Desmond's Castle
A downloadable game for Windows
The vampire Desmond woke up from his long sleep and attacked the villagers of Burnsley.
A knight sent by the realm, will go to the vampire's dwelling to settle this matter.
From room to room, he will have to face the enemies and take the different secret passages of the castle to be able to face the terrible Desmond!
This game was made in a month for the GameOff 2024.
WASD : Movements
Left Mouse Button : Attack
Middle Mouse scroll : Switch Weapon
Some secrets can take time to be discovered, so here are all of the secrets exposed :
Unlock the weapons :
There are more weapons than the default one : the axe and the hammer.
01. To find them, you will have to find rooms with a shadow on the center :
02. Once you find one, you can notice that the shadow have a collision.
03. Hit the shadow and a Chest will appear.
04. Hit the chest again to open it and you will unlock a new weapon.
-The blue chest give you the axe.
-The red chest give you the hammer.
Unlock the cheats :
01. To unlock all the cheats, you will have to get the axe and the hammer.
02. Explore the rooms of the castle until you will find one of these cracks on the wall :
03. Then, you will have to smash them with your weapon !
04. Each cracks is associated with a weapon :
-The top-left crack is related with the sword (default weapon).
-The top-right crack is with the axe.
-And finaly, the bottom-left crack is related with the hammer.
05. Theses cracks will lead you to a room where the cheats (the orb) can be picked by the player !
Cheat can be enable in the main menu or in the pause menu.
Secret boss :
01. You will have to defeat Desmond to unlock the secret boss
02. Once you have defeat Desmond, the gates will open. Instead of going upward and leave, go to the previous room.
03. In the top-right, a symbol will be activated, hit it with your weapon :
04. You will be teleported to the hall of the castle, take the entry door to leave.
05. Find the monster in the center of the room to trigger a dialogue and then, the fight will start.
06. To defeat the secret boss you will have to use the hammer. He does not take any damage from the others weapons.
Soundtrack on Youtube :
Download on Google Drive :
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UHx0_m3A_JYLbEcqFWeFaSbnYzYzeIch
-Game made by Nth Brnd, no assets used
-Palette has been created by Polyphrog : https://lospec.com/palette-list/dustbyte
-Trailer made by MizuMiaw : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mizumiaw
Software used :
-Unreal engine 5.4.4
-Fl studio
-Aseprite
-There are some bugs! I will try to fix them so feel free to let me know if you find out one or more.
Download
Install instructions
01: Download the file
02: Extract "Desmond's Castle.rar" into the folder of your choice with an Extraction software (Winrar, 7zip, Winzip...).
03: When the extraction is done, open the folder "Desmond's Castle" and run "Desmond's Castle.exe".
Development log
- 1.2 Version Uploaded76 days ago
- 1.1 Version Uploaded95 days ago
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hello Nth Brnd! I Really like the style of your games, they look very interesting! I'd love to collaborate with you. I can cover all your sound needs from music to SFX, let me know if you are interested. I go by the name SanadSounds
Good luck :)
This is fun by why can't the knight take his breath in the room where the wind pushed the toxic air away? Seems silly that the timer doesn't reset
Hi! 10 minutes is normally enough to defeat Desmond, so I didn't want to reset the timer from that room. But after thinking about it, I agree with you, it doesn't make much sense.
I think I simply shouldn't have paused the timer.
I'll see what I can do for the next update, it's possible I'll remove the dialog and pause in this room to fix this.
Anyway, thanks for your comment!
this game looks so cool! i just wish there was a way for me to play it on my steamdeck lol, sometimes i wish it ran Windows natively and not Linux XD either way, I hope you have a lovely day today, Jesus loves you my friend
Hi! I understand that this can be a problem, I'll probably have some free time soon to try and port it to Linux.
Thanks for your comment and have a nice day too!
Any way to play on a mac?
Hi! Unfortunately there will be no way to play it on a Mac at the moment. Unreal makes it easy to package the game on a Mac, but since I don't have one, it's hard to test the game and make sure everything works fine on this OS.
When I have more time, I might be able to use a Virtual machine to port the game to the Mac, but for the moment, the game can only be played on Windows.
