You've done a great job of making a game with just the right amount of challenge. It builds up with simple objectives, but later, when you mentally trace the path to your goal, you think, "Aw,Hell, no!" Then you actually try it, and you kind of get the feeling that maybe you can do it. I quit at level 20. I'm kicking myself now that I know that I missed the end by one level!
By the way, the Wizard has two powers. Jumping on thin air, and auto-resurrection!
From the video alone, I have to praise the direction of the art. The color choices are different from the norm and go well together. The random element of the clouds and birds adds a lot of visual interest to each screen. The game play looks good, but let me download it first.
I understand your difficulty, because I'm doing something similar with my aliens in my shoot'em up. My player's ship throws off sparks that get bigger and more frequent as it gets damaged.
The aliens throw off more smoke as they get hurt. I haven't put any effort into the graphics yet, but that's the idea I'm going with because I hate bars too.
Like I said, your health ring isn't bad, and there is something to be said for using thickness and color to express the enemy's life force.
I say stick with your original concept. Is your dislike for the bar based on how it impacts immersion? There are other ways to show damage and health.
For Health: Dripping/spurting blood (easy solution), or a staggering animation could indicate how hurt the enemy is.
For Damage: A visual weapon slash effect of different sizes, or a sound effect.
I don't dislike the rings, and I do prefer them to a health bar, but I think an uncluttered interface is ideal.
In this still shot, the circle around the explosion looks out of place. I'm guessing that animated, the contrast isn't that severe? Otherwise, it looks great.
This seems to be worth a look. The color choices are odd, but that makes it interesting. I'll keep an eye on it.
It's like looking at an impressionist painting. Keep up the good work.
It's interesting that you started with art concepts first. I went the opposite direction, and saved art for last. The artwork is promising. I especially like the quality of the characters. They're very detailed and interesting. The game concept is super ambitious.
Grim_Jester
Alex joined
I've been making games since 2002 starting with Klik & Play by Clickteam. I have made four freeware games so far, but my next project will be a commercial endeavor.