air, I just wasn't expecting to glide so much in the air, it made it feel overly floaty and caused me to overshoot my jumps (especially when coming out of warp). I also feel as though the collider should be slightly shorter on the head because I felt I would die if even a hair touched.
Overall, I think it felt great, every game has its formula that the player just gets used to.
i'm in love with the look of this game. i have binge watched a lot of the videos on this channel and am on my way to play test and wish list the game... great work jordan, noah and rae
Thank you so much!
I'm sure you'd prefer me to write the review in steam, however after struggling for the review to work for half an hour I gave up.
The game is mostly good, and has grate potential. I love the core design of the game. The art is stunning, and the gameplay is fun. I just have a few nitpicks or improvements:
- First of all, the movement is way too slippery. I died way more than I should have because the character wouldn't stop when I wanted her to. This is probably the grates source of my frustration. I love a grate challenge, but some of the deaths just felt unfair and like it wasn't my fault. A more responsive movement system (or a hidden mechanic preventing this) would be grate for the game.
- Sometimes it was hard to know what I can jump on and what is a decoration. This was only the case in the town.
- Finally, and most nit-picky is that some of the characters weren't that interesting for me, a lot of them were really same and similar.
I was already excited for this game coming out, but after playing the demo?! GOSH!!! You guys did suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch an amazing job you don't even know! This will become a masterpiece when it's complete!
Got a small complaint though, check if you agree. At almost the end of my journey through chapter end I kinda felt a bit sick about how monotonous it felt. Don't get me wrong, I'd replay it countless times. Just think it lacks a bit of variation, maybe an empty room or anything interactable, just to break the rithm.
Yeah, it might be cool to have a bit of some sort of story or interaction to keep the pacing dynamic through the sections after the town.
Okay, Let's go test
Hooray! Hopefully some of the bugs in the latest demo from itch that I tried has been fixed so i can finally finish chapter1 XD
lol a lot of them are fixed! Of course there are still plenty others we still need to work on...
Just played the playtest. IT'S SO GOOD. I feel the last two rooms were a little hard but that's to be expected. The story is simple and intriguing. the pixel art is incredible and fits very well. Although I do have a couple questions if you could maybe answer them.
1: How chapters will there be?
2: How much will it cost? (I'll pay but I just wanna know)
3: How did you get the idea for TetherGeist?
I'm not going to ask when release because as a dev myself using rpg maker, I know how long this stuff takes.
I’m so glad you liked the playtest!
1) 8 Chapters
2) Probably $20
played it. It was a lot of fun
WHY AM I NOT AT HOME RIGHT NOW?! WHYYYYYYY
Well, I know what I'm trying out over the weekend 👍
yeah its great so far, I love the difficulty it makes it fun to play. I felt like I was playing Celeste.
Sick in bed and this made my day. Can’t wait to check it out.
Get better soon!
Decided to try it out on my steamdeck and it’s been working great! Laughed when I opened this video again because you start at the point I’m stuck at. That dang flower! Hahaha this has been really enjoyable.
Great
CZcams algorithm brought me here. Game looks interesting, I'm gonna try it!
Woot! Welcome aboard.
@@OandCoGames I've tried it and really enjoyed my time with it. With more time and polish it would certainly be a great game. Good luck with the demo for the next fest!
interesting, so I guess at this point your game is feature complete or close and what remains is refining, level design and such
Chapter 1 is, yes. The other 7 chapters... not so much lol.
What game engine did you use for this?
Gamemaker Studio 2
LETS GOOOOOOOOO
Advice make it early access.
Oh yes
LESSSSSS GOOOOO
New Celeste DLC lookin' good. In all seriousness, I'm actually really excited to play this.
lol
what is the difference between the thorn walls and the crystal walls?
Death.
This demo was amazing, but halfway through when I exited the game and than came back to continue it gave me a code error and won’t let me play (sorry if this sounds like complaining, I just thought you should know in case it’s a recurring bug, and also I it to get fixed it so I can play more, also as a game dev myself I understand how annoying these things can be)
Dang! What did the error say?
23 minutes on my blind run
Will it be available on Mac?
Yes
Sadly I can't play the playtest build since there is no version for mac.
Expect it sometime this summer!
Look, I'd love to playtest your game.... but I don't think my mind can withstand comparing myself to another indie dev again..... (Yes I know it's petty and unfair, but TELL THAT TO MY FREAKING BRAIN!)
haha fair enough. But I’ll bet your game is way better than you give it credit for!
@@OandCoGames I dunno, I mean, maybe. It just not what I wanted to make, I just don't have what it takes to make the kind of stuff I want to make yet.
I just.... not gonna lie, I feel a bit demoralized still, everyone there just making bangers after bangers, even solo devs.... meanwhile I struggle to make even the most basic platformer, my games barely feel like games.
The most I was able to make is a 2d Godot platformer for a game jam that runs on the browser, but it didn't turn out how I'd like, even for a game jam.
(Yet somehow that thing got into the top 10 of that game jam now that I looked at it? I mean sure, that jam didn't have a lot of entries, only 17, but still...)
I like these videos, I didn't like the game. I got the feeling from the discord that you should only give non negative feedback so I skipped that and just unwish listed the game...
Negative feedback is welcome too!
pet a Duck!!!
...why???
It doesn't work on Mac :'(
We'll have a Mac version ready sometime this summer!
one should never play in mac anyway... jk 😂
Yeah :(
@@OandCoGames 🎉🎉
Can't wait!@@OandCoGames
Ive alredy beaten it: 12 flowers: 55m (Usernam: Bannannannann11) beat 1 hour after video was realest.
🤫🧏♂️. 🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿
Mohahaha:
Mewing:🤫🧏♂️
🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿
@@lasercobra4750what you're saying is beyond me