itch.io

It's still in the demo phase, but my game Battle Tower Royale is an ARPG that draws inspiration from games like Diablo. It's has about two hours of gameplay currently, and I'm almost ready to start adding lots more levels to the game.

Looks snazzy!

Oh what the heck, sure! My game is an action RPG titled Battle Tower Royale. It's heavily inspired by the original Baldur's Gate games (both PC and Dark Alliance), Diablo, and Link to the Past. It's been in development for a year and a half, and the roughly two-hour demo is very nearly feature complete. There are tons of ways to customize your character, six races to play from, spells, wearable armor sets, lots of NPCs to talk to, and more!

The most recent build was published last week. The page for the game is here: https://bynary-fission.itch.io/battle-tower-royale

Streaming your game is one way to do it. Another is to have a Youtube/Twitter account and post devlogs/trailers/teasers on there. I've had a little bit of success streaming development on Discord with other devs; it's gotten me a lot of playtesters and a handful of followers as well. Itch won't market your game for you, so keeping active and engaging with the community is necessary.

A little bit, in my experience. I recently uploaded a game jam submission to my profile and it did get a few clicks from within the website despite not having posted it here, but that quickly died out. As the others have mentioned here, you will need to do your own promotion if you want to build a follower base. Regular updates to your game are a great way to generate sustained interest, as well as through your own social media following.

I made wearable armor sets for all of my game's playable characters. Here's one of them wearing a wizard robe set and shield.

While I'm not the audience for this kind of game, it looks like you've put a lot of heart and soul into this game. I've always loved text heavy RPGs (think Planescape: Torment) as opposed to this style of play, but it still looks great. Keep up the good work!

I'm relieved to know that I'm not the only person who does this.

Seriously, I could see Mein being the star of his own cartoon. Can't wait to see these new animations and the new demo!

Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you like and enjoy the game!

These graphics look so good - they really fit the feel of your game. Keep up the great work! 

Making the cheese blocked by the pipes was a creative touch. Definitely requires some precise timing to beat this!

Mostly extended video game tracks. I'm always looking for new stuff, but these are some on my playlist:

Recca OST (NES)

Zora's Domain (Night) - BotW

Ufouria Overworld Theme (NES)

Thermosphere (KH3 remix)

Ancient Cistern (Skyward Sword)

Akrillic (Plok)

Journey to Silius OST (NES)

Champion Alder Battle Theme

Super Mario Jazz Covers

Zero Gravity (Einhander)

Ta1t0 Top Speed OST

And one of the non-video game songs on my list:

Awaken - Yes

Looks pretty good, there is some potential here. Keep up the good work!

For me, it's their devlogs. I find people's progress on their games to be quite interesting.

It more had to do with the way combinations of controls would interact with each other on the keyboard. I spoke with Vicctre about it and I think we worked through it - some of it was due to playing the game in the way that I would with my own game's control schema.

Honestly, that's not bad at all. Beats what I get for my game.

I played your game, and here are my thoughts on it:

-I think there's a solid idea here. One suggested change I would have is toggling an option to have units either automatically target towers or proceed to the goal.

-Another idea would be to have additional ways to spend upgrade points in between stages in other ways than unlocking new units. I had some extra points that I couldn't use in between matches after unlocking new unit types. I also saw that it said I had 0 upgrade points during battles - is this a bug or are they supposed to be different kinds of points?

-Hotkeys would be nice to have, such as for using the healing spell. I also wanted to be able to disable the music and sound effects while playing.

-The game runs kind of slow for me, but I'm also playing it on a laptop I got in 2017 so it's probably not something to be too concerned about. Still, having the option to reduce graphics settings (e.g no shadows) would be good.

-The dark sword icon against the green Available Units window is really hard to see - it needs to be brighter. Same with other unit types.

-There's a lot of potential to introduce more counterplay between player units and the towers. For example, a special unit that automatically attacks towers adjacent to your units, or one that powers up your units' stats while attacking towers.

-It's not clear how your score is calculated at the end of each match. 

-A way to make the game more fun would be to add additional kinds of challenges for various stages. For example, win a match on wave 2, or win a match without ever healing your units.

-I think you should be able to select groups by double-clicking on one of the units. It was annoying having to use the drag box on units that were actively moving.