True mad lad. Making 2d roguelike dungeon crawler in UE 5.4
Thanks for your comment!
"El vampiro Desmond se despertó de su largo sueño y atacó a los aldeanos de Burnsley. Un caballero enviado por el reino, irá a la morada del vampiro para resolver este asunto. De habitación en habitación, tendrá que enfrentarse a los enemigos y recorrer los diferentes pasadizos secretos del castillo para poder enfrentarse al terrible Desmond!"
Añade este Videojuego a tu WishList y Apoya a los Desarrolladores aquí | https://nth-brnd.itch.io/desmonds-castle
#videogames #indiegames @itchiogames @NthPYBrnd
📽CAPÍTULOS📽
00:00 - INTRO
02:11 - FIND AXE
03:21 - FIND HAMMER
05:58 - FINAL BOSS - DESMOND
06:45 - REGULAR ENDING
07:04 - GET TRUE ENDING (GO BACKWARDS)
07:51 - TRUE FINAL BOSS - LEGENDARY KNIGHT
"El vampiro Desmond se despertó de su largo sueño y atacó a los aldeanos de Burnsley. Un caballero enviado por el reino, irá a la morada del vampiro para resolver este asunto. De habitación en habitación, tendrá que enfrentarse a los enemigos y recorrer los diferentes pasadizos secretos del castillo para poder enfrentarse al terrible Desmond!"
Añade este Videojuego a tu WishList y Apoya a los Desarrolladores aquí | https://nth-brnd.itch.io/desmonds-castle
#videogames #indiegames @itchiogames @NthPYBrnd
This looks great! With the Gameboy aesthetics I think you should port this to GB Studio. Looking at the game file size maybe not. But maybe retro consoles like Sega Dreamcast or maybe PSP. The sega Dreamcast version of GB Studio supports cd audio so file size might work there.
Hi! I didn't know GB Studio and I have to say it's really cool!
However, it's really complicated for me to be able to do a Gameboy port even with GB Studio.
I'd have to completely recreate the game on it and unfortunately I don't have the time.
GB Studio looks like a fun engine for making small Gameboy games, so maybe one day I'll try to port the game, but for the moment, I don't have too much time.
Thanks for your comment!
Looks nice but totally unplayable on a non qwerty keyboard. Do you plan on adding customize controls or controller support?
Or maybe use the arrow keys to move instead of letters.
Hi! I understand the lack of accessibility. I'll try to fix it when I have some time.
Thanks for your comment!
Well, the game looks beautiful. Even the site has an immersive background. The colors are graded with the game's aesthetic. You're pretty much a natural at this.
Hi! Thanks for the comment and for the kind words ! I'm glad you liked the game!
Woooow that’s cool
Thanks for the comment!
Hi there! My community over on Discord is playing your game as our next "game design book club" game. If you wanna come by and say hi or anything, here's the link! :) https://discord.gg/pPnMmrCP
A fun action game with a retro and nostalgic atmosphere!
I really liked the mysterious element, the element that the strategy depends on the luck of obtaining weapons!
The secret boss was a knife-throwing mook enemy that was so strong that I had to resort to cheats!
But overall a very fun and very satisfying experience, meow~!
Hi! Thanks for the video and for your comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the game!
hola he tenido un problema al momento de ejecutar el juego y es que cuando le doy doble clic al punto exe me dice que debo instalar unreal engine y no se porque
Hola! normalmente no es necesario instalar Unreal Engine para lanzar el juego. ¿Cuál es el error exacto cuando intentas iniciar el archivo exe?
Hi! Thanks for the video! I'm glad you liked the game!
Hi! Thanks for the video!
это отличная игра, жду поддержку джойстика
Привет, спасибо за ваш комментарий! Когда у меня будет больше времени, я поработаю над поддержкой геймпада.
Was a great game! Will play more on my own time and work to beat it! Keep up the amazing work and left a follow!
Hi! Thanks for the video and for the follow! I'm glad you liked the game!
Can't run it.
A D3D11-compatible GPU (Feature Level 11.0, Shader Model 5.0) is required to run the engine.
I don't think this game needs a heavy video card.
