FF #47 is CLOSED. Next FF will open Friday, Nov 18!
Want design feedback for your new game? Then you’ve found the right thread! Post here to get precious player feedback. Discuss until we lock the thread to start the two week break.
How To Ask For Feedback?
Show - Pics, videos, or best of all, a playable game!
Be Concise - Who’s got time for Wall 'O Text? Less is more
How To Give Feedback?
Be Positive - Finding redeeming qualities in the worst of games, is in itself a game
Focus On The Design - Not the designer
Be Specific - “Your game sucks!” is for nubs
What To Show?
Minimally Viable Product (MVP) - Core game play >>> everything else
Last feedback Friday was very quiet, so I’m here to spice things up!
I’ve been in Unity for about a year. Developing has been a hobby, but finally I’m getting close to releasing something. While it is a pretty simple project, I think for a first release it won’t be too bad.
There have been many 2D platformer games. Most of them (such as Angry Birds or Red Ball 4) are simply games with a set number of levels (usually about 30-60). However, this means that the first levels are too easy, and the last levels are too hard. Once you’re done with the levels, there is no reason to keep the game installed. So I decided to make a game with a twist.
1: It is 3D/2D. The game’s world is in 3D, but the ball and movement is in 2D. This creates an art style that seems to be rarely used. Also, this helped me out as my art skills are garbage, so I can use both 3D and 2D assets. This 3D/2D style graphics was partly inspired by Fallout Shelter.
Fallout shelter: First game I saw that had a 3D environment but 2D players. NOT my game.
2: It is infinite. I spawn challenges for the player in real time, so every game is different and endless.
Also, I have a customization system in place. While my art skills are garbage, I’m sure I can find some decent images to use for the ball.
While it isn’t a very impressing project, I think it isn’t too bad. Also, I’m planning to make more maps, not just this “dungeon” scene I have.
So why am I posting here? Well, I’d like to get some feedback! What do you like, what do you hate, and what would you add/remove? I’ve also set up Unity Analytics to see how well balanced the challenges are.
Here’s a WEBGL link. The game is for Android so the leaderboards don’t work since WebGL doesn’t support Google Play Services. Game Jolt - Share your creations
Here’s a GIF of a bit of gameplay. It is quite limited and I really recommend you try out the WEBGL link.: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Thank you and happy coding
P.S. Sorry for the unfinished audio. I got sick for a few days so I couldn’t finish the audio in time
I’m on my phone like I imagine many others might be so the webGL isn’t possible.
Maybe a vid of game play to also check out? I know vids are a pain but they can really give a great sense of the game if one doesn’t have time to play. Maybe they will see vid and make time to try. However, my understanding is you have less than 3 seconds to hook someone.
From the description and images I still can’t tell what the game is truly. The way it is unique from other games does make me want to try it though
The 1st pic I am drawn to and it looks fairly clean. The 2nd pic I can’t tell what is going on.
Your art style from the 1st image is pretty good and clean.
Sorry for the minimal feedback but my lunch break is over sigh
LOL the 1st pic is Fallout Shelter, NOT my game! I just meant to show it as as where I took inspiration of the art style from, since it’s the 1st game I saw that has a 3D environment but 2D players.
@DroidifyDevs I tried the WebGL version (Firefox 49). When I clicked the “Settings” button, I couldn’t go back to the main menu - the button to close it didn’t work, and I had to refresh the page. Bit of a game-breaker, that one
Apart from that, my only problem is that I had to keep pressing A and D to move. That would probably work fine on Android, but on a keyboard, I would prefer to hold the button down.
I do like the traps - they remind me of the side-scrolling sections of Crash Bandicoot 2 and 3, but with less slapstick. I’d try making it more slapstick - watching the ball get squished, burnt to a crisp or sliced in two would be hilarious. Even just have a silly game over theme would help.
Time to add Spamocalypse in: the mechanics are mostly complete, and I have finally uploaded it to GameJolt.
Background Info
For those who don’t know, Spamocalypse: Aftermath is a Thief-style first-person stealther in which the player is a thief hired to steal the Huta Teapot from a museum in a spammer-infested city. It started out as a project whose purpose was just to create line-of-sight mechanisms that could take light into account and sound detection for later projects, but I then caught a bad case of scope creep and started filling out the world with multiple levels, a save mechanism and a somewhat creepy atmosphere. Well, since Halloween isn’t too far off, a creepy atmosphere is probably mandataory
Since I last showed it off, I ripped out my customised pathfinding system and replaced it with the built-in code. It mostly works, although the Spambot NPCs tend to get stuck on corners (and I’m tempted to just add a note lampshading this). I also bumped up the intensity of the night vision so you can see more easily in dark corners, and rebuilt the tutorial level so it isn’t just a flat courtyard - mainly so I could properly test out lifts and ladders.
