[WIP] Third Person Dungeon Crawler

[bob_on]

Howdy,

I've recently completed the prototype phase of a little project I'm working and wanted to reach out here for some feedback. The game is more of a demo at this point. I have a few ideas on where I want to take this game (RPG/leveling mechanics, more content, etc.) and I'd really like to change from single player to multiplayer. I've toyed around with a previous multiplayer project before. It's a lot of work, but honestly I think multiplayer would just be more fun for this type of game. Anyway, have a go and let me know if you think I'm on the right track or not.

About the code
The game uses only vanilla JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS. It's all my code- no frameworks. I found a couple of helpful tutorials on how to do the projection and I've spent quite a bit of time learning how to build my own implementation. It is a really fun project to work on and I'm excited to actually turn it into a playable game... eventually.

Your feedback in these areas would be most helpful:

• Is the gameplay fun?
• Can your device run the game well enough to play? There are resolution settings in the menu that may help.
• Is the third person camera confusing or a strain on the eyes?
• Would you like to play the game again, assuming it was built into a complete game? (more abilities, proper UI, leveling, more mobs and maps, etc.)
• Would you rather play if the game was multiplayer?

Caveats

• I'm not an artist- this is just placeholder art for demo purposes. Sadly, it's the best art for a game I've ever made. I'll stick to coding.
• The UI is pretty terrible, especially the touch controls. Honestly, it's just enough so the game is playable. Major redesigns are needed going forward.
• There's no sound. I've been lazy on that side of things, but I'll get to it eventually.
• The shop currently doesn't function because it doesn't exist. Each party member only has 1 attack at the moment.
• The game should run on mobile without issue, but I've only tested on my junky old Android phone with Chrome. I really have no idea what state it is in outside of that.
• There is exactly 0 direction in-game and will be absolutely confusing to a first time player. My bad.

Instructions
Controls are listed on the "start screen". WASD to move and J to attack. Click/touch the Start Game button to begin the game in the Hub. Press Escape to bring up the in-game menu which allows for changing the graphics settings.

1. Walk up to the Quest "NPC". Once in range, a Quest button will appear on your UI.
2. Click/touch the Quest button.
3. A randomly selected dungeon quest will be presented. You may decline or accept.
4. Upon accepting the quest, a Portal will appear on the map.
5. Move to the portal. Once in range, a Portal button will appear on your UI.
6. Click/touch the Portal button to be transported to the dungeon.
7. Move through the dungeon and defeat enemies. Using 1 & 2 or clicking/tapping on the party member plaques will change your selected party member.
8. Once all enemies have been defeated, a Portal will appear and allow you to return to the Hub. There are 3 total dungeons.

I would suggest to avoid The Arena. It's way too hard, but was a great way to test the game over functionality!

Please click here to access the game.

And thank you!

[jalex]

Cool! I like this kind of simple 3d graphics. It kind of remind me of Sword n Serpents to NES, but where you can actually walk around in 3d  I think it got potential, but the controls are a bit weird I think. Sometimes the hero disappears from the screen and when I walk in a corridor he hits the walls a lot which makes it difficult to move around. Otherwise it ran perfect in Chrome with highest resolution on my 1 year old PC. Pesonally I would prefer if it was single player, but that might be because I usually play single player games

[bob_on]

Thanks for the feedback, jalex!

I wonder if it's the camera that's causing the player to disappear? I tried to have the camera collide with the walls and "zoom" in close to the player, but I think if it happens quickly it can be disorienting. I'll play around with that. I might just need to forget about camera collision and just not draw any wall between the camera and player. Something to tinker with.

I keep going back and forth on multiplayer. I too prefer single player games. I wanted to make it multiplayer for my 4 year old- he's been asking every day if the game is ready to play yet. I might just need to break his tiny little heart and tell him to pretend the other party member is me.

Thanks again for the feedback- that was great information!