Hi, since the game was made under Unreal Engine 5, a DirectX 11 capable graphics card is required to launch it.
As you said, a game like this shouldn't require a heavy graphics card, but unfortunately there's not much I can do about it.
thanks for your response. Is there no option where you can set which DirectX the game should be able to run with?
These options are indeed available in project settings, but the game engine doesn't support versions older than Directx11:
If your graphics card doesn't support DirectX11, unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to launch the game.
EDIT: The game currently supports DirectX12, so if your graphics card is compatible with DirectX11 versions but not with the DirectX12 version, I understand that this may trigger this error.
If you wish, I can release the game with DirectX11 support if that helps.
Mistake on my part, just did an update. It works. ^@^
So much the better! I'm glad it can work properly!
it looks really atmospheric. Great pixel art. Do you mind releasing it for other os / systems?
Hi, I don't think I'll be releasing the game on another operating system at the moment. Unreal Engine makes it possible to package the game easily on several operating systems, but either that requires modifications to the game (porting it to Android, for example) or it requires hardware that I don't have (Mac, Linux etc.).
I could try to test all this with a Virtual machine, but for the moment I don't have much time for that.
Maybe later, but I'm not sure.
Thats fine. I respect that.
This was fun! Thanks for sharing your creation!
Thanks for your comment! I'm glad you liked the game!
The game is awesome, I love it. The story, the graphics, the music, super well works together.
The only issue is the controls. Would be perfect to add gamepad support with twin-stick controls.
One tip for the mouse, unless the aiming direction constantly changing as the player moves is an intentional choice (which is pretty annoying and hard to control), instead of relying on a relation between the player position and a mouse cursor position, it would be better to rely on a relation between player position and a "virtual" pointer bound to the player's node (so the virtual pointer moves with the player). Then every frame add a real mouse delta to the "virtual" mouse position and viola, the aiming direction doesnt change when the player moves anymore. The virtual pointer should also be bound to a maximum radius around the player so it doesn't get too far.
Out of curiosity, I love when people making pixel art games in 3D engines take care to properly align pixels so the objects actually adhere to the virtual screen resolution. Such a tiny but crucial detail.
Are you using vertex snapping?
Hi! Yes, I used vertex snapping for the sprites in my game! It's not always successful, especially in the larger spaces when the camera moves to follow the player, but overall I think it's ok!
I've also made sure that the sprite sizes are consistent even for particles! As you say, I think it's these little details that are crucial to good rendering!
As for the problem you describe with the aiming direction, you're not the first to talk to me about this, and personally, I always have a bit of trouble understanding what's wrong with it.
It's not easy for me to imagine the solution you describe in play.
Can you think of any games that would have the virtual pointer you're describing? It would really help me understand what could be improved in my game!
Thanks for your comment!
I believe the best explanation will be some source code 😄
I'll put together some UE project later with the example and share with you.
Here's the project code with three examples:
https://hitorisensei.itch.io/unreal-project-example-top-down-360-mouse-targeting
I've never shared the whole projects before, but I hope it will work :D
I can drop the compiled version too, just need to know the system you are using.
Thanks for bringing this up. It's something I would not have noticed otherwise, but to be honest it makes a world of difference.
I'm no Unreal dev, and I haven't played Desmond's Castle (yet). Just wanted to say you're a legend for not only giving tempered feedback, but guiding Nth brnd through the issue without snark and even giving them a project file. Talk about a good Samaritan!
Hi! First of all, thanks for investing your time in this! The project was very clean and easy to explore. I tested the 2 new aiming direction of your project, unfortunately I don't know why, the delta-derived attack angle didn't work well, but it doesn't matter since I understood what you were getting at.
The third example with the easing added was certainly the most interesting!
One thing I've noticed is that the feel and the way of playing the game changes completely, and personally, I'm having trouble getting used to this aiming direction (being used to the one in my game myself).
When I saw your comment, I first wondered if it was a design error on my part, and then I did some research to see how other top-down games do it, and I realized that most games (especially top-down shooters) have a camera that follows the player, so the player can move without the aiming direction changing.
I think what can be confusing in my game is that the camera is centered on the rooms, so the player has to manage the movement of the player and the mouse cursor.
