A Prison for Dreams
This is an "Early Access" version. About 95% of the game is finished. The final area and the final boss are still missing, and they are coming later this month or in early February. The save files will be forward compatible.
A Prison for Dreams is a yet-another 2D pixelart metroidvania platformer thing. It is a "kind-of sequel" to A Graveyard for Dreams, sharing many similarities.
Compare to my previous metroidvanias, this one has many "groundbreaking" new features, including:
- Slopes! Damn right, slopes.
- No more climbing. Because for whatever reason people hated it before.
- Free camera. No more "camera only moves when you hit the edges of the screen".
- Automatic saving. Because last time I was told that it is not intuitive you need to save the game manually.
Controls:
Gamepad controls (for Xbox-type gamepads) are listed in parentheses.
- Move: Arrow keys/WASD (dpad/left stick)
- Jump*: space/Z/J (A button)
- Attack*: Ctrl/X/K/Left mouse button (X button)
- Shoot*: Shift/C/L/Right mouse button (B button)
- Down attack*: Jump & down & attack
- Charge attack*: keep attack button pressed down after attacking and release after the player starts to flicker
- High jump*: press down when on ground, press jump button after the player starts to flicker
- Charge attack*: keep shoot button pressed after shooting and release after the player starts to flicker
- Pause: Escape/Enter (Start button)
(*Requires an item)
Saving:
The game saves progress automatically. When you see a spinning floppy disk on the bottom-right corner, the game has been saved, but if you see a flickering symbol with "!" symbol, then something went wrong (most likely your browser blocks local storage)
Source code:
If you enjoy tinkering with the source code more than playing the game itself, you can find the source code on Github: https://github.com/jani-nykanen/a-prison-for-dreams
Development log
- Version 0.8.0 is out5 days ago
Comments
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I managed to become invincible? I was trying to kill an enemy (i don't remember which specifically) near the ice dungeons where a jetpack is required. I panicked and tried to attack the enemy while it was still near and damaging me, but for some reason, my health dropped to zero but i couldn't die, even if i went to other locations.
The only way for me to die was via drowning in the early areas, but even after i respawned, i was still unvincible. Quitting the game and going back didn't fix it, it's like my save is stuck with a cheat code. It didn't ruin the gameplay much since i was already near the end, but it might be something to consider checking out when you have the time. I think the attack animation cancelled the death animation as i died, but i'm unsure if that's what actually caused the glitch.
I really love the lore and new upgrades you put in the shop!
Thanks for reporting this. Did you, perhaps, had the "Heavy Weight" item that removes knockback? Because there was indeed a bug that if you had this item, the player could never die from enemy attacks. It should be fixed now (version 0.8.1b).
Are/will there be any more upgrades past the first shop? I got Running Boots and the Ring of Power but am still slow and weak.
I think the Dreamer like Super Mario Bros, at least SMB2 and SMW. =)
I defeated the Eye. I love the traffic cones in the WIP area.
I have one nitpick: My personal preference is never tell the player not to do something and expect them to do so anyway. Having the option "No" made me believe I might be missing something, but no, it's just a gag.
...and one minor suggestion: Have the dialogue change when 1) you get all 8 orbs and 2) you defeat the Eye.
An enjoyable game. I did start to get a little lost though, so I suppose a map would come in handy too.
Thanks for the feedback!
Yes, there will be another shop and more powerful attack items in the second part of the game (which I am hopefully able to release in the next few weeks, although maybe without the final boss first).
If you refer to the dialogue before the battle with The Eye, the option "No" is there so the player does not accidentally start the battle. It might be a bit confusing, true, so I guess I could make the player start licking the eye without any dialogue (or just add dialogue telling that "You decide to lick the eye").
You mean dialogue with the NPCs? At the moment the dialogue is "static" and the game engine does not really support changing it easily (without hardcoding some conditions, but I try to avoid that).
It would be handy, but the way I programmed the game map would be pretty hard to implement at this point.
windows build plz??
Well, a Windows build is technically possible if I pack the game with nw.js or similar, so if I have time, I might add a downloadable build if I get it working properly (but most likely not until the version 1.0 is out).
oh no worries, I didn’t see it’s early access. But ya 1.0 would be great, I just don’t like playing in browser
Can we find item needed to break stone bricks(in front of us, not ones above or under) in this version? I found 4 orbs so far but i cant find way to break rocks.
edit:by this version i mean non finished :D
Yes, there is an item that gives you a charge attack (it can be found in the sewers, which can be accessed from Sunken Passage if you have the required items). You can find all eight orbs in this version.
great! ill try again, thank you for answering me 😁
look forward to more. beat the eye and now am in the unfinished frozen caves.
Play it. Really cool so far! Please continue :)
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SPOILER PLEASE DON'T OPEN UNLESS YOU BEAT THE GAME.
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Puzzle island is skippable by doing this jump (see image). Bullet shows from where you need to jump. You need to use coyote time and charged attack for it (clearly i didn't look for ways to skip puzzle instead of thinking :).
Unless you're planning to make another, "harder" version of eye bossfight I think you should make it harder, like make eye way more active. Currently you just spam attack...
Gun seemed useless to me, because you waste shots very quickly. I think it would be more useful if it had about 15 shots by default (+3 per upgrade), and collecting bullets would refill all the ammo.
Damn, didn't realize that is possible. I actually added those three blocks because without them skipping was even easier, but didn't realize you can still skip it, heh. Oh well, let it be there for the speedrunners...
I tried not to make it too hard since people usually complain that boss fights in my games are too hard. The final boss will be harder, of course.
Gun originally had more bullets, but that actually made it too powerful compared to the sword, but I will see if I can make it feel more useful without making the sword useless (why use a melee attack if the ranged attack deals damage faster?). Balancing is hard!
Maybe only drop bullets if player killed enemy by sword after fixed amount of kills? Something like drop 5 bullets after 4 sword kills.
Also I don't see how bossfights are too hard. I think they were fine. I always could kill boss after 5 tries at max.
"Slopes! Damn right, slopes." I'm so happy you're continuing this series! I love it! I made it to the area still under construction. Nice touch with the warning cones. I hope I'm not the only one who tried to climb the vines! :)
So it was just a name! :)
It's great, like all your other games! I will look forward to the continuation with impatience!
totally fantastic game as always from this dev ! loved all the others and this is just as good - looking forward to the full version ...