A downloadable game for Windows

Sunset Witch is a Bullet Hell Platformer that is currently in development. The local Botanic Garden has been invaded by a Demonic Rabbit Cult and it's up to Sunset Witch to take them down!

Platformer meets Bullet Hell

Platform your way through shoot 'em up inspired stages filled with dangerous enemies and bullets flying all over. There is one goal, but there are many hidden paths and collectables to find!

Dynamic Easy-to-learn Combat

Demonic Rabbit Cultists come in many variations, some throw bombs, others hold shields, all fire bullets! Use the Elemental Blade to shoot them from afar or Slash Attack up-close for massive damage!

Special Features

  • Collectable Cards: Collect hidden cards and read up on the Witches of the past. Read them at any time and set your favourite as your Pause screen wallpaper!
  • Speedrun Mode: Upon beating the Demo Stage you'll be able to compete for the fastest time. You only get one shot as all checkpoints are disabled, but your best time will be saved for all to see!
  • Awards: Earn awards by doing different tasks. Each one shows up as a shiny display on the Pause Screen!
  • Infinite Lives: Players won't be sent back far upon dying, so no more worrying about extra lives (except in Speedrun Mode)!
  • Interactive Tutorials: Every new ability shows a quick tutorial screen so that beginners won't feel lost!

Controls

This game is compatible with Xinput devices including Xbox Controllers, and Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers! Other generic game pads should be compatible, but functionality may vary.

ActionKeys (Keyboard)Buttons (Xbox Controller)
MoveLeft/ RightLeft Stick/ D-Pad
JumpUpA
Slash AttackPress ZPress X
Fire BulletsHold ZHold X
Spirit ChargeCB/ Y
Aim LeftHold X facing leftHold L
Aim RightHold X facing rightHold R
Start/ PauseEnter/ EscStart/ Menu
Accept (Menu)X/ EnterA/ Start/ Menu
Back (Menu)ZB/ X

Demo Feedback

The Demo is now available showcasing the first stage. This game is still in development, so feel free to leave feedback with your thoughts on the game so far.

Credits

Game created and designed by Angus Beer 
Music by William Burroughs 

Sunset Witch © Angus Beer 2020
Music © William Burroughs 2020

StatusOn hold
PlatformsWindows
Release date Oct 17, 2020
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(4 total ratings)
AuthorAngus Beer
GenrePlatformer, Adventure
Made withGameMaker
Tags2D, Bullet Hell, Female Protagonist, Halloween, Pixel Art, Retro, Shoot 'Em Up, Time Attack
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish
InputsKeyboard, Xbox controller
AccessibilityInteractive tutorial
LinksTwitter, Instagram

Download

Download
Sunset Witch Demo - (Version 1.1.0.0) 145 MB

Install instructions

Download the zip file below and unzip the contents. Select the "Sunset Witch Demo" exe file. 

On your first time playing on Windows 10, a notification will come up. To start the game go to "More Info" and then "Run anyway".

Development log

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Comments

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(3 edits) (+1)

hey, i tried this and have some feedback. a lot of it was written while i was playing. this feedback isnt structured at all, but i hope it will help :)

right off the bat, i notice that transitions in menu are too long for me. if i want to, i.e, change screen size, i need to make a lot of inputs:
- pause
- press down four times to reach 'options'
- press enter
- wait about a second for the menu to transition to the next set of buttons
- press enter (on 'screen size') - wait a second again
- press left/right to change the setting
then to leave the menu..
- press down
- press enter (on 'back')
- wait a second
- press down four times
- press enter (again on 'back')
- wait a second
- press up four times to reach 'resume'
- press enter
- wait one last time.. and then the game resumes
it takes me about 10-15 seconds to do all this, while knowing what buttons to press
potential solutions: have a way to return to game quickly. (i just realized i can use 'z', which helps, too). decrease transition times. maybe allow mouse usage in the menu

im getting a lot of input delay, but it might be my pc causing it.