Despite this, I don't think the current aiming direction is a design error. I really like the gameplay of my game and I'm sure some people will find it a pain in the ass.
Far be it from me to minimize your opinion or to say that there's a right way to play or a wrong way, but I think we all have different ways of playing and maybe my game doesn't allow for many of them or doesn't suit everyone, which may be a pity, but by changing the aiming direction for another, I don't think I'm correcting a bug but rather changing the way of playing the game.
Since I'm attached to the game's current gameplay, I don't think I'll be changing the aiming direction for another. I hope you'll understand what I mean!
Nevertheless, I'd be curious to know if any Top-down games have inspired the different aiming directions you've sent me!
Anyway, thanks again! It was really nice of you to invest your time in this!
Any plans on working more on this and publishing it on Steam? We're looking to invest in and publish more "tiny" pixel art games, and if you're up for chatting about it hit me up on Discord: james.newnorth
Love it, did not expect to see this was made in Unreal
Thanks! Actually, Unreal Engine is the only game engine I know, so I made do with what I had!
The same situation XD
I absolutely love the soundtrack, do you think you could add it download? Awesome game.
Hi! I've just added the game's soundtrack to the page! You can download it if you like!
Thanks for your comment! I'm glad you liked the game!
Will there be a Linux Version in the future?
Hi, unfortunately I don't know Linux at all. Unreal Engine allows me to export my game to Linux without any problem, but as I have neither the knowledge nor the hardware, I don't think I'll venture there for the moment.
Maybe later, but I'm not sure.
I liked the art style, it's very good
But I have a couple problems...
First one is a technical problem. The direction of the attack range you control with mouse, needs to be fixed. Since it gets the rotation by taking the distance from character to the mouse pointer, it rotates when the character moves. And this is not beneficial during combat.
Secondly, starting the timer after entering the castle could be a better idea. Because it lets the player to get used to controls and appreciate the art style this game has without pressure.
And finally, because the game is repetitive, seeing that cutscene at the beginning over and over again made me frustrated. It would be great to have a button that skips all of them.
I wish you luck and I hope the game becomes better in future.
Thanks for your feedback!
Can you port this to Android with gamepad support?
Hi, that's a good idea but unfortunately, at the moment, I don't have the time to make a mobile port of the game.
I'll try to make an android version later when I have time!
Hi, would it be possible for you to make a patch that has the game translated into several languages? I also want to say that your game is amazing.
Hi! Thanks for your comment! I'm glad you liked my game!
It would be possible to integrate several languages into the game, but unfortunately I don't have much time to devote to this task at the moment, maybe I can take care of it later.
But I'm curious to know what language you'd like the game to be translated into!
No way I found a game about me
You have lots of potential, keep it up!
Thank you for your comment !
i like it!
very cool grafik !
Thanks for your comment!
is there a reason that you need internet explorer and not just a click and download
Hi, I'm not sure I understand your problem, you don't normally need Internet Explorer to download the game. The download button should work with any web browser. Has this happened with other Itchio games?
how do we defeat secret boss
Hi! To defeat the secret boss, you'll need to use the hammer:
It doesn't take the damage of other weapons.
I just realized that I'd forgotten to mention this on the page.
I hope it helps!
Oh yes I saw the solution on itch.io youtube video. Thanks anyways! :)
Hello nice game you got here. Where can I contact you?
LMAOOOOOO I've never given a one star to anyone else's games except your bad sh*tty games. It seems like you're upset that I don't like your games but there's nothing I can do about it, you have to accept it and improve yourself :D
If you hadn't done all this, I'd have forgotten you and I wouldn't have done anything more. But meh you can expose me all you want. Just dont forget I can open as many accounts I want and give you one star so many times as I want, and you cant even do anything so don't push your luck.
I still haven't gotten past the point people point and laugh at my programmer art. So jealous! Keep it up :)
Thanks for your comment!
I can't get past the room with the bat
Hi! To get past the bat room, you have to go around it to the next door.
If you approach the bat, it will fly away.
In the newest version of the game, things are (hopefully) more obvious.
your an inspiration for me. thank yo
Thank you for your comment, I'm glad that you liked my game !