-I liked how each stage introduced a new type of challenge to the player. One recommendation I have would be to visually distinguish towers that are out of reach for melee units as opposed to having them look the same as the others. This also applies for any other type of tower.

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The game is obviously very early in development, but there's definitely a good idea here! I didn't see much of an issue with the art given that the game is in the prototype stage, but I assume it will be refined further into development.

If you're still looking for an engine/framework to get started, the best way to get into it is to start with a simple project. You'll gradually acquire the skills and experience you need to work on progressively larger games that will better fit the scope of the kind of game you really want to make.

Congrats on reaching your goal. I've found that posting and engaging with people regularly on the site is a great way to gain followers over time, and you don't even need to ask people either.

Nice, looking forward to trying out the new demo!

Uhh....have you ever played Clicker Heroes? Because this game totally reminds me of that lol. But with that said, I got up to e+22 Force, and here are my thoughts:

-The game has a fair amount of complexity already, and your roadmap already indicates a lot more. Some basic documentation would really help with orienting the player; a guide that the player can reference while playing would be helpful. I didn't know what a lot of upgrades were meant to do. There's a lot of things here (Forge, artifacts, radiance, skills, tournaments, exploration, etc) but virtually no documentation on what they do or why they matter. I think that the game throws way too much at the player right at the start without giving the player a sense of direction.

-Achievements should be written with the words on their own lines rather than just one word that wraps around. Some achievements were also blank even though the UI lists what is needed to earn them. I also noticed that when hovering over achievements near the bottom of the screen, the text is cut off.

-Whenever I clicked on a skill that I gained, clicking it over and over would switch it back and forth between taken and not taken. I also don't know what to do to actually be able to take them - I just had to wait until the Skill button said I could take a skill.

-When exploring a node in one of the regions, progress stops when you switch screens but this isn't the case for many of the other forms of idle progress, such as Force and Wisdom. This should progress when away from the screen to keep it consistent.

-It could just be that the game is still really incomplete, but it never actually felt like I was working toward anything. Once leveling up slowed down and I clicked the achievements, it says I get items - but there's little to any mention of what they do or why they matter. Same thing with the exploration feature - what is the end goal? Why should I do that over something else?

-It feels like the things you are supposed to get are really disjointed. I think there's a lack of focus on what this game is actually supposed to be. This game plays like an idler, but you mention having Metroidvania exploration elements and puzzle solving. How do these ideas cohesively fit together with what your game currently is? I got the impression that the things you can earn over time are meant to go to some other mechanic that hasn't been implemented yet.

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My overall impression is that you're trying to put in all of these different things together with little overarching vision of how they're all supposed to tie into a final product. Since this game looks like an idler, focus what you've got on a singular goal that the player can quickly identify and work towards. 

That's what Clicker Heroes does - the only goal is to keep beating waves of bosses, with every 10th wave acting as a check point. The game's additional mechanics are slowly rolled out over time, but all of them focus on that single goal - beat more enemies. The point is to go as high as you can go - there's no other purpose. Everything the game introduces is explicitly tied to that goal, and this occurs over time to ease the player into the many ways you can make yourself stronger to beat more enemies. The way your game currently stands, there's lots of buttons to click but no sense of purpose behind doing any of it. The lack of documentation really doesn't help with all that.

v0.041 has been released! The elf has been added in a playable race, offering numerous bonuses and enhancements to your spellcasting power! Also included is a fullscreen mode, an option to show damage taken by the player, QoL improvements, bug and sprite fixes, and more! A full list can be found here, as well as an option to download the .exe of the newest build: https://bynary-fission.itch.io/battle-tower-royale/devlog/704022/v0041-released-... 

I also made some balance changes throughout, so any feedback on how the game feels and plays would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for playing it! I've been trying to iron out that glitch for a while, looks like I still have some more work to do. Glad you liked it!

I love being able to talk to other game developers and see what other people are working on. I'm glad to be a part of this community!

Thanks!

3D graphics require more work and (very arguably) artistic skill. My experience with doing 2D (specifically pixel) art is that it has a much lower floor than other art styles. Using small and stylized sprites doesn't require you to understand anatomy and composition nearly the same way as making a fully rendered 3D model. For artists who are just starting out and want to make artwork for their game but aren't particularly good at drawing, pixel art is something you can dive into and make relatively quickly. Of course, making really high-quality pixel art still requires a substantial amount of talent and skill.