in the scene for the first card i found, botanic garden, there's tooltips for both "x - confirm" and "z - back". these took my focus to how the games interface works, and it kind of disrupted the game experience itself. ("does confirm mean i pick the card up, and back mean that i leave it?") shortly after i figured both options would do the same thing, given there was only one option for me to select from (which also read 'back').
to prevent this from happening, you could make it clear to players that x = confirm and z = back near the start of the game. this way you wouldn't need tooltips on these interfaces

i used my ultimate ability right when "c" appeared over my head. there weren't any enemies around, so it didn't do anything. maybe show a brief "ultimately ready" or something to prevent this

in the rooms right after where i learned "aiming", my initial feeling was to clear the enemies right away, and sweep through the room fast. i died doing this. it was satisfying to kill the mobs afterwards w/ a more strategic approach. the next room was complete chaos, i died right after entering twice, and couldn't figure out what i needed to do.. until i ended up falling all the way down

only having the gem as a hitbox is really clever. it lets you have a humanoid character players can self-project onto while still keeping the mechanic of having a small hitbox

lore isn't a big focus of a game like this to me. the whole thing seems to be gameplay-, action-, and maybe strategy- oriented. the card scenes interrupt this to give me info that, at least right now, feels pointless
though, its possible that i would care more if the in-game universe was more fleshed-out and clearly presented to me. (one game i've played that's both action/strategy-oriented and has an immersive game world that makes me really care about - even to the point of watching youtube videos about the lore - is hollow knight, also a platformer)

if you hold z (attack) to shoot, then release it for a really short amount of time and press again to slash, you can shoot and slash at the same time. i think this is a bug

the game just taught me 'aiming' and 'slash bullets' for the 2nd time. i understand the game needs to make sure players know these, but it should do so in a way that doesnt disrupt the experience of players that got it down the first time

(i just beat it :D. 12 deaths)

the sound effects, the hit and ability unlock animations, feel fitting. even just watching the demo video i could tell that game feel was pretty good

a lot of the rooms layouts, including enemies and all, felt unintuitve to me. i had use a lot of my focus figuring out what i needed to do.
also, some of the inputs i needed to make onto my keyboard were complicated. for example, having to jump over an enemy, then turn back to face them, while avoiding getting too close to them (as their hitbox deals damage).
^ take these last two as you will, they could benefit or harm the game experience depending on what you're going for

(1 edit) (+1)

i was reflecting on this and have another suggestion. i think you could improve the game by going through and giving (literally) everything secondary functions. some examples:

what if the player's hitbox gem were instead a special protective amulet that the main character finds at the start of the game somehow. or maybe the MC is part spirit, and the only way to truly damage them is to shoot their heart. (whats ideal here depends on the rest of the game's universe, but give players a beneficial way to rationalize why they have such a small hitbox, make it something that increases their immersion instead of something awkwardly taken for granted)

the enemies' bullets are another clear example of something whos function seems to be purely mechanical. enemy attacks, beyond simple bullet arrangements, can make the player feel like what they're fighting really is a zombie (make it's attacks feel slow and inanimate), really is a giant dragon skull thing (make it breath fire, but made of scary death energy), really is a slime monster (make it shoot poisonous goo that sticks to the ground, make it absorb some types of the player's attacks, etc)

the gems the player collects, the cards, the crates, the main character's appearance, and im sure so much else, could all be made into something immersive

conversely, teaching the player about lore can have a secondary function of teaching them about new mechanics, creating anticipation for an upcoming boss encounter, etc. for example, if you have a card about broomsticks, and how they're used by some of the game's beings to float, the player isnt simply being told "do x to float", they're learning about and anticipating acquiring a part of the game's world that only in turn adds a new mechanic to gameplay

Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated! I'll be considering some of these for sure :)

(+1)

Hey! I played your game and here is the link to it!:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/792349370?t=00h49m24s

Hope the feedback helped! And yes, please let me know how the feedback session was! I would be more than happy to hear your thoughts about! Cheers, Good Work! And Happy Game Dev! :D

(+2)

Thank you very much for the feedback! I'll definitely have to fix that controller display bug as i can see what the cause is haha. Thanks again!

(+2)

This is looking very good. Unfortunately I don't have time to try it now but it is very promising!

I appreciate it! ♥️