What kind of feedback I’d like
The level design. I’m trying to emulate the Thief games, where there are multiple routes through the level. Are there enough shadows to lurk in, and is there enough to do? I have maps for the levels - are they easy to understand?
The ladders mechanism is that you press F to use it. This then results in forward/backwards movement being translated into up/down movement; however, to get off it, you have to move sideways at the top or bottom. Is this obvious without it being spelt out?
The voice lines for the NPCs (see spoiler tags below). I used a text-to-speech engine with different accents, but they all sound kind of robotic. I’d like the Spammerised Moderator in particular to be a little creepier - something along the lines of the Hammer Haunts in Thief.
My player interaction system. It basically makes objects glow if the player looks at them - is it simple enough to use?
I really love the atmosphere, I think you did a great job with making it look creepy. The graphics are decent when it comes to the world. I really like the map.
Of course you could add the ladder controls in a tutorial, that’s not too hard.
The voices are a bit robotic and I think you used way too many effects, they are hard to understand. Obviously you can’t fix the robotic sound as you’re using text-to-speech, but the effects distort the voice too much (just my opinion).
The player interaction system seems to be fine as well.
My biggest complaint is the UI. It is a complete mess, some buttons don’t work and their style doesn’t fit the game. This is coming from a person who released a build with a broken “Close settings” button
Overall I think this can be a great game, the atmosphere and lighting is great, but the UI is by far the largest setback. Good work!
@DroidifyDevs yeah, I forgot about some of those buttons. For some of the in-game ones, I gave them an orange colour when highlighted - mainly because on Linux, the mouse appears to be about 20 pixels higher than it actually is (or it was, at one point). I’ve been thinking of setting the main menu and the rest of the buttons to use the same font as the ones for closing letters just so I have a consistent style across the game - would that be an improvement?
Are you sure you’re using the correct screen resolutions? Sometimes in games my mouse will be off if the game window is at a different resolution.
I think you need to look overall at the design of the buttons. For example, here’s a sci-fi level I’m working on (actually in the same project I showed):
As you see the level looks quite sci fi with those textures, particle systems and electric currents. So I made a end-game menu to match:
Of course, it’s not perfect. However, all good games have UI that’s customized and fits with the game.
Candy crush saga:
Mass Effect 3:
Image how stupid it would look if ME3 used Candy Crush’s buttons? And if Candy Crush used ME3 buttons?
I’d recommend for that game some spooky textures for the buttons. You could probably use some from your walls or floor. Just something to match the game, not the default white / orange Unity buttons as they are pretty ugly.
I didn’t think of the screen resolutions! Thanks for that, I’ll give it a try.
I actually did find dafont a while ago - in particular, I found a font for some graffiti in some of the levels. I just found the Essays 1743 font earlier while looking for medieval/Shakespearean fonts, and I like it enough to use it as the main one. Yes, I know, Shakespeare died over a century before that, but semantics
I agree about having a consistent style. As it stands, I’m reworking the main menu so that the menus all look like a piece of parchment where the buttons are represented by a wax seal - when highlighted, the seal on the left changes to the one on the right. I may do this for the pause menu as well.
LOL sorry I couldn’t work out the game mechanics and I couldn’t play the other game because I’m on a mac.
In the mean time however, I’m posting this up to give myself motivation for feedback and get something playable.
My game was built from scratch by me alone, including modeling texturing lighting and sound.
Before the deadline, I want to perfect the gameplay, which will include a brief magical 2D mechanic, a 3D mechanic (with puzzles), a victorian style setting, with elaborate wallpaper and fixtures… and a chilling sound design which takes the player deeper into an inescapable horror.
Yeah sorry, I just worked it out now, I was holding down ‘a’ and ‘d’ but it wasn’t moving, then I realised you have to keep tapping it. I thought the gif looked great, but I personally found the game a bit too difficult.
YUP the audio was good. Overall the game seemed great, however I’d work more on the doors as they don’t really look like doors. Also, were the checkered walls intentional? I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a checkered wall.
Do you plan on releasing your game? If so, will you release for Windows too? After all, most people (like me) own Windows PC’s, especially for gaming.
Once I’m done with this stupid project I’m working on, I’d like to make a PC game. I’m just not too keen on shoving $100 (plus a bought game) on Steam Greenlight, so I’m hoping to make it through this project.