Plus, the turnaround time is a lot quicker. I am doing all of the artwork for my game, and using pixel art means that I can create and revise artwork much more quickly than if I opted for 3D.

But I grew up on those old NES and SNES games, so admittedly I'm just a sucker for the style.

Great work! I recently did the same for my game, and it's a great feeling finally having it done!

I played your game, and I think there's real potential once you add in different kinds of enemies, weapons, upgrades, and such. An easy way to add some challenge would be to make an enemy that is similar to the one that currently exists, but it shoots bullets at you as well. 

There are ten levels, but they all play identically. I think your demo would be better received if you either cut down on the levels in their current form, or add something to later levels to differentiate them from earlier ones.

I did notice that the controls (when I was able to figure out what they were) state that WASD moves your character around, but when I played the game the arrow keys moved me instead.I would suggest making ENTER a selection key, because when that didn't work I kept pressing random buttons to find the one that did. You could also use the mouse.

I would also recommend that you get rid of the background tiles with the white lines you have in the menu - it makes things hard to read.

I don't care so much for the music, but that's more a matter of personal taste.I envision a more techno-inspired direction given the theme...or maybe you could remix Moon Patrol's theme and really dig into those old-school roots of yours. :)

Good luck with development - it's clear that this game is very early in  development, so I'm sure it will be so much better well after this review is written!

v0.040 has been released! This update adds in the Character Creation screen, which makes it possible to create your own custom characters. You can modify the player's race, add various bonuses, change the starting stats, and pick a starting spell. This has quite an effect on the game's overall balance, so I'm keen on hearing what players have to say about how the game feels and plays with these changes.

The new game can be downloaded as an executable here: https://bynary-fission.itch.io/battle-tower-royale

Just tried this game. There's a ton of potential for this game, and while it's clearly in the very early stages it's obvious there is a lot of love and thought put into this. The only thing I'd really say needs work is the control schema. The art style looks like a three-way lovechild between Plok, Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World. I dig the character designs too!

I always love reading about the thought process developers go through when making changes and design updates. Good luck!

Hey guys, I'm Bynary Fission! I'm currently developing the Action RPG Battle Tower Royale. I'm the sole programmer, artist, animator, writer, and composer for the game. I draw a lot of influence from the Legend of Zelda, Baldur's Gate, and Diablo series in making this game, and it's all wrapped up in an old-school art and sound design. New updates are being made constantly!

I'm glad to be able to meet the rest of you all!

I understand the feeling all too well - I totally stopped development of a demo I made back in 2018, and it was nearly five years before I picked up the pieces and began to remake it into the game I truly envisioned. It might feel tough now, but when you're ready you'll be able to make it so much better than it was before!

For me, pixel art all the way! I spent countless hours as a kid playing old NES and SNES games, and the influence extended even to my music composition, as the stuff I write is all chiptune! My art style isn't an exact 1-1 for the NES, but it is intentionally retro in style and the simple color palettes help to give it that old school look. 

I'll admit that much of my early designs were due to a lack of skill, but as I've gotten better at pixel art it's evolved into my own style that I've grown fond of.

Hey guys,! I compose chiptunes for my games as well as occasional other 8-bit songs for fun. I post all of my compositions in my SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bynary-fission

My most recent upload is the title theme to my game, and in my opinion probably the best song I've ever written.

Thank you for taking the time to download the game and offer your thoughts! Your comment has made me realize that I need to change the weapon sequence altogether. You are supposed to talk to the weapons merchant a second time, but you're not the the only person who has gotten lost because of it. I am going to get rid of that second conversation altogether and just make it happen the first time, because I really don't want players to get lost at the start of the game. Once you talk to him and get your weapon then the game proceeds smoothly - at that point you can keep progressing through the various stages with minimal interactions.

Definitely noted about the intro sequence - thanks for your thoughts!

Sure, I'll throw my hat in the ring! I've got a fully functional demo of my action RPG, Battle Tower Royale available for play. It's primarily inspired by games like Diablo 2, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, and the old Legend of Zelda games. The demo should provide around 2 hours of content, assuming you talk to all of the characters. You can find the game for download here at no cost: https://bynary-fission.itch.io/battle-tower-royale

P.S If you listen to the whole title theme song, you'll get a visual show to go with it. ;)