First of all, I would like to thank you all for the feedback, I greatly appreciate you took the time to test the demo and share your impressions, feedback and suggestions with me. It's important for me to improve this game, and also to make sure that I clearly communicate to you what this game is and what it's not, so I don't set the wrong expectation.

Demo update 1.1.

After the first round of feedback, a few small things had been changed.

1. Game Perspective

A new screen has been added at the start of the demo, to clearly communicate the games vision, to put the demo in the right perspective. I received some feedback and suggestion that, if implemented, would transform the game into a Castlevania clone. I do agree that a lot of those things would create a great game, but I dont want to clone Casltevania, I want this game to be inspired by Castlevania in some aspects, but to have its own separate identity. So in that first screen there are some details about the general design of the game, the level structure and main mechanics, so basically how this game is different from Castlevania.

The jump button on the Xbox Controller has been assigned to the A button

Some of you really wanted this feature, so here it is. Its a quick fix, but in the full version I would like to build a menu for customising the controls. But until then, I hope you enjoy the demo more this way.

A little help for the most brutal jumps

The run speed had been very slightly increased to help a bit with the most frustrating jumps. Among the suggestions received, there was one about increasing the character's movement speed. I tried that, but the game started to feel more like a ninja game, and less like a Dracula game that I was aiming for. The fast-paced action doesnt work well with the core game design: tactical approach, action-puzzle rather than fast-paced action. And of course it doesnt work well with the theme, if you have a hyperactive ninja Dracula you dont lean towards horror theme, but rather towards SF, action or comedy. It would work great for a Dracula in light-hearted Hotel Transylvania game, or in a very intense action / fighting game, but it doesnt fit well with this games vision. Also If the speed was moderately increased, all the levels would have to be redesigned to accommodate for the change. A faster speed means a longer jump, so no jump in the game would still be a challenge for the player. The same is true for the disappearing platforms. They become meaningless, boring and repetitive tasks, and it feels like they were placed there to artificially extend the gameplay with ridiculous tasks (its as entertaining as sending the most epic geared up warrior to gather 10 mushrooms in the forest - kind of tasks).So the speed increase didnt work well with the game and had to be abandoned. I also received some feedback about the clunky movement, so the solution to that would be to add some acceleration / deceleration. I tried it, but the game became even harder, because it slows you down in the most crucial moments, when the enemy wants to hit you, and you try to step back to dodge the attack, but find yourself move ridiculously slow, because Vlad needs to gather momentum to run away from certain death. It feels very unfair, so it needed to be abandoned too.

The difficulty had been decreased slightly in the third level

As I understood from the feedback, some players couldnt get pass that third level (the one with the red spearmen) even after an hour of play, so one tough enemy (a yellow soldier) had been replaced with a weaker one, and the Rondel dagger has been added to the level. The Rondel dagger was used in medieval times to pierce knight armour, so in the game is as strong as the small throwing axe, but it straight trajectory gives you more control over it. It costs more ammo, so some ammo has been added to the level. I hope more people can reach the cave level now, that is the last level in the demo. An interesting suggestion from the feedback, to tone down the difficulty, was a health bar / multiple lives. I thought it was very interesting, and I tried it. But what happened was that every time I met a challenge I couldnt overcome in the first couple of seconds, I was tempted to sacrifice a life to get by. That approach works against the core idea of the game, the tactical approach becomes meaningless, and if you dont learn to properly overcome the challenges in the small safe environment (the small levels), the longer harder levels will not be anything but frustration. But if you learn to deal with the challenges properly, and you begin to anticipate the patterns, the timing and trajectories, the long hard levels become very intense and entertaining. And of course, I can't have the great Lord Vlad the Impaler Dracula, the Voievod of Wallachia taking a beating from a peasant, just to get by. (That insolent fool needs to be properly impaled for his defiance). So yes, the idea of a life bar / multiple lives had been abandoned, and a better approach for this game, would be to give the player better weapons to face the enemies head on, on equal level. And of course, help the player a little with the level design and enemy placement, but there still needs to be some challenge. This should be fine-tuned in the full game.

Small bug fixes

Also, a couple of bugs just discovered had been fixed, and a couple of minor details had been adjusted. _____ So this is the Demo update 1.1, a quick fix and some clarifications that hopefully will result in you having more fun with the demo. So give it a try if you want, and leave me a feedback if you so choose, I find them very useful, and I thank you all for taking the time to write them. Have a great day, and a great weekend!

[ 2021-11-26 15:00:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Experience the real, medieval Dracula

This game is about the real Dracula, the medieval voievode / warlord of Valahia. It is built around key historical events: Dracula's first ascension to the throne of Valahia. Vlad Tepes is held as a political prisoner / hostage at the Ottoman Court when he learns the Hungarians invade Valahia, killed his family and offer the throne to their own servant. In response, sultan Murad sends Dracula with an Ottoman army to take his rightful throne and stop Valahia from joining another crusade. But not everyone wants Dracula to rule, he has many enemies, even in the Ottoman capital of Edirne.

Different play styles

First of all this is a platformer, so mastering the character's mobility and momentum while crossing the terrain is a challenge in itself, and is part of the core experience. There are six playable characters, and every one of them handles differently. When you change the character, the experience is always fresh, and it comes with new strengths and weaknesses waiting to be mastered.

Vlad Voievod Dracula

Dracula comes in five variants, with five different swords and five different outfits. When you choose a sword, you commit to it the entire game. Each sword handles differently, and affects your mobility and combat tactics in different ways, keeping the experience fresh. (For beginners, it is recommended you start with the first or last sword).

Dracula's Knights

In the first level, you get to know Dracula and you get used to a certain play style. In level three, you will start to experience playing with Dracula and his knights, and you will change characters during play. Again, each one handles differently, so the experience will always be fresh!

The spies

In the second and the forth level, you will play with spies, and the gameplay changes radically. There is less focus on combat and more focus on movement. To clear an area with a spy, you need to gather all three peaces of information scattered around the level, and at the end, get the map.

Share your thoughts

For those who choose to support my work: thank you! If you would like to share your impressions or feedback with me, feel free to do so, I do want to know what you think about the game, what you like and dislike, so I can build better games! You can use the discussions forum in the Steam Community Hub https://steamcommunity.com/app/1794430/discussions/0/3194736442574109320/, you can email me at dev.vvdracula@gmail.com, join the discord https://discord.gg/8puME8D8u5 or DM me on Twitter (X) https://twitter.com/VVDracula

Also see

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2651830/Vlad_Voievod_Dracula_Dungeons_of_Edirne/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2641040/Vlad_Voievod_Dracula_Episode_2/

A game by Tiberius